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We head into the final 3 PPV’s of the year starting with No Mercy, a Smackdown only PPV, in November, Survivor Series, where both shows meet once again. The final PPV of the year is Armageddon, a Raw only PPV.
The champions before the 10th PPV of the year, No Mercy, were as follows:
Raw World title: Goldberg
Raw Tag Titles: The Dudleyz
Women’s title: Molly
Smackdown World title: Brock Lesnar
Smackdown Tag titles: Los Guerreros
Cruiserweight title: Tajiri
Intercontinental title: RVD
US title: Eddie Guerrero
We see that in the gap between Unforgiven and No Mercy, RVD won the Intercontinental title as rumours started circulating that he would walk out on the WWE when his contract expires in the summer of 2004. Also, Tajiri, on the back on his heel turn, wins the Cruiserweight title off Rey Mysterio.
In my opinion, No Mercy is a forgotten PPV. When I try to reel off the PPV’s in order, I tend to forget when Judgment Day is and Unforgiven/No Mercy. I also tend to forget what matches appear on No Mercy in the past. I suppose you could say that No Mercy is the Bermuda Triangle of WWE PPV’s. Will No Mercy finally force some kind of imprint in my mind?
No Mercy was on the 19th October and was a Smackdown only PPV. The first match was Tajiri defending the newly won Cruiserweight title against the person he beat for it, Rey Mysterio. The result saw Rey have the match won but 2 guys ran in from the crowd leading to Tajiri kicking Rey in the head and the win. The two guys were two Japanese wrestlers who are part of a Japanese Mafia with Tajiri. I hate interference on so many levels, especially since Rey had the match won, making Tajiri look weak.
The second match was A-Train V Benoit. The whole reason behind this match was A-Train couldn’t beat Benoit and really wanted to pick up a win over him. The match was all you could expect out of A-Train because, to be honest, he’s not that good, especially as he dropped Benoit on his head. Benoit won with the Sharpshooter submission as a show of respect to recently deceased Stu Hart. It was nice to see.
Matt Hardy, underused in my opinion, goes one on one with Zach Gowen. Zach Gowen had by this time become a bit of a joke in the company and the crowd weren’t buying into the one-legged sympathy angle anymore. Zach Gowen picked up the clean win with a moonsault. I respect Matt Hardy for doing the job but the Zach Gowen win was far too late as he had become quite the jobber and missed a lot of shows due to injury and backstage problems.
Some new additions to Smackdown were up next when the A.P.A took on the Bashams. The Bashams haven’t really shown anything special during their weeks on Smackdown and it was obvious that the crowd didn’t care about them either as they come to the ring in deadly silence. The ending saw a ref bump and the Bashams injured, returning manager, Shaniqua, hit Bradshaw with a lead pipe and the Bashams win. Again, this does nothing to try and get the Bashams across because it makes them look weak. Poor, poor match.
Smackdown before No Mercy had been loaded with McMahon segments that Smackdown had become a McMahon playground. Sure, the Vince/Austin feud is well remembered but when the bottom line is drawn, McMahon’s don’t draw in the fans. The next match, Vince V Steph, has been pushed heavily down our throats that we all began to dread what kind of match we were going to get. It was supposedly an I Quit match with loads of possibilities like Vince leaving and Steph leaving. Linda was at ringside. Surprisingly, or should I say unsurprisingly, an I Quit match ended with no one saying ‘I Quit’. Linda throws in the towel when Steph begins to fade during a lead pipe choke from Vince. It was typical ‘keeping the McMahon’s looking strong’ ending. The crowd were into it for some unknown reason but I was quite frankly embarrassed by it all.
We go from the ridiculous to the sublime as Angle V Cena had the makings of a show stealer and from the looks of the card, it was the only match that held any hope. It certainly didn’t disappoint as they put on another great display. Cena shows that his act has improved greatly and was really starting to win over the fans with his hilarious raps. Angle can get good matches out of Big Show, which is a mean feat. The only thing I would complain about is the finish. At this point, Angle certainly doesn’t need to win this match but Cena could use a win to continue his rise. The problem is, Cena taps to the Anklelock. Sure, being involved in a great match helps but his act is really starting to get over and jobbing at a PPV will not establish new stars. You can forgive the booking but only just.
Eddie Guerrero defends the US title against the Big Show. Eddie has been held back and held back because he doesn’t have that big guy look. Eddie has been the most over wrestler on Smackdown for a while and yet they have failed to really push him. Big Show waltzed in and takes the US title with a chokeslam. Since when has giving any title to Big Show been a good idea? I’ve always stated that the Intercontinental/US titles are there to establish FUTURE stars. The Big Show will never be a star and his future act shows no sign of improvement. The most logical thing would have been for Eddie to job the title to Cena because he needed a boost. Nothing good can come out of Big Show winning the US title.
Brock Lesnar defends his World title against The Undertaker in a Biker Chain match. The rules are that you can win at any time by pinfall or submission but the Biker Chain is hanging from a pole and is a legal weapon. Brock and Taker spend 20 minutes trying to get this chain, only for the F.B.I and Vince to interfere. Taker grabs the chain, Vince pushes Taker off the top rope and Brock picks up the fallen chain, WHAM, it’s all over. So, it takes 4 men plus Brock Lesnar and a chain to beat one man, The Undertaker. Way to make your champ look weak. All this match accomplished was setting up a Taker V Vince feud. Backstage politics wins out again as Taker got this shot in the first place and they made Taker look really strong even though his matches of late have been poor.
Well, No Mercy won’t be remembered for knocking down every other PPV in it’s path but it will be remembered for Angle V Cena and some of the weirdest booking decisions this year. Again, this was a very average PPV and a real downer considering how good Vengeance, Smackdown’s other PPV, was.
If you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Eddie Guerrero, it did, as he lost the tag titles with his team mate Chavo to the Bashams. Why the titles were put on the Bashams I’ll never know, as the crowd have not bought them as a team. Smackdown was just starting to drift backwards as Raw was just starting to pick up their game. I say that, even though the WWE make another strange booking decision when RVD loses the Intercontinental title to Chris Jericho and wins it back in a Cage match 10 minutes later. Why they even switched the title, I’ll never know.
November arrives and the next PPV is Survivor Series. Survivor Series is well known for the 5 on 5 elimination matches and has seen the debuts of many a star. The gloss may have gone from this once great PPV but it maintains it’s ‘major’ status, as both Raw and Smackdown share the show.
Survivor Series kicks off with a traditional Survivor Series match involving Smackdown wrestlers. The face team included Benoit, Angle, Bradshaw, Hardcore Holly (returning after an injury, which was blamed on Brock Lesnar in the storylines) and Cena, who had just recently turned face. The heel team consists of Lesnar, Nathan Jones (returning after an absence), Matt Morgan (another big guy debuting), Big Show and A-Train. The heel team line up doesn’t instil anyone with confidence as 4 or the 5 have shown themselves to be completely useless and are only getting pushed because they are big. Hardcore Holly doesn’t even make the start of the match as he attacks Lesnar and gets DQ’d. A-Train is eliminated quickly by Bradshaw and he then gets eliminated by Big Show. That’s 3 of the 10 gone already in the first minute. The match stabilises until Angle eliminates Jones and Morgan quickly. Angle is next out when Brock beats him. Apparently, Angle was struggling with an injury and they made sure he made some impact but not much time in the ring. Benoit finally gets his chance over a big star by making Brock tap and Cena wraps it up for the face team when he gives Big Show the FU. The match was rushed and Angle, the banker for a good match, had a short involvement, which made it a rather average opener.
Molly defends her Women’s title against Lita. Lita’s return had been a mixed bag of late with some good matches but then showing ring rust and using moves that make her look weak. Molly had been keeping the division ticking over nicely and is one of the underrated women. I would say a lot of people expected Lita to win the title here but they were wrong as Molly exposed a turnbuckle and rammed Lita into it for the win and defence. Molly certainly has the ability but the Women’s division goes through periods of strength and weakness.
Next, the Shane/Kane feud continues even though Kane could have used a feud with a better wrestler and an eventual push to the title as a monster heel. Unfortunately, the longer he stayed in this feud, the less he looked like getting that push and the fans taking the bait. After the Last Man Standing match they had, this one is an Ambulance match. The rules are simple, as you have to get your opponent in the Ambulance to win. The result was right with Kane winning after a tombstone on the concrete but it was a poor match with a bunch of contrived spots, glitches and mistakes. The fact that the match lasted more than 10 minutes makes Kane look bad really. Oh well, never mind.
After the WWE waste PPV time with Mark Cuban (the Owner of the Dallas Mavericks) eventually getting an RKO from Randy Orton, the Smackdown tag titles are on the line as the Bashams take on Los Guerreros. The Bashams haven’t really shown themselves to be that great a tag team and it takes a good tag team to get a good match out of them. The match itself was okay but the Shaniqua part of the match, where Eddie frogsplashes her and Los Guerreros spanking her, just ruins the overall flow and it turns into one great big mess. The result saw The Bashams defend after they do a switch and Danny rolls up Chavo.
