In Your House

[cwoy2j]

The RAW match was good.

The SummerSlam match is fucking god awful though. It's like the Shawn/Diesel match, but stretched out way too long and without any of the fun.

I did like the match at Taboo Tuesday I think where Shawn sold his knee the entire match.

 

I forgot about that one. That was quite good. I actually liked that whole ppv to be honest. The Flair/Orton match was good, the HHH/HBK match was good, Jericho/Benjamin was a great opener and Snitstky/Kane was goofy fun. My favorite part was Snitsky pillmanizing Kane's throat, leaving like the match was stopped, then running in and stomping Kane once before pinning him. And the video package beforehand was something. "When I'm done with you Kane, you're gonna be the one....crying like a baby. Waaah waaaah waaaaah!"

[RandomAct]

I loved how Snitsky would say "Taboo Toosday".

[twiztor]

i was live at that Taboo Tuesday show and was yelling and marking out for Snitsky. even had a "It's Not His Fault" sign. it was a blast.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE No Way Out 2003.

 

Coach and Lawler are on commentary for the Raw side of things, and they suck so bad.

 

Chris Jericho Vs Jeff Hardy: This was given 10+ minutes but really failed to get going. Jericho seems to have dropped off a bit, and Jeff is wildly inconsistent. I like how haphazard and reckless some of his high risk stuff looks, but then he's botching the fundamentals. Shawn Michaels is supposedly banned from ringside, but he makes an appearance anyway after Jericho has made Hardy tap. We're in Montreal, so it's a mixed reception. Christian is out too, but HBK fights them both off. Pretty hot opener.

 

William Regal and Lance Storm Vs Kane and Rob van Dam: Storm and Regal are the tag champs, so the BookDust reign didn't last too long unfortunately. I think this is the match that put Regal on the shelf for a long time. Kane gives him a basic powerslam but it looks like he doesn't tuck his head in all the way, and takes a lot of the impact on the top/back of his head. Storm covers for him pretty well, and Regal does make it back in, but I wanna say he was out after that.

 

Matt Hardy Vs Billy Kidman: Hardy trying to cut weight for a tilt at the cruiserweight belt was a good little angle. Decent match between the two. Kidman gets to kick out of the Twist of Fate, but can't kick out of one from the second rope.

 

The Undertaker Vs The Big Show: I'm not sure why this got 15 mins, when it seems there's been a 10 minute cap on Show matches lately. Show does a lot of standing around in this, but Taker at least makes it feel like he has a major score to settle. Taker wins by submission, but is laid out after the bell by the A-Train. A-Train really sucks and shouldn't be getting this push.

 

Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas Vs Brock Lesnar and Chris Benoit: Edge should have been on the babyface team but was laid out in the back beforehand. I don't recall why he was taken out of the match. This match could have benefited from more time. As it was it was very solid. Benoit was a good face in peril, and I was impressed with his hot tag too, but Brock's hot tag blew it out of the water. He just came in and started throwing people around. Benoit got the tap out win which I hated because he's just tagged out to Brock a minute previous, and I hate when the illegal man is involved in the finish, especially when it's that obvious (unless it's something that's being played up).

 

Triple H Vs Scott Steiner: Montreal is pro-Game, but really they prefer to shit on Earl Hebner during this match. I would too as this was rotten. I seriously think Hunter might be the worst wrestler on the roster at this point. I mean, Steiner actually looks worse here - like, really bad - but I blame Triple H for exposing his weaknesses, and basically killing him off as a valuable player. It's kinda sad, as I think there was a lot of hype around him coming in, and after this feud he was basically nothing. Evolution are in full effect now, and they run-in to help Trips retain the gold.

 

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin Vs Eric Bischoff: The Rattlesnake is back! JR joins the commentary team for this one, as it was Bischoff who put him out of action by smashing a cinder block on his head. Always with the cinder blocks. Vince had earlier banned anyone from interfering in this, so this ends up being exactly what it should be- Austin kicking the crap out of Bisch for 5 mins and then pinning him.

 

The Rock Vs Hulk Hogan: Hogan kicks out of a Rock Bottom about 2 mins in, and I'm already groaning, but that is immediately followed by Rocky putting on Hogan's bandana and whipping him with his weightlifting belt, and Rock basically saves the match with his entertaining heeling. We get the screwjob finish with Grenier as the ref helping Rocky after Vince has the lights shut off. Vince then stood over and mocked Hogan to end the show.

 

Match of the night: Lighto f really quality, I'd say Rock/Hogan was about as good as it got, at 3 stars.

