I’ve had this DVD in my collection for a while but never given it a full watch, so I decided to watch it in aid of having something fresh to write about, seeing as I’ve never done an FIP review before. The Main Event is a match you might have either heard of before or seen some clips from, especially for one particular spot in it, so it should be fun to review it hopefully.
For those not au fait, FIP is a company based out of Florida that operated for quite a while as a sister promotion to ROH. The FIP Title was even defended on ROH shows sometimes, with Roderick Strong in particular having an impressive reign with it.
Most of the people on this show will have turned out for ROH, TNA or even WWE in some cases, so I’m hoping that it will be an enjoyable enough show to watch.
It’s a strange time for WWE. 2003 was one of the darkest years the company has ever seen from a creative standpoint and a lot of that was due to how things went on Monday Night Raw. You can only run things into the ground in the same way so many times and that limit was reached several months before 2004 begins. Something has to go a little bit differently on the flagship show but that has been the case for a long time now and nothing has changed. Maybe things can turn around this time.
In this book, I’ll be looking at every Monday Night Raw from 2004 and seeing how things went throughout the year. 2004 is remembered as a year with some fresh names getting a chance to shine after going around in circles for so long and now it is time to let them have a chance. The question though is how well that exactly went. Each episode will be broken down match by match and segment by segment. Included will be analysis and ratings for the shows to see why the year is remembered so poorly.
The book runs over 340 pages and is available on Amazon both in a physical paperback for $9.99 or an e-book format for $2.99. In case you don’t have a Kindle, there are plenty of FREE apps you can get from Amazon for pretty much any electronic device, all of which are available at this link.
You can pick up the book from Amazon here in paperback and here as an e-book.
And from the UK Amazon here in paperback and here as an e-book.
Or if you’re in another country with its own Amazon page, just search “KB Raw 2004” and it should be the first thing to come up.
Also you can still get any of my previous books on the Intercontinental Championship, Monday Night Raw from 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003and the first half of 2014, Monday Nitro from 1995-1999, In Your House, Summerslam, Starrcade, ECW Pay Per Views, Royal Rumble, Saturday Night’s Main Event, the WWF and WCW pay per views from 1998, Wrestlemania, WWE Grab Bag and Clash of the Champions, NXT Volumes I, II and IIIat my author’s page here.
I hope you like it and shoot me any questions you might have.
Smackdown Date: December 30, 2004 Location: Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’ll wrap up the year here as we’re back stateside after Tribute to the Troops. With that out of the way, it’s time to head towards the Royal Rumble, which hasn’t really been set up yet. It’s hard to say what we’re going to be getting tonight as Smackdown can go anywhere from one extreme to the other. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw Date: December 27, 2004 Location: Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the final show of a year that wasn’t very good in the first place. We’re coming off the Best of 2004 last week so it’s been a little while since we’ve gotten anything new. The big story is still the build towards the Elimination Chamber at New Year’s Revolution. Other than that, things aren’t the most exciting around here. Let’s get to it.
Smackdown Date: December 23, 2004 Location: Camp Speicher, Tikrit, Iraq Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
It worked the first time so let’s do it again. This is the second annual Tribute to the Troops and since this is in the earlier years, it means they’re actually going to put in a little more effort. The show is outside in Iraq, meaning it’s going to be a bit warm. We even have a big match announced this time around with Undertaker vs. Heidenreich. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw Date: December 20, 2004 Hosts: Jonathan Coachman, Jerry Lawler
We’re near the end of the year and that means it’s time for a special episode. This is the Best Of 2004, which means that we’ll be seeing matches and moments from Raw and pay per views, which could make for a rather eventful evening. If nothing else it’s going to make for a shorter show. Let’s get to it.
Smackdown Date: December 16, 2004 Location: Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’re done with Armageddon so now it’s time to get to the Royal Rumble, but before that we have the real important thing to get through: the finals of Tough Enough. Normally I would say the competition hasn’t been that bad, but some of the last few weeks have been such a mess that I can’t bring myself to go there. At least it’s wrapping up though and we can get back to something better. Like JBL. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw Date: December 13, 2004 Location: Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama Attendance: 4,000 Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
The year is starting to come to a close and Eric Bischoff is back to run things again. This time around that means we need a solution to the World Title being vacated, which should mean some kind of big gimmick match for the January’s pay per view. That would be the regular January show and not the Royal Rumble, because January suddenly needs to pay per views. Let’s get to it.
