New Years Revolution 2005

New Year's Revolution 2005 was the first annual New Year's Revolution pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. It took place on January 9, 2005 at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This event was the first pay-per-view event produced by WWE to be held in Puerto Rico. Tickets for this event sold out in less than a month after being available for sale, marking one of the fastest selling events in the short history of the Coliseum.
The main event was an Elimination Chamber match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship between Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit. Triple H won the match and the championship after last eliminating Orton. One of the predominant matches on the card was between Kane and Snitsky, which Kane won by pinfall after performing a Tombstone Piledriver. Another primary match on the card was Muhammad Hassan versus Jerry Lawler, which Hassan won by pinfall after executing a Reverse STO.
==Background==
On the December 13, 2004 edition of Raw, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that at New Year's Revolution, there would be an Elimination Chamber match between Triple H, Edge, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Batista and Randy Orton. On the December 27, 2004 edition of Raw, Bischoff announced that all of the match's participants would compete in singles matches, and the length of their match would determine the entrance order of the Elimination Chamber. Christy Hemme was announced as the time-keeper for the show. Another stipulation in the matches was that if any of the participants lost their matches, the person who beat them would replace them in the Chamber match. All six participants won their matches, but Batista won his match in three minutes and two seconds, which turned out to be the shortest match length out of all participants. As a result, Batista earned the right to enter the Elimination Chamber match last. That same night, Bischoff announced that Shawn Michaels would take the Special Guest Referee role in the match. On the following edition of Raw, Bischoff booked three separate matches to take place later that night. The first match was between Benoit and Batista, which saw Batista pin Benoit after a Batista Bomb. The next match was between Edge and Jericho, where Edge pinned Jericho to score the victory. The final match was between Triple H and Orton, which Orton won after delivering an RKO and scoring the pinfall. During the match, the other four Chamber participants interfered when the referee was knocked out.
The primary feud heading into the event was between Kane and Gene Snitsky. On the September 13 edition of Raw, Kane competed in a No Holds Barred match against Snitsky. During the match, Kane's on-screen wife, Lita interfered in the match, which led to Kane accidentally falling a top of her after Snitsky hit Kane with a steel chair. The match came to an immediate end as trainers and Emergency medical technicians took Lita on a stretcher to an ambulance, as she needed medical attention. On the September 20, 2004 edition of Raw, it was announced that Lita had suffered a miscarriage due to what had happened the previous week. On the October 4, 2004 edition of Raw, Snitsky claimed in an interview that the miscarriage was "not his fault." Kane proceeded on to attack Snitsky, but Snitsky retaliated by attacking Kane with a lead pipe, which caused Kane to bleed from the head. After the attack, Bischoff made a Weapon of Choice match between the two for Taboo Tuesday. The match was voted to be a steel chain match, where the only weapon that could be used, was the steel chain. Snitsky defeated Kane at Taboo Tuesday after locking a steel chair around Kane's neck, and jumping onto it from the top rope, causing Kane to bleed from the mouth. The following weeks, Snitsky would state before his matches that the incident with Kane and Lita "was not his fault," but the injury's his opponent might get that night "would be his fault." He would also mock the miscarriage during a street fight against Eugene by using a "No Babies" road sign and a baby carriage. On the December 27 edition of Raw, Bischoff announced that Kane would face Snitsky at New Year's Revolution. On the January 3 edition of Raw, Kane would return (after weeks of inactivity) to save Lita from being double-teamed by Snitsky and Trish Stratus.
