WWE 2004: Where is the Attitude?

[Jaze]

The Attitude Era started in 1997 and it was arguably the golden age of professional wrestling.. It provided us with many shocking moments such as the Steve Austin/Mr. Mcmahon feud which started it all and was a classic. Who could forget the WCW being invaded by D-Generation X? Who could forget The Hardy Boyz? Who could forget The Rock’s hilarious promos? Like all great things however, this one could not last. The steam started to die down after the purchase of WCW and ECW.

No matter how Mr. Mcmahon tried, he just couldn’t bring things back to normal. WWE had no competition and in a sense, held a monopoly on wrestling. It all started going downhill from late 2002. Remember Katie Vick? How about Al Wilson? Enter 2004, on the bright side we had Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit as WWE and World Champions. However, the WWE lost huge assets too, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Steve Austin and many others.

Vincent K. Mcmahon had an idea though, the idea was to host a “draft lottery” similar to 2002 This time, it was all up to luck, you could not pick your drafts. One brand could be left crippled while the other one became even more dominant. Would it be RAW or Smackdown!?

Let’s find out…

[Jaze]

March 14, 2004

Madison Square Garden

- John Cena performed a rap and defeated The Big Show after hitting him with a pair of brass knuckles to win the WWE United States Championship. (9:13)

- Rob Van Dam and Booker T won the World Tag Team Championships in a sudden death four corners tag team match. (7:55)

- Christian pinned Chris Jericho with a roll-up after outside interference from Trish Stratus. (14:56)

- Evolution defeated The Rock N’ Sock Connection after Orton planted Foley with an RKO. (17:09}

- Chavo Guerrero won the Cruiserweight Open to retain the championship. (10:38)

- Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar, Stone Cold Steve Austin was the special referee. They both got a Stunner afterwards. (13:45)

- Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty won the WWE Tag Team Chmpionships in a Sudden Death 4 Corners Match. (6:05)

- Torrie Wilson and Sable defated Jackie and Stacy Keibler in a “Playboy Evening Gown” match. (2:41)

- Victoria defeated Molly Holly to win the WWE Womens Championship. Molly got her head shaved afterwards. (4:56)

- Eddie Guerrero defeated Kurt Angle with a school boy to retain the WWE Championship. (21:30)

- The Undertaker defeated Kane with the Tombstone Piledriver. (6:56)

- Royal Rumble winner Chris Benoit defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels when Triple H tapped out to the Crippler Crossface. Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship in the Wrestlemania XX main event. (24:07)

Edited December 29, 2006 by Jaze

[Jaze]

March 15, 2004

East Rutherford, New Jersey (LIVE)

The show kicks off with Triple H coming out to the ring demanding a rematch from Chris Benoit. Benoit tells him that he will give him a rematch when his arms feel better and then he will make him TAP! (Repeat 100 times) Evolution storms the ring to take on Benoit but Shawn Michaels runs in and makes the save. Bischoff makes it known that he cannot book a World title rematch now but he books Evolution VS Benoit and Michaels.

Shawn Michaels reminds The Coach backstage that he was not defeated last night.

Lita and Victoria defeated Molly Holly and Jazz.

Chris Jericho refuses to tell Todd Grisham about the travesty that went down last night.

Chris Jericho was disqualified against Matt Hardy for choking him with an electrical cord.

Randy Orton challenges Mick Foley to a one on one match in a taped promo.

La Resistance are backstage when sheriff Steve Austin shows up and writes them a ticket.

Kane squashed Val Venis in less than a minute, no sign of The Undertaker.

Stacy Keibler VS Miss Jackie ended as a no contest when Mr. Mcmahon showed up and announced the 2004 draft lottery. He said that it will shake up the foundation of the entire WWE. “It is time for a new WWE!”

Evolution tried to pull strings with Eric Bischoff but he said they COULD be broken up by the draft no matter what.

Booker T and RVD defeated The Dudley Boyz to retain the World Tag Team Championships.

Christian and Trish Stratus assaulted Spike Dudley at ringside. They cut a promo instead of the scheduled match. Jericho tried all this time to screw Trish but he got screwed instead.

Rene Dupree called Sherriff Austin out to the ring. He got a stunner and was kicked out of the RAW ring and he won't be getting back in soon, possibly.

Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit defeated Evolution when Batista tapped out to the Crippler Crossface.

Edited December 29, 2006 by Jaze

[Jaze]

March 20, 2004

Boston, MA

John Cena comes out to celebrate his U.S Championship victory at WrestleMania. Paul Heyman responds and he is pissed at the superstars letting Stone Cold’s invade last week. Cena tries to attack, but Rhyno makes the save.

John Cena retained the United States Championship by defeating Rhyno with the FU.

