The 2004 Backlash was the sixth

Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), a comic book character from ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV) event produced by

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw brand division. The event took place on April 18, 2004, at

Rexall Place Northlands Coliseum is a defunct indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and National Hockey League (NHL), and the Edmonton Oil Kin ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, thus being the only Backlash event held outside the continental United States until the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

event. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from

WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX was a 2004 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 20th annual WrestleMania and took place on March 14, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New Yor ...

. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

for the World Heavyweight Championship involving reigning champion and hometown hero

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit ( ; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career, but is notorious for Chris Benoit double-murd ...

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wres ...

Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels (born Michael Shawn Hickenbottom on July 22, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he is the Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative, and oversees the creative aspects of th ...

, which Benoit won after forcing Michaels to submit to the

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

. One of the predominant matches on the

card Card or The Card may refer to: Common uses * Plastic cards of various types: **Bank card **Credit card **Debit card **Payment card * Playing card, used in games * Printed circuit board, or card * Greeting card, given on special occasions Arts an ...

was

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...

versus Cactus Jack in a hardcore match for the

WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, alo ...

. Orton won the match and retained the title after pinning Cactus following an

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

. Another primary match on the undercard was

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

versus Kane, which Edge won by pinfall after executing a

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

Production

Background

Rexall Place Edmonton Alberta Canada 07A

is a

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

that was established by

(WWE) in 1999. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania. The 2004 event was the sixth Backlash and featured the backlash from

. It was scheduled to take place on April 18, 2004, at

, being the first Backlash held outside the United States. While the previous two years had featured wrestlers from both the Raw and

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

brand divisions, the 2004 event was held exclusively for Raw.

Storylines

The main

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

heading into Backlash was between

, and

over the World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Benoit won the title one month prior at

when he defeated Michaels and then-champion Triple H in a

. Benoit won the match by forcing Triple H to submit to the Crippler Crossface. On the March 15 episode of '' Raw'', Benoit and Michaels defeated

Evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

(

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

, and

Batista Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player João Batista da Silva * Dave Bautista, Batista (wrestler) (Dave ...

) in a 3-on-2 handicap

tag team match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

. Benoit and Michaels won the match after Benoit forced Batista to submit to the

Sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

. On the March 22 episode of ''Raw'', Triple H was drafted to the SmackDown! brand, and Raw General Manager

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Booker, professional wrestling booker, promoter, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Sen ...

announced that Michaels would receive a World Heavyweight Championship match against Benoit at Backlash. On the March 25 episode of ''SmackDown!'', SmackDown! General Manager

Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler. He first earned recognition for winning a Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, gold me ...

announced that Triple H had been traded back to the Raw brand in exchange for

The Dudley Boyz The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team who consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley. The team was also joined by various Dudley Brothers, Dudley family members, notably ...

and

Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 194 ...

. On the March 29 episode of ''Raw'', Bischoff made the one-on-one World Heavyweight Championship match between Benoit and Michaels a triple threat match also involving Triple H. The other main match on the card was a hardcore match for the

between

and Cactus Jack. Three months prior at the

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

, after Mick Foley eliminated Orton and himself from the

Royal Rumble match The Royal Rumble match is a professional wrestling match based on the classic battle royal match in which a number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the ...

, Orton hit Foley with a steel chair, and the two brawled up the ramp and into the back. At WrestleMania XX,

(Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair) faced off against The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (Foley and The Rock) in a

handicap match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

. Evolution won the match when Orton pinned Foley after an

. On the March 29 episode of ''Raw'', Foley challenged Orton to a Hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Backlash, which Orton accepted that same night. Mick Foley added another stipulation that Evolution would be banned from ringside. Another feud heading into the event was between

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...

against

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and

Trish Stratus Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975), better known by the ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, yoga instructor, actress and former fitness model. She is signed to WWE. An inductee of the 2013 WWE Hall ...

. 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 episode of ''Raw'', Christian announced that he would be teaming up with Stratus to take on Jericho in a

at Backlash.

