WWE Monday Night Raw – Monday, January 12, 2004
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Announcers: Jim Ross, Jerry “The King” Lawler and Jonathan Coachman

Good ‘ole JR welcomes us to Long Island, NY, in the shadows of New York City, the home of WrestleMania XX where tonight the Intercontinental Championship will be on-the-line with Randy Orton defending the title against Rob Van Dam, the number one contender. But that’s not the only Main Event. Also scheduled is Booker T versus Kane. JR notes that the bad blood has been boiling between those two for a while. Coach joins the broadcast table before the night can go any further much to Lawler’s chagrin. He’s come with big news, however, promising tonight in the ring will be both Triple H and Shawn Michaels for a special interview. JR is impressed. Lawler isn’t believing that Coach had that kind of pull with General Manager Eric Bischoff.

Women’s Tag-Team Match:
Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Jazz (w/ Theodore Long) & Molly Holly [WWE Women’s Champion]

Result/Analysis: Jazz & Molly Holly via pinfall (4:55) when Jazz pins Trish Stratus with a roll-up. A decent tag-team match was unfolding until the lame finish that sees Theodore Long toss his jacket onto Trish’s head allowing Jazz to school girl her for the win. Lita looks good, in more ways than just her wrestling, in the match. Molly is just blah. She shouldn’t be holding the title belt as the champion. It’s version 3.0 of the Jazz and Trish feud so if that’s the creative direction get the title to one of them. Chris Jericho again comes to Trish’s aid after the match trying to seek retribution for her on Jazz. Y2J is ambushed by Mark Henry for his efforts, though, which makes sense given he and Jazz are both managed by Long. Perhaps a mixed tag-team match can result from this? Jericho and Stratus are hardly on the same page yet for that. The lame finish takes my rating down a peg.

Rating: *3/4

Matt Hardy is in the ring as RAW returns from a commercial break. JR is puzzled as to why Hardy is out here. Matt explains that all of his life someone has always tried to steal his spotlight. His brother Jeff. His (ex) girlfriend Lita. And now of all people, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. He says it’s no coincidence that Matt Hardy Version 1 hasn’t been seen or heard from still “Stone Cold” came back to RAW. Coach, for one, agrees. Matt shames the Board of Directors for naming Austin as the sheriff and says he’s really allowed to still act as co-General Manager while kicking some ass. Hardy says it’s his time to kick some ass and that’s why he’s out here tonight. Matt says he’s not leaving the ring until he does. On cue, Austin’s music hits and “Stone Cold” again rides out to the ring in an ATV. Coach rips Austin as someone who has no respect for authority or even the law. King reminds Coach that Austin is the law for he’s the sheriff. Austin rambles on and on and on about what’s breaking the law versus what isn’t before agreeing to let Hardy see some action. Matt, though, seeks new opponent and being in unique matches for that’s why he came to RAW. Austin is ready to give Hardy some action with himself but Matt begs off. Austin agrees and offers up Hardy to anyone in the back that’s never faced him before. After about 30 seconds that man is … Bill Goldberg!

Matt Hardy vs. Goldberg

Result/Analysis: Goldberg via pinfall (2:27) following the spear and jackhammer combo. Matt Hardy aka Jobber to the Stars. Austin reactivating Goldberg to the active roster just to irk General Manager Eric Bischoff who had deactivated Goldberg following the Armageddon PPV in December following his World Title loss to Triple H, much thanks to Evolution outside interference. The return of Goldberg was a nice sursprise. He was big time over as a babyface and RAW needed more of those guys opposite Evolution. Hardy’s scant offense in the match were punches shrugged off and his Twist of Fate which Goldberg kicked out of the pin attempt from. Hardy took a complete ass whooping just not the kind he promised to deliver. Goldberg informs the live crowd after the match that he’s back and has entered himself into the Royal Rumble match. Once he wins, Goldberg says, he’ll go onto WrestleMania and regain his World Title.

Rating: ** (I like an ass whooping as good as this one)

Bischoff confronts Austin in the hallway outside of his office regarding Goldberg’s deactivation of the lack thereof. Austin informs Bischoff that Goldberg’s deactivation never became official since the official paperwork needed to do so wasn’t filed nor was the Board of Directors notified. Bischoff says, “you got me,” knowing he F’d up. He tells Austin that he spoke to the Board and the Last Man Standing Match at the Royal Rumble between Triple H and Shawn Michaels will stick but from now on he’s to make the matches being the General Manager. Austin says that’s fine so long as Bischoff follows the rules he sets forth (as sheriff) and doesn’t piss him off.