Backstage, Paul Heyman tells the APA that if they don’t win tonight, Farooq is fired.

Scotty and Rikishi defeated The APA to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships.

Farooq is fired but Bradshaw does not go with him since he has financial obligations.

Backstage, Paul Heyman says that there will be a gauntlet match tonight, the winner faces Eddie Guerrero.

Shelton Benjamin defeated Charlie Haas in a gauntlet match.

Backstage, Farooq leaves the arena. DAMN!

Shelton Benjamin defeated Billy Gunn with his feet on the ropes.

The Big Show entered himself into the gauntlet thanks to permission from Heyman and will be the final participant in the gauntlet.

Rey Mysterio defeated Shelton Benjamin.

Rey Mysterio defeated The Big Show thanks to some outside interference from John Cena.

Eddie Guerrero defeated Rey mysterio after a long back and forth match to retain the WWE Championship.

Paul Heyman came out and told Eddie and Rey that he will be respected by the new draftees next week. The Undertaker showed up and Tombstoned Paul in the middle of the ring.

Edited December 29, 2006 by Jaze

[Jaze]

WWE 2004 DRAFT RESULTS

WWE.com is the place for real time Draft Lottery results. Refresh the page every 5 minutes for the latest real time results!

DRAFT RULES AND REGULATIONS

• Champions ARE eligible for the Draft. However, neither Eddie Guerrero or Chris Benoit will be drafted.

• Due to special requests, RAW’s Evolution will be drafted as a unit.

• The General Managers themselves are not eligible for the draft.

• Steve Austin and The Rock ARE NOT eligible for the draft.

• Referees ARE eligible for the draft as well as backstage interviewers and other superstars.

• WWE Divas and Cruiserweights are eligible for the draft.

• Currently injured superstars are indeed eligible for the draft.

DRAFT LOTTERY RESULTS

RAW

Garrison Cade

Charlie Haas

Big Show

Evolution

Edge

Booker T

Rob Van Dam

Nidia

Jazz

Tajiri

Matt Hardy

Val Venis

Chris Jericho

Chuck Palumbo

Orlando Jordan

Rene Dupree

Sylvan Grenier

Rhyno

Stacy Keibler

Maven

Rico

Billy Gunn

Lance Storm

Lita

Victoria

Molly Holly

Rosey

Test

Torrie Wilson

Shannon Moore

Steven Richards

Rodney Mack

Shawn Michaels

SmackDown!

John Cena

Mark Jindrak

Akio

Sakoda

A - Train

Danny Basham

Spike Dudley

Doug Basham

The Hurricane

Christian

Trish Stratus

Mark Henry

The Undertaker

Theodore Long

Kurt Angle

Jackie

Johnny Stamboli

Nunzio

Scotty 2 Hotty

Billy Kidman

Paul London

Rey Mysterio

Rob Conway

Bubba Ray Dudley

Theodore Long

D-Von Dudley

Bradshaw

Shelton Benjamin

Hardcore Holly

Dawn Marie

Rikishi

Sable

William Regal

Ultimo Dragon

Funaki

Chavo Sr.

Chavo Guerrero

Kane

Edited December 30, 2006 by Jaze

[Jaze]

March 22, 2005

Detroit, Michigan (LIVE)

IN THE RING: THE BIG SHOW

RAW kicks off as the commentators inform us that Big Show is one of RAW’s newest superstar in case you couldn’t access WWE.com. Show informs us that he just found out yesterday he was drafted, he wished John Cena were here for him to tear to shreds. Show continues to ramble on about he is a giant until the music of Evolution hits. They all come out minus Triple H who can’t wrestle tonight because of his arm; Flair says that he is glad that Evolution is still on RAW. He starts to inform Show about the rules of RAW which all basically tell you to stay out of their way. Show said that he tried to play by the rules before on Wrestle mania but it bit him in the ass. The 3 men stormed the ring but Show took out Batista and Flair, Orton quickly backed up the ramp, not wanting any of Show.

71

BACKSTAGE: Evolution

Eric Bischoff’s apprentice, Johnny Spade enters the Evolution locker room. He says that the main event will be Big Show against Randy Orton for the Intercontinental championship much to Orton’s dismay. Flair points out that Orton just had his tonsils removed and that explains why he didn’t talk much.

81

BACKSTAGE: Matt Hardy & Chris Jericho

Matt Hardy comes up to Chris Jericho while he is having a drink. He says that he understands what Jericho is going through. Jericho apologizes for choking Matt with the wire last week saying that he will make it up in their match...

85

Chris Jericho VS Matt Hardy

The first math of the night starts off rather slowly. Jericho begins to gain momentum with a running dropkick. Hardy fights out of a resthold and clotheslines his opponent out of the ring as he attempts a springboard. Hardy dives on top of him for a nearfall; he begins to hit his signature moves but misses his top rope leg drop. Jericho capitalizes and eventually makes Hardy tap to the Walls Of Jericho.

