

November 2004 | Week 1 | RAW

After an early flurry from Mysterio, Booker T got back into the matchup by powerbombing Rey through a table. From there on it was all Booker as he made short work of Mysterio with an Axe Kick and the Scissor Kick to retain the Hardcore Championship he won from Edge at Halloween Havoc.
Rob Van Dam faced a tough test after winning the IC title at Halloween Havoc, taking on The Boogeyman. Boogeyman gave him all he could handle early on, even bloodying the champion after a series of hard hitting moves to the head. But Van Dam rallied. He was able to toss Boogeyman to ringside and hit a springboard senton on him before hitting him with the Rolling Thunder. RVD got him back in the ring to set up the Five Star Frog Splash but the lights went out and when they came back on Boogeyman appeared behind him. Boogeyman hit Van Dam with the Boogeybomb, but RVD was able to miraculously kick out at two. The match continued and RVD started to build momentum again, eventually hitting Boogeyman with a straight leg kick to the head and then this time getting the Five Star Frog Splash off to pin him for the win. After the match, though, Edge came out to "applaud" RVD's win. RVD laid the title down on the floor letting Edge know that if he wants it he can come try to take it from him.
D-X got a hardfought victory here over the Brothers of Destruction after Triple H hit a pedigree on Undertaker. Following the match, a new team, the O.C. came out to the stage to issue a challenge to D-Generation X. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows of the O.C. threw down a gauntlet and made a major statement going after the top tag team in the company for their debut feud.
Eddie Guerrero had a thrilling match with Jim Neidhart here, where his cruiserweight style contrasted with the hard-hitting bruiser style of Jim. The match would come to an end when Jim went for the piledriver but Guerrero was able to slip out of it and hit him with Step-Up Enzuguiri. He then followed that up with the Frog Splash to get the victory. After the match Eddie was celebrating with his United States Championship when the lights went dark and over the loudspeaker we heard, "Wrestling has more than one royal family," as the theme song of the "American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes, the son of the Dusty Rhodes blasted throughout the arena as the 2nd generation superstar made his debut. He stood on the ramp and said nothing but pointed right at Guerrero's United States Championship.
Kurt Angle started this match off hot, using his superior technical wrestling ability to outmaneuver the Texas Rattlesnake. He hit Austin with a German Suplex then started to get cocky, pulling down his straps and playing to the crowd. Angle then walked over to Austin looking to pick him up for an Angle Slam, but Austin was playing possum! He rolled up Angle into a small package and nearly got the three count. A frustrated Angle got up quickly and nearly walked into a Stone Cold Stunner, but managed to slip out of it and get behind Austin to hit him with another Angle Slam that he wouldn't kick out of this time. Angle celebrated becoming the #1 contender, but celebration was cut short though when the champ, Brock Lesnar, came running down to the ring and blasted him over the head with the title. He then said, "You're never taking this from me," while standing over Angle triumphantly with the title raised.