Next up, the Austin/Bischoff saga continues as they both select 5 wrestlers in a traditional Survivor Series match. If Austin loses, he is out of the WWE. This stipulation is a recurring theme for the WWE at the end of 2003. They made so many matches with the loser leaves stipulation that it really has lost all meaning. If they need to write out a wrestler for injury or because they want to take a couple of months off, think of something else or just don’t use them. Don’t just throw suspensions and forced retirements about.
Anyway, the participants for Austin’s team are Booker T, The Dudleyz, RVD and Shawn Michaels. Bischoff’s team consists of Mark Henry, Scott Steiner (recent heel turn), Chris Jericho, Christian and Randy Orton. Steiner is out first after Booker T gives him the Bookend. Booker T is out immediately after when Henry bodyslams him. Henry is out a few minutes later after a 3D and a 5-star frogsplash and The Dudleyz and RVD piling on so he doesn’t kick out. A couple of minutes later, RVD is eliminated with the RKO. A point here, RVD has still only won 1 PPV match this year and that was back in April. Jericho eliminates D-Von and Christian eliminates Bubba. Just so you know the time difference between this Survivor Series match and the one that kicked off the show, the Smackdown match lasted about 13 minutes, the Raw one is 16 minutes already and it’s 3 on 1 remaining. Shawn Michaels is on his own as Randy Orton, Jericho and Christian remain on Bischoff’s team. The heel beatdown is on but Shawn eliminates Christian with the superkick. Jericho continues the beatdown but he gets eliminated via a rollup. After a bit of back and forth, the interference begins leaving the fans wondering who will win. It’s good booking. The heel team has an ace in the hole though as Batista powerbombs Michaels and Orton picks up the win and thus ends Austin’s role as GM. The match was not great until it went 3 on 1 and Michaels did his classic face in peril act. Top stuff from Michaels and good booking as the result could have either way.
Austin says his goodbyes and leaves us with stunners for security guards and the Coach. He leaves his trademark beer cans in the ring and we get ready for The Undertaker V Vince McMahon in the Buried Alive match. I find it funny that this is The Undertaker’s trademark match and yet he has never won one. Well, this match is seriously one-sided meaning the match suffers. If you like watching Taker slowly, and I mean slowly, and systematically destroying Vince, then this match is for you. The result was totally pathetic as an explosion puts Taker into shock or something and he falls into the grave. The explosion was Kane’s doing and Vince drops the dirt to win. The only ‘moves’ that were done on Taker during the whole match was dirt in the eyes, a low blow and that explosion. It was a pathetic excuse of a match.
The main event see Goldberg defend the World title against Triple H. It was what you would expect from Goldberg. Goldberg will never get match of the night and will never steal the show but it doesn’t stop him getting over with the fans. The booking was good as Goldberg was allowed to pretty much destroy HHH and then Evolution at the run in at the end. It was definitely required if they wanted Goldberg to be an over champ. Goldberg wins the usual spear, jackhammer combo.
Survivor Series had moderately good booking and there was a lot of effort there but apart from Michaels, it was pretty much another average PPV with quite a lot of segments and time wasted that could have been used to tell the story in the ring. It also doesn’t help having a match in the card that could be used to cure insomnia.
December arrives and it’s Raw’s time to shine as Armageddon is the PPV. It was the last of 4 PPV’s that would have been shown on Sky Box Office but boardroom developments mean that this was the first PPV since 1997 that was not shown at all in the UK. There were a lot of rumours flying around but it seems the official stance is that the WWE wants UK fans to pay PPV rates for ALL the PPV’s but Sky don’t want that. The end result was no Armageddon for UK fans. This throws into question the Royal Rumble in 2004 and perhaps even Wrestlemania. It’s not a nice situation for UK fans and could lead to a number of them turning away from WWE programming.
Well, boardroom meetings aside, Armageddon kicks off with Mark Henry against Booker T. Mark Henry has not impressed anyone since his return and has looked slow and sloppy in the ring. Booker T has been overlooked for a push to something worthwhile as the big, strong guys go ahead of him. Booker actually wins the match with the axe kick but the match didn’t help either guy and Booker will be hoping for better things in 2004.
RVD defends the Intercontinental title against Randy Orton, who has been dubbed The Legend Killer. Mick Foley seems next on Randy’s list at this point as Mick is the special guest referee for this match. Well, actually Flair and Orton take on RVD as Flair makes a constant nuisance of himself and it leads to an RKO and an Orton victory. Now, putting the Intercontinental title on Orton is a good move but the constant interference in his matches leading to an Orton win is not helping him one bit. I think Orton has potential, don’t get me wrong, but he needs to be booked strong every so often. Unfortunately, this win comes at the expense of RVD, whose PPV total stands at 1 win and 9 loses for the year.
Jericho and Christian have been playing the field recently and picked up Trish and Lita. After the women found out it was a bet, this next match was set up as Jericho and Christian take on Lita and Trish. What Jericho is doing as midcard filler I’ll never know. The result is clear-cut as Christian rolls up Trish for the win. Jericho looks less than pleased with the win as Christian celebrates. The angle isn’t bad but Jericho is better off further up the card showing off his talent.
This feud started off at Survivor Series when Batista hit Michaels with the generic big guy powerbomb to cost him the match and Austin’s job. Michaels can work miracles in matches where he is outmatched but Batista is an exception. The match wasn’t that good and Michaels picked up the surprise win (I must admit) with the superkick. I’m not a fan of Batista as he has the appearance of just another big guy, has a typical big guy finisher and is a menace in the ring; his match with RVD on Raw where he almost killed him proves that. We are graced with more Batista as he sulks in the ring and beats on Maven when he comes down for his match with Matt Hardy (who had switched to Raw). A total waste of Matt Hardy, as he had no match and Maven was just cannon fodder. I suppose we should be grateful that Michaels walked out of the arena and not on a stretcher.
It’s tag team turmoil time as The Dudleyz defend the tag titles against numerous teams. Each team comes out after one team is eliminated. Rosey and the Hurricane take on La Resistance (who got a much needed boost from The Rock on Raw) and The Hurricane picks up the pin after jumping off Rosey’s shoulders for a splash. Jindrak and Cade sneak in for a rollup knocking out Rosey and The Hurricane straight away. Val Venis and Lance Storm are next but they are out after Jindrak pins Val Venis. Lance Storm is totally wasted. He has the ability to perform good matches. Well, the Dudleyz are next in and dispatch Jindrak with the 3D and Test and Steiner are the last team and the Dudleyz defend after a Bubbabomb on Test. Oh wait, we’ve been totally fooled as Bischoff gives us one more set of challengers, Flair and Batista. They win the titles easily as the tag division on Raw is destroyed in a matter of seconds. Well, Batista has left his fingerprints all over Armageddon and we’ve been left with ¾ of Evolution with the titles. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what is happening. Flair and Batista is the classic example of a one-man team. We can only hope that Flair does all the work and Batista stays out of the ring.
A late addition to the card (allegedly) sees Molly defend the Women’s title against Ivory. Molly wins after reversing a rollup in what can only be described as a filler match.
The final PPV match of 2003 sees Goldberg defend the Raw World title against Triple H and Kane in a triple threat match. Based on earlier matches, Triple H is going to win. Well, true to form Triple H wins the match and the title, thanks to all of Evolution interfering. Perhaps they should have named the PPV Evolution because the entire PPV was made a total mockery and we really needed warning in advance. It’s an interesting decision considering that Goldberg was probably just starting to get over as champion. Perhaps they should have put the title on Kane and give us something new for once. In the end, it’s Triple H reigns supreme.
So, that is the year in review by my good self. Triple H appears in every PPV Raw title match in the entire year, talent suppressed on both Raw and Smackdown, big guys pushed left, right and centre, Nathan Jones walks out (probably the best news of 2003) and Big Show wins the US title and still hasn’t defended it once as the year ends.
In my opinion, the WWE were probably going for a consolidation year and all we got was a pretty poor year, wrestling wise. With only 7-8 stand out matches in 12 PPV’s and 5 matches that soiled your eyes, we can only hope for so much more. With only Angle and Brock winning the Smackdown title and Triple H and Goldberg winning the Raw title, the lack of new main event pushes is a real concern and we can only hope that people like Benoit, Guerrero, Cena, Jericho, RVD, Booker T and co get a chance to hold the company on their shoulders. HHH really needs to drop out of the main event and let someone else take the fall. A final note on the year is the Armageddon buyrate is coming in around 200,000 buys in America, which is one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in WWE’s history.
Grandprix’s best PPV and worst PPV: Vengeance (best) – Judgment Day (worst)
I hope you enjoyed reading the year in review. It’s taken a lot of effort and a lot of words have been typed, so I thank every one of you that has read every word. I know how much time it takes to read stuff like this.
