-Sorry for the late report; RAW was pre-empted here in Canada due to hockey.
Clips from last week's show are shown, including the announcement of Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels and Edge & Benoit winning the tag team titles.
Tonight, live from Topeka, Kansas, Ric Flair & Batista get a rematch for the tag team titles.
Lita & Victoria vs. Gail Kim & Molly Holly
-A kid at ringside turns down Victoria for a kiss. Gail and Victoria start things off and Victoria knocks her down with a clothesline before hitting a standing moonsault for one. Molly is tagged in and she aggressively goes after Victoria, working on her head area. Victoria fights back but Molly slams her head to the ground and tags out to Kim, who eventually hits a belly-to-back suplex on Victoria. Kim kicks away and then cheap-shots Lita, which gives the heels a chance to double team Victoria. Gail then locks on a head scissors and an armbar (at once) in some sort of submission maneuver so Lita breaks the hold. Lita gets tagged in and cleans house and nails Gail with a modified powerbomb while elsewhere, Victoria removes Molly's wig. As they head to the outside, Lita hits Gail with a DDT for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Molly tries to beat up Lita but Kane comes out and grabs Lita and traps her in a corner before stroking her and sniffing her. Kane smiles and puckers his lips for a kiss but Lita escapes and runs to the back where she runs into Matt Hardy. Matt says he has a match against Kane tonight and he'll make him pay for his actions. They hug but Kane comes up from behind and attacks Matt, throwing him like a rag doll into the walls. Officials eventually restrain Kane and take him away.
Jonathan Coachman comes down to the ring and starts to diss his hometown. Tajiri comes down and demands a rematch but Coach doesn't oblige and instead wants some Chinese food. Tajiri kicks Coach out of the ring so Garrison Cade comes out and escorts Coach away just as Triple H's music hits. Triple H comes out as Cade and Coach are walking by and laughs at them before joining Tajiri in the ring, where they both laugh some more. Triple H then sneaks behind Tajiri and low blows him saying he's in the wrong place in the wrong time.
Triple H then asks how it makes any sense that Shawn Michaels gets a title match when he's the one that tapped out at Backlash. Triple H also points out that he's the one who has saved Michaels numerous times from tapping out so if anyone should be wrestling Chris Benoit, it's him. Tajiri is still squirming around in the ring so Triple H says this is just like Shawn Michaels - he doesn't know when to stop, when to quit. With that, he picks Tajiri up only to get a big blast of green mist right in his face.
Backstage, Triple H storms into Eric Bischoff's office and starts talking to a plant because he's apparently blinded by the mist. Triple H then finds Bischoff and demands to wrestle Tajiri tonight. Bischoff obliges and leaves but Triple H keeps talking as if Bischoff is still in the room.
Rob Conway (w/ Sylvain Grenier) vs. Rhyno
-Eugene comes down for color commentary and names off the history of the Intercontinental title by saying the first ever winner (Pat Patterson), the city he won it and when. He then leaves the commentary table and starts playing in front of it as William Regal takes his spot alongside Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. Inside the ring, Conway is dominating Rhyno and there's a new ref in the ring who seems really enthusiastic with his pinfall counts. We also see that Eugene has wandered into the tech area of the arena and he accidentally sets off a bunch of pyro. This distracts Conway, allowing Rhyno to hit the Gore for the pinfall victory.
Backstage, La Resistance confronts Johnny Nitro about Eugene's interference. Conway demands to face Eugene tonight but William Regal interjects and argues against it, saying that Eugene can't even tie his own boots. Johnny decides that Regal has two weeks to get Eugene ready for the match.
Backstage, Edge and Chris Benoit are getting interviewed when Shawn Michaels interrupts. Michaels reminds Benoit not to forget about next week when they face each other for the world title. Benoit says one more time and it will be your last time. Benoit then tells Edge that tonight they will drive that final nail into Evolution's coffin.
Chris Benoit (w/ Trish Stratus & Tyson Tomko) vs. Grand Master Sexay
-Christian officially introduces Tyson Tomko before the match, saying that he's the problem-solver. The only thing left is for him to win the world title which is right about when Grand Master Sexay interrupts. Christian attacks GMS from behind and beats him down with kicks and punches. GMS fights back and heads to the top with his goggles on but Christian crotches him and hits the Unprettier for the pinfall victory. After the match, Tomko levels GMS in the face with a pretty vicious kick.
Chris Jericho's music hits so Tomko immediately runs up the ramp in search of him but Jerich outsmarts the bad guys by coming through the audience. He hucks Christian to the outside and then puts Trish Stratus into the Lionsault but Tomko runs back and rescues her.