Show rating: Really odd show, in that they had the return of Austin and the big Rock/Hogan main event, but it somehow never really felt as special as it could have. I'd be interested to see what the buyrate for this was relative to other B shows around this time. Anyway, while nothing was great, the only thing that truly sucked was the Hunter/Steiner match, so I'll give this about 2 and a quarter stars.

[twiztor]

Triple H Vs Scott Steiner:  this was rotten. I seriously think Hunter might be the worst wrestler on the roster at this point. I mean, Steiner actually looks worse here - like, really bad - but I blame Triple H for exposing his weaknesses, and basically killing him off as a valuable player. It's kinda sad, as I think there was a lot of hype around him coming in, and after this feud he was basically nothing.

 

i was arguing with a friend about Steiner the other day. he was saying WWE never gave him a chance at the top and instead just did the stupid shit with Test.

i pointed him towards this match. after watching it, he understood why Steiner was never given a run with the title.

 

now, don't get me wrong. Steiner as the top guy could've would've been entertaining, but i've always figured that since HHH wasn't involved in the Alliance angle, this feud was his way to show his dominance. Preceded by destroying RVD and followed by crushing Booker T. Thanks for making Raw intolerable for a year, trips.

[RandomAct]

Edge was taken out due to his neck injury.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Backlash 2003.

 

Team Angle Vs Los Guerreros: Good opening match. Eddie is really starting to look like a potential main event babyface now, with lots of Eddie chants. Haas and Benjamin look good with their double teams. Haas especially has a mean streak I like. The heels steal the win to retain the tag belts, but the Guerreros lay them out and steal the belts anyway, to a big pop.

 

Sean O'Haire Vs Rikishi: This Piper/O'Haire connection always seemed really odd to me. Like, O'Haire isn't at all the kind of guy I think Piper would choose to take under his wing. I thought O'Haire showed potential as part of the Natural Born Thrillers, but he looks pretty exposed here, even in this short match.

 

Rob van Dam and Kane Vs The Dudley Boyz: Chief Morley is the guest ref, and this is more about the angle of the Dudleys being compelled to do his bidding in exchange for this title shot. Eventually D-Von can't take it any more and attacks Morley, we get a Lance Storm run-in, and Kane and RVD retain the belts. The crowd are really into it, so job done.

 

Trish Stratus Vs Jazz: Man, I was looking forward to being down with the Brown, but already the bitch is back. Jazz still has the aura of a total asskicker. Trish is coming into this with injured ribs, but I don't think she gives enough of the match to Jazz. Classic moment with Teddy Long throwing his shoe at Trish to break up a pin, and then Jazz gets a cheap win to take the belt. Long and Jazz work well together.

 

The Big Show Vs Rey Mysterio: They have about as good a match as these two realistically can together, given that it's hard to believe Rey standing any chance against Show, but what really matters is what happens after the bell. I'm sure anyone who's seen it will remember. Rey gets loaded onto a backboard, before Show returns to ringside, picks up the backboard with Rey strapped into it, and swings it into the guard rail just like it was a baseball bat. Rey takes a crazy bump, pretty much landing face-first on the floor, since his arms are strapped down. Really crazy spot, especially for the position this is on the card, being pretty much a midcard angle. This is pretty much one of the damnedest things I've seen in wrestling.

 

Brock Lesnar Vs John Cena: This starts okay, with Brock pretty much mauling an out-of-his-depth Cena, before Cena uses some scrappiness to get a foothold in the match. Then it falls away as Cena is really dull on offence, and then is comically bad at feeding for Brock's comeback, to the extent that Brock pretty much just has to muscle him around. I appreciate that they did this kind of match on ppv, between two guys on obvious different levels on the food chain, but Cena just wasn't ready for this type of showcase yet.

 

Triple H, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho Vs Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels and Booker T: Weird to see Jericho and Hunter buddying around in the pre-match promo, given their history. Really hard to have a bad six-man goes the rule. Well, the rule never met 2003 Triple H, who can seemingly conjure a bad match out of anything. I feel sorry for Jericho and Booker being dragged into this mess. Flair is wondering around the ring like he doesn't know where he is, and Nash can barely move and is really un-over; I guess people were really into the idea of him challenging Triple H. He gets the hot tag and cleans house to pretty much silence. This being a Triple H match it goes on about 10 minutes longer than it needs to. Obviously Nash gets the win to set up his title challenge. Just kidding, Hunter goes over. He's the Cerebral Assassin after all, and always has a plan. The sledgehammer. The sledgehammer is the plan.