We see the same paid advertisement from the friends and supporters of Randy Orton that aired on RAW last week. Mick Foley is the focal point of it as Orton, as “The Legend Killer,” now labels Foley as a coward for refusing to face him last year to cement his status as a “Hardcore Legend.” Orton now claims that mantle.

Orton is standing by afterward. He speaks directly to Foley and reminds the WWE Universe of his act of cowardice: walking away from a fight. Orton has a ticket for Foley to pick-up at will call tonight should he venture out for what amounts to a 15-minute drive to the arena from his home. Orton shows us the empty seat that’s at ringside that is Foley’s. Orton wants Foley to attend his match versus RVD. He says after he destroys RVD, it’s Foley, whom he wants to go one-on-one with in the ring tonight. As for the reactionary commentary on Orton’s promo, Coach thinks Foley is too gutless to show up tonight. JR goes off on that opinion saying Mick will come out to the Nassau Coliseum tonight after Orton called him out since he does have guts. Easy JR. Easy now. Coach settles on Foley not having any gas money. LOL.

D-Von Dudley (w/ Bubba Ray Dudley) vs. Batista [World Tag-Team Champion] (w/ “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair)

Result/Analysis: Batista via pinfall (3:15) following the Batista Bomb (not yet named as such). Amidst the lack of cohesion at the announce table, which I’ll elaborate on, this match is fairly blah. Batista, in singles competition, is being showcased here. That’s the point more than the feud between The Dudley’s and Evolution over the World Tag-Team Championship. Batista and Flair with the assistance of Triple H escaped last week in their title defense versus The Dudley’s so the one-on-one match here is a follow up to that. Flair makes sure Bubba Ray can’t help D-Von though D-Von does connect with the diving headbutt on Batista only for that not to result in a three count. Flair brings a table into the ring after the match as the intent is for D-Von to eat wood. Bubba saves D-Von from that and nearly gets Flair powerbombed through the table before Batista saves him. Evolution is way ahead on the scoreboard in this feud. As for Coach and JR, well somehow their back-and-forth banter leads to Coach bragging about his sexual prowess, on a wrestling program as JR points out, even needling JR about his lack thereof. JR can’t get “it” up anymore, Coach said. Good lord.

Rating: *1/4

JR and King promote Booker T versus Kane for later tonight as RAW hits another commercial break.

Orton joins us again, this time from the parking garage. He speaks directly to Foley noting that as of yet Mick hasn’t picked up his ticket at will call. But, knowing Mick suffered many shots to his head while establishing himself as a hardcore legend, Orton says he’s taking Foley’s travel plans unto himself by dipping into his own personal expenses to hire a limousine service for tonight. That way, there can be no excuses. Orton tells Foley to pick out his best flannel and hop into the limo once it gets to his house so that when he gets to the arena they can finish what they started. Only then, Orton claims, will Mick not go down in wrestling history as a coward.

Elsewhere, as Jazz and Mark Henry chat, Theodore Long comes up to both with a summary of his one-on-one meeting with Bischoff. Long feels that he was set up last week as the General Manager not being told just how much power “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has as the sheriff. Long claims it’s typical white man stuff. And although Bischoff can’t take back what happened last week, including Austin stunning him (Long) for no reason, what he can do is make match for tonight between Henry and Jericho. That way, the white boy can pay for sticking his nose into their business earlier tonight trying to aide “Snow White” aka Trish Stratus. LOL. Henry is happy to get himself some of Jericho.

Scott Steiner, holla if you hear me, walks up to Goldberg backstage to confront him on the claim he just made in the ring about winning the Royal Rumble. You see, as Steiner points out, Goldberg has never won when they’ve stepped in the ring together. Nice. That’s paying homage to their time in WCW (not referenced). Scott says he’ll be the one to win the Rumble. Goldberg asks Steiner to face him tonight for why wait? Steiner responds that he wants Goldberg at 100-percent and points out to him that he just finished a match. Scott pitches next week. Goldberg agrees and next week to him just means “You’re Next” as he points out to Scott. Two of RAW’s Royal Rumble favorites getting it on. I like. I like.