Let’s hope for a better year in 2004. Thank you again for reading.
The champions before the 10th PPV of the year, No Mercy, were as follows:
Raw World title: Goldberg
Raw Tag Titles: The Dudleyz
Women’s title: Molly
Smackdown World title: Brock Lesnar
Smackdown Tag titles: Los Guerreros
Cruiserweight title: Tajiri
Intercontinental title: RVD
US title: Eddie Guerrero
We see that in the gap between Unforgiven and No Mercy, RVD won the Intercontinental title as rumours started circulating that he would walk out on the WWE when his contract expires in the summer of 2004. Also, Tajiri, on the back on his heel turn, wins the Cruiserweight title off Rey Mysterio.
In my opinion, No Mercy is a forgotten PPV. When I try to reel off the PPV’s in order, I tend to forget when Judgment Day is and Unforgiven/No Mercy. I also tend to forget what matches appear on No Mercy in the past. I suppose you could say that No Mercy is the Bermuda Triangle of WWE PPV’s. Will No Mercy finally force some kind of imprint in my mind?
No Mercy was on the 19th October and was a Smackdown only PPV. The first match was Tajiri defending the newly won Cruiserweight title against the person he beat for it, Rey Mysterio. The result saw Rey have the match won but 2 guys ran in from the crowd leading to Tajiri kicking Rey in the head and the win. The two guys were two Japanese wrestlers who are part of a Japanese Mafia with Tajiri. I hate interference on so many levels, especially since Rey had the match won, making Tajiri look weak.
The second match was A-Train V Benoit. The whole reason behind this match was A-Train couldn’t beat Benoit and really wanted to pick up a win over him. The match was all you could expect out of A-Train because, to be honest, he’s not that good, especially as he dropped Benoit on his head. Benoit won with the Sharpshooter submission as a show of respect to recently deceased Stu Hart. It was nice to see.
Matt Hardy, underused in my opinion, goes one on one with Zach Gowen. Zach Gowen had by this time become a bit of a joke in the company and the crowd weren’t buying into the one-legged sympathy angle anymore. Zach Gowen picked up the clean win with a moonsault. I respect Matt Hardy for doing the job but the Zach Gowen win was far too late as he had become quite the jobber and missed a lot of shows due to injury and backstage problems.
Some new additions to Smackdown were up next when the A.P.A took on the Bashams. The Bashams haven’t really shown anything special during their weeks on Smackdown and it was obvious that the crowd didn’t care about them either as they come to the ring in deadly silence. The ending saw a ref bump and the Bashams injured, returning manager, Shaniqua, hit Bradshaw with a lead pipe and the Bashams win. Again, this does nothing to try and get the Bashams across because it makes them look weak. Poor, poor match.
Smackdown before No Mercy had been loaded with McMahon segments that Smackdown had become a McMahon playground. Sure, the Vince/Austin feud is well remembered but when the bottom line is drawn, McMahon’s don’t draw in the fans. The next match, Vince V Steph, has been pushed heavily down our throats that we all began to dread what kind of match we were going to get. It was supposedly an I Quit match with loads of possibilities like Vince leaving and Steph leaving. Linda was at ringside. Surprisingly, or should I say unsurprisingly, an I Quit match ended with no one saying ‘I Quit’. Linda throws in the towel when Steph begins to fade during a lead pipe choke from Vince. It was typical ‘keeping the McMahon’s looking strong’ ending. The crowd were into it for some unknown reason but I was quite frankly embarrassed by it all.
We go from the ridiculous to the sublime as Angle V Cena had the makings of a show stealer and from the looks of the card, it was the only match that held any hope. It certainly didn’t disappoint as they put on another great display. Cena shows that his act has improved greatly and was really starting to win over the fans with his hilarious raps. Angle can get good matches out of Big Show, which is a mean feat. The only thing I would complain about is the finish. At this point, Angle certainly doesn’t need to win this match but Cena could use a win to continue his rise. The problem is, Cena taps to the Anklelock. Sure, being involved in a great match helps but his act is really starting to get over and jobbing at a PPV will not establish new stars. You can forgive the booking but only just.
Eddie Guerrero defends the US title against the Big Show. Eddie has been held back and held back because he doesn’t have that big guy look. Eddie has been the most over wrestler on Smackdown for a while and yet they have failed to really push him. Big Show waltzed in and takes the US title with a chokeslam. Since when has giving any title to Big Show been a good idea? I’ve always stated that the Intercontinental/US titles are there to establish FUTURE stars. The Big Show will never be a star and his future act shows no sign of improvement. The most logical thing would have been for Eddie to job the title to Cena because he needed a boost. Nothing good can come out of Big Show winning the US title.
Brock Lesnar defends his World title against The Undertaker in a Biker Chain match. The rules are that you can win at any time by pinfall or submission but the Biker Chain is hanging from a pole and is a legal weapon. Brock and Taker spend 20 minutes trying to get this chain, only for the F.B.I and Vince to interfere. Taker grabs the chain, Vince pushes Taker off the top rope and Brock picks up the fallen chain, WHAM, it’s all over. So, it takes 4 men plus Brock Lesnar and a chain to beat one man, The Undertaker. Way to make your champ look weak. All this match accomplished was setting up a Taker V Vince feud. Backstage politics wins out again as Taker got this shot in the first place and they made Taker look really strong even though his matches of late have been poor.
Well, No Mercy won’t be remembered for knocking down every other PPV in it’s path but it will be remembered for Angle V Cena and some of the weirdest booking decisions this year. Again, this was a very average PPV and a real downer considering how good Vengeance, Smackdown’s other PPV, was.
If you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Eddie Guerrero, it did, as he lost the tag titles with his team mate Chavo to the Bashams. Why the titles were put on the Bashams I’ll never know, as the crowd have not bought them as a team. Smackdown was just starting to drift backwards as Raw was just starting to pick up their game. I say that, even though the WWE make another strange booking decision when RVD loses the Intercontinental title to Chris Jericho and wins it back in a Cage match 10 minutes later. Why they even switched the title, I’ll never know.
November arrives and the next PPV is Survivor Series. Survivor Series is well known for the 5 on 5 elimination matches and has seen the debuts of many a star. The gloss may have gone from this once great PPV but it maintains it’s ‘major’ status, as both Raw and Smackdown share the show.
Survivor Series kicks off with a traditional Survivor Series match involving Smackdown wrestlers. The face team included Benoit, Angle, Bradshaw, Hardcore Holly (returning after an injury, which was blamed on Brock Lesnar in the storylines) and Cena, who had just recently turned face. The heel team consists of Lesnar, Nathan Jones (returning after an absence), Matt Morgan (another big guy debuting), Big Show and A-Train. The heel team line up doesn’t instil anyone with confidence as 4 or the 5 have shown themselves to be completely useless and are only getting pushed because they are big. Hardcore Holly doesn’t even make the start of the match as he attacks Lesnar and gets DQ’d. A-Train is eliminated quickly by Bradshaw and he then gets eliminated by Big Show. That’s 3 of the 10 gone already in the first minute. The match stabilises until Angle eliminates Jones and Morgan quickly. Angle is next out when Brock beats him. Apparently, Angle was struggling with an injury and they made sure he made some impact but not much time in the ring. Benoit finally gets his chance over a big star by making Brock tap and Cena wraps it up for the face team when he gives Big Show the FU. The match was rushed and Angle, the banker for a good match, had a short involvement, which made it a rather average opener.
Molly defends her Women’s title against Lita. Lita’s return had been a mixed bag of late with some good matches but then showing ring rust and using moves that make her look weak. Molly had been keeping the division ticking over nicely and is one of the underrated women. I would say a lot of people expected Lita to win the title here but they were wrong as Molly exposed a turnbuckle and rammed Lita into it for the win and defence. Molly certainly has the ability but the Women’s division goes through periods of strength and weakness.
Next, the Shane/Kane feud continues even though Kane could have used a feud with a better wrestler and an eventual push to the title as a monster heel. Unfortunately, the longer he stayed in this feud, the less he looked like getting that push and the fans taking the bait. After the Last Man Standing match they had, this one is an Ambulance match. The rules are simple, as you have to get your opponent in the Ambulance to win. The result was right with Kane winning after a tombstone on the concrete but it was a poor match with a bunch of contrived spots, glitches and mistakes. The fact that the match lasted more than 10 minutes makes Kane look bad really. Oh well, never mind.
After the WWE waste PPV time with Mark Cuban (the Owner of the Dallas Mavericks) eventually getting an RKO from Randy Orton, the Smackdown tag titles are on the line as the Bashams take on Los Guerreros. The Bashams haven’t really shown themselves to be that great a tag team and it takes a good tag team to get a good match out of them. The match itself was okay but the Shaniqua part of the match, where Eddie frogsplashes her and Los Guerreros spanking her, just ruins the overall flow and it turns into one great big mess. The result saw The Bashams defend after they do a switch and Danny rolls up Chavo.