 

The Rock Vs Goldberg: Really weird that they didn't talk about this match at all during the show, to the point I wondered what they were going to do with the last half hour of the show. This had the potential to be something in the early portions, with Rock using lots of stalling to avoid Goldberg. The crowd was pretty pro-Rock though, and Rock really did nothing to get them to turn on him, instead I'd say he actually encouraged the adulation, which is poor in my opinion. I really don't think we needed to see Goldberg eat all of Rock's offence either. Eventually Goldberg goes over, but I can't help but feel this was the wrong match to debut him in, and they maybe should have gone with Jericho as first opponent, someone who the fans would genuinely want to see Goldberg mow through.

 

There was also a backstage saga involving Test hitting on Torrie, Sable telling Stacy that she saw Test and Torrie kissing, and then Torrie and Stacy having a catfight, which was broken up by Scott Steiner. Torrie and Stacy are supposed to be friends here, but it wasn't that long ago that Stacy was having Torrie put through a table by the Dudleys. Wrestling friendships are funny things.

 

Match of the night: This peaked with the opener, at 3 stars.

 

Show rating: The top three matches all disappointed, and really the only things were watching on this are the opener, and the Show/Mysterio angle. Pretty bad card all told. 1.75 stars.

[twiztor]

ah, i remember this card. will always remember the Show/Mysterio bump. also that Rock/Goldberg sucked. that's my only memories of watching this event. 

the dudleyz/morley thing sounds familiar too, but i sure don't recall RVD & Kane whatsoever. that can't be a good sign.

[cwoy2j]

ah, i remember this card. will always remember the Show/Mysterio bump. also that Rock/Goldberg sucked. that's my only memories of watching this event. 

the dudleyz/morley thing sounds familiar too, but i sure don't recall RVD & Kane whatsoever. that can't be a good sign.

 

I hated the Goldberg/Rock match. Actually, for as much fun as Rock's "Hollywood Rock" run was promo/skit wise, I hated pretty much all of his matches during this time period b/c he clowned around in the ring way too much. I guess it fit with the character but his goofy ass selling (brushing dirt off of himself while getting up before getting speared), doing stuff like putting on Austin's vest in the middle of a heated match, etc just took me out of the matches.

[cwoy2j]

 

Brock Lesnar Vs John Cena: This starts okay, with Brock pretty much mauling an out-of-his-depth Cena, before Cena uses some scrappiness to get a foothold in the match. Then it falls away as Cena is really dull on offence, and then is comically bad at feeding for Brock's comeback, to the extent that Brock pretty much just has to muscle him around. I appreciate that they did this kind of match on ppv, between two guys on obvious different levels on the food chain, but Cena just wasn't ready for this type of showcase yet.

 

They really should've just tossed Benoit or another veteran into this match to help hold it together. The angle itself was pretty good (Cena wanted revenge for Brock injuring him) but Cena wasn't anywhere near ready to go 15 minutes in a one on one match and Brock wasn't experienced enough to carry him. Also, I don't see the logic in throwing out guys who are basically rookies and telling them to have a straight up match for that long while vets like Triple H, Hogan, Vince, Flair, HBK, etc got to use every bell and whistle in the book to get heat.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

 

ah, i remember this card. will always remember the Show/Mysterio bump. also that Rock/Goldberg sucked. that's my only memories of watching this event. 

the dudleyz/morley thing sounds familiar too, but i sure don't recall RVD & Kane whatsoever. that can't be a good sign.

 

I hated the Goldberg/Rock match. Actually, for as much fun as Rock's "Hollywood Rock" run was promo/skit wise, I hated pretty much all of his matches during this time period b/c he clowned around in the ring way too much. I guess it fit with the character but his goofy ass selling (brushing dirt off of himself while getting up before getting speared), doing stuff like putting on Austin's vest in the middle of a heated match, etc just took me out of the matches.

 

 

I generally liked Rock's shenanigans, but he was really playing to the crowd in this match, and it hurt things. It honestly looked like he was going into business for himself, which doesn't seem to jive with everything we've heard about the Rock. I think the problem with Hollywood Rock was that he was just having too much fun "playing the bad guy", and wasn't really being a bad guy. All his heel stuff was very nudge nudge wink wink, as though he was afraid of real heat.

[DreamBroken]

the dudleyz/morley thing sounds familiar too, but i sure don't recall RVD & Kane whatsoever. that can't be a good sign.

 

I loved the RVD/Kane team. My favorite part of that run was when the Road Warriors came in for a one off match against them on RAW about a month after this.

[cwoy2j]

 

the dudleyz/morley thing sounds familiar too, but i sure don't recall RVD & Kane whatsoever. that can't be a good sign.

 

I loved the RVD/Kane team. My favorite part of that run was when the Road Warriors came in for a one off match against them on RAW about a month after this.

 

Apparently there was some heat on Hawk for that match. After RVD pinned him with the frog splash, apparently he popped up too quickly for their liking and people thought he didn't sell the move enough. According to Animal, that was cited as a reason they didn't get to work more afterwards as that match was a tryout of sorts b/c they got a second chance due to Hawk being clean.

