Royal Rumble 2003 - January 19, 2003
Jan 24, 2016 3:13:36 GMT -5
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Post by BobbyTheBrain on Jan 24, 2016 3:13:36 GMT -5
Since the Rumble is coming up tomorrow, I figured it was fitting to do a Retro Royal Rumble Recap.
Match 1: Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (Winner Gets into the Rumble Match)
Match is a little over 6 minutes long, a bit odd to see Paul Heyman opposing Lesnar here as they were pushing Lesnar as the face. Big Show gives him a hard time, and Heyman interferes in the match as much as he can, but Lesnar goes over as you all would expect considering he was the big, muscle bound, fresh faced young phenom at this time. Good match to open up the card.
Grade: 2 and a half stars **'
An interiew from Chris Jericho pushing his rivalry with Shawn Michaels which would continue on into WrestleMania that year where Michaels and Jericho competed one on one. Michaels was made #1 in the Rumble by McMahon, and Jericho chose #2 simply so he could fight Michaels. Interesting rivalry.
Match 2: Dudley Boyz vs William Regal and Lance Storm (c) [World Tag Team Championship Match]
Pretty by the numbers tag match. The Heels Regal and Storm cutting the ring off and working over D-Von early, then he gets the hot tag to Bubba Ray who proceeds to kick their ass for a while. Then after a whole bunch of craziness with Val Venis running down to the ring to interfere for some reason. Regal goes to use his brass knucks, and drops 'em allowing D-Von to pick 'em up and land the knockout punch on Lance Storm to get the win. And the Dudley's became 16 time World Tag Team Champions!
Grade: 3 stars ***
Match 3: Torrie Wilson vs Dawn Marie
Weird storyline here with Dawn Marie having been married to Torrie Wilson's father, and he passed away or something, and the two women hate each other so they're fighting...I don't know it's really weird....So anyway onto the match itself. Just under 4 minutes, nothing particularly special obviously because it didn't even have time to be, but yeah there wasn't much here. A storyline that makes ya feel uneasy, not particularly great wrestling. Just bad filler. Nothing worth revisiting here.
Grade: 0 Stars
Match 4: Triple H (c) vs Scott Steiner [World Heavyweight Championship]
Steiner starts off dominating, and kicking the crap out of Triple H. About 6 or so minutes into the match Triple H turns the tide by catching Scott Steiner running into him in the corner with a big boot, then Triple H proceeds to work him over a bit, with Ric Flair on the outside occasionally pulling some shenanigans as well like choking Steiner with his jacket, and choking him on the ropes and things like that. Some botched moves and poorly done bumps in this match, mostly from Steiner. After a while of taking a beating. Triple H pulls the 'ol "I don't need this shit, I'm leaving with my belt" routine leading to Steiner chasing him down and bringing him back to the ring, but not before busting him open. Triple H continues trying to run away when Steiner brings him back, but Steiner never allows him to get far. Triple H resorting to desperate measures, trying to get DQ'd starts doing stuff like throwing the referee out of the ring, but the referee is having none of it and won't DQ Triple H...at least not yet. Finally Triple H gets under the ring, and gets the 'ol Sledge Hammer. Referee tries to stop him, gets shoved out of the way, and he proceeds to hit Steiner in the gut and get DQ'd.
After the match Steiner wrestles the Sledge Hammer away from Triple H, busts his open with a hit to the head, and puts Triple H in the Steiner Recliner holding him there for several minutes until lots of referees and WWE personnel manage to get him off of a bloody and battered Triple H.
Match lasted about 20 minutes. Adequate enough. Not the most memorable match, but suitable...would have a higher grade if not for all of the really bad botches in the match.
Grade: 2 and a Half Stars **'
Match 5: Kurt Angle (c) vs Chris Benoit [WWE Championship]
Angle accompanied to the ring by Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) who are ordered to the back after they get into an altercation with Benoit before the match. Making this an honest to goodness One on One match for the WWE Championship. No interferences, No BS. And the two men take full advantage of the opportunity to have a great match. A near perfect technical match with both men performing at their best. Lots of swings in momentum, lots of near falls. Back and forth suplexes and submissions, and everything you'd expect from these two. A classic match, and one of the highlights in the career of both men.
Grade: 5 Stars *****
Match 6: The 2003 Royal Rumble Match
The Rumble match starts off pretty damn fun. With Shawn Michaels entering at #1, and Chris Jericho entering at #2 pulling a nasty trick on Michaels. With Christian coming out dressed as Jericho at the entrance way. While Michaels is looking at Christian and wondering where the hell Jericho is, in comes Jericho from behind to low blow Michaels and kick the shit out of him. Cracking him and busting him open with a steel chair, and having his way with him for a few minutes before dumping him over the top rope all before the 3rd Nowitsky has bothered to get into the ring.
From there it tends to be the typical chaotic Royal Rumble with quite a lineup of noteworthy superstars joining the fray early on in this one.
A particularly memorable moment in the middle of the Rumble Match is when Tommy Dreamer enters packing a trash can full of weapons. He whacks a few guys with a Kendo Stick including Jericho. Who he cracked so hard on the forehead he actually put a noticeable lump on his forehead. Jericho seems to be legit pissed (no Kayfabe) at one point in the match as he gets the Kendo Stick, and hits Dreamer a few times across the back clearly as hard as he can swing that damn Kendo Stick.
A good Rumble match as per usual. Brock Lesnar comes in late in the match, and wins the whole thing. Dumping Undertaker at the end to win the Rumble, and the Main Event slot at WrestleMania 19.