Next up, the Austin/Bischoff saga continues as they both select 5 wrestlers in a traditional Survivor Series match. If Austin loses, he is out of the WWE. This stipulation is a recurring theme for the WWE at the end of 2003. They made so many matches with the loser leaves stipulation that it really has lost all meaning. If they need to write out a wrestler for injury or because they want to take a couple of months off, think of something else or just don’t use them. Don’t just throw suspensions and forced retirements about.
Anyway, the participants for Austin’s team are Booker T, The Dudleyz, RVD and Shawn Michaels. Bischoff’s team consists of Mark Henry, Scott Steiner (recent heel turn), Chris Jericho, Christian and Randy Orton. Steiner is out first after Booker T gives him the Bookend. Booker T is out immediately after when Henry bodyslams him. Henry is out a few minutes later after a 3D and a 5-star frogsplash and The Dudleyz and RVD piling on so he doesn’t kick out. A couple of minutes later, RVD is eliminated with the RKO. A point here, RVD has still only won 1 PPV match this year and that was back in April. Jericho eliminates D-Von and Christian eliminates Bubba. Just so you know the time difference between this Survivor Series match and the one that kicked off the show, the Smackdown match lasted about 13 minutes, the Raw one is 16 minutes already and it’s 3 on 1 remaining. Shawn Michaels is on his own as Randy Orton, Jericho and Christian remain on Bischoff’s team. The heel beatdown is on but Shawn eliminates Christian with the superkick. Jericho continues the beatdown but he gets eliminated via a rollup. After a bit of back and forth, the interference begins leaving the fans wondering who will win. It’s good booking. The heel team has an ace in the hole though as Batista powerbombs Michaels and Orton picks up the win and thus ends Austin’s role as GM. The match was not great until it went 3 on 1 and Michaels did his classic face in peril act. Top stuff from Michaels and good booking as the result could have either way.
Austin says his goodbyes and leaves us with stunners for security guards and the Coach. He leaves his trademark beer cans in the ring and we get ready for The Undertaker V Vince McMahon in the Buried Alive match. I find it funny that this is The Undertaker’s trademark match and yet he has never won one. Well, this match is seriously one-sided meaning the match suffers. If you like watching Taker slowly, and I mean slowly, and systematically destroying Vince, then this match is for you. The result was totally pathetic as an explosion puts Taker into shock or something and he falls into the grave. The explosion was Kane’s doing and Vince drops the dirt to win. The only ‘moves’ that were done on Taker during the whole match was dirt in the eyes, a low blow and that explosion. It was a pathetic excuse of a match.
The main event see Goldberg defend the World title against Triple H. It was what you would expect from Goldberg. Goldberg will never get match of the night and will never steal the show but it doesn’t stop him getting over with the fans. The booking was good as Goldberg was allowed to pretty much destroy HHH and then Evolution at the run in at the end. It was definitely required if they wanted Goldberg to be an over champ. Goldberg wins the usual spear, jackhammer combo.
Survivor Series had moderately good booking and there was a lot of effort there but apart from Michaels, it was pretty much another average PPV with quite a lot of segments and time wasted that could have been used to tell the story in the ring. It also doesn’t help having a match in the card that could be used to cure insomnia.
December arrives and it’s Raw’s time to shine as Armageddon is the PPV. It was the last of 4 PPV’s that would have been shown on Sky Box Office but boardroom developments mean that this was the first PPV since 1997 that was not shown at all in the UK. There were a lot of rumours flying around but it seems the official stance is that the WWE wants UK fans to pay PPV rates for ALL the PPV’s but Sky don’t want that. The end result was no Armageddon for UK fans. This throws into question the Royal Rumble in 2004 and perhaps even Wrestlemania. It’s not a nice situation for UK fans and could lead to a number of them turning away from WWE programming.
Well, boardroom meetings aside, Armageddon kicks off with Mark Henry against Booker T. Mark Henry has not impressed anyone since his return and has looked slow and sloppy in the ring. Booker T has been overlooked for a push to something worthwhile as the big, strong guys go ahead of him. Booker actually wins the match with the axe kick but the match didn’t help either guy and Booker will be hoping for better things in 2004.
RVD defends the Intercontinental title against Randy Orton, who has been dubbed The Legend Killer. Mick Foley seems next on Randy’s list at this point as Mick is the special guest referee for this match. Well, actually Flair and Orton take on RVD as Flair makes a constant nuisance of himself and it leads to an RKO and an Orton victory. Now, putting the Intercontinental title on Orton is a good move but the constant interference in his matches leading to an Orton win is not helping him one bit. I think Orton has potential, don’t get me wrong, but he needs to be booked strong every so often. Unfortunately, this win comes at the expense of RVD, whose PPV total stands at 1 win and 9 loses for the year.
Jericho and Christian have been playing the field recently and picked up Trish and Lita. After the women found out it was a bet, this next match was set up as Jericho and Christian take on Lita and Trish. What Jericho is doing as midcard filler I’ll never know. The result is clear-cut as Christian rolls up Trish for the win. Jericho looks less than pleased with the win as Christian celebrates. The angle isn’t bad but Jericho is better off further up the card showing off his talent.
This feud started off at Survivor Series when Batista hit Michaels with the generic big guy powerbomb to cost him the match and Austin’s job. Michaels can work miracles in matches where he is outmatched but Batista is an exception. The match wasn’t that good and Michaels picked up the surprise win (I must admit) with the superkick. I’m not a fan of Batista as he has the appearance of just another big guy, has a typical big guy finisher and is a menace in the ring; his match with RVD on Raw where he almost killed him proves that. We are graced with more Batista as he sulks in the ring and beats on Maven when he comes down for his match with Matt Hardy (who had switched to Raw). A total waste of Matt Hardy, as he had no match and Maven was just cannon fodder. I suppose we should be grateful that Michaels walked out of the arena and not on a stretcher.
It’s tag team turmoil time as The Dudleyz defend the tag titles against numerous teams. Each team comes out after one team is eliminated. Rosey and the Hurricane take on La Resistance (who got a much needed boost from The Rock on Raw) and The Hurricane picks up the pin after jumping off Rosey’s shoulders for a splash. Jindrak and Cade sneak in for a rollup knocking out Rosey and The Hurricane straight away. Val Venis and Lance Storm are next but they are out after Jindrak pins Val Venis. Lance Storm is totally wasted. He has the ability to perform good matches. Well, the Dudleyz are next in and dispatch Jindrak with the 3D and Test and Steiner are the last team and the Dudleyz defend after a Bubbabomb on Test. Oh wait, we’ve been totally fooled as Bischoff gives us one more set of challengers, Flair and Batista. They win the titles easily as the tag division on Raw is destroyed in a matter of seconds. Well, Batista has left his fingerprints all over Armageddon and we’ve been left with ¾ of Evolution with the titles. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what is happening. Flair and Batista is the classic example of a one-man team. We can only hope that Flair does all the work and Batista stays out of the ring.
A late addition to the card (allegedly) sees Molly defend the Women’s title against Ivory. Molly wins after reversing a rollup in what can only be described as a filler match.
The final PPV match of 2003 sees Goldberg defend the Raw World title against Triple H and Kane in a triple threat match. Based on earlier matches, Triple H is going to win. Well, true to form Triple H wins the match and the title, thanks to all of Evolution interfering. Perhaps they should have named the PPV Evolution because the entire PPV was made a total mockery and we really needed warning in advance. It’s an interesting decision considering that Goldberg was probably just starting to get over as champion. Perhaps they should have put the title on Kane and give us something new for once. In the end, it’s Triple H reigns supreme.
So, that is the year in review by my good self. Triple H appears in every PPV Raw title match in the entire year, talent suppressed on both Raw and Smackdown, big guys pushed left, right and centre, Nathan Jones walks out (probably the best news of 2003) and Big Show wins the US title and still hasn’t defended it once as the year ends.
In my opinion, the WWE were probably going for a consolidation year and all we got was a pretty poor year, wrestling wise. With only 7-8 stand out matches in 12 PPV’s and 5 matches that soiled your eyes, we can only hope for so much more. With only Angle and Brock winning the Smackdown title and Triple H and Goldberg winning the Raw title, the lack of new main event pushes is a real concern and we can only hope that people like Benoit, Guerrero, Cena, Jericho, RVD, Booker T and co get a chance to hold the company on their shoulders. HHH really needs to drop out of the main event and let someone else take the fall. A final note on the year is the Armageddon buyrate is coming in around 200,000 buys in America, which is one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in WWE’s history.
Grandprix’s best PPV and worst PPV: Vengeance (best) – Judgment Day (worst)
I hope you enjoyed reading the year in review. It’s taken a lot of effort and a lot of words have been typed, so I thank every one of you that has read every word. I know how much time it takes to read stuff like this.
Let’s hope for a better year in 2004. Thank you again for reading.
Another great review. Which also brings to our eyes, how much the WWE PPV's have sucked as of late.
Ah, thanks for popping this GP, I had completly forgotten to read it.