The predominant feud heading into the event was between Trish Stratus and Lita over the WWE Women's Championship. On the October 25, 2004 edition of Raw, Stratus approached Lita backstage and told her that she had gained weight from her pregnancy, which led to Lita attacking Stratus. That same night, a match was made between the two for the Women's Championship at Survivor Series. At Survivor Series, Stratus defeated Lita by disqualification to retain the title, after Lita hit Stratus with a steel chair. On the November 22 edition of Raw, Stratus defeated Lita and Molly Holly in a Triple Threat match for the title. After the match, Lita attacked Stratus and caused Stratus's nose to bleed. On the December 6 edition of Raw, Lita defeated Stratus in the main event to capture the Women's Championship after delivering a Moonsault. On the January 3 episode of Raw, it was announced that Stratus would face Lita for the title at New Year's Revolution.
==Event==
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, The Hurricane and Rosey defeated La Résistance (Sylvain Grenier and Robért Conway) in a Dark Match. The first match to air live was a tag team match between the team of Eugene and William Regal and the team of Christian and Tyson Tomko for the World Tag Team Championship. During the match, Christian hit Regal in the nose, causing it to bleed. Eugene delivered a dropkick to Tomko and scored the pinfall to win the match.
The next match was between Trish Stratus and Lita for the WWE Women's Championship. Early on in the match, Lita appeared to suffer a legitimate injury after an attack by Stratus. Towards the match's end, Stratus delivered a Chick Kick to Lita to score the pinfall, win the match, and win the title. The third match of the card was between Shelton Benjamin and Maven for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Early in the match, Maven escaped the ring to taunt the fans for speaking Spanish. As the referee began to count him out, Maven ran back into the ring. Benjamin quickly rolled-up Maven to score the pinfall and win the match to retain the title. Immediately after the match, Maven demanded a re-match after stating that the first match "did not count." As match started, Benjamin delivered a T-Bone suplex to Maven to score the pinfall, win the match, and retain the title, again.
The next match was between Muhammad Hassan (with Daivari) and Jerry Lawler (with Jim Ross). Due to Lawler and Ross being involved in the match, no commentary was provided for the match. Towards the end of the match, Lawler attempted to pin Hassan, but Daivari pulled Hassan's foot on the bottom rope, which meant the count would have to stop immediately. Lawler then chased Daivari around the ring, until re-entering the ring, which resulted in Hassan delivering a Reverse STO and scoring the pinfall onto Lawler to win the match. The sixth match of the event was between Kane and Snitsky. A back and forth match took place between the two, with both men having advantages at different spot in the match. Towards the end of the match, Snitsky bit Kane's ear, but Kane retaliated by delivering a Tombstone piledriver to Snitsky to score the pinfall and win the match.
The main event of the card was the Elimination Chamber match between Triple H, Edge, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Batista and Randy Orton (with Shawn Michaels as the Special Guest Referee) for the World Heavyweight Championship. The rules of the match were that two participants would start the match, and every five minutes, another participant would enter the match after being released from their individual chamber. Participants were able to be eliminated from the match via pinfall or submission. Benoit and Jericho were the first two in the match. After five minutes, Triple H was released from his chamber, into the match. With all men remaining in the match, Edge was released from his chamber. Benoit attempted to apply the Crippler Crossface to Edge, but Edge countered the attack. Triple H delivered a Pedigree to Jericho right before Orton entered the match. Mid-match, Edge speared Michaels by accident, but when Michaels recovered, he delivered a Sweet Chin Music to Edge, which resulted in Jericho delivering a Lionsault to Edge. Jericho then pinned Edge to eliminate him from the match. Batista, the final entrant, then entered the match after time expired. Batista delivered a Spinebuster to Jericho a top of Benoit. Batista then pinned Benoit to eliminate him from the match. Seconds later, Batista delivered a Batista Bomb to Jericho to pin him and eliminate him from the match. Later on in the match, Triple H countered an RKO, by throwing Orton into Batista. Batista then attempted to deliver a Batista Bomb to Orton, but Orton countered by delivering a low-blow to Batista and scoring the pinfall to eliminate Batista from the match. Before Batista left the ring, he delivered a Clothesline to Orton. Afterward, Triple H delivered a Pedigree to Orton to score the pinfall and eliminate Orton. As a result, Triple H won the match and the title.