[twiztor]

 

the dudleyz/morley thing sounds familiar too, but i sure don't recall RVD & Kane whatsoever. that can't be a good sign.

 

I loved the RVD/Kane team. My favorite part of that run was when the Road Warriors came in for a one off match against them on RAW about a month after this.

 

 

oh, yeah, i remember the team and thought they were awesome, i just don't recall them being involved in this particular match. should've been clearer.

 

re: Rock/Goldberg

when we watched it, it felt to me like Rock was trying to stretch a Goldberg match into 25 minutes without actually doing 25 minutes of wrestling. It sounds rambly as i type it, but Goldberg winning was never in doubt. i think the rock wanted Goldberg to have his dominating win but not have it be a 2 minute squash (which is what everyone wants out of a Goldberg match). So Rock played to the crowd, and stalled, and all the other shit that definitely took away from the match. 

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Judgment Day 2003.

 

John Cena, Johnny Stamboli and Chuck Palumbo Vs Spanky, Rhyno and Chris Benoit: What an odd match-up, on paper. This was the period they were giving the FBI a bit of a push, and Cena went from feuding with Brock to feuding with Spanky. Really short match, with Spanky spending pretty much all the time in the ring, before getting beat.

 

La Resistance Vs Test and Scott Steiner: This is pretty dreadful, as depressing in actuality as it looks on paper. I know I was all 'fuck Triple H for sabotaging Steiner', but Steiner has brought absolutely nothing to the table in the matches I've seen so far. La Res get the win, and Test is angry that Stacy is showing more concern for Steiner than for him.

 

Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri Vs Team Angle: Ladder match for the tag belts, with Tajiri being a last-minute stand-in for the injured Chavo. It starts off pretty sloppy, and they just go straight into exchanging ladder spots, but it builds into a pretty nice match, and I love the finish with Tajiri busting out the green mist on Shelton. New tag champs.

 

Intercontinental championship battle royal: This is for previous IC champs only, and Booker T, who got entered into it by Steve Austin. Val Venis is back! We get down to the final four in literally about a minute. At least the final four is Goldust, Booker, Christian and Jericho, renewing that rivalry. Good finishing stretch between the four. Goldust tries to sneakily eliminate Booker, but Book reverses it. They share a laugh and a fist-bump about it. I popped for Christian eliminating Jericho as he went for the Lionsault. I remember being really surprised about that at the time, as I figured Jericho would win this. Then it gets silly as Booker eliminates Christian while the ref is out, and is about to be awarded the belt by Pat Patterson, but Christian comes back in, hits Booker with the belt, and throws him over, winning the match and the title. I usually just accept, even embrace, goofy wrestling shit like this, but this just made everyone involved look stupid. Except Christian, I guess.

 

Torrie and Sable had a bikini contest next. Torrie had a tiny bikini on under her regular bikini, and that was enough to get it done. They both looked really good.

 

Mr America Vs 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper: This was about the match you would expect these two to have in 2003, ie. not good. It included interference by Vince, O'Haire and Zach Gowen, and only went 5 mins, but still it was not good.

 

Kevin Nash Vs Triple H: I should give credit to whoever's idea it was for this to go so short. It still wasn't particularly good, but only went about 10 mins including a pre-match brawl involving Shawn and Flair. Trips ended up getting dq'ed for hitting Earl Hebner with the sledgehammer, and then Nash jackknifed him through the announce table. Hunter, not Hebner, although that would have been more entertaining.

 

Jazz Vs Victoria Vs Trish Stratus Vs Jacqueline: The only really notable thing about this was the crazy over the top rope bump Trish took which led to the finish and Jazz retaining her title.

 

Brock Lesnar Vs The Big Show: This was a stretcher match, which Cole and Tazz were hyping all night as being some really lethal match type. It was mostly just mundane brawling. The finish was really good though. Rey did a run-in, then Brock came out on a forklift (driving really recklessly, I might add), and launched himself from the top of it onto Show. He basically just destroyed Show and carried him out on the forklift.

 

There was also an ongoing bit with Austin and Bischoff in a skybox, with Austin forcing Bischoff to drink beer and eat stadium food until he puked. Quality stuff.

 

Match of the night: The ladder match is pretty easily the best match on the show. A 3 star effort. I'll give the main event 3 too, just for the finish really.

 

Show rating: This was like an Attitude Era show, with how short most of the matches were. An improvement from the last show, but still nothing to write home about. 2 stars.

[MonteCarl]

Was this the last WWE PPV match for Hogan/Mr. America? Or is there another after this?