The Coach’s exclusive interview “mano a mano” with World Heavyweight Champion Triple H and his Royal Rumble challenger “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels:

Coach’s first question is posed to HBK. Without naming DX, Coach mentions on Hunter and Shawn started off in 1997-98 (really before then) as the best of friends and asks Michaels what changed? Shawn doesn’t want to re-live the past but Hunter does for yet another time for the people’s recollection. He says to Shawn that he always felt like the underling and knows the fans look upon him as Michaels’ sidekick. Shawn refutes that belief telling Triple H he always treated him with respect and as his equal. It’s all recorded if anyone needs a reminder to side with Triple H on that claim, Nice try, though, Shawn. Hunter responds by saying that’s a load of crap and tells Shawn that he made people believe he was a sidekick when what he really became was the kick stand, the one that held Shawn up when he could no longer get the job done. Well, Michaels did have that career threatening (broken) back injury in 1998 and Hunter was the one to help keep Shawn on his own two feet. Michaels retorts saying he’d been pulling the wagon on his own for years even before Triple H came along. Hunter responds that once Michaels was gone the people could see who really pulled the wagon out of the two and he took that wagon and ran with it. Props to the heat that Hunter has behind his words here. Shawn is behind on points so far. Hunter then goats Shawn into admitting that all the success he had bothered him and that’s why he returned (18 months ago). Shawn admits that was a motivating factor but says he returned for reasons Hunter will never fully understand. Still, Hunter isn’t taking that cheese as he persists with the jealousy angle as to why Shawn came back and how at first, they ended up meeting right here. Shawn says that’s right, and after four years I still proved I was better than you winning that Street Fight right here at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island (SummerSlam 2002). Hunter agrees with Shawn that he beat him on that night but it was him that walked out of the arena. He wasn’t the one to leave in an ambulance (Shawn was attacked by Hunter with a sledgehammer atter the match). Hunter says, “I was the last man standing that night, at Royal Rumble, I’ll be the last man standing again. No doubt about it.” Hunter continues on that they can stand in the ring and argue about who carried who, etc., but coming full circle what’s always been the story with them is who is better? He then lauds Shawn as an all-time great in the wrestling business having either been in the ring with and/or studied them all. Hunter says if he’s but 1 second better at the Royal Rumble, just one second better where he’s on his feet while Shawn remains on his back then he’ll know in his heart that Shawn knows in his that he’s better. Hunter also brings up the controversy over the World Title with people debating who should be the Heavyweight Champion (alluding to their match on RAW that concluded 2003). Shawn, after taking all of Hunter’s words in, at last gets the final say in this mano a mano. Michaels says some gibberish about how it all comes down to this before harkening back to the one second of difference Triple H spoke of. While one second can be an eternity to the two of them, in reality, it’s merely one second. Shawn superkicks the head off of Coach for a huge crowd reaction. He then takes the mic back in his hand to finish his that about the one second noting that one second can be “gone the next” and that he’ll see Triple H at the Royal Rumble. That’s effective end to a drawn out segment for a feud and a match that doesn’t require the excess build-up. You put Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels on the card, up on the marquee anywhere in the world and you sell out the arena and get the PPV buyrate you desire. Shawn is more short, sweet and to the point in making his argument. Hunter is too long-winded in his while telling us just how damn good he is. Forget the Rumble match, Last Man Standing is the Main Event. Which man can outlast the other by even one second in 13 days?

Still to come tonight, Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton squares off with Rob Van Dam with the title at stake. But that’s not all. Up next, it’s Booker T versus Kane. JR shows that empty chair at ringside and asks if Mick Foley will show up to watch “The Legend Killer”?

Meanwhile, plugging “Sunday Night Heat,” which was still in production in 2004 for the RAW brand also-rans, Steven Richards will defend Victoria against Scott Steiner, Test’s tag-team partner. Test kicked Victoria in the head on RAW last week after losing his match versus Richards. The real story is how Steiner was OK wrestling on Heat?

JR and The King discuss the conclusion to the Michaels and Triple H segment. With Coach superkicked out of commission by HBK, it’s back to the usual two-man HOF broadcast team for the remainder of RAW tonight.

Booker T vs. Kane

Result/Analysis: Booker T via DQ (1:47). The match is a straight barroom brawl however brief that Kane gets the better of. The referee disqualifies Kane after he rams Booker’s head into the ring steps once their fight spills outside the ring. Kane’s heel push continues on since his Survivor Series ‘03 Buried Alive victory over his “brother” The Undertaker. Booker isn’t a man who will back-off from Kane aka the big red freak. Kane takes out his anger for being disqualified by giving Booker a tombstone piledriver to leave him laid out. This vendetta is far from over and we’re at least likely to see Kane and Booker tussle during the Royal Rumble.

Rating: 3/4*

We see another paid advertisement from the friends and supporters of Randy Orton which pokes fun at Foley calling himself a “hardcore legend” as we see various past clips of Foley in his other personas doing bad comedy skits. Orton, on the other hand, well he, is the true hardcore legend of our time.

Back live, JR again speculates with King on if Foley will pick up his ticket at will call tonight and make it to RAW.

