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DECEMBER 29, 2003 - Monday Night RAW
One night after Armageddon, it's the last WWE show of 2003! The Rock retained his World Title in a laughable Last Man Standing Match against Triple H while Chris Jericho earned a shot at the gold by climbing the ladder of success to beat Booker T. Matt Hardy Version 1.0 laid claim to the Intercontinental Title by beating Rob Van Dam. And Shawn Michaels proved once again why he is the most exciting superstar on pay-per-view when he defeated Christian. Tonight, three more spots in the Royal Rumble match will be filled, The Rock is planning a championship celebration, and it's champions versus champion as Hardy teams with Christian to take on the Dudley Boyz.
We start off with a Royal Rumble qualifying match pitting the runner-up in the Intercontinental Title tournament Rob Van Dam against La Resistance's Rob Conway. RVD dominates the begging of the match with his feet, but Conway manages to take control briefly before taking more kicks. RVD finishes the match with his flying kick off the top rope to become the tenth RAW superstar to qualify for the Rumble.
Rico has been the center of controversy (isn't he always?) over the last few weeks as his longtime rival Val Venis has been stalked and attacked on multiple occasions. Tonight, he needs to put speculation aside to focus on the red-hot Nova. He manages to put the distractions behind him early, but it doesn't take the ECW original long to take to the air and take the advantage. Good solid match between two guys on the cusp of really making it in WWE, and Rico looks like he's about to win it with his spinning leg lariat, but Val Venis hits the ring and slams him down and hits the Money Shot. The referee calls for the bell! This ugly business is far from over.
Victoria will defend her Women's Title at Royal Rumble against the winner of the following match, but both Trish Stratus and Gail Kim are more anxious to tear each other apart than they are for a shot at te title. Lots of striking for the first half of the match until Trish starts using power moves. Gail tries to fight back with her feet, but Trish goes right back on the offense. The referee tries to get some separation but gets shoved down as they continue to brawl. The referee has lost complete control and calls for the bell, disqualifying them both! They don't care, as they continue fighting all the way back up the ramp backstage.
Eric Bischoff gets between the two of them and tells them that since they can't keep their hands off each other, then they'll get another shot. The Women's Title match at the Royal Rumble is going to be a triple threat match!
It's time for our next qualifying match as Spike Dudley takes on the animal Batista. Not really surprising that Batista dominates almost the entire match. Spike manages to land a DDT, but Batista bounces right back up to finish him off with a Batista Bomb.
Our next match pits two men who have already qualified for the Rumble against each other as Shawn Michaels hopes to continue his winning ways against Kane, who last week drove Goldberg out of World Wrestling Entertainment for good. Michaels takes control with his speed advantage, but Kane begins to overpower his rival. Again, Michaels pushes back with speed, but Kane again overpowers him. Kane tries a charge in the corner but eats a boot. HBK climbs to the top and lands his picture-perfect elbow before tuning up the band for Sweet Chin Music and the win! After the match, Kane jumps him and lands a chokeslam.
Last week, William Regal beat Lance Storm in a purist's dream match, and the WWE brass was so impressed they decided to give them another shot, this time for a spot in the Royal Rumble! Very good match with both men getting in offense and near-falls, but Regal again picks up the win with the Power of the Punch.
24 hours ago, Matt Hardy won the Intercontinental Title in the finals of the month-long tournament, but tonight he looks to beat another set of champions, the Dudley Boyz, with his partner Christian. The Dudleyz start off by isolating Christian until Captain Charisma pulls a spear out of nowhere to tag in Hardy. Hardy is a house of fire going after D-Von until Bubba hot-tags in. Bubba overpowers Matt, but Matt ducks a wild punch and plants him with the Twist of Fate for the win!
I should have switched this segment with the previous one, because the crowd was really pumped up after that match that they sort of didn't give a crap about Triple H beating Booker T with the Pedigree.
The Rock has a celebration ceremony where he thanks The People for helping him have the strength to absolutely destroy Triple H at Armageddon.
Rock's Royal Rumble opponent Chris Jericho is up next in the main event to take on Hurricane. Both men trade dropkicks to start, then lots of counter wrestling. Jericho comes out on top, getting 'cane to tap out to the Walls of Jericho as RAW goes off the air!
Next week, it's a whole new year in WWE, and new opportunities abound for the six men particpating in the final three qualifying matches for the Royal Rumble! You won't want to miss the last RAW before the Rumble, because as we all know - anything can happen in WWE!
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