branana06 Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 December 31, 2003 Coming into the new year, Evolution was on top of the world. After gaining hold of all four men's titles on RAW at Armageddon, they looked unstoppable heading into the new year. Triple H was in a continuous grudge rivalry with Shawn Michaels. Randy Orton was proving his “Legend Killer” moniker against Co-General Manager Mick Foley. Ric Flair and Batista had former champions The Dudley Boyz hot on their heels. Elsewhere on the card, Chris Jericho and Christian were deep into their friendly rivalry over fellow Canadian Trish Stratus. Molly Holly was on top of a relatively weak women's division, and Kane was seeking some sort of response from The Undertaker, who hadn’t been seen since he was buried alive at the hands of Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself. While RAW was running strong with Evolution, Smackdown had been continuing to make itself known as the workhorse of the WWE. Smackdown featured some incredible in-ring action every week, with players like Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit tearing it up every week on the blue brand. Reigning WWE Champion Brock Lesnar faced new competition in the form of Hardcore Holly, who had returned at Survivor Series after over a year away after a broken neck from a botched powerbomb at the hands of Lesnar himself. The Guerrero family was in turmoil as Chavo and his uncle Eddie were imploding as a team. As well, Smackdown featured young, hungry up and comers who were destined to become big stars, including John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and Shelton Benjamin. Outside of WWE, the independent and international scenes were strong, as Total Nonstop Action and Ring Of Honor continued to get bigger. Overseas, New Japan Pro-Wrestling was huge, mixing veterans like Tatsumi Fujinami and Masahiro Chono with young stars like Shinsuke Nakamura, with All Japan Pro Wrestling in a strong state as well. With both brands in strong positions headed into the new year and a thriving indy scene with worthy talent all over the place, 2004 was looking like a potentially groundbreaking year for WWE. However, if there’s one company that can take positives and turn them into overwhelming negatives, it is WWE. In the midst of it all, two words stood out among anything else. Ruthless Aggression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branana06 Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 Monday Night RAW World Heavyweight Championship Holder: Triple H (3rd Time) Days Held: 22 Won At: Armageddon 2003 Defeated: Goldberg and Shawn Michaels Previous Champions: Intercontinental Championship Holder: Randy Orton (1st Time) Days Held: 22 Won At: Armageddon 2003 Defeated: Rob Van Dam Previous Champions: World Tag Team Championships Holders: Batista and Ric Flair (1st Time) Days Held: 22 Won At: Armageddon 2003 Defeated: The Dudley Boyz (Tag Team Turmoil Match) Previous Champions: Women's Championship Holder: Molly Holly (2nd Time) Days Held: 140 Won At: Raw (Week 4, July 2003) Defeated: Gail Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branana06 Posted February 1, 2022 Author Share Posted February 1, 2022 Friday Night SmackDown! WWE Championship Holder: Brock Lesnar (3rd Time) Days Held: 99 Won At: SmackDown (Week 3, September 2003) Defeated: Kurt Angle (Iron Man Match) Previous Champions: United States Championship Holder: The Big Show (1st Time) Days Held: 71 Won At: No Mercy 2003 Defeated: Eddie Guerrero Previous Champions: WWE Tag Team Championships Holders: Danny and Doug Basham (1st Time) Days Held: 64 Won At: SmackDown (Week 4, October 2003) Defeated: Los Guerreros Previous Champions: WWE Cruiserweight Championship Holder: Rey Mysterio (2nd Time) Days Held: 3 Won At: SmackDown: (Week 4, December 2003) Defeated: Tajiri Previous Champions: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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