2003 Royal Rumble Thoughts

   The 2003 Royal Rumble was a mixed bag.  It started off promising with a match between Brock Lesnar and the Big Show to determine which man would enter the Royal Rumble.  There was a forgettable World Championship match and the abomination known as the Torrie Wilson/Dawn Marie feud.  There was also a fantastic WWE Title match that earned a standing ovation, as well as a great Royal Rumble match.

Pre-Show Match - Spike Dudley vs. Stevie Richards

   Stevie Richards was known for two things in 2003.  One was being the King of Sunday Night Heat, which Richards aptly named Stevie Night Heat.  The other was being second banana to WWE Women's Champion at the time, Victoria.  The due of Victoria and Richards was very entertaining, though! It was a fairly short match to get the crowd ready.  The underdog Spike Dudley pinned Richards after executing his finisher.  I refuse to call it the Dudley Dog, and refer to it as its ECW name, the Acid Drop.

Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar

   Paul Heyman was in the midst of controversy at this point in time.  At the 2002 Survivor Series, Heyman betrayed his client Brock Lesnar in favor of the Big Show, who had become the new WWE Champion.  At Armageddon the next month, the Big Show lost the Title to Kurt Angle and then Heyman started managing Angle. Somehow, Heyman was still managing the Big Show.  With Lesnar wanting revenge, a match was set between Lesnar and Show to determine which one of the two would be eligible to enter the Rumble match.  Lesnar countered the Big Show's choke slam, which knocked Heyman off  the apron.  Lesnar than defeated Big Show with an F-5.  It was just the beginning for Brock.

Raw Tag Team Titles - Lance Storm & William Regal vs. Dudley Boys

   The Brand Extension took place in 2002, which split the roster. Half went to Raw and the other half to Smackdown.  Due to that, another set of Tag Team Titles was created.  In this case, the original Tag Team Championships stayed on Raw.  The Dudleys were looking to gain yet another Title run in their illustrious career. Storm and Regal, remnants of the UnAmericans stable, had Chief Morley in their corner.  Morley was the former Val Venis.  Regal's attempt at using brass knuckles backfired, as the Dudley Boys countered and performed their infamous 3D finisher to win another set of Tag Team gold. Unfortunately, during the roster split, the tag teams were spread too thin, causing each set to eventually become meaningless.

Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie

   Bitter enemies became family when Dawn Marie married Torrie's father Al and became her Step-Mother.  Unfortunately, during their Honeymoon, Al suddenly passed away.  Torrie of course blamed Dawn Marie and this monstrosity of an angle was taking up precious air time.  It was Step-Daughter vs. Step-Mother in a match I wish I could forget.  Neither could work and it quite abysmal. Torrie won the match and avenged her late father.  I don't know what's worse, the fact that this angle took place or reliving it.

World Title - Triple H vs. Scott Steiner

   It's unfortunate that a night that opened with Brock Lesnar earning his way into the Rumble went downhill so quickly.  This match was just as awful and forgettable.  This was during what many call Triple H's reign of terror, as he kept the World Championship on several occasions through a majority of a three-year period.  2003 was where most of the complaints came.  With the exception of Booker T, Kane, and Rob Van Dam, the Game's matches were horrible.  People can blame him all they want but he carried Steiner, Kevin Nash, and Goldberg in his matches with them.  This feud came about due to similar physiques and made the Warrior/Rude Super Posedown 14 years prior look like an Oscar winner.  Thanks to interference by Evolution member Ric Flair and the ever handy sledge hammer, Triple H retained.  There was a rematch at No Way Out the following month which was just as bad.

WWE Title - Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit

   In contrast, this match was fantasic!  The wars between these two men were classic but it was on an even bigger stage because it was now over the grand prize.  This match was no different!  It was back and forth throughout and there were many times where it looked as if Benoit might take the Title.  He certainly took Angle to the limit!  Angle of course, had Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas with him.  However, due to their interference, they were banished from rinside. Benoit caught Angle in the Crippler Crossface and it looked to be all over.  Angle was able to counter it into an Ankle Lock for the submission win.  After the match, Benoit was moved to tears after the crowd gave him a standing ovation.  Little did they know what he would accomplish one year later.

