Raw

Card Information:
 Held in: ROY WILKENS AUDITORIUM
Location: MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES
          on August 2004 at 9:00pm

Interview:
The Highlight Reel...
Click here to see highlights.

Benoit and Jericho go face to face, as Y2J is added to the Summerslam title
match.  Also, the main event for the evening is announced as a defence of the
IC title by Benoit against Val Venis.


16-Man Battle Royal:
Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon won an 8-team Battle Royal:
         x LaFon threw out Bradshaw (partner: Faarooq) after
a spinning leg lariat in 0:04:20
         x DiBiase threw out Chavo (partner: Eddie Guerrero) after
a swinging neckbreaker in 0:09:32
         x R. Dupree threw out Jannetty (partner: Al Snow) in 0:14:10
         x Furnas threw out Big Show (partner: Ted DiBiase) in 0:19:46
         x R. Dupree threw out Danny (partner: Doug Basham) in 0:21:24
         x S. Grenier threw out Nash (partner: Scott Hall) in 0:26:53
         x Furnas threw out R. Dupree (partner: Sylvan Grenier) after a DDT in
           0:31:18
Rating: *** 1/2

Furnas and LaFon will now fight Kaientai for the tag titles at Summerslam.


Shawn Michaels pinned Shane Douglas with the Sweet Chin Music in 0:15:08.
Rating: *** 3/4

It took two superkicks in the long run, but HBK came out with the win.


Interview:
Regal makes matches...
Click here to see highlights.

William Regal puts Shane O Mac in a handicap match.


Handicap-Match:
Evolution (Ric Flair and Triple H) defeated Shane McMahon when Flair defeated
Shane O Mac by disqualification in 0:09:00.
Rating: **

Knowing that he was outmatched, Shane O Mac broke almost every rule he could
think of.  That eventually led to him being DQ'd for repeatedly choking Flair.


Bret Hart and Dean Malenko defeated Sting and Rob Van Dam when B. Hart made RVD
 submit to the Sharpshooter in 0:08:51.
Rating: *** 1/4

Try as he might, RVD could not escape the Sharpshooter.  The same thing may
be the case at Summerslam.


Interview:
Jarrett speaks...
Click here to see highlights.

Jeff Jarrett spells out his plan for Summerslam.


Brock Lesnar pinned Hurricane Helms after a sitdown faceslam in 0:14:09.
Rating: *** 3/4

Hurricane gave Lesnar all he had, but it wasn't enough.


No-Countout-No-DQ-Two-out-of-three-Falls Match:
Chris Benoit beat Val Venis 2 falls to 0:
         x Benoit beat Venis via a power bomb in 0:15:33
         x Benoit beat Venis via the Crippler Crossface in 0:25:19
Rating: **** 1/4
(Chris Benoit retained the WWE Intercontinental Championship.)
[Paul Heyman interfered against Val Venis.]
Click here to see highlights.

Benoit got the victory in straight falls, but this would not have been the
case, had Paul Heyman not placed Benoit's foot on the ropes when he was certain
to be pinned.



Card rating: *** 1/2


Match observations: 

Another great match-up from Chris Benoit and Val Venis.  If you wanted to be
sure of a great match, you simply need to put these two together.  And when we
get to Summerslam, throwing Chris Jericho into the mix could be just what's
needed to bump it up to five stars.

We also discovered tonight that Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon will face Kaientai
for the tag titles at Summerslam.  Furnas and LaFon aren't exactly the most
charismatic wrestlers in the business, but they'll give it their all when the
gold is on the line, that's for certain.

Bret Hart made RVD tap to the Sharpshooter here tonight.  However, when tag
team partners are out of the way, and it's down to a one on one contest, it
will be anybody's guess as to who will come out on top.

Another defeat for Shane McMahon here tonight, but by getting himself DQ'd, he
saved himself from a much worse beating at the hands of Triple H and Ric Flair.
It will be intriguing to see what Regal has planned next for Shane on the next
Smackdown.

Immediately following this show, a number of WWE Superstars will enter into
contract renegotiations.  This means that tonight, and the next Smackdown, may
well be the last time you see a number of your favourites.

Next Show: Smackdown