RAW, Smackdown and Snickers Cruncherpresent WWE WrestleMania XX Madison Square Garden New York, NY Attendance: not announced (sellout)
Official Theme song: "Step Up" by Drowning Pool
The Boys Choir of Harlem performed "America the Beautiful"
1... John Cena (9'14" brass knux -> 2nd FU -> pin) The Big Show Cena wins WWE United States Championship
2... Sudden Death Fatal 4-Way La Resistance Dudley Boyz World tag team champions Rene Dupree vs. Garrison Cade vs. D-Von Dudley vs. Rob van Dam Rob Conway Mark Jindrak Bubba Ray Dudley Booker T.
van Dam (7'52" Five Star frog splash -> pin) Conway
3... Christian (14'54") Chris Jericho
4... Hanidcap Match Evolution Ric Flair vs. Rock and Sock Connection Batista Mick Foley Randy Orton The Rock
Orton (17'01" RKO -> pin) Foley
Gene Okerlund presented the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 - Bobby "the Brain" Heenan, Tito Santana, Big John Studd (represented by John Minton Jr.), "The King" Harley Race, Pete Rose, Magnificent Don Muraco, Greg Valentine, Junkyard Dog (represented by Latoya Ritter), "Superstar" Billy Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, and Gov. Jesse Ventura
5... Playboy Evening Gown Match - pinfall or submission only Sable Miss Jackie Torrie Wilson vs. Stacy Keibler
Wilson (2'34") Jackie
6... Cruiserweight Open
Ultimo Dragon (1'19" Asai DDT -> pin) Shannon Moore
Jamie Noble (2'17" Paydirt) Dragon
Noble (2'25") Funaki
Noble (4'18" COR) Nunzio
Billy Kidman (6'08" BK bomb off rope -> pin) Noble
Rey Mysterio (7'29" top rope sunset flip -> pin) Kidman
Akio DQ (interference)
Mysterio (8'37") Tajiri
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerreo (10'30") Mysterio
8... Sudden Death Fatal 4-way Self-Proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team A.P.A. Basham Brothers WWE tag team champions Charlie Haas vs. Bradshaw vs. Doug Basham vs. Scotty 2 Hotty Shelton Benjamin Faarooq Danny Basham Rikishi
Rikishi (6'03" squash sit -> pin) Danny
Jesse Ventura interviewed Donald Trump
9... Hair vs. Title WWE Women's Champion Victoria (4'54") Molly Holly
10... WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero (21'34" foot on ropes -> pin) Kurt Angle
11... Undertaker (7'46" tombstone -> pin) Kane Undertaker was led to the ring by Paul Bearer
12... Triple Threat Match Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit vs. World Heavyweight Champion Triple H
Originally posted by CRZBenoit wins (2nd) World Championship
Arn Anderson, the official in the match between Benoit and Sid, reversed his decision and, in the same statement, said "it's as if the match never happened." Benoit no more won the WCW Title that night than Chris Jericho did when he "didn't beat" HHH. Neither reign counts.
WWE, officially, is even "iffy" on the issue.
Heyman may have mentioned that Benoit was a former WCW World Champion during commentary, but Heyman isn't exactly a WCW authority. Vince McMahon mentioned that Rick Martel was a former Intercontinental Champion once during his Survivor Series '92 commentary, but that doesn't make it so.
Also, while WWE has acknowledged it in the past, WWE has also dis-acknowledged it.
Originally posted by Benoit's WWE.com bioThere was a time when Chris Benoit was considered the greatest Superstar to never hold the World Heavyweight Championship. However, after a journey of more than a decade that included more valleys than peaks, Benoit picked the biggest possible stage to earn the biggest prize in sports entertainment when he defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XX to achieve his dream and stand as the very best in the business.
Of course, that same bio also lists "WCW Champion." I'd take an official proclaimation from a WCW official during the time of WCW than a contradictory WWE statement any day.
EDIT: Technically, the quote from WWE.com says he never won the "World Heavyweight Championship," so maybe that statement doesn't totally contradict it. Still, Arn reversed his decision.
The Dusty finish on the Souled Out 2000 title match has always been iffy. As far as I'm concerned, WCW's revisionist retraction of Benoit's title win is null due to Benoit giving the title back and leaving before they had the chance to take the title back. RAW seems to be viewing the World & WCW Championships as seperate titles, so Benoit has one of each now.
THE FLAMES: 36-26-7-3 for 82 points in 72 games 3rd in Northwest Div.; 6th in Western Conf.; 13th in NHL MAGIC NUMBER: 8.5
My personal feeling about this is similar to the Mick Foley/Terry Funk win of the tag titles that was reversed on Raw the next night. If you win the title and the decision is reversed during the same show it's not a win. If people go home thinking that you are the champion, even if the title gets taken away from you 24 hours later, it counts as a win.
The Arn Abderson thing was just WCW trying desperately to deal with the fact that through their own stupidity that they had just gift-wrapped their champion and handed him to Vince as a late Christmas gift.
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