WWE "Taboo Tuesday" - RAW™ Pay-Per-View
Location: The Bradley Centre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
by "Rockin" Robin Drodge
Event
Date: October 19, 2004
Report Date: October 24 2004
This was a RAW™ only Pay-Per-View. It was the very first Interactive Pay-Per-View in that the fans got to make all of the decisions and they got to control the fate of the RAW™ Superstars at "Taboo Tuesday".
It started with Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler, followed by welcoming the Spanish announcers for the Pay-Per-View, and actually showed them speaking in Spanish.
Then everything started. Jonathan "The Coach" Coachman was the Master of Ceremonies (MC) for the night. The Divas were shown on the ramp waiting to find out what their ring attire would be for the Fulfil Your Fantasy Battle Royal. The Coach said he was going to ask the live audience for their reaction as to what they would want the Divas to wear. Fans booed for the French Maid outfit and the Nurse's Uniform but cheered loudly for the School Girl Outfits. They then went to the Internet voting results, which indicated 53% in favour of the School Girl Outfits. The Divas then left to get ready for their match, and then the Intercontinental Championship match was discussed. This was the very first match. The Coach went through all the names of the Superstars that were on the list so the Milwaukee fans could decide who they wanted to see Chris Jericho wrestle for the Championship. The list included the following superstars: Christian, The Hurricane, Rosey, William Regal, Val Venis, Steven Richards, Rhyno, Maven, Tyson Tomko, Shelton Benjamin, Chuck Palumbo, Tajiri, Jonathan Coachman, Batista and Rodney Mack. It was noted that Val Venis's name was taken off the list due to an injury he received. The live fans didn't really know who to support given the fact there were 14 Superstars to choose from. It was announced that Shelton Benjamin was the Milwaukee fans' favourite to wrestle Chris Jericho in the first match. After this the Internet voting results revealed that by a percentage of 37 percent, it would be Shelton Benjamin wrestling Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship.
Match number one - Intercontinental Championship Chris Jericho VS Shelton Benjamin. This match was very good and both wrestlers went back and forth at it. The fans were also into it. Benjamin had hit a T-bone suplex on Jericho to pick up the pin-fall victory to become the new Intercontinental Champion. Next, Todd Grisham conducted an interview backstage with Edge, Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels to have them explain to the fans for the final time why they should vote for them to wrestle Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Edge said he deserved the title match and if there was any justice in this world, he will walk out as the World Champion. Benoit said he hasn't lost to Triple H and if the fans are tired of Triple H and Evolution dominating RAW™ then they should vote for him. Shawn Michaels said that even though he was injured, he would give it all he got to wrestle against Triple H for the Championship. Michaels got the best reaction from the Milwaukee fans out of the three. The Internet voting results showed 39% in favour of Shawn Michaels to wrestle Triple H for the Championship. Edge was not happy with the results. He said that it should have been him wrestling Triple H instead of Shawn Michaels.
Match number two - Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal for the WWE™ Women's Championship. This saw seven Divas in this match. These Divas included the following: the Champion - Trish Stratus, Jazz, Nidia, Victoria, Gail Kim, Molly Holly and Stacy Keibler. The rules were, you could do whatever you wanted to throw them over the ropes but both their feet had to hit the floor in order for them to be eliminated. As the Divas made their way out to the ring they wore School Girl Outfits for their ring attire. This was a good match with eliminations occurring rapidly. The three remaining Divas were Trish, Stacy and Molly. Molly eliminated Stacy, leaving Trish and Molly to go at it to decide who would leave with the Women's Championship. While Molly was celebrating her elimination of Stacy, Trish came up from behind and eliminated Molly to win the match and to retain the Women's Championship.
Match number three - "Weapon Of Choice match", Kane VS Gene Snitsky. The Coach asked the fans what type of weapon they wanted to see in this match. The favourite was a Steel Chain. Then they went to the Internet voting and the results showed 41 percent of the fans had voted for a Steel Chain, so this was the weapon used in this match. Lita was at ringside for this match in the corner of Kane to support him - can you believe it? Snitsky was on a lot of the offence for the match. The chain was used a lot in the match between both Kane and Snitsky.
For example, Kane clotheslined Snitsky with the chain and then wrapped it around his fist. Snitsky drove the chain in Kane's face and whipped him with the chain repeatedly.
Snitsky then grabbed a Steel Chair and brought it into the ring, which was not a weapon that could be used in the match, but he used it anyways, and hit Kane in the throat with it. He did this again and again. He then placed the chair over Kane's neck, and then jumped off the top rope onto Kane. Kane was bleeding everywhere. Lita was very concerned over this. Jim Ross stated that the referee had stopped the match, however the bell did not ring, therefore the match continued and Snitsky covered Kane to score the pin-fall to end the match. After the match, the EMT's quickly came to Kane's rescue. Jim Ross said that Kane was having difficulty breathing and it looked to him like Kane's windpipe had been crushed. They then placed Kane on a stretcher. Out of nowhere, Snitsky came out and knocked Kane off the stretcher and started to beat on him again.