As Jericho celebrates, Hardy attacks from behind and lays out Jericho with a Twist Of Fate. He continues the assault by grabbing the timekeeper’s chair and levels Jericho with it before leaving.

87, 83, 91

Booker T VS Rhyno

Rhyno jumps Booker behind his back and the ½ of the Tag Tam Champions takes quite a bit of pounding. Rhyno hits a spinebuster and sets up for a Gore; he gets the steel post instead. Booker begins a comeback, at one point he whips Rhyno the ropes and he misses a desperation Gore. He gets up and gets the Scissor kick, Booker wins.

Rob Van Dam comes out after the match and the two champs celebrate. They head to the back and are confronted by Johnny Spade. He tells them that the RAW GM booked a huge title defense next week against Batista and Rica Flair.

78, 75, 81

INTERVIEW: Mick Foley

It’s via satellite; Foley accepts Orton’s challenge at Backlash. He has a few rules though, Evolution will be barred from ringside. It will also be No Holds Barred so Foley has the upper hand.

89

Charlie Haas VS Val Venis

The bell barely rang when the lights darkened and the music of Triple H started playing. Poor Venis and Haas didn’t even stand a chance against him and the Sledgehammer. HHH cleaned house and decked Haas with The Pedigree.

IN THE RING: Triple H

HHH said that at the end of the day, he and Chris Benoit are still on the same show and that is all that mattered. Eric Bischoff came out per HHH’s demand and booked the match against Benoit at backlash. It will be for the World Heavyweight Title. Bischoff left and Trips looked to give another Pedigree to Haas for good measure. Chris Benoit ran out and saved the day, he locked Triple H in the Crossface before he can grab sledgie. He had the hold locked in for a few minutes further worsening the arm of HHH.

88

Batista VS Lance Storm

Storm stood in the ring and whined about not being drafted and saying that he was treated as a joke on RAW.

Batista’s music cut Storm off and the match was jumpstarted. Storm got some offense in but in the end, the hoss prevailed with the Batista Bomb.

73,66,81

VIGNETTE: Edge

Similar to the one that showed at WrestleMania, he is going to return at Backlash.

80

Nidia and Torrie Wilson VS Jazz and Molly Holly

Molly came out sporting a wig and she looked pissed. This was a typical Divas match that saw Victoria coming down and taken the wig off. Nidia backslided Molly for the win.

57,64,43

Randy Orton VS Big Show (WWE Intercontinental Championship)

Orton came out alone and accepted Foley’s terms. He is tired of the lack of respect he gets even though he pinned Foley at WM.

Big Show manhandled Orton early on causing Flair to come out. He distracted the referee while Orton low blowed show. He made a comeback during the second half and went for the RKO. Show countered by tossing Orton out of the ring, he hit the Chokeslam but Flair kept the ref from doing his job. Show took care of him and hit another chokeslam but Flair recovered and broke up the pin.

Batista stormed the ring but Show fought back. Chris Benoit came out and evened the odds, Big Show gave a third Chokeslam to Orton on the IC Title. Show and Benoit stood in the ring as RAW ended.

74,75,71

We got a 4.90 rating for 'RAW'!

The attendance level was 2256 people.

We made $90240 from ticket sales.

Edited December 31, 2006 by Jaze

[Jaze]

March 25, 2004

Grand Rapids, Michigan

BACKSTAGE

We see Eddie Guerrero enter the Smackdown locker room and shaking hands with the new faces from RAW. The rap opening then starts to play.

83

IN THE RING: Paul Heyman

The SmackDown GM stood in the ring and he is all smiles because he’s happy with how the draft lottery turned out. Lady Luck was on his side and he picked up real gems from RAW. Like The Dudleyz, who will compete for the WWE Tag Team Championships tonight. Heyman claims that his new roster will respect him, he books Kane in a non title match AGAINST Eddie Guerrero in the main event. Before he can continue, he is interrupted by KANE. He quickly snatches Heyman’s mic and asks “Why Paul. Why?” Before Paul E could explain that he didn’t choose to bring him on SmackDown, he got Goozled! The Big Red Machine hit the Chokeslam. The lights went out as a loud GONG was heard, Kane quickly hightailed through the crowd, not wanting anything to do with his brother.

77

BACKSTAGE: The Dudley Boys & Spike Dudley

The two brothers are in their locker room preparing for their title match later on when Spike Dudley comes in and wishes his brothers good luck.

63

Rey Mysterio VS Rob Conway

Conway enters the ring still wearing his La Resistance attire. Mysterio comes out and quickly destroys him with his arsenal of flashy high flying moves and the 619.