For next time, do you think I should do a monthly review that includes Raw and Smackdown or should I forget about doing a review? I don't know, you decide.
We head into the final 3 PPV’s of the year starting with No Mercy, a Smackdown only PPV, in November, Survivor Series, where both shows meet once again. The final PPV of the year is Armageddon, a Raw only PPV.
The champions before the 10th PPV of the year, No Mercy, were as follows:
Raw World title: Goldberg
Raw Tag Titles: The Dudleyz
Women’s title: Molly
Smackdown World title: Brock Lesnar
Smackdown Tag titles: Los Guerreros
Cruiserweight title: Tajiri
Intercontinental title: RVD
US title: Eddie Guerrero
We see that in the gap between Unforgiven and No Mercy, RVD won the Intercontinental title as rumours started circulating that he would walk out on the WWE when his contract expires in the summer of 2004. Also, Tajiri, on the back on his heel turn, wins the Cruiserweight title off Rey Mysterio.
In my opinion, No Mercy is a forgotten PPV. When I try to reel off the PPV’s in order, I tend to forget when Judgment Day is and Unforgiven/No Mercy. I also tend to forget what matches appear on No Mercy in the past. I suppose you could say that No Mercy is the Bermuda Triangle of WWE PPV’s. Will No Mercy finally force some kind of imprint in my mind?
No Mercy was on the 19th October and was a Smackdown only PPV. The first match was Tajiri defending the newly won Cruiserweight title against the person he beat for it, Rey Mysterio. The result saw Rey have the match won but 2 guys ran in from the crowd leading to Tajiri kicking Rey in the head and the win. The two guys were two Japanese wrestlers who are part of a Japanese Mafia with Tajiri. I hate interference on so many levels, especially since Rey had the match won, making Tajiri look weak.
The second match was A-Train V Benoit. The whole reason behind this match was A-Train couldn’t beat Benoit and really wanted to pick up a win over him. The match was all you could expect out of A-Train because, to be honest, he’s not that good, especially as he dropped Benoit on his head. Benoit won with the Sharpshooter submission as a show of respect to recently deceased Stu Hart. It was nice to see.
Matt Hardy, underused in my opinion, goes one on one with Zach Gowen. Zach Gowen had by this time become a bit of a joke in the company and the crowd weren’t buying into the one-legged sympathy angle anymore. Zach Gowen picked up the clean win with a moonsault. I respect Matt Hardy for doing the job but the Zach Gowen win was far too late as he had become quite the jobber and missed a lot of shows due to injury and backstage problems.
Some new additions to Smackdown were up next when the A.P.A took on the Bashams. The Bashams haven’t really shown anything special during their weeks on Smackdown and it was obvious that the crowd didn’t care about them either as they come to the ring in deadly silence. The ending saw a ref bump and the Bashams injured, returning manager, Shaniqua, hit Bradshaw with a lead pipe and the Bashams win. Again, this does nothing to try and get the Bashams across because it makes them look weak. Poor, poor match.
Smackdown before No Mercy had been loaded with McMahon segments that Smackdown had become a McMahon playground. Sure, the Vince/Austin feud is well remembered but when the bottom line is drawn, McMahon’s don’t draw in the fans. The next match, Vince V Steph, has been pushed heavily down our throats that we all began to dread what kind of match we were going to get. It was supposedly an I Quit match with loads of possibilities like Vince leaving and Steph leaving. Linda was at ringside. Surprisingly, or should I say unsurprisingly, an I Quit match ended with no one saying ‘I Quit’. Linda throws in the towel when Steph begins to fade during a lead pipe choke from Vince. It was typical ‘keeping the McMahon’s looking strong’ ending. The crowd were into it for some unknown reason but I was quite frankly embarrassed by it all.
We go from the ridiculous to the sublime as Angle V Cena had the makings of a show stealer and from the looks of the card, it was the only match that held any hope. It certainly didn’t disappoint as they put on another great display. Cena shows that his act has improved greatly and was really starting to win over the fans with his hilarious raps. Angle can get good matches out of Big Show, which is a mean feat. The only thing I would complain about is the finish. At this point, Angle certainly doesn’t need to win this match but Cena could use a win to continue his rise. The problem is, Cena taps to the Anklelock. Sure, being involved in a great match helps but his act is really starting to get over and jobbing at a PPV will not establish new stars. You can forgive the booking but only just.
Eddie Guerrero defends the US title against the Big Show. Eddie has been held back and held back because he doesn’t have that big guy look. Eddie has been the most over wrestler on Smackdown for a while and yet they have failed to really push him. Big Show waltzed in and takes the US title with a chokeslam. Since when has giving any title to Big Show been a good idea? I’ve always stated that the Intercontinental/US titles are there to establish FUTURE stars. The Big Show will never be a star and his future act shows no sign of improvement. The most logical thing would have been for Eddie to job the title to Cena because he needed a boost. Nothing good can come out of Big Show winning the US title.
Brock Lesnar defends his World title against The Undertaker in a Biker Chain match. The rules are that you can win at any time by pinfall or submission but the Biker Chain is hanging from a pole and is a legal weapon. Brock and Taker spend 20 minutes trying to get this chain, only for the F.B.I and Vince to interfere. Taker grabs the chain, Vince pushes Taker off the top rope and Brock picks up the fallen chain, WHAM, it’s all over. So, it takes 4 men plus Brock Lesnar and a chain to beat one man, The Undertaker. Way to make your champ look weak. All this match accomplished was setting up a Taker V Vince feud. Backstage politics wins out again as Taker got this shot in the first place and they made Taker look really strong even though his matches of late have been poor.
Well, No Mercy won’t be remembered for knocking down every other PPV in it’s path but it will be remembered for Angle V Cena and some of the weirdest booking decisions this year. Again, this was a very average PPV and a real downer considering how good Vengeance, Smackdown’s other PPV, was.
If you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Eddie Guerrero, it did, as he lost the tag titles with his team mate Chavo to the Bashams. Why the titles were put on the Bashams I’ll never know, as the crowd have not bought them as a team. Smackdown was just starting to drift backwards as Raw was just starting to pick up their game. I say that, even though the WWE make another strange booking decision when RVD loses the Intercontinental title to Chris Jericho and wins it back in a Cage match 10 minutes later. Why they even switched the title, I’ll never know.
November arrives and the next PPV is Survivor Series. Survivor Series is well known for the 5 on 5 elimination matches and has seen the debuts of many a star. The gloss may have gone from this once great PPV but it maintains it’s ‘major’ status, as both Raw and Smackdown share the show.
Survivor Series kicks off with a traditional Survivor Series match involving Smackdown wrestlers. The face team included Benoit, Angle, Bradshaw, Hardcore Holly (returning after an injury, which was blamed on Brock Lesnar in the storylines) and Cena, who had just recently turned face. The heel team consists of Lesnar, Nathan Jones (returning after an absence), Matt Morgan (another big guy debuting), Big Show and A-Train. The heel team line up doesn’t instil anyone with confidence as 4 or the 5 have shown themselves to be completely useless and are only getting pushed because they are big. Hardcore Holly doesn’t even make the start of the match as he attacks Lesnar and gets DQ’d. A-Train is eliminated quickly by Bradshaw and he then gets eliminated by Big Show. That’s 3 of the 10 gone already in the first minute. The match stabilises until Angle eliminates Jones and Morgan quickly. Angle is next out when Brock beats him. Apparently, Angle was struggling with an injury and they made sure he made some impact but not much time in the ring. Benoit finally gets his chance over a big star by making Brock tap and Cena wraps it up for the face team when he gives Big Show the FU. The match was rushed and Angle, the banker for a good match, had a short involvement, which made it a rather average opener.
Molly defends her Women’s title against Lita. Lita’s return had been a mixed bag of late with some good matches but then showing ring rust and using moves that make her look weak. Molly had been keeping the division ticking over nicely and is one of the underrated women. I would say a lot of people expected Lita to win the title here but they were wrong as Molly exposed a turnbuckle and rammed Lita into it for the win and defence. Molly certainly has the ability but the Women’s division goes through periods of strength and weakness.
Next, the Shane/Kane feud continues even though Kane could have used a feud with a better wrestler and an eventual push to the title as a monster heel. Unfortunately, the longer he stayed in this feud, the less he looked like getting that push and the fans taking the bait. After the Last Man Standing match they had, this one is an Ambulance match. The rules are simple, as you have to get your opponent in the Ambulance to win. The result was right with Kane winning after a tombstone on the concrete but it was a poor match with a bunch of contrived spots, glitches and mistakes. The fact that the match lasted more than 10 minutes makes Kane look bad really. Oh well, never mind.
After the WWE waste PPV time with Mark Cuban (the Owner of the Dallas Mavericks) eventually getting an RKO from Randy Orton, the Smackdown tag titles are on the line as the Bashams take on Los Guerreros. The Bashams haven’t really shown themselves to be that great a tag team and it takes a good tag team to get a good match out of them. The match itself was okay but the Shaniqua part of the match, where Eddie frogsplashes her and Los Guerreros spanking her, just ruins the overall flow and it turns into one great big mess. The result saw The Bashams defend after they do a switch and Danny rolls up Chavo.
