[2004-12-13-WWE-RAW] Batista & Triple H vs Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho

[ohtani's jacket]

The world title is still vacant as Lawler and JR keep reminding us every five seconds. There's kind of a weird vibe to this storyline where the wrestlers are making out like Bischoff will anoint them as the new champion if they physically dominate the other contenders. In reality, he schedules an Elimination Chamber match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. What this match does present us with is a rather non-subtle ending that the commentators choose to ignore. There was some sort of vignette earlier in the show where Batista told Triple H if he stood victorious at the end of this match that Bischoff would have no choice but to award him the world title. However, it was Batista who stood victorious at the end while Triple H looked on incredulously. The subtext was fairly obvious but JR downplayed it to an almost crazy extreme. That wouldn't have mattered so much if the camera hadn't lingered on Triple H for so long in the aftermath of Batista's win. It was obvious to everyone watching that Triple H was beginning to realize what a threat Batista was, but it made JR and Lawler seem dumb by not opining on the finish.