68, 58, 79

The Dudley Boys VS Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty (WWE Tag Team Championships)

The match starts out as Rikishi plants Bubba with some power moves. When Scotty gets tagged, the veterans immediately pounce on him. They begin to play the isolation game. A few minutes later, Rikishi gets the tag and roughs up Bubba and Scotty comes in to finish him off, he misses the WORM and gets hit with a 3D, D-von takes care of Rikishi and as we have new champs

The Dudleys celebrate as Spike comes down to ringside. All three brothers milk the win like crazy.

75, 68, 83

IN THE RING: Christian & Trish Stratus

Christian comes to the ring in his usual, cocky self claiming to be the biggest draft pick from RAW. He says that SmackDown would give anything to have him on their roster. John Cena interrupts the promo. He introduces Christian to the SD crew including Michael Cole, who is gay. Cena proceeds to bust a rap insulting Christian and Trish and he calls her the biggest slut of the century. Christian has had enough, he hits a few right hands but Cena ducks one and hits a lightning quick FU and scares Trish out of the ring. The champ leaves with his head held high.

71

VIGNETTE: Bradshaw

We see a video featuring Bradshaw. He takes off his APA shirt before saying that instead of abusing money on poker, he has found a way to use it to his advantage. The announcers say that he changed his name legally to John Bradshaw Layfield.

63

Nunzio (w/ Johnny Stamboli) VS Spike Dudley

Some Cruiserweight action on Smackdown is always nice. Spike had lots of chances to win but Johnny Stamboli messed them all up. Spike got rid of him with a Dudley Dog but fell right into a school boy. Nunzio actually won as Spike looked disappointed.. His night was not as good as his brothers.

59, 52, 67

Kurt Angle VS The Hurricane

Angle has a chip on his shoulder after being practically cheated out of a WWE title match at WMXX. He destroys the “superhero” and removes his boots before going for the Angle Lock and making his opponent tap out.

80, 79, 82

BACKSTAGE: Kurt Angle

Kurt is walking backstage and notices several of the new Smackdown! Divas talking. He walks up to them and tells them to shut up. He notices Shelton Benjamin talking to one of the crew members. Angle tells him to respect him before shoving and even slapping him. He walks away leaving Shelton confused. And somewhat feeling anger.

86

Eddie Guerrero VS Kane

They replay Kane Chokeslamming Paul Heyman as Eddie looked on backstage on a monitor in his wrestling attire. They show Kane afterwards pounding his fists and leaning on a fence. He is frustrated.

This was quite the long match that saw Eddie pulling out the stops. Nothing could bring down the momentum of Kane. He made a comeback and looked to Chokeslam Eddie. Even a non title win over the WWE Champion would work wonders for Kane. The lights in the arena went out again as the dreaded music of The Undertaker played, the opportunistic Eddie took advantage with a low blow in the darkness and the Frog Splash for the win.

Eddie is victorious again thanks to some lying, cheating and stealing. The WWE Champion’s celebrations are cut short though as he gets greeted with a vicious Clothesline from Bradshaw. The show goes off air as Bradshaw stands in the ring without wearing his APA shirt smiling.

80, 81, 81

We got a 5.06 rating for 'Smackdown!'!

The attendance level was 2708 people.

We made $108320 from ticket sales.

Edited December 31, 2006 by Jaze

[Jaze]

March 27, 2004

Shelton Benjamin and Hardcore Holly VS The Basham Brothers

The faces controlled most of this match, Holly laid in with some siff shots such as his Rope assisted Groin kick. Shelton missed the Stinger Splash which led to the Bashams gaining control for a while. Holly eventually got the hot tag, the faces finished with a double pinfall when they hit the Alabama Slam and the Superkick simultaneously.

62

RECAP: Cena/Christian segment

77

Chavo Guerrero (w/ Chavo Classic) VS Aaron Stevens

Squash match, the only offense Stevens got was a spinning kick after being whipped to the ropes and a few punches at the corner. Chavo finished off with the Brainbuster, he and his manager celebrated afterwards.

67

RECAP: Kane/Heyman segment

79

Billy Kidman VS Akio (w/ Sakoda)

The main event of the night. There were lots of high flying action as Akio hit a moonsault for a nearfall. He missed a running enzuiguri which led to a Kidman dropkick over the ropes and a dive to the outside. He quickly followed up with the Shooting Star Press for the win. Sakoda got in the ring and Kyo Dai double teamed Kidman. They laid in with the stomps until Paul London ran in and made the save by chasing them away.

61

RECAP: Eddie Guerrero VS Kane

70

We got a 4.31 rating for 'Velocity'!

The attendance level was 2709 people.

We made $108360 from ticket sales.