The April 5, 2004 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on April 5, 2004 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Summary[]
With less than two weeks to go before Backlash, the power on RAW may have shifted back to Triple H and Evolution. On a night in Houston that began with Triple H discussing what he deemed the remote odds of Chris Benoit leaving Backlash as World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H and Evolution took a major step in insuring that Triple H will regain the Championship. Moments after RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff announced a special Eight Man Tag Team Match next week on RAW with Evolution facing Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, Shelton Benjamin and Chris Benoit, Triple H and company got a head start on next week's match by pulverizing Benoit, Michaels and Foley.
With Benjamin already hospitalized from an assault earlier in the evening by Evolution, and the rest of his team left knocked out in the center of the ring, it seemed as if the final RAW before Backlash could give Evolution an even greater advantage heading into the pay-per-view event.
Also on this RAW, the road to Backlash continued as the events for the evening became clearer. First, thanks to the aid of Chris Jericho, Lita became the No. 1 Contender for the Women's Championship by winning a Women's Battle Royal. Lita last eliminated Trish Stratus as Jericho stood at ringside and distracted Stratus. Seeing her opportunity, Lita knocked Stratus out of the ring and earned the right to face Victoria for the Women's Championship at Backlash. Jericho's actions against Stratus actually changed the face of his upcoming match with Christian, as it was announced that the match was now a Handicap Match with Stratus joining Christian against Jericho.
Also, it appeared as if Edge would have to make his first match in more than a year one of his best. On RAW, Edge thought he had gotten the best of Kane, only to learn that he needed something more. After Kane defeated Rhyno, Edge came to the ring and attacked Kane with a Spear. Only seconds later, Kane rose up from the Spear and went on the offensive. Only by using the cast on his recently broken arm as a weapon was Edge able to fend off Kane.
RAW also saw the return of William Regal. Regal was invited back to RAW by Bischoff with a stipulation ... he must be a manager to Bischoff's nephew, Eugene. Regal happily accepted the task until learning that Eugene is what Bischoff termed, “special.” Eugene's unique nature sent Regal for quite a loop.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Chris Benoit defeated Rob Conway (w/ Sylvain Grenier) (3:54)
- Chris Jericho defeated Matt Hardy (2:58)
- Shelton Benjamin defeated Triple H (w/ Batista, Randy Orton & Ric Flair) by Count Out (5:27)
- Lita defeated Gail Kim, Jazz, Molly Holly, Nidia, Stacy Keibler & Trish Stratus in a World Women's Title Battle Royal # 1 Contendership (7:00)
- Christian (w/ Trish Stratus) defeated Tajiri (2:19)
- Kane defeated Rhyno (1:40)