SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE RAW REPORT
DECEMBER 13, 2004
LIVE FROM HUNTSVILLE, ALA.
-Eric Bischoff came out at the start of the show. He said he can’t believe what he came back to after a much-deserved four week vacation. He said the tag and women’s titles had changed hands and there was no World Champion. He recapped the circumstances that led to the title being held up. They showed Triple H, Edge, and Chris Benoit standing together backstage. They ended up each making a case for themselves, then Edge lost his temper and threw a forearm at Benoit. When it turned into a brawl, Bischoff announced that he was booking a rematch of last week’s tag team main event with Triple H & Batista vs. Benoit & Chris Jericho, plus scheduling Edge vs. Randy Orton next. Good stage-setter for the show. The segment is helping create a sense of great meaning and prestige surrounding the World Hvt. Title.
[Commercial Break]
1 — EDGE vs. RANDY ORTON
Orton came onto the stage for his entrance and spread his arms and raised his chin as if he were a glorious site whom fans should feel blessed to be in the presence of. There’s something about his babyface persona that he can’t pull off that Rock. Even though both of their characters are admittedly full of themselves, Rock ended up being likable and Orton hasn’t figured out how to pull that off yet. Orton comes across as trying to look graceful and majestic, but comes across as cocky and conceited. They worked at a slow pace early, hitting the simultaneous dropkick spot.
[Commercial Break]
Orton put on a chinlock, but he and Edge showed how to make a chinlock somewhat interesting. Edge was struggling to escape and gasping for breath. Orton was arching his back to apply more pressure and grunting to get across how much effort it took to keep it on. Edge escaped and then hid behind the ref and then bailed to ringside. When Orton chased him, Edge gained control. At 11:00 Edge applied a facelock and a body scissors combination. Ross stressed that Bischoff had to announce the status of the World Title by the end of the show by orders of the Chairman Vince McMahon. Edge went to the top rope, but when Edge flew off the top rope,
Orton caught him with a dropkick instead. Ross and Lawler marvelled over the suddenness and timing of Orton’s countermove. They ended up in a slugfest. Ross said the match could go on all night. Lawler said he could watch it all night. Orton surprised Edge with a neckbreaker and scored a two count. They went into a series of reversals and two counts including Edge with a near pin with his feet on the ropes for leverage. Orton surprised Edge for a powerslam. Edge came back and attempted a spear. Orton sidestepped it and then gave Edge an RKO for the clean pin. As Orton celebrated, Edge threw a tantrum on the mat.
WINNER: Orton at 17:52.
STAR RATING: ***1/2 — Very good match. Paced well. Peaked well. Good intensity and near falls. Clean finish. The finish makes sense since, as reported in last week’s Torch Newsletter, they want to have a reason to have Orton part of January’s Elimination Chamber for the World Title.
-Ross and Lawler announced a WWE.com poll, asking whether Bischoff should award the vacant title to Benoit, Edge or Triple H, or have a triple threat rematch.
-Backstage Ric Flair told Triple H that he has to explain to Bischoff that he is a movie star, an author, and the greatest wrestler alive today. Hunter said if he doesn’t listen to that, he would make him. Batista stepped in and said if he were in his shoes, he wouldn’t do that. Batista told him that he is The Game, so he should play the game. Batista told Hunter to go to the ring and dominate in the main event tag, so he can show him rather than tell him that he should be World Champion. Then, after the match, he’ll know within a shadow of a doubt who the real World Champion is. Batista just continues to speak in a level-headed, intelligent, sensible manner each week. Hunter nodded and liked the idea.
[Commercial Break]
-A commercial aired for the WWE house show experience with Orton saying fans who attend the arena are going to see things they’ve never seen before. They went to footage from Macon, Ga. over the weekend. Fans talked about their interaction with the wrestlers, including a teenage girl crying because Orton kissed her. They showed Eugene running around the ring with little kids and Jericho leaning into the crowd. Jericho said, “If you’re a WWE fan, this is where you need to be because this is what WWE is all about. It’s all about the fans.” These are great commercials for house shows. It’s one part of a larger formula that will lead to arena events drawing better. Having a hot product with stars who are over is always the biggest reason house shows draw. However, these spots showing footage at house shows, showing wrestlers interacting with fans, and wrestlers talking about how much they enjoy the interaction will pay dividends for years.
