Raw is War
San Jose, California
January 31, 2005
Night of the Monster
Jan. 31, 2005
Sunday night belonged to Batista. Monday night belonged to Kane.
The Big Red Monster decisively defeated Gene Snitsky inside a Steel Cage on RAW,
chokeslamming Snitsky onto the Cage door itself and picking up the three-count.
Snitsky threw away an earlier chance at victory, opting to rip off the Cage door
and go after Kane rather than walk out the door to the floor. The opportunity
arose when Trish Stratus, wearing a neck brace, interfered in the match in an
attempt to pay back Kane. But ultimately it was the Big Red Monster who got the
last laugh on both Trish and Snitsky.
Despite suffering a concussion at the hands of Triple H at the Rumble, Randy
Orton decided to compete in a tag match on RAW. He wanted to do his family proud
and prove that he’s still the “Legend Killer” by taking down Ric Flair and
Triple H. Orton’s partner Shawn Michaels had plenty of frustration of his own
after losing to Edge in Fresno, Calif. But Orton’s decision to wrestle proved to
be a very bad idea.
Despite eking out a victory — thanks, in part, to an errant spear by Edge —
Orton seemed to suffer his second concussion in two days after smacking his head
executing the RKO. After the match, Michaels clearly appeared to be worried
about his tag team partner. It took help from HBK and the referee for a dazed
Orton to even make his way to the backstage area. Only time will tell just how
serious a situation this is for the young Superstar.
Now that Evolution’s animal has won the Royal Rumble Match, he has a
career-altering decision to make: Which World title will he attempt to win at
WrestleMania? On RAW, Triple H seemed happy to give Batista a much-deserved shot
at the World Heavyweight Championship. But footage shown in the arena depicted
WWE Champion JBL talking trash, saying, “Dave Batista, as good as he is, is not
in my league.”
Will Batista take JBL’s brash challenge — and SmackDown! GM Theodore Long’s
lucrative offer — to jump ship to the other WWE brand? Triple H certainly
wouldn’t mind, envisioning a WWE in which Evolution controls both World titles.
For once, it seemed as if the belligerent Edge would leave RAW a happy man.
General Manager Eric Bischoff recognized his strong, double-duty performance at
the Royal Rumble and ordered a World Heavyweight Championship Match against
Triple H at next week’s show in Japan. But before Edge could gloat, HBK caught
him with “Sweet Chin Music.”
La Resistance was embarrassed by what happened against Batista last week, and
vowed never to let something so humiliating occur again. And they backed up
their talk on RAW in a World Tag Team Championship Match against the formidable
duo of Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho. Sylvain Grenier & Robert Conway held their
own and ultimately forced a double-DQ.
After the match, Y2J and Benoit literally butted heads, upset that neither had
given his best effort. When Bischoff saw the exchange, he ordered a Submission
Match between the two next week in Japan. He also declared that William Regal &
Tajiri will face La Resistance in Tokyo.
Also, Shelton Benjamin wants to be a fighting champion, so he signed an open
contract allowing anyone on RAW to challenge him for the Intercontinental
Championship. First up was Simon Dean, who didn’t fare very well. After a
near-fall, Dean was caught with a spinning heel kick, knocking him down for the
cover. After his victory, Shelton returned for a Stinger Splash just for good
measure.
MATCH RESULTS
Shelton Benjamin def. Simon Dean
Maven def. The Hurricane
Muhammad Hassan def. Sgt. Slaughter
La Resistance vs. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho (Double-DQ)
Shawn Michaels & Randy Orton def. Triple H & Ric Flair
Kane def. Gene Snitsky (Steel Cage Match)