“The World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry (w/ Jazz & Theodore Long) vs. Chris Jericho

Result/Analysis: Henry via pinfall (7:51) following the World’s Strongest Slam. Jericho’s athleticism and ring sense carry the match to acceptable heights as Henry’s power is what’s being utilized with him. WWE creative has finally figured out how to book Henry and his matches. It’s refreshing. Jericho seemingly has the match won via submission here with the Walls of Jericho but a tussle that erupts between Jazz and Trish Stratus, who was seeking to get back at Jazz from earlier in the night, winds up in the ring to sidetrack referee Earl Hebner just when Henry is tapping out. When Hebner waves off a celebratory Y2J, Henry catches him with the World’s Strongest Slam for the three count. Jericho pulls out the stops to come away victorious, including a bulldog off the top rope that literally results in hair loss for Henry. My feeling going in was that Henry should go over and that’s exactly the booking. So far, this is the night’s highest quality match.

Rating: **1/2

Christian catches up with Jericho as he unwinds from his match in his dressingroom. Jericho is down on his luck. Christian blames Trish for Jericho losing matches, much like tonight, saying she’s gotten in his head and he’s distracted. Jericho agrees. Christian offers Jericho a night on the town and afterward, Trish, will be the last thing on his mind. The two head out but then Trish shows up at Jericho’s now empty dressing room and she looks disappointed that she missed out on a chance for a heart-to-heart chat. And so the story continues …

Evolution is gathered to discuss Orton handling RVD tonight. Orton is confident he’s got RVD all by himself despite the feeling he has that Foley is on his way to the arena. Triple H assures Orton that Evolution has his back should anything go sideways. Austin rides up in the ATV. He tells Evolution should they interfere tonight that will be considered breaking the law and as a consequence he’ll chase them all down with the ATV. Triple H calls Austin’s bluff so as they walk away he spins near them in circles on the ATV. JR notes that Austin is serious about following up on that threat.

WWE Sting of the Night: Orton spitting in Foley’s face last month after Foley walked away from a proposed fight. As for tonight, well, Mick remains conspicuous by his absence

WWE Intercontinental Championship:

“The NEW Hardcore Legend” Randy Orton (c) vs. Rob Van Dam

Result/Analysis: Orton via pinfall (15:24 shown) following a hanging DDT from the top rope. JR says so at one point so I’ll echo his words to state the match as physically intense. RVD scores many near falls in his pursuit to regain the Intercontinental Title, including off a Northern Lights Suplex, Rolling Thunder and a springboard moonsault. Those half-second away three counts really get the Long Island crowd energized behind RVD and believing the belt may indeed change hands. Orton gets busted open early in the match after being posted outside the ring. I can’t tell if he bladed but given when it happened I’d say it was a legit head wound leading to a crimson red face. Orton takes control with submission holds, a bobyscissors on repeat, which involves trash talking and face rakes to further cement his dickish heel character. As the match winds down, the well-timed ref bump occurs that stalls Van Dam’s momentum and Orton takes advantage with a low blow. That cheap shot would have won Orton the match but referee Mike Chioda is too groggy to make a count. Orton stirs Chioda yet with RVD still on the mat he decides to lay down and play possum as Chioda starts a ten count. RVD makes it to his feet around the count of 7 prompting Orton to pop to his feet for the RKO. Van Dam blocks that by spinning Orton around and delivering a kick to the face. They wind up in the adjacent corner next where Orton crotches RVD on the top turnbuckle and positioned for the hanging DDT. That move wins Orton the match and he retains the IC Title. Triple H enters the ring afterward to celebrate with Orton while he shows him that Foley never showed up. Lawler is thinking Foley must be a coward. JR still won’t admit as much. Oddly, the limo returned to the arena early during the match yet that went no further so I guess we’re to assume at the night’s conclusion the limo driver returned without Foley. WWE teased Foley to us throughout the night but never followed through. This Main Event got ample time, however, and delivers. RVD will be moved out of the title picture now. Orton will keep baiting Foley I’m sure.

Rating: ***1/4

The Verdict: Shawn Michaels and Triple H had their mano a mano with each agreeing on one thing – that just one second can determine who’s better in their last man standing match. Randy Orton continues to bait Foley into proving he’s not a coward by showing up to face him, but as of yet, that’s not happened. In the meantime, Orton retains the Intercontinental Title despite a valiant challenge by Rob Van Dam. Goldberg returns in style, enters himself into the Royal Rumble, and accepts a match with Scott Steiner next week. Kane and Booker continue their feud. Mark Henry is finally being utilized correctly after years of failure by creative. Trish Stratus seems to be coming around to Jericho while Christian does his best to get Jericho’s mind off of her. The Royal Rumble build up by the RAW brand is solely focused on HBK versus HHH. Maybe next week the attention gets flipped to those competing in the Rumble match itself?