The March 15, 2004 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on March 15, 2004 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Summary[]
WrestleMania XX may be in the record books, but the spirit behind the greatest event in the history of wrestling is still very much alive. On RAW, the theme of it all beginning ... again, was very much in the air as Mr. McMahon dropped a bombshell announcement that rocked the very foundation of World Wrestling Entertainment. Indeed, WWE would begin again and it was set for the next week!
When RAW was next broadcasted live from Detroit, for the first time in more than a year, the Superstars of RAW and SmackDown would come together under the same roof on a Monday night. According to Mr. McMahon, the spirit of a new beginning behind the WrestleMania event was so powerful that it was time for a new day to dawn in WWE. He said it is time for a shake-up, where new Superstars come together, new rivalries form, and new matches can be enjoyed by the fans of WWE. So, next week, there would be a lottery to form new rosters for both the RAW and SmackDown programs with nobody exempt from being sent from one side to the other. Partnerships may be split, factions could be divided, and superstars who held championships could very well be end up in a position where they would have to drop their championship.
If new World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H were heading for a split of their recent three-way rivalry, on RAW there were no signs of it. Both Triple H and Michaels allowed for no grace period for the new World Heavyweight Champion to enjoy his reign as Benoit was immediately put on the defensive. With Triple H out of action with an arm injury from WrestleMania, RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff set a match between Benoit & Michaels against Randy Orton, Batista & Ric Flair. While Benoit & Michaels functioned as a cohesive unit and scored the win – thanks to the presence of Mick Foley – it was perhaps only for one night. Between next week's lottery and the fact that Michaels said he was only siding with Benoit to, “protect (his) investment” and make sure he had an opportunity to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship, it seemed that if Benoit and Michaels would continue on the same roster after next week, their paths would cross once again.
Elsewhere, WrestleMania seemed to end nothing for the ongoing rivalry between Chris Jericho and Christian. An angered Jericho could not control his temper and was disqualified during his match with Matt Hardy. Later, Christian and Trish Stratus appeared together to mock Jericho.
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Lita & Victoria defeated Jazz & Molly Holly (3:08)
- Matt Hardy defeated Chris Jericho by DQ (2:30)
- Kane defeated Val Venis (0:44)
- Miss Jackie vs. Stacy Keibler ended in a no contest
- Booker T & Rob Van Dam (c) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) to retain the World Tag Team Championship (18:11)
- Chris Benoit & Shawn Michaels defeated Evolution (Batista, Randy Orton & Ric Flair) in a Three On Two Handicap Match (11:49)