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JULY 5, 2004 - MONDAY NIGHT RAW
Just twenty days away from Vengeance, we already know of three huge singles matches taking place at that pay-per-view event - Kurt Angle defending the World Title against Sean O'Haire as well as huge rematches pitting Edge against the Undertaker and Shelton Benjamin against Damien!
The night opens with a four-team elimination match pitting Terri Runnels' Playboys Lance Cade and Val Venis against La Resistance, The Ministry's Big Show and Kane, and Natural Born Thrillers Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli. Stamboli, Palumbo, and Kane carry most of the match. In the end, Palumbo blasts Show with a Jungle Kick to pick up the win for NBT.
Luther Reigns is still looking for his first WWE victory and he looks for it tonight against Mark Jindrak from the Natural Born Thrillers. Reigns puts up a good fight, but he again falls short as Jindrak blasts him with the Mark of Perfection for the win. After the match, just like on SmackDown!, Randy Orton hits the ring with a steel chair and lays both men out!
And, just like on SmackDown!, Orton grabs the microphone and cuts a promo about how there is a bidding war for his services between Vince McMahon and RAW's Eric Bischoff. Basically he's going to keep this up until somebody stops him.
Up next is a match that promises to be a technical masterpiece. Well, it should have. But for whatever reason it only gets a 72% quality rating. Regal picks up the win with the Power of the Punch over Charlie Haas.
Mickie James defends the Women's Title next against Jazz. Mickie has been a fighting champion since unseating Trish Stratus to win the belt. She continues her dominance of the Women's Division by hitting a tornado DDT for the win.
Backstage, Lance Storm opens up the door to his and Tommy Dreamer's dressing room. "Come on, it's time for our match." Everybody expects the Innovator of Violence to step out, but instead it's... Dawn Marie! Dawn Marie is the new manager of the ECW Originals!
Her charges have a WWE Tag Team Title match next against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho (former ECW stars in their own right) - Canadian Violence! This is a really exciting match that gets cut a little bit shorter than a lot of the fans would have liked. Storm winds up getting caught in a combination Crippler Crossface/Walls of Jericho and taps out. After the match, Rhyno and Rob Van Dam hit the ring and nail Jericho with a double powerbomb. After the match, they put Benoit through the announce table! ECW! ECW! ECW!
Up next, it's two of RAW's Vengeance participants - Edge and Damien - going one-on-one. These two put on a very physical match. Eventually, Edge sets up to hand Damien his second singles loss with a spear, but out of nowhere, Undertaker hangs Edge out to dry on the top rope. Damien capitalizes and nails Edge with his trademark DDT for the win. As the Ministry members pummel Edge, Shelton Benjamin rushes to the ring to make the save.
Backstage, the WWE Tag Team Champions are nursing their wounds. They hijack the camera crew and issue a challenge to RVD and Rhyno for Vengeance.
Benjamin remains in the ring for our next match against Sean O'Haire. These two put on a tremendous match. Shelton once again appears to be on the verge of superstardom as he goes blow-for-blow with the #1 contender for the World Title. Damien gets a measure of revenge by blasting Shelton from behind with a chair, allowing O'Haire to hit the Prophecy for the win. As O'Haire and Damien go to work on Benjamin, Kurt Angle hits the ring with a chair of his own to drive off the heels.
And now our main event between Undertaker and World CHampion Kurt Angle barely even gets started as Sean O'Haire returns to the ring for revenge, accidentally blasting Taker with a big clothesline allowing Angle to clamp on the Angle Lock. Taker struggles mightily but winds up passing out. O'Haire returns to the ring to go back to work on Angle, but Edge hits the ring to clear it and the babyfaces stand tall as we fade to black.
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