[RandomAct]

He worked HBK and Orton at consecutive Summerslams after that.

[MonteCarl]

Ah. For some reason I was thinking the Mr. America run was his last with the company and that the SummerSlam matches were before it.

[DreamBroken]

There's also Hogan/Michaels vs. Hassan/Daivari at Backlash 05 before the SummerSlam matches

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Insurrextion 2003.

 

So, I think this is the last UK pay-per-view, and it's the Raw crew so I'm expecting a cracker.

 

Jazz Vs Trish Stratus: I think it says a lot about the Women's division at this time that these were given this spot, and more than 10 mins to show what they've got. The best I can say is that they didn't shit the bed. I mean, it was probably about the best match they were capable of having, but really nothing special. I hated the finish. Victoria came out and while the ref was distracted Teddy Long came in and threw Trish into the ringpost. Teddy shouldn't be doing anything physical, as he just doesn't have the skill, and it made Trish look bad being rag-dolled by a frail-looking manager. Can you imagine Aja Kong being tossed around by a non-wrestler. Shit, I can't imagine Nikki Bella doing that spot. I wish they'd just give Jazz the clean win. Not like Trish still wouldn't be the most over women on the roster. On another note, I think I mentioned it before, but Trish is a very game bumper.

 

Christian Vs Booker T: Another match given a fair bit of time, which is nice. Good match, although it was a couple of days ago I watched it and already I can't remember anything specific about it. Christian retains the IC title.

 

Rob van Dam and Kane Vs La Resistance: Third straight title match, and the first bad match on the show. La Res cut a promo beforehand about France being better than England. Kane/RVD retain.

 

Goldust Vs Rico: Here's the requisite oddball match-up for these UK ppvs. Don't think this really needed 10 mins. Rico really works his retrograde gimmick. Lots of comments about his sexuality from JR and King. Goldie wins.

 

The Highlight Reel is next with guest Eric Bischoff. Just a set-up for Austin to come out and stunner everyone. 

 

The Dudley Boyz and Spike Dudley Vs Rodney Mack, Christopher Nowinski and Teddy Long: Austin put Long into this match after Long's earlier interference. I'd forgotten Nowinski was managed by Long. What an odd thing. I always liked Nowinski. Shame he didn't get to develop further. Really a nothing match with Spike pinning Long to win.

 

Scott Steiner Vs Test: Val Venis is the guest ref for no apparent reason. Stacy is also at ringside. This is a warm-up for their match at Badd Blood (a real ppv) in which Stacy's services will be on the line. Steiner wins a short match.

 

Triple H Vs Kevin Nash: Streetfight for the world title. They really throw everything at this to make is watchable - blood Ric Flair blades literally about 30 seconds into this, and he isn't even in the match!), copious interference, weapons inc. the ubiquitous sledgehammer - and if it works, it's only barely. The fans don't give a shit about Nash is the main problem. Once again this is just a warm-up as the real match is at Badd Blood (HIAC), which will be the fourth ppv that this feud will have stretched across. Eek.

 

Match of the night: Booker/Christian quite clearly. 3 stars.

Show rating: Just felt like a Raw, to be honest. 2 stars.

[Brian Fowler]

If my memory doesn't deceive me, the Trips/Nash HIAC wound up being a borderline miracle.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Bad Blood 2003.

 

This is the first Raw-exclusive ppv proper. This is also the show that featured the Redneck Triathlon between Austin and Bischoff. I'm not gonna blather about that too much. I remember watching it at the time thinking that it was absolutely terrible, and now I think it may be the worst thing I've ever seen on a wrestling ppv. That may seem like hyperbole, but it's just bad on so many levels, and the worst offence is that it eats up so much of the show. I have really enjoyed Austin as a wrestler, finding new appreciation for him with this project, but I still think Austin as Bugs Bunny-like authority figure was really bad. Anyway, on with the show... 

 

The Dudley Boyz Vs Rodney Mack and Christopher Nowinski: Not much to this match. The Dudleys seem really stale at this point, like a lot of the Raw acts, to be honest. Nowinski is using a face protector and uses it to KO Bubba for the win.

 

Scott Steiner Vs Test: This is for property of Stacy, essentially. The highlight is the ridiculously short dress Stacy is wearing, and she almost exposes herself when Steiner wins. Test is pretty effective as the jerk (ex-) boyfriend, but this match is about as good as you'd expect.

 

Booker T Vs Christian: This had the potential to be a really good match - and really is about the only match on the card you could say that about - and started well enough, but it criminally got less than 8 mins, and with a crappy DQ finish it seemed like a real fuck you to the fans. A match like this doesn't do any favours to either guy.

 

Rob van Dam and Kane Vs La Resistance: La Res win the tag titles. This is another short, bad match.