-Ross and Lawler recapped the show as three of the Raw Divas shot t-shirts to the ring. Gene Snitsky interrupted, or “ruined the moment,” as Ross put it. Snitsky told them not to be scared. He said everyone on the Raw roster is scared of him because of what he did to Kane and what he did to Lita’s baby. “But don’t get me wrong, I like having fun, lots of fun,” he added, explaining he was going to have fun with the divas. He was going to “shoot the gun a little, dance a little.” He then grabbed Chrisy Hemme by the throat. He said, “I forgot to add I’m not having fun unless somebody is suffering, and that somebody is you,” he said. Then Lita walked out with her newly won Women’s Title. She gave Snitsky a hard time for picking on women, such as her last week and Christy this week. She said despite all of his efforts, she is the new Women’s Champion. Lita said when her husband Kane returned, he’d get him. Snitsky let go of Christy and ran toward Lita, but a wall of fire stopped him from getting to her as she retreated to the back.
[Commercial Break]
-A promo aired promoting Triple H in “Blade: Trinity” with Hunter talking about how great and believable he was in the movie. Jason Powell’s column in this week’s Torch Newsletter will feature an in-depth look at Triple H in the movie.
-Backstage, Christian, Tyson Tomko, and Edge were talking about a lack of respect. Eugene showed up and gave Christian a hard time about being Captain Charisma. Christian was dismayed. Then Mick Foley showed up as a surprise guest. Eugene said he loved Mick Foley and Rock and Papa Shango and Bobby Eaton. He said Eaton was from Huntsville, Ala. Foley said he just stole his cheap pop, but he had a special announcement to make so follow him.
-Benoit confronted Eric Bischoff, telling him he expected him to reward him with a Triple Threat rematch later tonight so he could prove he deserved to be World Champion. Bischoff said he had a tag match scheduled. Benoit said if he just rewards the title, it will prove how spineless he is.
-Ross and Lawler plugged the Hunter & Batista vs. Benoit & Jericho TV main event.
[Commercial Break]
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2 — CHRIS BENOIT & CHRIS JERICHO vs. BATISTA & TRIPLE H
Jericho was on the defense for several minutes early in the match. When he made a comeback, Flair entered the ring. When Jericho knocked him down, Flair tried to get into the ring, but Hunter talked him out of it, telling him he needed to win the match and couldn’t afford to lose by DQ.
[Commercial Break]
Back from the break, Benoit was taking a beating from Batista and Hunter. Hunter locked on an abdominal stretch. Batista held Hunter’s arm out of the ref’s sight to add extra leverage. At 11:00 Benoit hot-tagged Jericho into the ring. Jericho dove at Batista, but Batista caught him and set up a powerslam. Jericho slipped out and chop-blocked Batista. Batista powered out of a Walls of Jericho attempt. Jericho ran right into Batista, but Batista lifted him, then Jericho slipped into a roll-up for a near fall. Batista then set up Jericho for a powerbomb, but Jericho slid out and gave Batista an enzuigiri, taking Batista down. Jericho then hit the Lion Tamer. Hunter ran in, but Jericho ducked his clothesline and then knocked him out of the ring with a clothesline of his own. Jericho fended off Flair, then Benoit gave Batista a top rope headbutt. Benoit applied a Sharpshooter on Batista at 12:45. When Hunter ran into the ring, Benoit released Batista and put Hunter in the Sharpshooter. Batista recovered and gave Benoit a spinebuster for the pin. Hunter looked at Batista like he had just drowned a kitten. He couldn’t believe Batista stole the moment of glory away from him.
WINNER: Batista & Hunter at 13:17.
STAR RATING: **3/4 — Pretty formula all the way through, but the finishing sequence was top notch.
[Commercial Break]
-Mick Foley stepped into the ring. He slipped in a plug for his latest book, then talked about his big announcement. He said next week he was jumping to Smackdown, drawing boos from the Raw crowd, just for one week in order to visit the troops in Iraq. A video aired of a soldier talking about what a great morale boost WWE is when they visit the troops. Foley said it was an honor to take part even though he is an unlikely supporter of the war since he still has a box full of Kerry bumper stickers in his garage. That drew boos from the fans. Foley said, “Oh, that’s right, this is a red state.” He said, though, that supporting the troops is not partisan.
At that point, Muhammad Hassan and Shawn Daivari interrupted. Hassan said he used to blindly support “these troops and this country,” but after 9-11 he was forced to open his eyes to the truth. He said the truth is it is people like him that are the real victims of the war. He said the fans aren’t real patriots because if they were, they would not support a war that promotes the unfair treatment of Arab-Americans. He said the U.S. is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. He said he is a prisoner in his own country and he feels their “patriotism” in their airports and on every corner. The crowd threw a bunch of “whats” at him.
