Gold Rush Tournament 2005
In the early summer of 2005, Raw needed a new number one contender. World Champion Batista was only a few months into his first championship reign and needed to face someone other than Triple H. That’s when Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff stepped in to create the Gold Rush Tournament. A tournament featuring Raw’s 8 best talents battling in a hidden gem of a tournament.
There was a great mix of young and veteran talents in this tournament. The matchups were fresh and showed the world a great representation of what Raw had to offer. This was one of the few tournaments that WWE has put on where there wasn’t a bad match in the bunch.
Each match had great wrestling, and even the defeated wrestlers looked strong. There were also some great surprises along the way, with Triple H and Shawn Michaels suffering defeats before the finals. There was no better way to usher in a new era of stars on the Raw roster.
Also, one cannot mention this tournament without looking back at HBK’s insane superkick to Shelton Benjamin. If you haven’t witnessed this spot, go back and watch it now.
