The March 22, 2004 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on March 22, 2004 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Summary[]
In some ways, WrestleMania XX was the greatest event in the history of sports entertainment. In other ways, it was simply the calm before the storm. Eight days after WrestleMania, on one of the most wild nights in the storied history of RAW, it all began, again ... over and over again. And by the end of the night, the foundations of both RAW and SmackDown were rocked with several shocking changes as a result of the draft lottery ordered by Mr. McMahon. Now there were new World Tag Team Champions, Triple H was drafted to SmackDown, Edge moved to RAW, and Smackdown was left with no General Manager.
The night was headlined by a shocking turn of events involving Triple H (who had been drafted to SmackDown by United States Champion John Cena) and now former SmackDown General Manager Paul Heyman took full advantage of the situation by convincing Mr. McMahon to set up a match for the WWE Championship between Triple H and Eddie Guerrero, a SmackDown main event during RAW. The match featured a dramatic conclusion when Evolution came to aid Triple H for perhaps the final time. Suddenly, all hell broke loose when both locker rooms emptied as a Civil War of sorts began! When RAW went off the air, order had not been restored as the battle had only just begun.
The conclusion to RAW was indicative of an evening of shocking surprises as nobody on either roster was exempt from the draft lottery. So when Heyman himself was drafted by RAW, the now former SmackDown! GM decided he was better off quitting entirely than working for Eric Bischoff and, as a result, the trade deadline has been extended until 9 PM ET Tuesday evening by Mr. McMahon, when a new SmackDown! General Manager will be named and all trades will be announced. Heyman became the second General Manager to lose the job while Bischoff was RAW GM (though, unlike his predecessor Stephanie McMahon, he chose to relinquish it on his terms) - and during his subsequent gloating Bischoff was suddenly speared by a returning Edge.
In the ring, the night was headlined by three Championship Matches. While both the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship remained in place, there were new World Tag Team Champions. The Evolution duo of Batista & Ric Flair regained the Championship as they defeated Rob Van Dam & Booker T. The match would prove to be RVD's final one on RAW as he was later drafted to SmackDown.
Drafts to Raw: Shelton Benjamin, Nidia, Rhyno, Edge, Tajiri and Paul Heyman
Drafts to Smackdown: Rene Dupree, Mark Jindrak, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Teddy Long and Spike Dudley
Results[]
- Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
- (c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.
- Chris Jericho defeated Rene Dupree (3:07)
- Kane defeated Rico (w/ Miss Jackie) (0:27)
- Christian (w/ Trish Stratus) defeated Spike Dudley (3:17)
- Batista & Ric Flair defeated Booker T & Rob Van Dam (c) to win the World Tag Team Championship (13:36)
- Chris Benoit (c) defeated Rhyno to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (4:45)
- Eddie Guerrero (c) defeated Triple H by DQ to retain the WWE Championship (13:45)
Commentators[]
- Jim Ross (RAW)
- Jerry Lawler (RAW)
- Michael Cole (Smackdown!)
- Tazz (Smackdown!)