Triple H vs. Tajiri
-Triple H starts off with the upperhand but Tajiri stops his offense and gets a couple near falls. Triple H then ends up outside where his head is rammed into the ring post. He can barely get back in the ring before the ten count but does manage before taking control of the match by whipping Tajiri from one corner into another. Tajiri tries to fight back with kicks and a spinning heel kick but Triple H kicks out again at two. Triple H gets up quickly and attempts to slow Tajiri down with an abdominal stretch but Tajiri ends up countering it only to get thrown to the mat. Triple H backs Tajiri into the corner and works away with his boot but Tajiri kicks him and attempts a Tarantula which is countered. Triple H then argues with the ref, allowing Tajiri to hit him with a missile dropkick from the top, but Triple H falls into the ref knocking him out too. As Triple H gets up, Tajiri goes for another dose of the green mist but Triple H ducks and attacks Tajiri before finishing him off with a Pedigree for the pinfall victory.
Kane vs. Matt Hardy
-Kane dominates an injured Matt, nailing him with two chokeslams before setting up for the Tombstone. Before he can execute the move, Lita runs down and gets on her knees and begs for Kane to stop. Kane grabs Lita, pushes her into the corner and gives her a kiss. Kane then leaves so I'm assuming that the match ended in a no contest or maybe Matt via countout. I dunno.
Jerry "The King" Lawler comes out and plugs the new 2004 Divas Swimsuit issue. He calls out Stacy Keibler and then introduces the "legendary" Harley Race at ringside. They're all interrupted by Randy Orton who is annoyed at the overuse of the word "legend". Orton claims that he's the only legend in the arena right now and he's accomplished more in his two years than Race accomplished over his career. Orton then says he'll do to Race what he did to Foley and he proceeds to spit in his face. Race tries to punch Orton but Orton runs back into the ring where he's met by Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin roughs up Orton, who recovers and runs to the back.
Backstage, Ric Flair and Batista talk about their upcoming match. Batista says he can't wait to make Benoit and Edge pay for what they did last week. He vows that the tag team titles will come back to Evolution tonight and Flair emphatically agrees.
Ric Flair & Batista vs. Chris Benoit & Ric Flair (Tag Team Title Match)
-Flair and Benoit things off but they don't last long with Flair first tagging out to Batista and then Benoit to Edge. Batista knocks Edge down with a clothesline and then starts driving his head into the turnbuckle. He swings him to the other turnbuckle and follows it up with a clothesline for a two count. Flair is tagged back in and he kicks away on Edge but a drop toehold by Edge leads to a modified Boston Crab prompting Batista to break it up. Flair misses a knee drop so Edge locks in the Figure Four Leglock. Benoit and Edge make some quick tags but Flair manages to tag out to Batista who goes head-to-head with Benoit. Benoit hits a belly-to-back suplex and tags out to Edge who misses the Spear. Batista kicks him in the back which sends him to the outside where Flair wraps Edge's broken hand around the ringpost as we head to commercial.
Ric Flair & Batista vs. Chris Benoit & Ric Flair (Tag Team Title Match) -- Continued
-As we come back, Edge struggles over to Benoit and makes the hot tag. Benoit knocks Batista down with a shoulder block and then takes out Flair with a back bodydrop. Snap suplex to Batista but Flair thumbs him in the eye and heads to the top where Benoit catches him. Clothesline sends Flair to the outside, allowing Benoit to hit Batista with three German suplexes. Benoit follows it up by heading to the top and hitting the flying headbutt before locking on the Crippler Crossface but Flair comes out of nowhere and kicks him in the face, breaking the hold. Batista now in the ring, working over Benoit's back. He locks in a half Boston Crab before tagging Flair. They take turns working on Benoit's back but Benoit refuses to stay down. Flair runs into some trouble so he tags out to Batista, who receives an enziguiri from Benoit, giving him enough time to tag out to Edge who cleans house as expected. All four men end up in the ring at once where Batista hits Benoit with a spinebuster as Edge takes Batista out over the top to the outside. Inside the ring, Flair goes for the Figure Four on Benoit but Edge returns and spears him for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Triple H runs in and attacks Benoit and Edge. He starts punching Benoit in the corner as Batista brings a chair in but Shawn Michaels runs down and takes the chair away and whacks him with it instead. Michaels then gets ready to clock Triple H but Triple H moves out of the way and Michaels nails Benoit instead. Michaels sends Triple H to the outside and explains the situation to an angry Edge, who seems to understand that it was accidental. They shake hands and start walking away but Benoit gets up and attacks Michaels, putting him in the Sharpshooter until Edge reasons with him. Benoit finally lets go but still looks pissed.
End of show.
