Raw is War
Biloxi, Mississippi
December 27, 2004
Bischoff Delivers Showstopping
Announcement for Elimination Chamber
As if signing an Elimination Chamber match for New Year’s Revolution wasn’t
enough, Eric Bischoff shook things up again on the last Raw of 2004.
As soon as Raw went on the air Bischoff announced there would be a special
referee for the Elimination Chamber at New Year’s Revolution, but his identity
wouldn't be revealed until later in the show. In addition, he declared that it
would be a Beat The Clock night for the Chamber participants. Chris Jericho,
Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, Edge, Batista and Triple H all had matches against
mystery opponents, which would have a huge impact on the Elimination Chamber
match.
If any of the Superstars were defeated by their mystery opponent, that mystery
opponent would take their spot in the Elimination Chamber. To sweeten the pot
even more, Bischoff announced that the Superstar to win his match in the
quickest time would enter the Elimination Chamber last, thus giving them the
biggest advantage in the match and the best shot at the World Heavyweight
Championship at New Year’s Revolution.
Chris Jericho defeated Christian, Randy Orton defeated Maven, Edge defeated
Eugene and Chris Benoit defeated Viscera in their respective matches. Benoit
made his massive adversary tap to the Cripple Crossface in a prompt time of 5:43
giving him the time to beat. But that was before Batista hit the ring.
Rhyno, Batista’s opponent, score an early GORE, but Batista kicked out and
became enraged and hit a sit-down powerbomb on the Manbeast. Batista looked up
the clock and proclaimed that there was plenty of time for more punishment as he
cockily delivered yet another devastating sit-down powerbomb for the win at an
amazing time of 3:02.
Triple H was infuriated that Batista had gone out and not only beaten the clock,
but beaten it in such a quick time. Batista did apologize, stating that Rhyno
had made him angry. Flair calmed down the two Superstars, and Triple H headed
out to face his challenger as the rest of the Elimination Chamber participants
were at ringside watching. Triple H had to face Shelton Benjamin, the same
Superstar that gave Evolution fits earlier in the year and had gotten the best
of The Game on more than one occasion. In fact, Triple H had never beaten the
Intercontinental Champion.
Triple H had the advantage early on. In fact, he had a sleeper hold locked in
soundly just as time was winding down. The referee picked up Benjamin’s arm for
a third time, and he dropped it as the clock hit zero, as Triple H thought he
had won via submission. But Benjamin had gotten his feet on the ropes and the
match continued. An irate Triple H was starting to let his emotions get the best
of him as Benjamin took over. Benjamin was able to hit his T-Bone, but Flair had
distracted the referee. Benjamin then took care of Flair, but that allowed
Triple to recover and hit the Pedigree for the win.
As Evolution began to celebrate in the ring, Bischoff returned and announced
that the special guest referee for New Year’s Revolution’s Elimination Chamber
match would be none other than HBK, Shawn Michaels. Triple H, Batista and Edge
in particular all looked on in horror as Raw went off the air with Michaels
posing for the crowd.
Earlier in the night, Muhammed Hassan and Khosrow Daivari interrupted Stacy
Keibler when she was revealing her New Year’s resolution, and berated the crowd,
telling them that they are all prejudiced towards Arab Americans. They then took
their tirade to the announce booth and started pushing around good ol’ J.R. and
the King. They later complained to Eric Bischoff, requesting a match against the
two, but Bischoff instead told them they could have a debate next week on Raw.
In other action, Lita defeated Molly Holly in a non-title match. After the
match, Gene Snitsky came down to the ring and chased Lita through the crowd and
to the backstage area, forcing the Women’s Champion to lock herself in a room.
Bischoff then informed Snitsky that he would be able to continue his fun at New
Year’s Revolution in a match against Kane.
It was also announced that Lita would face Trish Stratus in a rematch for the
Women’s Championship.
Simon Dean came away with hard fought win over the much larger Rosey. Rosey had
everything going his way, but Dean was able to score a roll up from out of
nowhere for the win.
MATCH RESULTS
Chris Jericho def. Christian
Randy Orton def. Maven
Women's Champion Lita def. Molly
Holly (non-title)
Simon Dean def. Rosey
Edge def. Eugene
Chris Benoit def. Viscera
Batista def. Rhyno
Triple H def. Intercontinental
Champion Shelton Benjamin (non-title)