[8.0] "This was a great match. Randy Orton had just beaten Chris Benoit the night before at Summerslam and this was the rematch. It started out pretty aggressive with Benoit almost immediately on the attack. This was a fun main event that was pretty much on par with their Summerslam match. Benoit had the match won with the Crossface, but then Evolution came out to run distraction for Orton. He then hit the RKO to win the match and we got what supposed to be an Evolution celebration. Turned out it was Evolution attacking Orton, effectively turning him babyface. On the one hand, the angle was well done and effective to get Orton sympathy. On the other hand, it was the Triple H Reign of Terror rearing it's ugly head once again. ****"
[6.0] "solid match just enjoy the ppv match a little bit more. Points in this match where it just didnt hit for me. Still surprised orton got this world title so early he didnt seem ready here honestly. 3.50 stars"
[6.0] "Standard raw main event with an interference finish. The in ring work between these two was solid but never felt they reached the level of the summerslam match the night prior. Felt like a typical Raw main event style match with how they worked. 3.25/5"
[9.0] "I am in the minority obviously but I think this match is better than the pay per view match that they had had the night before on Summerslam PPV. Benoit is masterful at laying out these main event style matches whether it be for television or for a big event."
[8.0] "Damn this was a great match considering it was 24 hours after their classic at Summerslam. Benoit dominates a large portion of the match for the most part and he just doesn't let up on the intensity at all as everything he does just looks so ruthless. Everything here just looks so damn crisp and it's just a great match to watch and something refreshing considering the rest of the show was pretty bad. The match doesn't end cleanly which at least leves things open for a rematch down the line."
[9.0] "Great match. Hard hitting ruthless attacks from Benoit and outstanding bumping/selling from Orton. Not a clean finish as Evolution distracts Benoit for the finish, but Evolution turning on Orton afterwards made for an unforgettable moment that people still talk about to this day."
[5.0] "Quite a step below their Summerslam match from the previous night, and I'd even say this was close to being outright bad if not for how strong both wrestlers' fundamentals were. The issue with this match was how boringly one-sided it was, only to give us some BS interference at the end to hand Orton the 'miracle' comeback (with that interference then being immediately logically contradicted in the post-match). Benoit began his long control segment right from the start, showing good physicality and aggression as per usual, with Orton playing the cowardly heel reliant on cheap tactics to fight back. The issue with Benoit was that for as good as all his beatdown work was, it just got quite stale because of how repetitive it was seeing him lay into Orton minute after minute and seeing Orton just continue to sell and sell and sell. Orton selling his injured leg was nice and consistent, at least, which is where his selling was most impressive here, but I disliked how he became superman by surviving every single 1 of Benoit's finishers and signature moves all in consecutive order, which was especially ridiculous considering how he was mean to be a slimy heel who always looked for the cheap way out... yet at the same time he's incredibly strong, durable, and with immense will power, all to the point that he can survive the onslaught of Benoit's best offence? Orton never showed those qualities before, so they completely clashed with his far more ardent (and far more consistent) heel qualities. Then the distraction finish to give Orton the win was completely lame and made Benoit look extremely stupid and weak because of how dominant he was for 90% of the match, yet how easily he was put away in only a split second. I also have issue understanding the logic of HHH/Evolution -- if they indeed wished to turn on Orton out of jealousy for him winning the title -- saving him in this title match in the first place instead of just letting Benoit beat him as was well on the way to happening. They literally could have had good ol' subservient, knows-his-place, bottom-of-the-ladder Orton back with them if they themselves hadn't interfered and thereby allowed him to remain champion. Hell, they could have interfered in the title match the previous night, too, if jealousy was their only motivation. You could argue that their jealousy caused/allow for them to want to beat Orton for the title themselves (i.e. HHH beating him), but isn't robbing Orton of a title win/defence in the first place -- ripping the rug out from under him when he would've gotten so close to the honour of becoming a World Champion -- far more dastardly and heart-breaking than just beating him 1-on-1 in a match? So much about this match was disappointing and didn't make sense. **1/2"
[9.0] "This ended up being a great main event to a so-so Raw, similar in quality to their PPV match. Folks love to say now that Orton wasn't ready for a world title at this time but just looking at his popularity and how well he does in this match, I can't agree, it was bad booking that did him in and set him back soon after. At any rate, this match delivers as you would hope, Benoit with ruthless attacks and submissions, Orton hanging on and relying on his youth and energy to help him pull out ahead, with at trick or two up his sleeve. Unlike the previous night we don't get an entirely clean finish, as Evolution runs out to distract Benoit and allows Orton to escape the Crossface and hit the RKO to win. Strong match. The post match is ingrained in my mind from when I first watched it, Batista hoisting Orton on his shoulders to celebrate before Triple H gives a dramatic thumbs down and they drop Orton and beat him up, presumably because Trips is too petty to see a member of his stable world champion instead of him."