 

Goldberg Vs Chris Jericho: Okay, this is a pretty good match. I was wrong about Jericho being a guy the fans would want to see Goldberg mow through, as the reaction here is pretty split. You could argue Jericho takes a bit too much of the match as he goes after Goldberg's shoulder, but it's pretty good work, and Goldberg sells surprisingly well. The second spear was pretty sweet. Good to see Jericho get a chance to work again.

 

Shawn Michaels Vs Ric Flair: Not as bad as I'd feared, although Flair really shouldn't be wrestling matches this long at this point. Both guys are working hard though. Randy Orton ends up running in and lacing Shawn with a chair to give Flair the win, and they're clearly setting up Orton as HBK's next opponent.

 

Triple H Vs Kevin Nash: Hell in a Cell with Foley as the guest ref. Lots of weapons shots and slow brawling. Triple H hitting Nash with a hammer (a regular hammer) is pretty ridiculous, and then digging into his flesh with a screwdriver is pretty violent for WWE. Hunter, Nash and Foley all get busted open of course, with Trips' blade job being particularly disgusting. In the end it's old sledgey which is the difference-maker, and Trips retains after kicking out of a jackknife. Better than you'd expect, though still overlong and overwrought like your typical Triple H main event.

 

Match of the night: Jericho and Goldberg, which barely makes it to 3 stars.

Show rating: Well, the top 3 matches all meet or exceed albeit modest expectations, but everything else is as bad as or worse than it appears on paper. When you factor in the Redneck Triathlon, this much go down as one of the worst pay-per-views this company ever put on. At least, I hope it doesn't get worse than this. 1 star.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Vengeance 2003.

 

The first official Smackdown-exclusive ppv. They shouldn't have too much trouble bettering Raw's effort.

 

Chris Benoit Vs Eddie Guerrero: This is the final of US title tournament. Eddie is a heel here. Seems like he's been turning back and forth a lot lately. Surprised to hear Eddie beat Billy Gunn in the semi-final, as I thought Gunn was gone by this time, or certainly not being featured that much. Well, this was a really good match, which ended up being drowned out by the finish, which had Eddie doing his cheat to win shtick, some slapstick stuff with an unconscious ref, and finally a completely telegraphed heel turn from Rhyno costing Benoit the match. Eddie's pantomime stuff was entertaining, but I would have preferred more of a straight match here, as I thought it distracted a bit. I'd say the fans were probably about 50/50 here, but again, it's obvious Eddie is heading to the top.

 

Jamie Noble Vs Billy Gunn: Oh, here's Billy. Yeah, this angle. Noble is offering money for a night with Torrie, who is Billy's kayfabe girlfriend. They really didn't pair her up on-screen with Kidman for very long, did they? It's not like Gunn is any improvement status-wise, as he's pretty much seen as a nobody by this point. Anyway, for some reason Torrie says she'll sleep with Noble if he can beat Gunn. I mean, she made that challenge, off her own back. Only in wrestling. Noble is just so goddamn entertaining that he makes this whole thing work. Not a bad short match. Billy can throw Noble around a bit before his general suckiness takes over, Nidia interferes, Noble stooges for both girls, and then gets a cheap win which he and Torrie sell really well. Oh yeah, and Noble has a sex box. A briefcase full of sex toys. This, of course, led to a foursome on Smackdown, and I think Noble and Gunn teaming for a bit.

 

The APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl: Bradshaw's transformation into JBL is up and running, as he now has the short frosted blonde hair. This was wacky, the sort of thing that would probably have been better on a Smackdown, but not too terrible. The Easter bunny here is Sandow, right? Funny to hear Tazz berate the bunny the same way JBL would years later. Must be a Vince thing. It looks like they're trying to push Sean O'Haire here, but this is not a good way to do it. Brother Love, of all people, is the last man to be eliminated by Bradshaw, and is put over pretty strong for some reason.

 

The World's Greatest Tag Team Vs Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman: Good, fast-paced match highlighted by two nice spots; first, Kidman's shooting star from the top rope to the outside, and secondly Mysterio's assisted top rope hurricanrana, where he gets a lift from Kidman but just seems to float up to the top rope. I feel like Haas was actually the better of he and Benjamin based off this rewatch so far. More aggressive, his shit looks snugger. WGTT retain the tag titles. Compare this to the tag division on Raw and it's night and day.

 

Sable Vs Stephanie McMahon: Steph is pretty consistent in-ring. This is another better-than-it-should-be match from her, and it really looked like these two were laying their shots in. Sable wins after interference from A-Train.