Next up, the Austin/Bischoff saga continues as they both select 5 wrestlers in a traditional Survivor Series match. If Austin loses, he is out of the WWE. This stipulation is a recurring theme for the WWE at the end of 2003. They made so many matches with the loser leaves stipulation that it really has lost all meaning. If they need to write out a wrestler for injury or because they want to take a couple of months off, think of something else or just don’t use them. Don’t just throw suspensions and forced retirements about.
Anyway, the participants for Austin’s team are Booker T, The Dudleyz, RVD and Shawn Michaels. Bischoff’s team consists of Mark Henry, Scott Steiner (recent heel turn), Chris Jericho, Christian and Randy Orton. Steiner is out first after Booker T gives him the Bookend. Booker T is out immediately after when Henry bodyslams him. Henry is out a few minutes later after a 3D and a 5-star frogsplash and The Dudleyz and RVD piling on so he doesn’t kick out. A couple of minutes later, RVD is eliminated with the RKO. A point here, RVD has still only won 1 PPV match this year and that was back in April. Jericho eliminates D-Von and Christian eliminates Bubba. Just so you know the time difference between this Survivor Series match and the one that kicked off the show, the Smackdown match lasted about 13 minutes, the Raw one is 16 minutes already and it’s 3 on 1 remaining. Shawn Michaels is on his own as Randy Orton, Jericho and Christian remain on Bischoff’s team. The heel beatdown is on but Shawn eliminates Christian with the superkick. Jericho continues the beatdown but he gets eliminated via a rollup. After a bit of back and forth, the interference begins leaving the fans wondering who will win. It’s good booking. The heel team has an ace in the hole though as Batista powerbombs Michaels and Orton picks up the win and thus ends Austin’s role as GM. The match was not great until it went 3 on 1 and Michaels did his classic face in peril act. Top stuff from Michaels and good booking as the result could have either way.
Austin says his goodbyes and leaves us with stunners for security guards and the Coach. He leaves his trademark beer cans in the ring and we get ready for The Undertaker V Vince McMahon in the Buried Alive match. I find it funny that this is The Undertaker’s trademark match and yet he has never won one. Well, this match is seriously one-sided meaning the match suffers. If you like watching Taker slowly, and I mean slowly, and systematically destroying Vince, then this match is for you. The result was totally pathetic as an explosion puts Taker into shock or something and he falls into the grave. The explosion was Kane’s doing and Vince drops the dirt to win. The only ‘moves’ that were done on Taker during the whole match was dirt in the eyes, a low blow and that explosion. It was a pathetic excuse of a match.
The main event see Goldberg defend the World title against Triple H. It was what you would expect from Goldberg. Goldberg will never get match of the night and will never steal the show but it doesn’t stop him getting over with the fans. The booking was good as Goldberg was allowed to pretty much destroy HHH and then Evolution at the run in at the end. It was definitely required if they wanted Goldberg to be an over champ. Goldberg wins the usual spear, jackhammer combo.
Survivor Series had moderately good booking and there was a lot of effort there but apart from Michaels, it was pretty much another average PPV with quite a lot of segments and time wasted that could have been used to tell the story in the ring. It also doesn’t help having a match in the card that could be used to cure insomnia.
December arrives and it’s Raw’s time to shine as Armageddon is the PPV. It was the last of 4 PPV’s that would have been shown on Sky Box Office but boardroom developments mean that this was the first PPV since 1997 that was not shown at all in the UK. There were a lot of rumours flying around but it seems the official stance is that the WWE wants UK fans to pay PPV rates for ALL the PPV’s but Sky don’t want that. The end result was no Armageddon for UK fans. This throws into question the Royal Rumble in 2004 and perhaps even Wrestlemania. It’s not a nice situation for UK fans and could lead to a number of them turning away from WWE programming.
Well, boardroom meetings aside, Armageddon kicks off with Mark Henry against Booker T. Mark Henry has not impressed anyone since his return and has looked slow and sloppy in the ring. Booker T has been overlooked for a push to something worthwhile as the big, strong guys go ahead of him. Booker actually wins the match with the axe kick but the match didn’t help either guy and Booker will be hoping for better things in 2004.
RVD defends the Intercontinental title against Randy Orton, who has been dubbed The Legend Killer. Mick Foley seems next on Randy’s list at this point as Mick is the special guest referee for this match. Well, actually Flair and Orton take on RVD as Flair makes a constant nuisance of himself and it leads to an RKO and an Orton victory. Now, putting the Intercontinental title on Orton is a good move but the constant interference in his matches leading to an Orton win is not helping him one bit. I think Orton has potential, don’t get me wrong, but he needs to be booked strong every so often. Unfortunately, this win comes at the expense of RVD, whose PPV total stands at 1 win and 9 loses for the year.
Jericho and Christian have been playing the field recently and picked up Trish and Lita. After the women found out it was a bet, this next match was set up as Jericho and Christian take on Lita and Trish. What Jericho is doing as midcard filler I’ll never know. The result is clear-cut as Christian rolls up Trish for the win. Jericho looks less than pleased with the win as Christian celebrates. The angle isn’t bad but Jericho is better off further up the card showing off his talent.
This feud started off at Survivor Series when Batista hit Michaels with the generic big guy powerbomb to cost him the match and Austin’s job. Michaels can work miracles in matches where he is outmatched but Batista is an exception. The match wasn’t that good and Michaels picked up the surprise win (I must admit) with the superkick. I’m not a fan of Batista as he has the appearance of just another big guy, has a typical big guy finisher and is a menace in the ring; his match with RVD on Raw where he almost killed him proves that. We are graced with more Batista as he sulks in the ring and beats on Maven when he comes down for his match with Matt Hardy (who had switched to Raw). A total waste of Matt Hardy, as he had no match and Maven was just cannon fodder. I suppose we should be grateful that Michaels walked out of the arena and not on a stretcher.
It’s tag team turmoil time as The Dudleyz defend the tag titles against numerous teams. Each team comes out after one team is eliminated. Rosey and the Hurricane take on La Resistance (who got a much needed boost from The Rock on Raw) and The Hurricane picks up the pin after jumping off Rosey’s shoulders for a splash. Jindrak and Cade sneak in for a rollup knocking out Rosey and The Hurricane straight away. Val Venis and Lance Storm are next but they are out after Jindrak pins Val Venis. Lance Storm is totally wasted. He has the ability to perform good matches. Well, the Dudleyz are next in and dispatch Jindrak with the 3D and Test and Steiner are the last team and the Dudleyz defend after a Bubbabomb on Test. Oh wait, we’ve been totally fooled as Bischoff gives us one more set of challengers, Flair and Batista. They win the titles easily as the tag division on Raw is destroyed in a matter of seconds. Well, Batista has left his fingerprints all over Armageddon and we’ve been left with ¾ of Evolution with the titles. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what is happening. Flair and Batista is the classic example of a one-man team. We can only hope that Flair does all the work and Batista stays out of the ring.
A late addition to the card (allegedly) sees Molly defend the Women’s title against Ivory. Molly wins after reversing a rollup in what can only be described as a filler match.
The final PPV match of 2003 sees Goldberg defend the Raw World title against Triple H and Kane in a triple threat match. Based on earlier matches, Triple H is going to win. Well, true to form Triple H wins the match and the title, thanks to all of Evolution interfering. Perhaps they should have named the PPV Evolution because the entire PPV was made a total mockery and we really needed warning in advance. It’s an interesting decision considering that Goldberg was probably just starting to get over as champion. Perhaps they should have put the title on Kane and give us something new for once. In the end, it’s Triple H reigns supreme.
So, that is the year in review by my good self. Triple H appears in every PPV Raw title match in the entire year, talent suppressed on both Raw and Smackdown, big guys pushed left, right and centre, Nathan Jones walks out (probably the best news of 2003) and Big Show wins the US title and still hasn’t defended it once as the year ends.
In my opinion, the WWE were probably going for a consolidation year and all we got was a pretty poor year, wrestling wise. With only 7-8 stand out matches in 12 PPV’s and 5 matches that soiled your eyes, we can only hope for so much more. With only Angle and Brock winning the Smackdown title and Triple H and Goldberg winning the Raw title, the lack of new main event pushes is a real concern and we can only hope that people like Benoit, Guerrero, Cena, Jericho, RVD, Booker T and co get a chance to hold the company on their shoulders. HHH really needs to drop out of the main event and let someone else take the fall. A final note on the year is the Armageddon buyrate is coming in around 200,000 buys in America, which is one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in WWE’s history.
Grandprix’s best PPV and worst PPV: Vengeance (best) – Judgment Day (worst)
I hope you enjoyed reading the year in review. It’s taken a lot of effort and a lot of words have been typed, so I thank every one of you that has read every word. I know how much time it takes to read stuff like this.