Match number four - Eric Bischoff VS Eugene. They did this match differently, what they did was have them wrestle first and then reveal the Internet voting results of the stipulation the loser would have to perform after the match. The three possible stipulations were: (1) the loser would have to become the winner's servant; (2) the loser would have to wear a dress for an entire month; (3) the loser would have to get their head shaved bald. Eugene had dropped a patented Hulk Hogan Leg Drop to pick up the pin-fall victory. After the match ended they went to the Internet Voting results. It was shown that 59 percent of the fans voted for the loser to get his head shaved bald. The Coach then asked the fans in attendance for the Pay-Per-View what they wanted to see. Once he asked the fans if they wanted to see Bischoff get his head shaved bald they went nuts. The Coach said the fans that he just asked wanted to see Bischoff first wear a dress. The fans did not like this so he then changed his mind and said that they wanted to see Bischoff become Eugene's Servant. After a few seconds, the Coach then announced that Eric Bischoff would have to be Eugene's Servant for five minutes. Vince McMahon's music started playing as he made his way to the ring. He said he had created the idea of "Taboo Tuesday" and the fans would make all of the decisions and the results were they wanted to see the loser, which was Eric Bischoff, get his head shaved bald. He said that this would take place. Bischoff said he was not going to do it. McMahon said if Bischoff did not get his head shaved bald then he would be fired as the General Manager of RAW™. He had a choice - either to get his head shaved bald or get fired. Finally, Bischoff was put in the barber chair and the shaving started.
While this was taking place, McMahon ordered the Coach into the ring and said the Coach would pay for what he had done. He then picked up the dress that was at ringside and said, "This looks like your size… Coach"! He then demanded that the Coach take off his shirt and then his pants before putting on the dress. The Coach screamed out…. not my pants! While he was taking off his pants, McMahon said, "I hope you have something underneath those pants"! It was funny because the Coach was wearing Boxer shorts.
Match number five - World Tag Team Championship La Resistance VS the team of Edge and Chris Benoit. The two individuals that did not get voted in to wrestle Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship would wrestle for the World Tag Team Championship. This was Benoit and Edge. It seemed that Edge was not into this match or involved that much. At one point in the match, Edge had enough and walked out on Benoit and went back to the dressing room where he got his bag and went outside of the arena and hopped into his car. This meant that Benoit would have to wrestle La Resistance on his own. Amazingly enough, Benoit locked in the crippler crossface on Robere Conway, in that Conway tapped out to the move resulting in Edge and Benoit becoming the new World Tag Team Champions.
Match number six - Christy VS Carmella. The stipulations for this match included the following: an Aerobics Challenge, Lingerie Pillow Fight or an Evening Gown Match. The coach asked the fans what they wanted to see and they gave their approval for the Lingerie Pillow Fight match. Then they went to the Internet to see what the fans had voted on and it was indeed the Lingerie Pillow Fight and the results showed this selection to be 56 percent. The two Divas took off their robes and got ready for the match. Christy pulled a booby enhancement from Carmella's top and threw it in the crowd. Carmella shoved Christy around and then the two went at it, pillows and feathers flying everywhere. The match didn't last very long. It saw Christy pick up the pin-fall victory over Carmella.
Match number seven - World Heavyweight Championship Triple H VS Shawn Michaels. The previous night on RAW™ in a triple threat match, Shawn Michaels injured his knee resulting in some major damage. In an earlier interview he did after the Intercontinental Championship match he did acknowledge that he was injured and said he had a torn Meniscus in his left knee. Triple H did not believe that the injury was for real and he thought that Shawn was using this to get sympathy from the fans. Shawn Michaels limped his way to the ring. This match went ahead and for the most part saw Triple H in control of the match. You could see that Shawn Michaels was injured because he had to be close to the ropes for a lot of the match and he could not stand up on his feet for very long. Triple H, like anyone else, once it is known someone has an injury, will focus more on the injured body part. At some points in the match, the referee, Mike Chioda was considering maybe stopping the match. Shawn Michaels did not want this to happen so he continued the match. Michaels had hit Triple H with a low blow and then hit a DDT. Then he followed up with an elbow off the top rope and tried to go for his finisher, the Sweet Chin music. He attempted it but Batista came down and got on the ring apron, which distracted the Referee. Then Michaels went for the Sweet Chin music and had hit it. He did not go for a pin; this could have won the match for him; in which he could have possibly won the Championship. However, when he turned around, Edge speared him, resulting in Triple H pinning Michaels to pick up the pin-fall victory to retain his Championship.