Event

Preliminary matches

Before the event went live on pay-per-view,

Val Venis Sean Allen Morley (born March 6, 1971), better known by his ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from 1998 to 20 ...

defeated

Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he a former List of TNA World Tag Team Champions, three time TNA Wor ...

in a match taped for '' Sunday Night Heat''. The first match that aired was between

Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Hurt Syndicate and is one-half of the AEW World Tag Team Champ ...

and

. After back and forth action between the two, Flair attempted to use

brass knuckles Brass knuckles (also referred to as brass knucks, knuckledusters, iron fist and paperweight, among other names) are a melee weapon used primarily in Hand to hand combat, hand-to-hand combat. They are fitted and designed to be worn around the kn ...

on Benjamin but Benjamin splashed Flair from behind. Benjamin then performed a diving clothesline on Flair for the win. Next was a match between

Jonathan Coachman Jonathan William Coachman (born August 12, 1973), also known as "The Coach", is an American sports analyst and former professional wrestling personality. Early life Before embarking on an announcing career in professional wrestling, Coachman w ...

and Tajiri. During the match, Garrison Cade interfered on Coachman's behalf, allowing Coachman to roll-up 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 and executing an enziguiri. In the next match, Victoria faced Lita for the

WWE Women's Championship The WWE Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, defe ...

. Both women evenly controlled the match. The match ended when Victoria pinned Lita with an Inside Cradle. After the match,

Molly Holly Nora Kristina Greenwald (born September 7, 1977) is an American retired professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, under the ring name Molly Holly, as a producer. She is also known for her tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Miss Ma ...

and

Gail Kim Gail Kim-Irvine (born February 20, 1977) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in TNA Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In TNA, she was the inaugural and record setting seven-tim ...

attacked both Lita and Victoria. Orton 05

Next was a hardcore match between Randy Orton and Cactus Jack for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, with the stipulation that Evolution were banned from ringside. One

spot Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot Coll ...

in the match saw Cactus lie a

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal Club (weapon), club used in the sport of baseball to hit the Baseball (ball), ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more t ...

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

interrupted and informed Cactus that he would lose the match and the event would end if he lit the bat on fire. In a particularly brutal spot, Orton - wearing only his signature trunks - missed an

and was thrown onto thumbtacks. When this spot had been attempted previously, those involved - including Foley himself - had done so fully clothed. The sight of Orton with thumbtacks embedded into his bare body was, for many, the first major bump of his career. After taking an elbow drop off the entrance stage, Orton executed an

on Cactus onto the barbed wire baseball bat to retain the title. The sixth match was a

in which The Hurricane and Rosey defeated La Résistance ( Robért Conway and

Sylvain Grenier Sylvain Grenier (born March 26, 1977) is a Canadian retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He is best known for his time wrestling for WWE between 2002 ...

). After a back and forth match, Hurricane pinned Conway after an Eye of the Hurricane. The match that followed was between

and Kane. The match was controlled by Kane, as he focused on Edge's injured left hand. Edge reversed attacks from Kane and attempted a Spear but Kane avoided, causing Edge to perform a Spear on the referee. Edge struck Kane with the cast and performed a spear on Kane for the win.

Main event

The main event was a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Chris Benoit, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. Michaels dove off the top rope but Benoit and Triple H avoided, causing Michaels to fall through an announce table. Triple H attacked Michaels with a

sledgehammer A sledgehammer is a tool with a large, flat, massive, often metal head, attached to a long wooden or solid handle. The long handle is combined with a heavy head which allows the sledgehammer to pick up momentum during a swing and applying a large ...

. Benoit forced Michaels to submit to the

to retain the title.

Aftermath

The following night on ''Raw'',

General manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

scheduled a World Heavyweight Championship match between Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels for the May 3 episode of ''Raw''. On the same night, an impromptu team of Benoit and Edge defeated

(

and

) for the

World Tag Team Championship In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rival ...

, 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

. On May 10, a match between

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''. However, the match never happened as during that night, a

Battle Royal Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...

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 episode 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 Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a four-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fenc ...

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 an angle, which involved

. 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 In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...

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

and

, Christian defeated Jericho after interference by Tyson Tomko; Tomko was revealed to be the " problem solver" for Christian and

. The following weeks on ''Raw'', Tomko assaulted Jericho, until May 10, when Jericho defeated Christian in a

Steel Cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

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 Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

match, Tomko attacked Jericho, in which he

powerbomb A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted (usually so that they are sitting on the wrestler's shoulders) and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a s ...

ed Jericho through the announcers table. On the June 7 episode of ''Raw'', Bischoff booked a match at Bad Blood between Tomko and Jericho. At Bad Blood, Jericho pinned Tomko, after an Enzuigiri. Mick Foley named his match with Orton the favorite match of his career.

Results

Notes

References

External links

Official Backlash 2004 website
{{WWEPPV, Backlash

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Events in Edmonton Professional wrestling shows in Alberta 2004 WWE pay-per-view events 2004 in Alberta April 2004 in Canada WWE in Canada WWE Raw es:WWE Backlash#2004 ja:WWE・バックラッシュ#第6回大会（2004年）WWE RAW's Backlash 2004 ro:WWE Backlash#2004 ru:Backlash#2004