[8.0] "I really enjoyed their SummerSlam match but I thought this was a tad bit better. Benoit went straight after Orton and just beat the hell out of him for a lot of the matchup. Benoit would have a lot of Orton offense scouted, so he was able to counter a lot of his moves. Randy would try and slow down Benoit with headlocks and working on his neck. An evolution interference allows Orton to hit an RKO from out of nowhere to win.****1/4"
[9.0] "I really enjoyed their match from Summerslam, but this was even better. Benoit went in and just immediately began beating the hell out of Orton like a madman, putting him through absolute hell for most of the match, but Orton proved his strength time and time again and stayed in the match. Really liked how Benoit learned from their previous encounter, scouting much of Orton's offense to maintain the upperhand. Randy would come back toward the end and take the fight to Benoit, but eventually ended up in the crossface. Most likely he would've tapped had Evolution not ran in to distract Benoit, allowing Randy to nail a sneaky RKO for the win. Loved this, both men walked out of this match looking great. ****1/4"
[9.0] "Awesome match. Benoit dominating the entire match, not messing around, laying in his brutal offence on Orton. That mixed w/Orton's GOAT bumping, made this very compelling. These two have great chemistry as always and this is no different. ****1/4"
[7.0] "Sehr interessantes Match, dessen erste Hälfte erstaunlich einseitig verläuft. Benoit pflückt Orton komplett auseinander, was allein schon mehr als sehenswert ist. Seltener Dropkick vom Apron hier. Ansonsten ist das durchweg sehr intensiv und das Ende ist ebenfalls durchaus passend."
[5.0] "The Summerslam match was mutch better than this, but this is still a watchable match. I didn´t like the finish with evolution interference, since Orton beat Benoit clean at Summerslam."
[10.0] "This was WAY better than their boring SummerSlam match the night before. Benoit was absolutely amazing here - his onslaught on Orton was beautiful to watch, he learned from his mistakes from the previous night, he countered stuff that Orton did to him in the SummerSlam match, and his offense just looked so amazing. Benoit totally ruled in this one. Orton was good too, really liked him countering Benoit's amazing onslaught w/ working over Benoit's neck, it was real good stuff. Amazing match overall. ****1/2"
[7.0] "Nicht so gut wie ihr Match beim SummerSlam, aber trotzdem ein sehr ordentliches TV-Match. Sie haben meiner Meinung nach etwas wenig aus diesen 20 Minuten gemacht, was auch daran liegt, dass Randy Orton damals noch nicht wirklich ein herausragender Wrestler war und in dem Jahr auch von Benoit ziemlich getragen wurde in ihren Matches. Trotzdem ordentlich. *** 1/2"
[7.0] "Benoit ist pissed richtig unterhaltsam: Einen Tag nach seinem Titelverlust kämpft er verbissen ums Gold, nimmt Randy zu 90 Prozent des Matches auseinander - eine solch einseitige und dennoch unterhaltsame Matchführung sieht man erst bei Lesnar wieder. Superplex, Northern Lights, Germans... Benoit packt alles aus, Orton sieht keinen Stich, findet sich im Crossface wieder... und Evolution greift ein. Auch wenn der folgende Turn Evolutions gegen Orton Geschichte schreibt, dass Benoit hier derart leer ausgeht und keine erneute Chance aufs Gold bekommt hinterlässt einen bitteren Beigeschmack."
[8.0] "Dramatische Partie, welche besonders von Benoit durch starke Intensität geprägt ist. Hier stimmt eine Menge und die WWE präsentiert einen Tag nach dem SummerSlam ein Re-Match vergleichbarer Qualität. Der entscheidende Eingriff der Evolution fällt nicht ins Gewicht, ist die Aftermath des Matches doch ein kleiner Schocker und prägte den RAW MainEvent für die nächsten Wochen. Kann sich sehen lassen."
[6.0] "Gut, wenn auch nicht so stark wie ihr Summerslam Match. Das Ende hat zwar für die Storyentwicklung gepasst, mir persönlich das Match ein kleinwenig ruiniert."
