Judgment Day (2004)

Judgment Day (2004)
Promotional poster featuring The Undertaker
Tagline(s)	Souls will cry.
Information
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)	SmackDown!
Sponsor(s)	PlayStation 2
Date	May 16, 2004
Attendance	18,722
Venue	Staples Center
City	Los Angeles, California
Pay-per-view chronology
Backlash (2004) Judgment Day (2004) Bad Blood (2004)
Judgment Day chronology
Judgment Day (2003) Judgment Day (2004) Judgment Day (2005)

Judgment Day (2004) was the sixth Judgment Day pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). This event was presented by PlayStation and took place on May 16, 2004, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

The main event was for the WWE Championship between Eddie Guerrero and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), which JBL won by disqualification after Guerrero hit JBL with the WWE Championship belt. Due to WWE regulations, a title can not change hands via a disqualification or countout, so, as a result, Guerrero retained the title.^[1] Featured matches on undercard were The Undertaker versus Booker T,^[2] John Cena versus René Duprée for the WWE United States Championship^[3] and Chavo Guerrero versus Jacqueline for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.^[4]

Background

The main rivalry heading into Judgment Day was between Eddie Guerrero and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) with the two battling over the WWE Championship. On the March 25, 2004 episode of SmackDown, recently drafted Raw superstar Booker T insulted SmackDown! superstars.^[5] The new SmackDown General Manager Kurt Angle gave Booker an opportunity against Guerrero for the WWE title. A member of the recently disbanded APA, John "Bradshaw" Layfield interfered in the match and became a heel by hitting Guerrero with a Clothesline from Hell. On the April 8 episode of SmackDown!, Angle announced that the winner of the Great American Award would become the number one contender for the WWE Championship. He gave the award to JBL, however, Guerrero came out, stole the trophy and broke it.^[6] On the April 22 episode of SmackDown, Guerrero lost to D-Von Dudley in a non-title match after another interference by JBL.^[7] The next week, JBL cut a promo about Eddie Guerrero's ancestors, saying they were illegal immigrants. On the May 6, 2004 edition of Smackdown, it was announced that JBL caused Guerrero's mother to have a heart attack at a house show when he threatened her and grabbed her by the shoulder. The next week, Guerrero was arrested after he destroyed JBL's limousine, and JBL defeated Guerrero's friend Rey Mysterio.

The other main match on the card was between Booker T and the Undertaker. On March 23, 2004, as part of the aftermath of that year's WWE Draft, Booker was part of a brand trade that saw him and The Dudley Boyz swapped for Triple H, who was sent back to Raw after being drafted by SmackDown! by then-general manager Paul Heyman. Booker, as noted above, took issue with this claiming the SmackDown roster was inferior to Raw. Booker later turned heel on his partner Rob Van Dam, who had also been on Raw and drafted away, and then defeated him next week. The next week, Booker T defeated RVD again and bragged about how he was the biggest star on SmackDown!, but then ran away as he heard the Undertaker's gong. The next week, Booker tried to attack the Undertaker to no avail, making general manager Kurt Angle to book a match between them for Judgement Day. At the next week, Booker went to a Voodo witch in order to try and overcome the Undertaker, and the witch told him to use a dirt from an unmarked grave against his foe. The next week, Booker defeated the F-B-I, and then had a staredown with the Undertaker.

Another feud heading into the event was between WWE United States Champion, John Cena, and Rene Dupree. Dupree was drafted to Smackdown! and confronted John Cena for the next two weeks. At the April 22, 2004 edition of Smackdown, Dupree had a talk show on SmackDown!, called "Cafe de René", with Torrie Wilson. He insulted her and tried to attack her, only for Cena to save her. The next week, Cena interfered in Dupree's match with Wilson, and Kurt Angle booked the match for Judgement Day. The next week, both attacked each other during Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson's match. On the final Smackdown! before the event, Dupree said that he will be the first French man to be a United States Champion.

Event

During the main event match, Eddie Guerrero and JBL performed a sequence where the challenger hit the champion with a steel chair out of the blue. The sequence was designed to have Guerrero come out bleeding, so he bladed just before getting up. However, Guerrero accidentally sliced an artery in his forehead instead of a vein and blood poured from the blade cut for the remainder of the match. Due to losing a high amount of blood, Guerrero went into shock and was unable to perform at full strength for two weeks. Due to the amount of blood loss, Judgment Day had to be rated TV-MA. ^[8]

Results

References

External links

• Judgment Day 2004 official website