==Aftermath==
The night after New Year's Revolution on Raw, Eric Bischoff booked a match between Batista and Randy Orton for later that night. The winner of that match would become the number-one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, and would face Triple H for the title at the Royal Rumble. Orton won the match via pinfall, and the right to face Triple H at the Rumble. On the January 17 edition of Raw, Batista announced that he would be a participant in the 2005 Royal Rumble match. On the January 24 edition of Raw, Orton defeated Ric Flair after delivering an RKO. At the Royal Rumble, Batista won the Royal Rumble match, and Triple H defeated Orton to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. At WrestleMania 21, Batista defeated Triple H to capture the title.
The feud between Kane and Gene Snitsky continued on the January 17 edition of Raw, when the two competed in a No Holds barred match. The match ended in a no-contest after Kane chokeslamed Snitsky off of the stage. However, the feud ended on the January 31 edition of Raw, when Kane defeated Snitsky in a Steel Cage match after delivering a chokeslam off of the cage's door. The feud between Trish Stratus and Lita ended after the event, as Lita suffered a legitimately torn ACL ligament. On the January 17 edition of Raw, however, Stratus mocked Lita's injury, but was chokeslammed by Kane.
After New Year's Revolution, Edge began a feud with Shawn Michaels because of his feeling that Michaels screwed him in the Elimination Chamber match. At the Royal Rumble, Edge defeated Michaels in a singles match. At the event, Eugene suffered a legit ruptured left patella tendon, which required surgery. Eugene and William Regal lost the World Tag Team Championships to La Résistance (Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier). On the February 7 edition of Raw, La Résistance lost the titles to William Regal and Tajiri.
==Results==
;
;
*Dark Match: Rosey & The Hurricane defeated Sylvain Grenier & Robert Conway (5:13)
*Eugene & William Regal (c) defeated Tomko & Christian to retain the World Tag Team Championship (12:22)
*Trish Stratus defeated Lita (c) to win the Women's Championship (3:46)
*Shelton Benjamin (c) defeated Maven to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (6:08)
*Shelton Benjamin (c) defeated Maven to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (0:05)
*Muhammad Hassan defeated Jerry Lawler (10:51)
*Kane defeated Gene Snitsky (11:38)
*Triple H defeated Edge, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Batista & Randy Orton in a Elimination Chamber Match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee (34:55)
===Elimination Chamber entrances and eliminations===
Elimination number	Wrestler 	Entered	Eliminated by	Method of elimination 	Time
1 	Edge 	4 	Chris Jericho	Sweet Chin Music (from Michaels) and a Lionsault from Jericho 	19:20
2 	Chris Benoit 	2 	Batista 	Spinebuster followed by Jericho receiving a Spinebuster on top of him	26:15
3 	Chris Jericho	1 	Batista 	Batista Bomb 	27:27
4 	Batista 	6 	Orton 	Low-blow and an RKO 	32:32
5 	Randy Orton 	5 	Triple H 	Pedigree 	34:55
Winner 	Triple H 	3 	 	 	
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Jim Ross
*Jerry "The King" Lawler
*Jonathan Coachman
*Carlos Cabrera
*Hugo Savinovich
;Interviewers
*Todd Grisham	
;Ring announcer
*Lilian Garcia
;Referees
*Chad Patton
*Mike Chioda
*Jack Doan
*Earl Hebner
*Shawn Michaels (Elimination Chamber Match)
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*WWE New Year's Revolution
==DVD release==
* New Years Revolution 2005 on DVD
==External links==
* New Years Revolution 2005 Official Website
* New Years Revolution 2005 at CAGEMATCH.net
* New Years Revolution 2005 at Online World of Wrestling
* New Years Revolution 2005 on WWE Network
Category:2005 pay-per-view events
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:New Year's Revolution
Category:Events with Elimination Chamber matches
Category:Events with Guest Referees