Match number eight - The Main Event, Randy Orton VS Ric Flair. The three stipulations, which were choices for the fans to choose from, were Falls Count Anywhere, Submission or a Steel Cage. The Coach ran through the choices and asked the fans for the final time what they wanted to see for this match. The fans were very much in favour of the Steel Cage match. Then they went to the Internet voting for the final time and it revealed that the majority of voters, with the highest percentage for the night at 68 percent wanted Orton and Flair to wrestle in a Steel Cage match. Flair and Orton went back and forth trading chops on each other. Both of them had their heads busted open from when they ran into the steel cage. Orton and Flair had put on a very good match. The ending for the Flair and Orton match saw Flair trying to escape the cage by going out the door. He was close and noticed the Referee who was outside the ring was sitting on a steel chair. He reached out and grabbed the chair and brought it into the ring and tried to use it on Orton. However, he missed and Orton had hit the RKO resulting in Orton picking up the pin-fall victory. After the match it saw Flair and Orton hugging each other, followed by a handshake. This was a very nice gesture.
This was an enjoyable Pay-Per-View. Approximately four million fans voted on the WWE™ website for this Pay-Per-View event.
Some additional comments related to "Taboo Tuesday".
ü First, for the last few WWE™ Pay-Per-View events, it was not revealed how many people were in attendance. It would be great knowing this information.
ü Next, I would like to comment on the Voting procedure. The voting started on Monday, October 18, 2004 at 10 p.m. Eastern time. I heard the actual polls opened 10 minutes earlier than the time announced. I tried several times to vote on my computer with the use of a screen reader (JAWS). I am visually impaired. I realize there may not be many visually impaired people in Canada or the United States interested in Wrestling, but if there are, I think the WWE™ should change the way the website is designed in order for them to vote.
Here is an example of what I experienced once I entered the wwe.com website. I understand from others there were photos for all of the matches. I checked on the Superstar that I wanted to see Triple H wrestle against for the World Heavyweight Championship, and then it asked me for a security code number. I couldn't see the number they were talking about and my computer software didn't read it to me, so I could not vote. I tried several things and no luck. I then contacted a person by email to check the website for me and tell me what the security code number was on their computer. I was given the number and thought that it would work for me. I typed in the number only to get a message saying it was invalid. I assumed at that point that everyone's computer had a different security code number. This was rather discouraging. It ended up; I had to have someone else do the voting for me on their computer. I would have loved to be able to participate in the voting process by doing it my own way.
The other accessibility concern that I had was at the Pay-Per-View when they revealed the Internet results. They did not read out loud all the percentages, however it was displayed on the screen. I had no idea what the fans had selected for the various Stipulations in the matches and the Challengers for the World Heavyweight Championship and the Intercontinental Championship. Yes, some of the results were read out loud but for most of the time you had to look at the screen in order to find out what the fans had decided. I had to rely on someone to read me the results so I am hoping if the WWE™ decides to do something similar to this, that in the future they would take into consideration that there may be people out there, such as myself, using a screen reader. I watched this Pay-Per-View event from home and really enjoyed it.
ü I was shocked to see Shelton Benjamin win the Intercontinental Championship because the previous month Chris Jericho had just won the Championship. However, it was a surprise and it made the fans happy in that they decided to vote for Benjamin and then he won the Championship. I don't know what they are going to do with the World Tag Team Championship. I question if Chris Benoit will wrestle on his own and defend the titles by himself, or if they will allow him to get a new partner to defend the titles, or if Benoit will give one title to Edge, in which they will reluctantly team up and defend the Championship.
ü I thought the World Heavyweight Championship match was going to be stopped because of Shawn Michaels' knee injury. It was easy to see that he was injured when he was screaming in pain, so I thought that in order to prevent further damage to his knee they would stop the match and then have Chris Benoit come out and win the World title. However, this did not happen. Maybe it was good for Michaels to wrestle the match because it showed even though he had a serious injury he was prepared to go into the ring and risk being further injured just to make the fans happy. He certainly got the respect of the fans for his match at "Taboo Tuesday". I don't know what they are trying to do with Edge. I can only guess that they are setting up a feud between Edge and Shawn Michaels or Chris Benoit. This is also making Edge to be a hated person and to be a full-fledged "heel". I have no idea if they will give Edge a World title match or not. In my opinion right now he is not ready to wrestle for the World title or to be the World Champion due to the fact he has a limited amount of moves in his arsenal. This is nothing personal against Edge.
ü I think the reason that Kane received a supposedly crushed throat is to explain his absence from the WWE™. Kane and John Cena were selected to be in two upcoming WWE™ produced movies. The first movie has already started to be filmed, while the other movie is scheduled to start filming in November. The WWE™ have already explained John Cena's absence on SmackDown™ when they announced that he was involved in a bar fight after SmackDown™ took place in Boston.
ü I'm not surprised that Trish Stratus retained the Women's Championship because she seems to be the best Diva on RAW™ right now. I believe once Lita returns from her supposed pregnancy that she will start to compete in the ring and get ready to start a feud with Trish over the Women's Championship. I think Lita will win the Championship. The WWE™ needs to attract new Divas that can actually wrestle because right now the existing Divas are feuding over and over.
This
has been another report for The Canadian Connection by your author,
"Rockin" Robin Drodge.
(This page was last updated on 2007-01-01 )
© 2004 Robin Drodge, All Rights Reserved
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