Backlash 2004 Backlash 2004 was the sixth annual Backlash professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It was presented by Square Enix ' s " Drakengard " . It took place on April 18 , 2004 at the Rexall Place in Edmonton , Alberta and was a Raw brand - exclusive event . This was the first Backlash event held outside the United States . The main event was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship involving reigning champion Chris Benoit , Triple H , and Shawn Michaels , which Benoit won after forcing Michaels to submit to the sharpshooter . One of the predominant matches on the card was Randy Orton versus Cactus Jack in a Hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship . Orton won the match and retained the title after pinning Cactus following an RKO . Another primary match on the undercard was Edge versus Kane , which Edge won by pinfall after executing a spear . Background . The main feud heading into Backlash was between Chris Benoit , Triple H , and Shawn Michaels over the World Heavyweight Championship . Chris Benoit won the title one month prior at WrestleMania XX when he defeated Michaels and then - champion Triple H in a Triple Threat match . Benoit won the match by forcing Triple H to submit to the Crippler Crossface . The following night on " Raw " , Benoit and Michaels defeated Evolution ( Randy Orton , Ric Flair , and Batista ) in a 3 - on - 2 Handicap tag team match . Benoit and Michaels won the match after Benoit forced Batista to submit to the Sharpshooter . On the March 22 edition of " Raw " , Triple H was drafted over to the SmackDown ! brand , and Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that Michaels would receive a World title match against Benoit at Backlash . Four days later on the March 25 edition of " SmackDown ! " , SmackDown ! General Manager Kurt Angle announced that Triple H had been traded back to Raw in exchange for The Dudley Boyz and Booker T . The next week on " Raw " , Bischoff made the one - on - one World Heavyweight Championship match between champion Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels , a Triple Threat match also involving Triple H . The other main match on the card was a Hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship between Randy Orton and Cactus Jack . Three months prior at the Royal Rumble , after Mick Foley eliminated Orton from the Royal Rumble match , Orton hit Foley with a steel chair , and the two brawled up the ramp and into the back . In March at WrestleMania XX , Evolution ( Orton , Batista , and Ric Flair ) faced off against The Rock ' n ' Sock Connection ( Foley and The Rock ) in a Handicap match . Evolution won the match when Orton pinned Foley after an RKO . Two weeks later , on the March 22 edition of " Raw " , Foley challenged Orton to a Hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Backlash , which Orton accepted that same night . Another feud heading into the event was between Chris Jericho and Christian and Trish Stratus . At WrestleMania XX , Christian defeated Jericho . After the match , Stratus , Jericho ' s on - screen girlfriend at the time , turned on Jericho and joined Christian . On the April 5 edition of " Raw " , Christian announced that he would be teaming up with Stratus to take on Jericho in a Handicap match at Backlash . Event . Before the event went live on pay - per - view , Val Venis defeated Matt Hardy in a match taped for " Sunday Night Heat " . The first match that aired was between Shelton Benjamin and Ric Flair . After back and forth action between the two , Flair attempted to use brass knuckles on Benjamin , though Benjamin splashed Flair from behind . Benjamin then performed a clothesline on Flair off the top rope to get the pin on Flair . Next was a match between Jonathan Coachman and Tajiri . During the match , Garrison Cade interfered on Coachman ' s behalf and hit Tajiri in the face . Coachman got a roll - up on Tajiri for the win . The third match of the event was Chris Jericho versus Christian and Trish Stratus in a Handicap match . Jericho won the match by pinning Christian after throwing him onto Stratus followed by executing an enziguiri kick . The match that followed was for the WWE Women ' s Championship between Victoria and Lita . The match was evenly controlled by both Victoria and Lita . The match ended when Victoria pinned Lita with an Inside Cradle . After the match , Molly Holly and Gail Kim attacked both Lita and Victoria . Next was a Hardcore match between Randy Orton and Cactus Jack for the WWE Intercontinental Championship . One spot in the match saw Cactus lie a barbed wire baseball bat between Orton ' s legs and perform a leg drop . Cactus continued to use the bat , as he poured gasoline on it and tried to light it on fire . Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff , however , interrupted and informed Cactus that he would be disqualified and the event would end if he lit the bat on fire . Towards the end of the match , Orton managed to execute an RKO on Cactus onto the barbed wire baseball bat . Orton pinned Cactus afterwards to win the match and retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship . The sixth match was a tag team match in which The Hurricane and Rosey defeated La Résistance ( Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier ) . After a back and forth match , Hurricane pinned Conway after an Eye of the Hurricane . The match that followed was between Edge and Kane . The match was controlled by Kane , as he focused on Edge ' s injured left hand . Edge , however , reversed attacks from Kane , whom he then attempted to spear . Kane was able to dodge the spear , which in turn caused Edge to spear the referee . Edge used his cast to knock Kane out and followed by performing a spear . Edge pinned Kane afterwards for the win . The main event was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Chris Benoit , Shawn Michaels and Triple H . One spot in the match saw Michaels miss a flying bodypress and saw him crash into the Spanish Announcing team ' s table . Another included , Triple H assaulting Michaels with a sledgehammer . The last moments in the match saw Michaels submit to the sharpshooter which was applied by Benoit . As a result of the win , Benoit retained the World title . Aftermath . On the April 19 edition of " Raw " , General Manager Eric Bischoff scheduled a World Heavyweight Championship match between Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels for the May 3 edition of " Raw " . On the same night , an impromptu team of Benoit and Edge defeated Evolution ( Ric Flair and Batista ) for the World Tag Team Championship , making Benoit a double champion . Two weeks later on " Raw " , Benoit retained the World Heavyweight title in a scheduled match against Shawn Michaels , after interference by Triple H . On the May 10 edition of " Raw " , an encounter match between Shelton Benjamin and Triple H , resulted in Michaels attacking Triple H . Michaels actions resulted in a suspension from Eric Bischoff . Prior to " Raw " that night , Bischoff informed Triple H that he would face Benoit for the World title the following week on " Raw " . The following week , Benoit defeated Triple H to retain the World Heavyweight Championship . Also that night , a Battle Royal took place , in which the winner would go on to face Benoit at Bad Blood for the World title . During the match , Triple H , one of the participants in the match , was eliminated by Michaels , who was not a participant in the match . On the May 24 edition of " Raw " , Bischoff lifted Michaels suspension , after Triple H pleaded that Michaels be reinstated . On the same night , Michaels confronted Bischoff wanting to know if he was scheduled in a match with Triple H at Bad Blood . Bischoff assured Michaels , but Triple H attacked Michaels from behind , after Michaels attacked Triple H outside the arena ' s parking lot . Bischoff gave orders to Raw superstars to attack Triple H and Michaels , if seen fighting . The roster tried breaking the fight up , but were unsuccessful in doing so . The result of the fight gave Bischoff the authority to schedule a Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and Michaels at Bad Blood . At Bad Blood , Triple H defeated Michaels by pinfall after executing two Pedigrees . Following Backlash , Lita and Kane were put in angle , which involved Matt Hardy . It saw Hardy attack Kane to an attempt to prevent Kane from harming Lita . In the following weeks on " Raw " , Kane began repeatedly assaulting Hardy and attempting to seduce Lita . One incident saw Kane kayfabe kidnap Lita and hold her tied up backstage , where he supposedly asked her a " question . " Later that night , Kane won a number one contenders Battle Royal match , in which he received a title shot at Bad Blood . At Bad Blood , Benoit was successful in defending the World Heavyweight title , after he pinned Kane with a roll - up . During a match between Christian and Chris Jericho , Christian defeated Jericho after interference by Tyson Tomko ; Tomko was revealed to be the " problem solver " for Christian and Trish Stratus . The following weeks on " Raw " , Tomko assaulted Jericho , until the May 10 edition of " Raw " , when Jericho defeated Christian in a Steel Cage match when he made Christian submit to the Walls of Jericho . As a result of the Steel Cage match , Christian suffered a legitimate back injury . After defeating Randy Orton and Batista in a tag team match , Tomko attacked Jericho , in which he powerbomb ed Jericho through the announcers table . On the June 7 edition of " Raw " , Bischoff booked a match at Bad Blood between Tomko and Jericho . At Bad Blood , Jericho pinned Tomko , after an Enzuigiri .