Let’s hope for a better year in 2004. Thank you again for reading.
The champions before the 10th PPV of the year, No Mercy, were as follows:
Raw World title: Goldberg
Raw Tag Titles: The Dudleyz
Women’s title: Molly
Smackdown World title: Brock Lesnar
Smackdown Tag titles: Los Guerreros
Cruiserweight title: Tajiri
Intercontinental title: RVD
US title: Eddie Guerrero
We see that in the gap between Unforgiven and No Mercy, RVD won the Intercontinental title as rumours started circulating that he would walk out on the WWE when his contract expires in the summer of 2004. Also, Tajiri, on the back on his heel turn, wins the Cruiserweight title off Rey Mysterio.
In my opinion, No Mercy is a forgotten PPV. When I try to reel off the PPV’s in order, I tend to forget when Judgment Day is and Unforgiven/No Mercy. I also tend to forget what matches appear on No Mercy in the past. I suppose you could say that No Mercy is the Bermuda Triangle of WWE PPV’s. Will No Mercy finally force some kind of imprint in my mind?
No Mercy was on the 19th October and was a Smackdown only PPV. The first match was Tajiri defending the newly won Cruiserweight title against the person he beat for it, Rey Mysterio. The result saw Rey have the match won but 2 guys ran in from the crowd leading to Tajiri kicking Rey in the head and the win. The two guys were two Japanese wrestlers who are part of a Japanese Mafia with Tajiri. I hate interference on so many levels, especially since Rey had the match won, making Tajiri look weak.
The second match was A-Train V Benoit. The whole reason behind this match was A-Train couldn’t beat Benoit and really wanted to pick up a win over him. The match was all you could expect out of A-Train because, to be honest, he’s not that good, especially as he dropped Benoit on his head. Benoit won with the Sharpshooter submission as a show of respect to recently deceased Stu Hart. It was nice to see.
Matt Hardy, underused in my opinion, goes one on one with Zach Gowen. Zach Gowen had by this time become a bit of a joke in the company and the crowd weren’t buying into the one-legged sympathy angle anymore. Zach Gowen picked up the clean win with a moonsault. I respect Matt Hardy for doing the job but the Zach Gowen win was far too late as he had become quite the jobber and missed a lot of shows due to injury and backstage problems.
Some new additions to Smackdown were up next when the A.P.A took on the Bashams. The Bashams haven’t really shown anything special during their weeks on Smackdown and it was obvious that the crowd didn’t care about them either as they come to the ring in deadly silence. The ending saw a ref bump and the Bashams injured, returning manager, Shaniqua, hit Bradshaw with a lead pipe and the Bashams win. Again, this does nothing to try and get the Bashams across because it makes them look weak. Poor, poor match.
Smackdown before No Mercy had been loaded with McMahon segments that Smackdown had become a McMahon playground. Sure, the Vince/Austin feud is well remembered but when the bottom line is drawn, McMahon’s don’t draw in the fans. The next match, Vince V Steph, has been pushed heavily down our throats that we all began to dread what kind of match we were going to get. It was supposedly an I Quit match with loads of possibilities like Vince leaving and Steph leaving. Linda was at ringside. Surprisingly, or should I say unsurprisingly, an I Quit match ended with no one saying ‘I Quit’. Linda throws in the towel when Steph begins to fade during a lead pipe choke from Vince. It was typical ‘keeping the McMahon’s looking strong’ ending. The crowd were into it for some unknown reason but I was quite frankly embarrassed by it all.
We go from the ridiculous to the sublime as Angle V Cena had the makings of a show stealer and from the looks of the card, it was the only match that held any hope. It certainly didn’t disappoint as they put on another great display. Cena shows that his act has improved greatly and was really starting to win over the fans with his hilarious raps. Angle can get good matches out of Big Show, which is a mean feat. The only thing I would complain about is the finish. At this point, Angle certainly doesn’t need to win this match but Cena could use a win to continue his rise. The problem is, Cena taps to the Anklelock. Sure, being involved in a great match helps but his act is really starting to get over and jobbing at a PPV will not establish new stars. You can forgive the booking but only just.
Eddie Guerrero defends the US title against the Big Show. Eddie has been held back and held back because he doesn’t have that big guy look. Eddie has been the most over wrestler on Smackdown for a while and yet they have failed to really push him. Big Show waltzed in and takes the US title with a chokeslam. Since when has giving any title to Big Show been a good idea? I’ve always stated that the Intercontinental/US titles are there to establish FUTURE stars. The Big Show will never be a star and his future act shows no sign of improvement. The most logical thing would have been for Eddie to job the title to Cena because he needed a boost. Nothing good can come out of Big Show winning the US title.
Brock Lesnar defends his World title against The Undertaker in a Biker Chain match. The rules are that you can win at any time by pinfall or submission but the Biker Chain is hanging from a pole and is a legal weapon. Brock and Taker spend 20 minutes trying to get this chain, only for the F.B.I and Vince to interfere. Taker grabs the chain, Vince pushes Taker off the top rope and Brock picks up the fallen chain, WHAM, it’s all over. So, it takes 4 men plus Brock Lesnar and a chain to beat one man, The Undertaker. Way to make your champ look weak. All this match accomplished was setting up a Taker V Vince feud. Backstage politics wins out again as Taker got this shot in the first place and they made Taker look really strong even though his matches of late have been poor.
Well, No Mercy won’t be remembered for knocking down every other PPV in it’s path but it will be remembered for Angle V Cena and some of the weirdest booking decisions this year. Again, this was a very average PPV and a real downer considering how good Vengeance, Smackdown’s other PPV, was.
If you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Eddie Guerrero, it did, as he lost the tag titles with his team mate Chavo to the Bashams. Why the titles were put on the Bashams I’ll never know, as the crowd have not bought them as a team. Smackdown was just starting to drift backwards as Raw was just starting to pick up their game. I say that, even though the WWE make another strange booking decision when RVD loses the Intercontinental title to Chris Jericho and wins it back in a Cage match 10 minutes later. Why they even switched the title, I’ll never know.
November arrives and the next PPV is Survivor Series. Survivor Series is well known for the 5 on 5 elimination matches and has seen the debuts of many a star. The gloss may have gone from this once great PPV but it maintains it’s ‘major’ status, as both Raw and Smackdown share the show.
Survivor Series kicks off with a traditional Survivor Series match involving Smackdown wrestlers. The face team included Benoit, Angle, Bradshaw, Hardcore Holly (returning after an injury, which was blamed on Brock Lesnar in the storylines) and Cena, who had just recently turned face. The heel team consists of Lesnar, Nathan Jones (returning after an absence), Matt Morgan (another big guy debuting), Big Show and A-Train. The heel team line up doesn’t instil anyone with confidence as 4 or the 5 have shown themselves to be completely useless and are only getting pushed because they are big. Hardcore Holly doesn’t even make the start of the match as he attacks Lesnar and gets DQ’d. A-Train is eliminated quickly by Bradshaw and he then gets eliminated by Big Show. That’s 3 of the 10 gone already in the first minute. The match stabilises until Angle eliminates Jones and Morgan quickly. Angle is next out when Brock beats him. Apparently, Angle was struggling with an injury and they made sure he made some impact but not much time in the ring. Benoit finally gets his chance over a big star by making Brock tap and Cena wraps it up for the face team when he gives Big Show the FU. The match was rushed and Angle, the banker for a good match, had a short involvement, which made it a rather average opener.
Molly defends her Women’s title against Lita. Lita’s return had been a mixed bag of late with some good matches but then showing ring rust and using moves that make her look weak. Molly had been keeping the division ticking over nicely and is one of the underrated women. I would say a lot of people expected Lita to win the title here but they were wrong as Molly exposed a turnbuckle and rammed Lita into it for the win and defence. Molly certainly has the ability but the Women’s division goes through periods of strength and weakness.
Next, the Shane/Kane feud continues even though Kane could have used a feud with a better wrestler and an eventual push to the title as a monster heel. Unfortunately, the longer he stayed in this feud, the less he looked like getting that push and the fans taking the bait. After the Last Man Standing match they had, this one is an Ambulance match. The rules are simple, as you have to get your opponent in the Ambulance to win. The result was right with Kane winning after a tombstone on the concrete but it was a poor match with a bunch of contrived spots, glitches and mistakes. The fact that the match lasted more than 10 minutes makes Kane look bad really. Oh well, never mind.
After the WWE waste PPV time with Mark Cuban (the Owner of the Dallas Mavericks) eventually getting an RKO from Randy Orton, the Smackdown tag titles are on the line as the Bashams take on Los Guerreros. The Bashams haven’t really shown themselves to be that great a tag team and it takes a good tag team to get a good match out of them. The match itself was okay but the Shaniqua part of the match, where Eddie frogsplashes her and Los Guerreros spanking her, just ruins the overall flow and it turns into one great big mess. The result saw The Bashams defend after they do a switch and Danny rolls up Chavo.