Grade: 5 stars ***** (I'd probably give a 5 star rating to almost all of the Rumble matches as I always enjoy them immensely)
Match 1: Brock Lesnar vs Big Show (Winner Gets into the Rumble Match)
Match is a little over 6 minutes long, a bit odd to see Paul Heyman opposing Lesnar here as they were pushing Lesnar as the face. Big Show gives him a hard time, and Heyman interferes in the match as much as he can, but Lesnar goes over as you all would expect considering he was the big, muscle bound, fresh faced young phenom at this time. Good match to open up the card.
Grade: 2 and a half stars **'
An interiew from Chris Jericho pushing his rivalry with Shawn Michaels which would continue on into WrestleMania that year where Michaels and Jericho competed one on one. Michaels was made #1 in the Rumble by McMahon, and Jericho chose #2 simply so he could fight Michaels. Interesting rivalry.
Match 2: Dudley Boyz vs William Regal and Lance Storm (c) [World Tag Team Championship Match]
Pretty by the numbers tag match. The Heels Regal and Storm cutting the ring off and working over D-Von early, then he gets the hot tag to Bubba Ray who proceeds to kick their ass for a while. Then after a whole bunch of craziness with Val Venis running down to the ring to interfere for some reason. Regal goes to use his brass knucks, and drops 'em allowing D-Von to pick 'em up and land the knockout punch on Lance Storm to get the win. And the Dudley's became 16 time World Tag Team Champions!
Grade: 3 stars ***
Match 3: Torrie Wilson vs Dawn Marie
Weird storyline here with Dawn Marie having been married to Torrie Wilson's father, and he passed away or something, and the two women hate each other so they're fighting...I don't know it's really weird....So anyway onto the match itself. Just under 4 minutes, nothing particularly special obviously because it didn't even have time to be, but yeah there wasn't much here. A storyline that makes ya feel uneasy, not particularly great wrestling. Just bad filler. Nothing worth revisiting here.
Grade: 0 Stars
Match 4: Triple H (c) vs Scott Steiner [World Heavyweight Championship]
Steiner starts off dominating, and kicking the crap out of Triple H. About 6 or so minutes into the match Triple H turns the tide by catching Scott Steiner running into him in the corner with a big boot, then Triple H proceeds to work him over a bit, with Ric Flair on the outside occasionally pulling some shenanigans as well like choking Steiner with his jacket, and choking him on the ropes and things like that. Some botched moves and poorly done bumps in this match, mostly from Steiner. After a while of taking a beating. Triple H pulls the 'ol "I don't need this shit, I'm leaving with my belt" routine leading to Steiner chasing him down and bringing him back to the ring, but not before busting him open. Triple H continues trying to run away when Steiner brings him back, but Steiner never allows him to get far. Triple H resorting to desperate measures, trying to get DQ'd starts doing stuff like throwing the referee out of the ring, but the referee is having none of it and won't DQ Triple H...at least not yet. Finally Triple H gets under the ring, and gets the 'ol Sledge Hammer. Referee tries to stop him, gets shoved out of the way, and he proceeds to hit Steiner in the gut and get DQ'd.
After the match Steiner wrestles the Sledge Hammer away from Triple H, busts his open with a hit to the head, and puts Triple H in the Steiner Recliner holding him there for several minutes until lots of referees and WWE personnel manage to get him off of a bloody and battered Triple H.
Match lasted about 20 minutes. Adequate enough. Not the most memorable match, but suitable...would have a higher grade if not for all of the really bad botches in the match.
Grade: 2 and a Half Stars **'
Match 5: Kurt Angle (c) vs Chris Benoit [WWE Championship]
Angle accompanied to the ring by Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) who are ordered to the back after they get into an altercation with Benoit before the match. Making this an honest to goodness One on One match for the WWE Championship. No interferences, No BS. And the two men take full advantage of the opportunity to have a great match. A near perfect technical match with both men performing at their best. Lots of swings in momentum, lots of near falls. Back and forth suplexes and submissions, and everything you'd expect from these two. A classic match, and one of the highlights in the career of both men.
Grade: 5 Stars *****
Match 6: The 2003 Royal Rumble Match
The Rumble match starts off pretty damn fun. With Shawn Michaels entering at #1, and Chris Jericho entering at #2 pulling a nasty trick on Michaels. With Christian coming out dressed as Jericho at the entrance way. While Michaels is looking at Christian and wondering where the hell Jericho is, in comes Jericho from behind to low blow Michaels and kick the shit out of him. Cracking him and busting him open with a steel chair, and having his way with him for a few minutes before dumping him over the top rope all before the 3rd Nowitsky has bothered to get into the ring.
From there it tends to be the typical chaotic Royal Rumble with quite a lineup of noteworthy superstars joining the fray early on in this one.
A particularly memorable moment in the middle of the Rumble Match is when Tommy Dreamer enters packing a trash can full of weapons. He whacks a few guys with a Kendo Stick including Jericho. Who he cracked so hard on the forehead he actually put a noticeable lump on his forehead. Jericho seems to be legit pissed (no Kayfabe) at one point in the match as he gets the Kendo Stick, and hits Dreamer a few times across the back clearly as hard as he can swing that damn Kendo Stick.
A good Rumble match as per usual. Brock Lesnar comes in late in the match, and wins the whole thing. Dumping Undertaker at the end to win the Rumble, and the Main Event slot at WrestleMania 19.
Grade: 5 stars ***** (I'd probably give a 5 star rating to almost all of the Rumble matches as I always enjoy them immensely)