 

The Undertaker Vs John Cena: This match had a cool feel to it, and it was easy to buy into the story of Taker as the vet who demands respect, and Cena as the young upstart who has none for nobody- more so than a lot of times they run a similar story. Cena really has presence way beyond his experience-level here, and feels like a guy who's going places. Compare this to his last big ppv match against Brock, and it seems he's come a long way in the ring already too. Maybe here because he keeps it simpler, working a mostly brawling match, just staying on top of Taker with punches and knees to the injured ribs. That's the story of the match, and Taker does the old internal bleeding spot too to help get it over. These two really put on a good match here, which felt like a real war. And Cena was put over despite losing the match.

 

Mr McMahon Vs Zach Gowen: I'm really glad Zach got to live his dream, but I just feel weird about his cancer and amputation being part of a story like this. I think I had a hard time watching it at the time, and still do now. I felt the same about the Eugene gimmick too. It's just like, too real for me, I guess. Anyway, this was a smartly worked match for the most part. I mean, Zach really has to no-sell the leg work from Vince to hit his hope spots, but that's just the nature of things. Vince bleeds a gusher here, I'm pretty sure hardway. Don't know why Zach didn't go over. Seems like the obvious happy ending. Incidentally, I saw Gowen wrestle on an indie show a couple of months ago, and he was really good. Not just in an 'amazing what he can do with one leg' kind of way, but he just had presence and timing and a snap to his work that hardly anyone else on the show could match.

 

Brock Lesnar Vs The Big Show Vs Kurt Angle: Pretty solid triple threat which saw Kurt win the world title from Brock. It was pretty standard triple threat stuff, but well executed. Nothing else really to say about it.

 

Match of the night: Taker/Cena, 3.5 stars. The opener and tag title match 3.25 stars.

Show rating: Really strong show, absolutely nothing I'd call bad, and everything at least met it's expectations. Basically a breath of fresh air. It's funny, SD at this time was known for the Smackdown 6 stuff and being the workrate show and all that, but they had a bunch of sports entertainment-y stuff, some of which was really out there. Vince definitely seemed to be going through some stuff during this time, basically living out some weird fantasies on screen. The point is, even that outrageous stuff was yielding pretty good returns, or at least it did on this night. I'd go about 3 and 3/4 stars for this show.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE Unforgiven 2003.

 

La Resistance and Robert Conway Vs The Dudley Boyz: Handicap elimination table match for the tag titles. I realise watching this that I actually hate the Dudleys. I thought it was just that they got stale pretty quickly, but no, it's actual hate. Spike was meant to be in this match, but this was right after La Res spinebustered him through a table on the outside, but missed the table. Really looked nasty. Anyway, it's standard table match fare, ie. not very good, and the Duds win the belts.

 

Scott Steiner Vs Test: Jeez, they're really running this match into the ground. This time, if Test wins he not only gets Stacy, but he gets Steiner as well. Stacy accidentally hits Steiner with a chair, allowing Test to pick up the win. Steiner would end up turning heel based on this.

 

Randy Orton Vs Shawn Michaels: This is Orton's first big match then. Kinda odd lay-out really, as Orton doesn't really get an extended control segment. I don't know if that's because Shawn thought he was too green to do much, but you'd think Shawn could at least bump around him and make things interesting, since that was really Shawn's strength during his peak. As is, this is really pretty dull. Orton picks up the win with the help from some brass knucks.

 

Trish Stratus and Lita Vs Molly Holly and Gail Kim: Lita is back, and is still super over. This is okay for what it is, with Lita getting the feelgood win.

 

Kane Vs Shane McMahon: Last man standing. Not as bad as I thought it might be, but Shane really spends too much time on offence. Does it need to be a 20 minute match? The big finish is Shane jumping off the set, but Kane moving so Shane goes through the ramp. It just looked silly since Shane was really no way near Kane anyway, and it was just too much of a rehearsed spot for it to look dangerous. Another pointless Shane bump.

 

Christian Vs Chris Jericho Vs Rob Van Dam: IC title match. I'm surprised Christian is still the champ actually. I remember his reign being much shorter than this. 3rd match on the show to go almost 20 mins. They went from one extreme to the other after the last Raw show. This is pretty rotten when RVD is involved, but the sequences between Jericho and Christian are good, foreshadowing their excellent match at WM20. Christian retains.

 

Al Snow and Jonathan Coachman Vs Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler: Winners become the Raw announce team. I can't tell you how happy I was at the time that Snow and Coach were gonna replace Ross and Lawler on commentary. I was so sick of the latter pair by this point. I had forgotten Coach's shitty entrance music; "nanananana", but he was a pretty fun heel early on. The Snow/Lawler portion of this was actually decent. They really seemed to be laying their shots into each other, and stiff old heel Snow is infinitely better than workratey Snow or hardcore champion Snow. Crowd is crazy for JR taking down Coach. Jericho ends up costing the faces the match, as a fuck you to Steve Austin.