Next up, the Austin/Bischoff saga continues as they both select 5 wrestlers in a traditional Survivor Series match. If Austin loses, he is out of the WWE. This stipulation is a recurring theme for the WWE at the end of 2003. They made so many matches with the loser leaves stipulation that it really has lost all meaning. If they need to write out a wrestler for injury or because they want to take a couple of months off, think of something else or just don’t use them. Don’t just throw suspensions and forced retirements about.
Anyway, the participants for Austin’s team are Booker T, The Dudleyz, RVD and Shawn Michaels. Bischoff’s team consists of Mark Henry, Scott Steiner (recent heel turn), Chris Jericho, Christian and Randy Orton. Steiner is out first after Booker T gives him the Bookend. Booker T is out immediately after when Henry bodyslams him. Henry is out a few minutes later after a 3D and a 5-star frogsplash and The Dudleyz and RVD piling on so he doesn’t kick out. A couple of minutes later, RVD is eliminated with the RKO. A point here, RVD has still only won 1 PPV match this year and that was back in April. Jericho eliminates D-Von and Christian eliminates Bubba. Just so you know the time difference between this Survivor Series match and the one that kicked off the show, the Smackdown match lasted about 13 minutes, the Raw one is 16 minutes already and it’s 3 on 1 remaining. Shawn Michaels is on his own as Randy Orton, Jericho and Christian remain on Bischoff’s team. The heel beatdown is on but Shawn eliminates Christian with the superkick. Jericho continues the beatdown but he gets eliminated via a rollup. After a bit of back and forth, the interference begins leaving the fans wondering who will win. It’s good booking. The heel team has an ace in the hole though as Batista powerbombs Michaels and Orton picks up the win and thus ends Austin’s role as GM. The match was not great until it went 3 on 1 and Michaels did his classic face in peril act. Top stuff from Michaels and good booking as the result could have either way.
Austin says his goodbyes and leaves us with stunners for security guards and the Coach. He leaves his trademark beer cans in the ring and we get ready for The Undertaker V Vince McMahon in the Buried Alive match. I find it funny that this is The Undertaker’s trademark match and yet he has never won one. Well, this match is seriously one-sided meaning the match suffers. If you like watching Taker slowly, and I mean slowly, and systematically destroying Vince, then this match is for you. The result was totally pathetic as an explosion puts Taker into shock or something and he falls into the grave. The explosion was Kane’s doing and Vince drops the dirt to win. The only ‘moves’ that were done on Taker during the whole match was dirt in the eyes, a low blow and that explosion. It was a pathetic excuse of a match.
The main event see Goldberg defend the World title against Triple H. It was what you would expect from Goldberg. Goldberg will never get match of the night and will never steal the show but it doesn’t stop him getting over with the fans. The booking was good as Goldberg was allowed to pretty much destroy HHH and then Evolution at the run in at the end. It was definitely required if they wanted Goldberg to be an over champ. Goldberg wins the usual spear, jackhammer combo.
Survivor Series had moderately good booking and there was a lot of effort there but apart from Michaels, it was pretty much another average PPV with quite a lot of segments and time wasted that could have been used to tell the story in the ring. It also doesn’t help having a match in the card that could be used to cure insomnia.
December arrives and it’s Raw’s time to shine as Armageddon is the PPV. It was the last of 4 PPV’s that would have been shown on Sky Box Office but boardroom developments mean that this was the first PPV since 1997 that was not shown at all in the UK. There were a lot of rumours flying around but it seems the official stance is that the WWE wants UK fans to pay PPV rates for ALL the PPV’s but Sky don’t want that. The end result was no Armageddon for UK fans. This throws into question the Royal Rumble in 2004 and perhaps even Wrestlemania. It’s not a nice situation for UK fans and could lead to a number of them turning away from WWE programming.
Well, boardroom meetings aside, Armageddon kicks off with Mark Henry against Booker T. Mark Henry has not impressed anyone since his return and has looked slow and sloppy in the ring. Booker T has been overlooked for a push to something worthwhile as the big, strong guys go ahead of him. Booker actually wins the match with the axe kick but the match didn’t help either guy and Booker will be hoping for better things in 2004.
RVD defends the Intercontinental title against Randy Orton, who has been dubbed The Legend Killer. Mick Foley seems next on Randy’s list at this point as Mick is the special guest referee for this match. Well, actually Flair and Orton take on RVD as Flair makes a constant nuisance of himself and it leads to an RKO and an Orton victory. Now, putting the Intercontinental title on Orton is a good move but the constant interference in his matches leading to an Orton win is not helping him one bit. I think Orton has potential, don’t get me wrong, but he needs to be booked strong every so often. Unfortunately, this win comes at the expense of RVD, whose PPV total stands at 1 win and 9 loses for the year.
Jericho and Christian have been playing the field recently and picked up Trish and Lita. After the women found out it was a bet, this next match was set up as Jericho and Christian take on Lita and Trish. What Jericho is doing as midcard filler I’ll never know. The result is clear-cut as Christian rolls up Trish for the win. Jericho looks less than pleased with the win as Christian celebrates. The angle isn’t bad but Jericho is better off further up the card showing off his talent.
This feud started off at Survivor Series when Batista hit Michaels with the generic big guy powerbomb to cost him the match and Austin’s job. Michaels can work miracles in matches where he is outmatched but Batista is an exception. The match wasn’t that good and Michaels picked up the surprise win (I must admit) with the superkick. I’m not a fan of Batista as he has the appearance of just another big guy, has a typical big guy finisher and is a menace in the ring; his match with RVD on Raw where he almost killed him proves that. We are graced with more Batista as he sulks in the ring and beats on Maven when he comes down for his match with Matt Hardy (who had switched to Raw). A total waste of Matt Hardy, as he had no match and Maven was just cannon fodder. I suppose we should be grateful that Michaels walked out of the arena and not on a stretcher.
It’s tag team turmoil time as The Dudleyz defend the tag titles against numerous teams. Each team comes out after one team is eliminated. Rosey and the Hurricane take on La Resistance (who got a much needed boost from The Rock on Raw) and The Hurricane picks up the pin after jumping off Rosey’s shoulders for a splash. Jindrak and Cade sneak in for a rollup knocking out Rosey and The Hurricane straight away. Val Venis and Lance Storm are next but they are out after Jindrak pins Val Venis. Lance Storm is totally wasted. He has the ability to perform good matches. Well, the Dudleyz are next in and dispatch Jindrak with the 3D and Test and Steiner are the last team and the Dudleyz defend after a Bubbabomb on Test. Oh wait, we’ve been totally fooled as Bischoff gives us one more set of challengers, Flair and Batista. They win the titles easily as the tag division on Raw is destroyed in a matter of seconds. Well, Batista has left his fingerprints all over Armageddon and we’ve been left with ¾ of Evolution with the titles. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what is happening. Flair and Batista is the classic example of a one-man team. We can only hope that Flair does all the work and Batista stays out of the ring.
A late addition to the card (allegedly) sees Molly defend the Women’s title against Ivory. Molly wins after reversing a rollup in what can only be described as a filler match.
The final PPV match of 2003 sees Goldberg defend the Raw World title against Triple H and Kane in a triple threat match. Based on earlier matches, Triple H is going to win. Well, true to form Triple H wins the match and the title, thanks to all of Evolution interfering. Perhaps they should have named the PPV Evolution because the entire PPV was made a total mockery and we really needed warning in advance. It’s an interesting decision considering that Goldberg was probably just starting to get over as champion. Perhaps they should have put the title on Kane and give us something new for once. In the end, it’s Triple H reigns supreme.
So, that is the year in review by my good self. Triple H appears in every PPV Raw title match in the entire year, talent suppressed on both Raw and Smackdown, big guys pushed left, right and centre, Nathan Jones walks out (probably the best news of 2003) and Big Show wins the US title and still hasn’t defended it once as the year ends.
In my opinion, the WWE were probably going for a consolidation year and all we got was a pretty poor year, wrestling wise. With only 7-8 stand out matches in 12 PPV’s and 5 matches that soiled your eyes, we can only hope for so much more. With only Angle and Brock winning the Smackdown title and Triple H and Goldberg winning the Raw title, the lack of new main event pushes is a real concern and we can only hope that people like Benoit, Guerrero, Cena, Jericho, RVD, Booker T and co get a chance to hold the company on their shoulders. HHH really needs to drop out of the main event and let someone else take the fall. A final note on the year is the Armageddon buyrate is coming in around 200,000 buys in America, which is one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in WWE’s history.
Grandprix’s best PPV and worst PPV: Vengeance (best) – Judgment Day (worst)
I hope you enjoyed reading the year in review. It’s taken a lot of effort and a lot of words have been typed, so I thank every one of you that has read every word. I know how much time it takes to read stuff like this.
Let’s hope for a better year in 2004. Thank you again for reading.