Raw is War
Atlanta, Georgia
March 14, 2005
Poison picked
March 14, 2005
Triple H had the antidote for his “Pick Your Poison” Match against Chris Benoit,
and next week “The Game” gets to make a match of his own.
On the one-year anniversary of “The Crippler” making Triple H tap to the
Crossface at WrestleMania XX, the two squared off again — thanks to the decision
of Batista. This time, the result was very different. Triple H beat Benoit for
the first-ever time one-on-one, hitting the Pedigree after an undetected low
blow. The Game fought for his survival with only 20 days until his WrestleMania
World Heavyweight Championship defense against the “Animal” Batista. Triple H
suffered through a total of nine German suplexes and the Crippler Crossface
before ultimately getting a pivotal victory in Atlanta.
Triple H reappeared later during Batista’s bout against Gene Snitsky — a match
orchestrated by Evolution’s Ric Flair. And when Batista hit the spinebuster and
set up the Batista Bomb, “The Nature Boy” got involved — taking Batista’s legs
out with a chop block. The Animal powered out of a three-on-one attack and
chased his adversaries from the ring, but Evolution and Snitsky returned with
steel chairs. When things began to look bleak for Batista, Kane charged the ring
in hopes of getting his hands on hated rival Snitsky. The Monster and the Animal
cleared the ring and were left facing only each other. That’s when The Cerebral
Assassin declared his choice for Batista’s “Pick Your Poison” Match next week:
Kane.
The Big Red Monster also had unfinished business with Christian and Tyson Tomko
after being attacked with a ladder one week ago. This week, it was Kane’s turn —
despite two-on-one odds against him. The Big Red Monster first finished Tomko
with a chokeslam, then bloodied the “Problem Solver” with a ladder shot of his
own. Christian simply retreated up the ring apron, saving his energy for the
six-way “Money in the Bank” Ladder Match at WrestleMania 21 on April 3.
Meanwhile, Edge’s brutal tactics meant that his scheduled match against Shelton
Benjamin almost had to be cancelled. Edge viciously assaulted Benjamin before
the bell, smashing him against the RAW stage and ramming him into the ring
steps. Referee Mike Chioda was reluctant to start the match under those
circumstances, but Shelton assured him he could go.
What followed was an inspiring comeback featuring Shelton’s high-flying attack.
But the tide turned again when Benjamin missed his intended target with a dragon
whip, instead incapacitating the referee. A spear soon followed, but there was
no official to make the count. An irate Edge went beneath the ring and retrieved
a ladder, but Chris Jericho evened even the odds by catapulting the ladder back
up into Edge’s jaw. Edge stumbled backwards and walked right into a T-bone
suplex, which was enough to keep him down for the three-count.
Another legend was “killed” on Monday night, as Randy Orton dropped Georgia
native Jake “The Snake” Roberts with an RKO. As someone who faced the 12-0
Undertaker at WrestleMania, Roberts was on RAW to suggest that Orton think twice
before making the same mistake. When Orton wasn’t receptive, Jake leveled Orton
with his signature short-armed clothesline and set up his patented DDT. But “The
Legend Killer” reversed the finisher into one of his own, adding another name to
his list of victims only days before his contract signing on SmackDown!
In another throwback moment, The Rockers reunited for a night and defeated La
Resistance. Shawn Michaels didn’t like the idea of Marty Jannetty’s return to
WWE coming on SmackDown! against Kurt Angle, so he invited his former tag
partner to first participate in a RAW match. The charismatic duo conjured many
of the tandem moves that made them so dangerous and beloved in their hay day —
including duel cross-body blocks to their opponents on the outside. Jannetty
finished the match in triumphant fashion by bringing back the Rocker Dropper,
which KO’d Sylvain Grenier.
Also, Christy continued her WrestleMania training with help from Lita and
Tajiri, while Trish sent her own message with an assault on RAW interviewer
Maria.
MATCH RESULTS
Kne def. Christian & Tyson Tomko (Handicap Match)
Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin def. Edge (non-title match)
Rockers def. La Resistance
Triple H def. Chris Benoit (non-title; Pick Your Poison Match)
Batista def. Gene Snitsky (DQ)