| New Year's Revolution | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuringBatista | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | ||
| Brand | Raw | ||
| Date | January 9, 2005 | ||
| City | San Juan, Puerto Rico | ||
| Venue | Coliseo de Puerto Rico | ||
| Attendance | 15,764 | ||
| Buy rate | 270,000[1] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| New Year's Revolution chronology | |||
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The 2005New Year's Revolution was the inauguralNew Year's Revolutionprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion'sRawbrand division. It took place on January 9, 2005, at theColiseo de Puerto Rico inSan Juan, Puerto Rico, and was WWE's first pay-per-view event held inPuerto Rico andLatin America—it was the only WWE pay-per-view event held in Puerto Rico untilBacklash on May 6, 2023. Tickets for this event sold out in less than a month, marking one of the fastest-selling events in the short history of the venue.
Themain event was anElimination Chamber match for the vacantWorld Heavyweight Championship betweenTriple H,Randy Orton,Batista,Edge,Chris Jericho, andChris Benoit. Triple H won the match and the championship after last eliminating Orton. One of the predominant matches on thecard was betweenKane andGene Snitsky, which Kane won by pinfall after performing aTombstone Piledriver. Another primary match on the card wasMuhammad Hassan versusJerry Lawler, which Hassan won by pinfall after executing aReverse STO.
ForWorld Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) 2005pay-per-view (PPV) calendar, they scheduled an event for January 9 titled New Year's Revolution, which was a play on the Western tradition ofNew Year's resolutions. They also scheduled it as a PPV produced exclusively for wrestlers of theRawbrand. It took place at theColiseo de Puerto Rico inSan Juan, Puerto Rico and was the first pay-per-view produced by WWE to be held inPuerto Rico.[2]
On the December 13 episode ofRaw, RawGeneral ManagerEric Bischoff scheduled anElimination Chamber match betweenTriple H,Edge,Chris Benoit,Chris Jericho,Batista andRandy Orton for New Year's Revolution for the vacantWorld Heavyweight Championship.[3][4] On the December 27 episode ofRaw, all of the match's participants competed in singles matches, with the length of their match determining the entrance order at the Elimination Chamber match. If any of the participants lost their matches, the person who beat them would replace them in the Elimination 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 madeShawn Michaels thespecial guest referee for the match.[5][6] On the January 3 episode ofRaw, the six participants wrestled each other in three separate matches. In the first match, Batista pinned Benoit after aBatista Bomb. Next, Edge pinned Jericho to score the victory. In the final match, Orton pinned Triple H after delivering anRKO. During the last match, the other four Elimination Chamber participants interfered when the referee was knocked out.[7][8]
On the September 13 episode ofRaw, during a No Disqualification match betweenKane andGene Snitsky, Snitsky accidentally pushed Kane on top of hison-screen wifeLita, who had interfered in the match. The match came to an immediate end as trainers andEmergency medical technicians took Lita on a stretcher to an ambulance, as she needed medical attention.[9][10] In thestoryline Lita was pregnant and as a result of the accident she suffered amiscarriage.[11][12] Despite Snitsky's protestations, that the miscarriage was not his fault, Kane attacked Snitsky, leading to a bloody brawl on the October 4 episode ofRaw, which led to aWeapon of Choice match between the two forTaboo Tuesday. The match was voted to be asteel chain match, where the only weapon that could be used was a steel chain. Snitsky defeated Kane after locking a steel chair around Kane's neck, and jumping onto it from the top rope, causing Kane to bleed from the mouth.[13][14] In the following weeks, Snitsky would mock Lita's miscarriage before[15][16] and during matches, using a "No Babies" road sign and a baby carriage in a street fight against Eugene.[17][18] On the December 27 episode ofRaw, Bischoff scheduled a match between Kane and Snitsky for New Year's Revolution.[5][6]
Lita also feuded withTrish Stratus over theWWE Women's Championship. On the October 25 episode ofRaw, 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 atSurvivor Series,[15] in which Stratus defeated Lita by disqualification after Lita hit Stratus with a steel chair.[19][20] On the November 22 episode ofRaw, Stratus defeated Lita and Molly Holly in a Triple Threat match to retain the title. After the match, Lita attacked Stratus and caused Stratus's nose to bleed.[21] On the December 6 episode ofRaw, Lita defeated Stratus in themain event to capture the Women's Championship after performing a moonsault.[22] On the January 3 episode ofRaw, a rematch for the title was set for New Year's Revolution.[7][8] The same night, Kane returned after weeks of inactivity to save Lita from being double-teamed by Snitsky and Trish Stratus.[7][8]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Englishcommentators | Jim Ross |
| Jerry Lawler | |
| Jonathan Coachman | |
| Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
| Hugo Savinovich | |
| Interviewer | Todd Grisham |
| Ring announcer | Lilian Garcia |
| Referees | Mike Chioda |
| Chad Patton | |
| Jack Doan | |
| Earl Hebner | |
| Shawn Michaels(Elimination Chamber Match) |
Before the event aired live onpay-per-view,The Hurricane andRosey defeatedLa Résistance (Sylvain Grenier andRobért Conway) in adark match. The first match was between the team ofEugene andWilliam Regal andChristian andTyson Tomko for theWorld Tag Team Championship. Eugene executed adropkick on Tomko to retain the title.[23][24]
