Royal Rumble (2004)
Royal Rumble (2004) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event made by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on January 25, 2004, at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the 17th Royal Rumble event held by WWE.
| Royal Rumble (2004) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | |||
| Brand (s) | Raw SmackDown! | |||
| Date | January 25, 2004 | |||
| Attendance | 17,289[1][2] | |||
| Venue | Wachovia Center | |||
| City | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Royal Rumble chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
As is the case every year since the event's beginning, the event's main event was the 30-man over-the-top-rope battle royal, also known as the Royal Rumble match. The match started with two wrestlers and a new one was added every 90 seconds. To eliminate an opposing wrestler he must be thrown over the top rope and have both his two feet hit the floor, this continued until there was only one man left, who was named the winner. The winner received a world championship match at WrestleMania XX. Starting this year, he was allowed choose whether he wanted to face Raw's World Heavyweight Champion or SmackDown's WWE Champion.
Qualification matches
- John Cena and Chris Benoit defeated The Full Blooded Italians (Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo, and Johnny Stamboli) in a handicap match – SmackDown!, January 1[3]
- Rico defeated Tommy Dreamer – Heat, January 18[4]
- Matt Morgan defeated Orlando Jordan – Velocity, January 17[5]
- Rikishi defeated Scotty 2 Hotty – SmackDown!, January 18[6]
- The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) defeated The Basham Brothers (Doug and Danny Basham) – SmackDown!, January 15[6]
- Nunzio defeated Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli in a triple threat battle royal – SmackDown!, January 15[6]
- Big Show defeated Funaki – SmackDown!, January 15[6]
- Tajiri defeated Billy Kidman – SmackDown!, January 22[7]
- A-Train defeated Shannon Moore – SmackDown!, January 22[7]
- Bradshaw defeated Akio and Sakoda in a triple threat match – SmackDown!, January 22[7]
Results
| No. | Results[1] | Stipulations | Times[1] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1H | Victoria (with Steven Richards) defeated Molly Holly | Singles match | 4:58 |
| 2 | Evolution (Batista and Ric Flair) (c) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) | Tables match for the World Tag Team Championship | 4:22 |
| 3 | Rey Mysterio (c) defeated Jamie Noble (with Nidia) | Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship | 3:12 |
| 4 | Eddie Guerrero defeated Chavo Guerrero (with Chavo Guerrero Sr.) | Singles match | 8:04 |
| 5 | Brock Lesnar (c) defeated Hardcore Holly | Singles match for the WWE Championship | 6:30 |
| 6 | Triple H (c) vs. Shawn Michaels ended in a draw | Last Man Standing match for the World Heavyweight Championship | 22:47 |
| 7 | Chris Benoit won by last eliminating Big Show | 30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at WrestleMania XX | 1:01:31 |
| |||
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
- – Raw
- – SmackDown!
- – Winner
| Draw[8] | Entrant[8] | Brand | Order eliminated[9] | Eliminated by[9] | Time[9] | Eliminations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Benoit | SmackDown! | — | Winner | 1:01:31[a] | 6 |
| 2 | Randy Orton | Raw | 19 | Mick Foley | 33:44 | 5 |
| 3 | Mark Henry | 3 | Chris Benoit | 05:14 | 1 | |
| 4 | Tajiri | SmackDown! | 2 | Rhyno and Mark Henry | 03:39 | 0 |
| 5 | Bradshaw | 1 | Chris Benoit | 00:38 | 0 | |
| 6 | Rhyno | 8 | 14:00 | 1 | ||
| 7 | Matt Hardy | Raw | 9 | René Duprée | 14:18 | 0 |
| 8 | Scott Steiner | 5 | Booker T | 06:49 | 0 | |
| 9 | Matt Morgan | SmackDown! | 11 | Chris Benoit | 12:14 | 1 |
| 10 | The Hurricane | Raw | 4 | Matt Morgan | 00:19 | 0 |
| 11 | Booker T | 13 | Randy Orton | 09:11 | 2 | |
| 12 | Kane | 6 | Booker T | 01:40 | 1 | |
| 13 | Spike Dudley[b] | 7 | Unable to compete | 00:00 | 0 | |
| 14 | Rikishi | SmackDown! | 12 | Randy Orton | 03:48 | 1 |
| 15 | René Duprée | Raw | 10 | Rikishi | 00:33 | 1 |
| 16 | A-Train | SmackDown! | 14 | Chris Benoit | 01:44 | 0 |
| 17 | Shelton Benjamin | 15 | Randy Orton | 00:37 | 0 | |
| 18 | Ernest Miller | 16 | 00:56 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Kurt Angle | 28 | Big Show | 29:04 | 1 | |
| 20 | Rico | Raw | 17 | Randy Orton | 01:06 | 0 |
| 21 | Mick Foley[c] | 18 | Himself | 00:43 | 2 | |
| 22 | Christian | 20 | Chris Jericho | 07:39 | 0 | |
| 23 | Nunzio | SmackDown! | 23 | Goldberg | 03:48 | 0 |
| 24 | Big Show | 29 | Chris Benoit | 22:38 | 4 | |
| 25 | Chris Jericho | Raw | 27 | Big Show | 14:58 | 1 |
| 26 | Charlie Haas | SmackDown! | 21 | Goldberg | 06:53 | 0 |
| 27 | Billy Gunn | 22 | 05:37 | 0 | ||
| 28 | John Cena | 25 | Big Show | 07:37 | 0 | |
| 29 | Rob Van Dam | Raw | 26 | Big Show | 06:44 | 0 |
| 30 | Goldberg | 24 | Kurt Angle | 02:04 | 3 |
- ↑ Benoit broke the record for the longest time spent in a Royal Rumble match, which was previously held by Bob Backlund (1:01:10) in 1993. This record was broken by Rey Mysterio (1:02:15) in 2006.
- ↑ Dudley was attacked by Kane before he made it to the ring, and therefore was unable to compete and never officially entered the match.
- ↑ Foley replaced Test, who was found unconscious.
Royal Rumble (2004) Media
The event was held at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Royal Rumble 2004 Results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2004 official results". World Wrestling Entertainment. January 25, 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
- ↑ Giebink, Dusty (January 2, 2004). "1/1 Smackdown review: Giebink's detailed report on show". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
- ↑ Maes, Jeremy (January 28, 2004). "1/18 WWE Heat review: Test, Scott Steiner, Bizzaro Born Thrillers, Miss Jackie". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
- ↑ Giebink, Dusty (January 18, 2004). "1/17 Velocity review: Dragon vs. Moore, Morgan vs. Jordan for a spot in the Rumble". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Plummer, Dale (January 16, 2004). "Smackdown: Heyman loves his soaps". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plummer, Dale (January 23, 2004). "Smackdown: Guerrero family feud grows". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Rumble Match: Chris Benoit (spot No. 1) wins the Royal Rumble Match". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 16, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2011.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Royal Rumble 2004". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on February 26, 2011. Retrieved April 8, 2011.