Foley said he can see there is some sense in a couple things he said, but he disagrees strongly in almost every word. He asked Hassan if it is great to live in a country as great as the U.S. that allows him to express his views, “no matter how stupid they may sound.” Foley said he’s upset that he chose to interrupt his TV appearance after an eight month absence. Hassan said he’s glad he interrupted him because he is tired of hearing him express support for “these troops, these gutless cowards, these heartless infidels.” Foley said now he was pissing him off because brave soldiers have given their lives so they can shoot their mouths off. Daivari yelled angrily in foreign tongue at Foley, as Foley gave examples of soldiers who had sacrificed for them. Foley said they have the right to shoot off their mouths in America everywhere except a 20 foot by 20 foot ring. He said it’s “Foley Island.” He said if they chose to step foot in there, he assured them their rights would no longer apply. “Should you choose to wonder into Foley Island, you have the right to feel my fist in your mouth and my boot in your ass.” Hassan said they didn’t respect Foley and would not fight someone he didn’t respect, then walked to the back. Ross said he couldn’t believe they would say they don’t respect Mick Foley.
[Commercial Break]
-An ad ran for the Tough Enough finals.
-Todd Grisham interviewed Trish. She said Lita had to practically kill herself just to beat her. She said she ought to enjoy every second of being champion because she will get her rematch and get her title back.
-Bischoff flirted with Rochelle, showing great interest in her background. Edge interrupted. It’s amazing the ways they try to find an excuse for these women to make it onto the air. Edge made his case about how he has been screwed out of title opportunities. Bischoff said he had good news for Edge. He said after the next match, he was going to announce his decision and give Edge “something he’s never had before.” That is an open door for a variety of jokes.
[Commercial Break]
3 – MAVEN & CHRISTIAN & TYSON TOMKO vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN & EUGENE & WILLIAM REGAL
Christian opened the match by slapping tha Captain Charisma worshipping Eugene. Eugene fought back with Mr. Socko against Christian as a tribute to Foley followed by an airplane spin. Tomko, Christian, and Maven took over offense and each took turns applying chinlocks and facelocks on Eugene for the next several minutes. Eugene came back with a Stunner and then hot-tagged Benjamin. Eugene then pulled out Mr. Socko again, but out of six-way chaos, Benjamin superkicked Tomko and then Maven rolled up Benjamin and grabbed the ropes for leverage to score a pin.
WINNERS: Maven & Christian & Tomko at 7:13.
STAR RATING: *1/4
-The poll results were shown, where more than 50 percent of votes were for a triple threat rematch. Benoit then got the most votes at 24 percent, followed by Edge at 11 percent and Hunter at just 7 percent.
-Triple H approached Bischoff in a conciliatory manner, pleading with him emotionally, while tearing up, to do the right thing and give him the World Title back. Hunter said he is a household name and he should “do what’s right for business.” Bischoff said he’d take his words into consideration.
[Commercial Break]
-Ross plugged that next week’s show would be a “Best of Raw” featuring the WrestleMania main event among other features and matches.
-Bischoff stood center ring and called out the three contenders. Hunter said he thinks Bischoff should give him the title because the champ should be a winner. Bischoff said he thought about all of their suggestions. He said he didn’t like Benoit’s idea of a Triple Threat rematch. He said giving Edge the title as he requested would be too risky since he has never held the belt before.
He said he was going to put the belt at stake in the Elimination Chamber, a proven commodity, at the January New Year’s Revolution PPV. He said the title would remain vacant until then. He said it would be one of, if not the, biggest World Title matches in Raw history. He said the match would include Benoit, Edge, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Batista, and Randy Orton. Benoit was okay with it, but Edge, Hunter, and Flair weren’t pleased.
Batista didn’t give away his feelings. Flair yelled at Bischoff as he walked to the back. Hunter, Benoit, and Edge got into a fight. Batista joined in, stomping on Benoit. Ross said he was in shock. Jericho joined in. As Hunter began to walk toward the back, Orton met him and punched him back to ringside. He threw him into the stairs, then into the ring. He went for an RKO, but Batista made the save and Hunter escaped to ringside. Orton gave Batista the RKO instead, then pointed at Hunter as the show ended.
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