In the next match,Trish Stratus facedLita for theWWE Women's Championship. Lita suffered a legitimate injury after executing aThesz Press off the apron on the floor, tearing her leftACL. Stratus executed aChick Kick to win the title.[23][24]
In the third match,Shelton Benjamin facedMaven for theWWE Intercontinental Championship. After Maven taunted the fans for speakingSpanish outside the ring, Benjaminrolled-up Maven to retain the title.[23][24] Immediately after the match, Maven demanded a re-match. Benjamin executed aT-Bone suplex on Maven to retain the title.[23][24]
In the next match,Muhammad Hassan (withDaivari) facedJerry Lawler (withJim Ross). Lawler attempted to pin Hassan but Daivari pulled Hassan's foot on the bottom rope, voiding the pinfall. Hassan executed aReverse STO on Lawler to win the match.[23][24]
In the sixth match,Kane facedSnitsky. Kane executed aTombstone piledriver on Snitsky to win the match.[23][24]
Themain event was theElimination Chamber match betweenTriple H,Edge,Chris Benoit,Chris Jericho,Batista andRandy Orton (withShawn Michaels as theSpecial Guest Referee) for the vacantWorld Heavyweight Championship. Benoit and Jericho started in the match. Triple H entered at #3 and Edge entered after Triple H. Benoit attempted to apply theCrippler Crossface to Edge but Edge countered. Triple H executed aPedigree on Jericho before Orton entered at #5. Edge inadvertentlyspeared Michaels, leading to Michaels executingSweet Chin Music on Edge and Jericho executing aLionsault to eliminate Edge. Batista entered at #6. Batista executed aSpinebuster on Jericho onto Benoit and pinned Benoit to eliminate him. Batista executed aBatista Bomb on Jericho to eliminate him. Triple H countered anRKO from Orton by throwing him into Batista. Batista attempted a Batista Bomb to Orton but Orton countered with alow-blow to Batista, as there are no disqualifications in an Elimination Chamber match, and executed an RKO to eliminate Batista. AsRic Flair distracted Michaels, Batista delivered aclothesline to Orton. Triple H executed a Pedigree on Orton to eliminate Orton and win the title.[23][24]
The night after New Year's Revolution onRaw,Batista facedRandy Orton in a match for the position as number one contender forTriple H'sWorld Heavyweight Championship. Orton won the match and the right to faceTriple H at theRoyal Rumble,[25][26] whereas Batista would participate in[27][28] and win theRoyal Rumble match. At the same event, Triple H defeated Orton to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.[29][30] AtWrestleMania 21, Batista defeated Triple H to capture the title.[31][32]
The feud betweenKane andGene Snitsky continued on the January 17 episode ofRaw. The two competed in a No Holds barred match, which ended after Kanechokeslamed Snitsky off of the stage.[27][28] On January 31, Kane defeated Snitsky in asteel cage match after delivering a chokeslam off the cage's door.[33][34] The feud betweenTrish Stratus andLita ended after the event, as Lita suffered alegit injury. On the January 17 episode ofRaw, however, Stratus mocked Lita's injury, but was chokeslammed by Kane.[27][28]
Edge was dissatisfied withShawn Michaels's officiating during theElimination Chamber match and defeated Michaels in a singles match at the Royal Rumble.[29][30] At a house show in Winnipeg, Manitoba,Eugene (who was replaced byJonathan Coachman after he suffered alegit ruptured leftpatellatendon in their match at New Year's Revolution) andWilliam Regal lost theWorld Tag Team Championships toLa Résistance (Rob Conway andSylvain Grenier).[35] La Résistance lost the titles back to William Regal and his new partner,Tajiri, on the February 7 episode ofRaw.[36][37]
New Year's Revolution became an annual event for the promotion's Raw brand, with a second event held in2006.[38] It would be a short-lived PPV, however, as the2007 event was the final New Year's Revolution produced,[39] as WWE reduced the number of PPVs per year after they had discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs followingWrestleMania 23 in April 2007.[40] While not part of the New Year's Revolution chronology, WWE reintroduced a New Year's-themed event, which was held on January 1, 2022, calledDay 1. Unlike New Year's Revolution, Day 1 took place onNew Year's Day itself.[41] The 2005 New Year's Revolution would also be the only WWE pay-per-view event held in Puerto Rico untilBacklash in May 2023.[42]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[43][44] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1D | The Hurricane and Rosey defeatedLa Résistance (Sylvain Grenier andRobért Conway) | Tag team match | 5:13 | ||||
| 2 | Eugene andWilliam Regal (c) defeatedChristian andTyson Tomko | Tag team match for theWorld Tag Team Championship | 12:20 | ||||
| 3 | Trish Stratus defeatedLita (c) | Singles match for theWWE Women's Championship | 3:46 | ||||
| 4 | Shelton Benjamin (c) defeatedMaven | Singles match for theWWE Intercontinental Championship | 6:07 | ||||
| 5 | Shelton Benjamin (c) defeatedMaven | Singles match for theWWE Intercontinental Championship | 0:05 | ||||
| 6 | Muhammad Hassan (withDaivari) defeatedJerry Lawler (withJim Ross) | Singles match | 10:51 | ||||
| 7 | Kane defeatedGene Snitsky | Singles match | 11:37 | ||||
| 8 | Triple H (withRic Flair) defeatedRandy Orton,Batista,Chris Jericho,Edge andChris Benoit | Elimination Chamber match for the vacantWorld Heavyweight Championship withShawn Michaels asspecial guest referee | 34:56 | ||||
| |||||||
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Entered | Eliminated by | Method | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edge | 4 | Chris Jericho | Pinfall | 19:20 |
| 2 | Chris Benoit | 1 | Batista | Pinfall | 26:15 |
| 3 | Chris Jericho | 2 | Batista | Pinfall | 27:35 |
| 4 | Batista | 6 | Randy Orton | Pinfall | 32:32 |
| 5 | Randy Orton | 5 | Triple H | Pinfall | 34:56 |
| Winner | Triple H | 3 | |||