Royal Rumble Match

   Starting the Royal Rumble is an important task because it sets the tone.  Some classic starter pairs have been Bret Hart and Tito Santana, Ax and Smash, and Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon. Whether it's two reliable hands, a cohesive tag team, or bitter rivals, it's every man for himself in the Royal Rumble match.  Shawn Michaels was back after a four plus year hiatus and was in familiar territory as number one.  Number two was bitter rival at the time, Chris Jericho.  However, Jericho appeared from behind and attacked Michaels, bloodying him with a chair.  Entrant #3 Christopher Nowinski waited outside the ring, as he saw Jericho eliminate Michaels and Rey Misterio enter the match.  Edge then joined in, followed by former partner Christian.  Christian embrace Edge, only to then be met by a spear.  Former Smackdown Tag Team Champions Rey and Edge then started working together.

   The ring started to fill up with more superstars, including Chavo Guerrero, Tajiri, and ECW legend Tommy Dreamer.  The hardcore icon brought kendo sticks to the ring and used them on everyone he could find.  Tajiri made a mistake by trying to put Jericho in his Tarantula hold on the ropes but his attempt failed and Jericho dumped the Japanese Buzzsaw out of the ring.  Rob Van Dam then entered the match and fought with Jericho, executing Rolling Thunder.  Matt Hardy then entered the ring, followed shortly by Eddie Guerrero, and then brother Jeff Hardy.  Matt was hated at this point and the brothers were at each other's throats.  Jeff got the best of Matt and went to the top rope to perform a Swanton Bomb.  Matt's sidekick Shannon Moore covered his mentor to take the brunt of the maneuver.  John Cena was brand new to the roster and was in the beginning of his degree as the Doctor of Thuganomics.  He rapped to the ring until he was tossed into it uncerimoniously.

   Rosey of Three Minute Warning entered, followed by Rikishi.  The two big Samoans went at it until Rosey's partner Jamal entered.  It was interesting to see as Jamal was Rikishi's real life brother.  Three Minute Warning stuck together and dominated the match.  That is, until Kane arrived and took over as the dominant force in the Rumble.  After his performance two years prior, Kane was the man to beat.  Meanwhile, Jericho was still in there!  Shelton Benjamin then entered to team with partner Charlie Haas.  Booker T then entered the match and took no prisoners.  The eliminated Shawn Michaels then came back to ringside, which distracted Jericho, as Test came from behind to eliminate him.  Soon after, Maven and Goldust entered, followed by Evolution's powerhouse Batista at #28. Batista dominated everyone in the Rumble and then Brock Lesnar entered the ring, after having beaten Big Show earlier in the night to earn a spot in the Rumbe.

   After a stand off between "The Animal" and "The Next Big Thing," the buzzer rang for the #30 entrant and everyone was stunned when they realized it was none other than the Undertaker. After the Undertaker eliminated a few superstars, Maven tried to repeat what he did last year and eliminate Taker.  The plan backfired and the Undertaker tossed Maven out.  Maven was lucky not to receive the same beatdown he did the year prior.  The final four were the Undertaker, Kane, Batista, and Lesnar.  The Undertaker eliminated Batista and then his brother Kane.  Batista was angry and tried to distract the Dead Man.  Taker got a hold of Batista's chair and used it against him.  Meanwhile, Lesnar used the distraction to his advantage and eliminated the Undertaker to win the 2003 Royal Rumble.  Lesnar was going to the main event at WrestleMania!

   The undercard matches for this Royal Rumble were odd, in that they were sandwiched by two great encounters in Brock/Big Show and Angle/Benoit, with complete and utter crap in between.  The night ended with a great Rumble match and a fantastic story told of Lesnar's rise back to the top of the WWE ranks.  Benoit's standing ovation after his performance was an incredible moment as well.  If not for some awful things, this could have gone down as one of the best Royal Rumble PPV's.  

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