, who had won the Royal Rumble the night before as a SmackDown! superstar, appeared on Raw. Leveraging a loophole in the rules, he announced his intention to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX , officially defecting from SmackDown! to the Raw brand. The Return of Mick Foley The night also featured the long-awaited return of Mick Foley
The show opened with a heavy dose of uncertainty. At the Royal Rumble, the World Heavyweight Championship match between Triple H and Shawn Michaels had ended in a draw. Both men had been left unconscious, unable to answer the referee's ten-count. As Raw went live, the status of the title was the primary talking point. wwe raw january 26 2004
The “Sheriff of Stamford,” as he called himself, walked to the stage with a rare look of indecision. Bischoff admitted that the finish of the Rumble made WWE look bad. He couldn’t simply strip Triple H of the title, but he couldn’t let Michaels be cheated. , who had won the Royal Rumble the
A solid mid-card filler match that served to make Randy Orton look like a future world champion. The Hurricane (Gregory Helms) got in his usual comic relief spots—eye pokes and the “Eye of the Hurricane”—but Orton was in full “Legend Killer” mode. to the Raw brand
Post-match, Benoit didn't celebrate. He grabbed a microphone and looked directly at the Evolution locker room.