Armageddon 2004 Date: December 12, 2004 Location: Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Georgia Attendance: 5,000 Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
It’s the final, and normally least inspired, pay per view of the year and this time around it’s all about JBL to make things even less interesting. Tonight JBL is defending the title against Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero and Booker T. in a four way, which takes away a lot of the talent from the rest of the card. Other than that we have….I guess the other big match is the Tough Enough boxing match? Let’s get to it.
Smackdown Date: December 9, 2004 Location: Bi-LO Center, Greenville, South Carolina Attendance: 2,300 Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
It’s the go home show for Armageddon and thank goodness for that. The last few weeks of shows have been nothing short of dreadful and I can’t wait to get this pay per view out of the way so we can move on to the Royal Rumble build. Tonight is likely going to feature a lot of Tough Enough and the other two stories that matter around here. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw Date: December 6, 2004 Location: Cricket Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina Attendance: 4,000 Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the final night of the guest host series for Raw and that means Chris Jericho is in charge. He has a big plate in front of him tonight with the controversial finish to last week’s World Title match where Chris Benoit and Edge both laid claim to the title. In a bigger deal though, Trish Stratus is defending the Women’s Title against Lita in a major showdown. Let’s get to it.
Smackdown Date: December 2, 2004 Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’re finally into December and things have been a near nightmare around here as of late. With a combination of the Tough Enough stuff taking over the show and very limited wrestling, I’m not sure what is supposed to make me want to keep watching the thing. That has never stopped WWE before though so let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw Date: November 29, 2004 Location: 1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, Maryland Attendance: 5,300 Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We’re in week three of Team Orton running the show and in this case it’s Randy Orton himself in charge. His first order of business: HHH defending the World Title in a battle royal, which should all but guarantee a new champion. Now let’s see how our beloved champion gets to outsmart everyone this week. Let’s get to it.
Smackdown Date: November 25, 2004 Location: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, New York Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
It’s Thanksgiving and that means we’re likely in for a heavily themed show. That’s rarely a good idea around here as WWE doesn’t have the best track record with these things. That being said, there are worse things they could do, like focus on Orlando Jordan vs. Josh Matthews again. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw Date: November 22, 2004 Location: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York Attendance: 6,000 Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s time to continue the Survivor Series fallout, this time with someone else running the show. Last week’s Maven Show is going to be hard to beat as Maven challenging for the title wasn’t fooling anyone. At least that’s out of the way now and we can stop pretending that Maven is anywhere near that level. Let’s get to it.
Smackdown Date: November 18, 2004 Location: Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio Attendance: 5,500 Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’re done with Survivor Series and unlike Raw, there isn’t much to go on at this point. Team Guerrero won the big match on Sunday and World Champion John Bradshaw Layfield retained the title by cheating to beat Booker T. There is one big match set up for this week though, as United States Champion Carlito defends against John Cena. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw Date: November 15, 2004 Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Attendance: 5,500 Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the night after Survivor Series and that means it’s time for Team Orton to take over the show for the next four weeks. Assuming it’s not Randy Orton’s week to be in charge, you can all but guarantee the boss for the week getting a World Title shot against HHH. Then repeat that for two of the next three weeks. Let’s get to it.
Survivor Series 2004 Date: November 14, 2004 Location: Gund Arena, Cleveland, Ohio Attendance: 7,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
This is an interesting show as the two big matches are a match where the impact comes over the next four weeks and another where there is little more than bragging rights on the line. The build for this show hasn’t been the strongest, though a lot of that is due to the changes taking place in the company. There are some fresh talents coming in and they’re still finding their footing, so it should be interesting to see where this show takes us. Let’s get to it.
Smackdown Date: November 11, 2004 Location: American Bank Arena, Corpus Christi, Texas Commentators: Tazz, Michael Cole
It’s the go home show for Survivor Series and hopefully this show is a little more inspiring than Monday’s efforts. Survivor Series isn’t looking like the most thrilling show in the world but under the right circumstances, Smackdown’s half could be a little bit better. Hopefully this week features a little less Tough Enough, but I don’t think we’ll be that lucky. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw Date: November 8, 2004 Location: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas Attendance: 4,300 Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the go home show for Survivor Series and that means we’ll probably be seeing a bunch of singles matches between the people involved in the Win Eric Bischoff’s Job Match on Sunday. HHH still doesn’t have anyone chasing the title and that’s probably by design. HHH’s design that is. Let’s get to it.