 

Triple H Vs Goldberg: JR and the King promise to make their last call one that we'll never forget. Don't make promises you can't keep. It's Hunter's title vs Goldberg's career, and if Trips is dqed or counted out, he loses the belt. Solid match, but Goldberg still sells more than I'd like him too. Triple H doesn't try to force an epic though, and Goldberg ends up winning convincingly after shaking off a sledgehammer shot.

 

Match of the night: Uh, pretty hard to say, since nothing was really all that good. Probably the main event actually for delivering on what people wanted to see. Or what I wanted to see, at least. Maybe 2 1/2 stars.

Show rating: Way better than the last Raw ppv, that's for sure. Lots more wrestling, although of variable quality. 2 stars.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

WWE No Mercy 2003.

 

Tajiri Vs Rey Mysterio: For Tajiri's cruiserweight belt. This is just after Tajiri sprayed Nidia with black mist, so they're playing up how dangerous the mist is. As you'd expect, this is a really good, fast-paced opener. Mysterio has the match won, but the debuting Akio and Sakoda, posing as fans, ran in, and the distraction allowed Tajiri to pick up the win.

 

Chris Benoit Vs A-Train: Another good match. Train's offence looks good, and Benoit sells well. Towards the end Train picks Benoit up over his head, but then they mess up whatever they were going for and he ends up dropping him right on the side of his head/his shoulder. It looks pretty nasty. I like the finish. A-Train had countered the crossface a couple of times in the match, so, after he accidentally bicycle kicks a steel chair, Benoit whips him into a sharpshooter for the win instead.

 

Matt Hardy Vs Zach Gowen: Hardy and Shannon Moore are such a good double act. Decent short match. Gowen ends up hitting a moonsault to get his first win.

 

The Basham Brothers Vs The APA: This comes about after Bradshaw gave Shaniqua a clothesline from hell. Pretty standard tag stuff, mostly dominated by the APA, until Shaniqua runs in, complete with new boob job, and costs the APA the match. In the back she claims that the clothesline from hell caused the swelling in her chest, and the Bashams are very excited about this. Which I didn't really need to see.

 

Mr McMahon Vs Stephanie McMahon: I Quit match (Steph can win by pinfall). If Steph loses she loses her job as SD GM. The Vince McMahon insanity tour continues. This is really fucked up in a lot of ways. The video package has things like Vince calling Steph a bitch, interspersed with a little girl's voice saying "you're so silly, daddy" and giggling and such like. Vince really is a psychoanalyst's dream. Sable is out with Vince, Linda is out with Steph. Straight away Vince attacks Steph from behind and starts beating on her. The heat for this is pretty crazy. Loud asshole chants for Vince, and the crowd is really losing their shit for Steph's comebacks. Steph as desperate underdog babyface really worked- who knew? Couple of really good nearfalls for Stephanie, before Vince starts choking he rout with a lead pipe and Linda throws in the towel. Vince then pie-faces Linda and starts making out with Sable. This guy must have just felt like he could do anything at this point. Cole guarantees that Steph will never work for the company again so long as Vince is in charge. I'm gonna have to start calling her Big Match Steph because she always delivers in these situations.

 

Kurt Angle Vs John Cena: Lots of "let's go Cena" chants here, which is funny considering he's the heel, and knowing how he'd end up being the most hated long term babyface ace in company history. This definitely feels like the end of Cena's heel run though. Horrible homophobic rap to start with. Typical Angle workrate style match, with Cena holding his own. Not on the level of the Taker match though. Angle wins with the anklelock.

 

Eddie Guerrero Vs The Big Show: Eddie's US title on the line. Looks like Show gave Eddie a good beatdown on the previous Smackdown, powerbombing and chokeslamming him onto his lowrider. Eddie is all bandaged up selling the effects. Plodding stuff from Show, but Eddie peps things up with some of his shenanigans. Show ends up winning clean with the chokeslam.

 

Brock Lesnar Vs The Undertaker: Biker chain match for the world title. I couldn't get into this one at all really, and it certainly isn't on the level of their earlier ppv matches. Brock's role has changed a bit now that he's aligned with Vince. He's more of a cowardly heel, and Taker is dominating him for long periods of this. The gimmick probably isn't helping much, and 25 mins is way too long for this match too. Brock ends up winning after interference from the FBI and Vince.

 

Match of the night: Probably the opener, although I put that, Benoit/Train and Vince/Steph all at 3 stars.

Show rating: A step down from the last Smackdown affair, but still pretty solid stuff, with nothing really bad on the show. 3 stars.