WWE Raw, 5/2/2005, it's the Gold-Rush tournament for a new #1 contender for Batista's World Title after HHH was unsuccessful in his return match the night before at Backlash. Of course, it's more known for the Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin match, but the card was pretty good, you had Christian vs. Kane, and Jericho vs. Edge in the first round of the tourney. One of my favorite episodes of Raw.
Okay, awesome, let's start this off:
We open with Batista flirting with Christy Hemme, but damn, Eric Bischoff with that cockblock!
Bischoff's hair...looks super weird here. Greying buzz-cut doesn't quite work...
Ooooh, Bischoff just got punked! I forgot how good Batista was in 2005.
Christian vs. Kane starts us off, and man, Christian's music is a banger here! This should be a great match. I vaguely remember watching this show at the time...
So is Snitsky a thing at this point yet? I can't remember? I don't think so, though.
It's very weird seeing Kane play the "face in peril" to Christian.
Christian standing on Kane's back in the ropes: Love it, forgot about that move.
Kane with the BIG chokeslam to advance in the Gold Rush! Fun little match, nothing amazing, but Christian gets a few great "sneaky shit heel spots".
Haha, Flair adds insult to injury with a little "rap" on Christian. What a dick!
Vaguely cringy in hindsight Hogan promo to the tune of "One More Match". Oh, it's for the previous night's Backlash match. Eh....
Oh, shit, it's Muhammad Hussan!
Honestly, does he NEED the keffiyeh? I get that that's the "boo cue", but....
Pretty nothing promo ends with Hassan slapping the bitch off Daivari's face, but I'd be lying if I said that Hassan wasn't red hot, even if it's a terrible kind of heat.
Damn, though, Daivari sells that slap like he got hit with a baseball bat. Good work.
Oh shit, it's big Viscera! Ah, we're setting up the "World's Largest Lover" gimmick, but he's not quite there yet. Fun.
Vis wants to go "south of the border" on Lillian, which is.....yikes.
Haha, I forgot how much I loved Simon Dean.
Quick match goes about the way you'd expect. Simon gets squashed. Still, pretty entertaining for Simon's promo work.
Another indecent proposal to Lillian Garcia. Talk about a storyline that wouldn't fly in 2018.
Bischoff flirts with Stacy Kiebler, but the mood shifts when Triple H throws a tempter tantrum in his face about the tournament.
Triple H tries for "intense", but really only hits "petulant".
Maria interviews Shelton Benjamin, and holy balls, he looks so young here.
Weird discussion between Shelton and Jericho. I can't tell if Jericho's a heel here or not.
Oh, this was shortly after Candido's passing. That's a bummer...
Well, here comes the big match. Shelton vs. HBK. Let's see if it lives up to the nostalgia.
Shawn's pop, surprisingly, doesn't feel that strong.
It's hard to find something entertaining to say about this match, because I'm too busy trying to keep up with them. Quite a pace.
HBK is great with the facial acting here. Selling frustration that he's actually a step behind someone.
Damn, that backbreaker Shelton hits mid-match!
You can always see Shawn's kip-up spot coming a mile away. But the look on his face when Benjamin followed suit was amazing.
I forgot HBK bled for this match.
It feels like Hebner started to take a bump off of nothing, but forgot about it a second later.
Jesus, Shelton was just an athletic freak.
Damn, that SCM is just as impactful now as it was then. Amazing moment, and an absolute example of winning by losing for Shelton. Shame there was never any long-term follow-through on it, though.
Todd Grisham playing mind games with Edge over his Money in The Bank Briefcase. So weird to see that gimmick in it's infancy. And some Lita/Edge foreshadowing?
Hurricane and Rosey out next with those Tag Title belts! And they are against the crap 2/3rds of La Resistance.
Rosey with that lukewarm tag, and Hurricane puts the Quebec boys away in a short, fairly dull match. Too much Rosey.
Neat little prelude to Eddie's heel turn in the Smackdown rebound. Great stuff all around.
Third first round match is Edge vs....Chris Jericho! Should be awesome!
Damn, Jericho takes a risky bump being shoved over the top turnbuckle to the floor.
Edge with some goofy dancing, but he pays for it.
"Boring" chants from the crowd, and while I won't quite go that far....yeah, these guys are off a step. The Walls of Jericho gets a huge pop, though.
Edge with the briefcase shot, but he can't pull it off until he hits the Spear!
Great finish to a slow, kind of dull match.
So now the only question is to who Trip's opponent is. I wait with baited breath!
Happy birthday, Rock!
Chris Masters is out in the Umaga spot, and I'm guessing it's time for the Masterlock Challenge!
Masters with some of that easy "Boston vs. New York" heat, which I love, and a Tom Brady football into the bargain?
And our victim tonight is....some thick indy guy....who is this guy? I love this guy.
And he does not last long, Masters makes short work of tubby. Actually pretty fun segment, though, Masters was an underrated promo.
And now it's time for our MAIN EVENT! And it's Triple H vs.....
Chris Benoit is here! And he's very mad! Chris Benoit is here and he's very angrrrrrrrry!
Damn, they're going for blood early with finisher teases! Love the story of both guys being a little desperate, coming into the tourney with losses the previous night.
Jesus, Benoit took a frightening bump, and the look on his face afterwards is...haunting.
They slow it way down after the break with a sleeper.
I keep expecting Flair to swerve Triple H for some reason....what show AM I remembering where that happens?
The diving headbutt is....uncomfortable to watch.
Ref bump leads to a beatdown, leads to Batista to the rescue!
Jesus, Batista nearly kills Flair with a sloppy back body drop!
Benoit sits on that Sharpshooter(and not a great one, either), while Batista trolls Triple H and pulls the rope back! God, I love this version of Batista.
Benoit gets the submission! Fun, short brawl with a great ending.
Overall, a pretty great episode of Raw. Really wrestling-heavy. There were a couple of crap squash matches, and Jericho/Edge felt like it didn't get out of first gear, but yeah, this was a super fun show, and HBK/Benjamin really holds up as a great tv match.
