WWE House Show 8/2/2003

Written by: Bob Colling

World Wrestling Entertainment House Show
Date: 8/2/2003
From: Sydney, Australia

There is a confrontation between Eric Bischoff and Stacy Keibler to start the show. Goldust comes to Stacy’s rescue by hitting Shattered Dreams in the corner. Stacy does the same move to lay out Bischoff.

Opening Contest: Goldust vs. Rodney Mack: Mack comes in from behind and clotheslines Goldust to get the cheap advantage and beats on Goldust with right hands. Goldust battles back with right hands but misses a cross body and rolls to the floor. Mack continues to work over Goldust with strikes on the floor. Mack elbow drops Goldust several times for a near fall. Mack kicks out of a backslide and nearly wins with a belly to belly suplex. Mack works over Goldust in the corner with a series of strikes. Goldust hits a snap power slam as Mack charged towards him and wins the match. (*. This was literally Mack killing Goldust and still losing. Goldust is over with the crowd, though.)

Second Contest: Val Venis vs. Test: Venis has early control working on Test’s arm, but that does’t last too long. Venis regains control with knee lifts against the ropes and a side Russian leg sweep and stands over Test to taunt him before hammering away on him some more. Test does a leapfrog but acts like he hurt his knee. Of course, that is not legit and Test gets cheap control of the match. Several officials are checking on Test while Venis stands right behind them looking on. Test is helped to his feet without putting any pressure on his right leg. Venis holds the ropes and is promptly met with a big boot sending Val to the floor. Val blocks a right hand and fights back with strikes but a back elbow from Test ends that brief momentum.

Test sends Venis back first into the corner. Test drives Venis down to the canvas with a side slam and continues to taunt the fans after almost every move. Test heads to the top rope but is met with a dropkick in midair from Venis! Venis clotheslines Test several times and a leaping shoulder block. Venis works over Test with chops but runs into a back elbow in the corner. Venis quickly hits a fully nelson slam for a near fall. Test pokes Venis in the eyes after putting the referee between them. Venis counters a pump handle slam by hitting spinning sit out spine buster for a near fall. Val goes for the Money Shot but Test kicks the referee into the ropes to crotch Venis. Test plants Venis with the pump handle slam but Venis still kicks out. Venis avoids a big boot attempt and Test is crotched over the top rope. Venis shakes the ropes and Test bounces off into a spine buster. Venis hits the Money Shot but Test kicks out at two as well. Test nails Venis with the big boot and wins the match. (**1/4. It’s not a bad match, actually it was more of a shock of how entertaining it actually was. However, it is an example of guys kicking out of finishing moves just because they’ll get a pop from the crowd. Test worked the crowd very well in getting some heat, by the way.)

Third Contest: Steven Richards & Victoria vs. Spike Dudley & Trish Stratus: Richards works over Dudley to start the match hitting a scoop slam and taunts the fans. Dudley comes out of the corner to head butt Richards in the gut and stomps away on Steven several times. Trish sends Victoria but first into Steven’s face. Richards is sent into Victoria in the corner and they are stuck in the doggy style sex position. Moments later, Trish hits a springboard bulldog on Victoria and Dudley hits the Dudley Dog on Richards landing onto Victoria for the win. (NR. It was basically a squash match that made Richards and Victoria look like chumps.)

Fourth Contest: Christian vs. Scott Steiner: Steiner shows off his power advantage by shoving Christian through the middle rope to the floor. Christian works over Steiner with a few strikes and tries to send Scott into the ropes but is met with a clothesline and Steiner drops an elbow before doing some pushups. Steiner works over Christian in the corner with chops and Christian drops to the canvas after being send into the corner. Steiner press slams Christian over the top to the floor! Back in the ring, Christian puts the referee in front of him and pokes Steiner in the eyes. Christian leaps off the middle rope to hit a dropkick for a near fall. Christian takes Steiner down with a snap mare and they soon begin to trade strikes. Steiner attempts a backdrop but Christian counters with a neck breaker for a near fall. Christian comes off the ropes but Steiner hits an overhead belly to belly suplex. Steiner decks Christian with a few forearm strikes and chops Christian in the corner. Scott hits a belly to belly suplex but only gets a near fall. Christian low blows Steiner and hits a reverse DDT for a two count. Steiner stops Christian with a jaw breaker and hits a power slam for a two count as Christian attempted a leapfrog. The referee sees Christian using his feet on the ropes. Christian knocks Stacy on the apron and Steiner hits a suplex. Stacy gets up and slaps Christian so Steiner can hit the Flatliner for the win. (*1/2. A rather formula match, but it came across quick and painless.)

Fifth Contest: Ric Flair & Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels & Rob Van Dam: Michaels and Flair start the match with Michaels knocking Flair off his feet with a shoulder block. Flair comes back with one of his own but Michaels hits a backdrop and both Flair and Orton. Michaels and Van Dam play to the crowd while Flair flips out on the referee on the floor. Michaels has a hammerlock on Flair but Ric backs Shawn into the corner and works over Michaels with strikes. Flair misses a knee drop after a snap mare and Shawn locks in a figure four. Van Dam puts a figure four on Orton as well! Michaels clotheslines Flair over the top to the floor after breaking the hold and plays to the crowd with Van Dam again. Orton tags into the contest but so does Van Dam.

They trade some go behinds until Van Dam gets control with a side headlock. Orton works over Van Dam with overhand strikes but Van Dam comes back with arm drags. Orton works over Van Dam in the corner with right hands until RVD hits a shoulder ram in the corner. RVD hits a springboard cross body for a near fall on Orton. Michaels enters and nails Orton in the midsection. Flair knee lifts Michaels from the apron and that allows Orton to get the cheap advantage working over Michaels with strikes. Flair tags into the match and works over Michaels with chops in the corner and strikes. Orton gets a cheap shot from the floor and hits Shawn with an overhand strike from the floor. Michaels and Flair trade chops until Shawn knocks Ric down with a shoulder block. Orton tags into the match and stomps away on Michaels.

Orton hits a nice standing dropkick for a two count on Michaels. Shawn tries to get out of a sleeper hold but is put right back into it. Flair enters the match and goes for the figure four but Michaels counters with an inside cradle for a near fall. Michaels takes Flair down with a backslide for a two count. Michaels is backed into the corner but Shawn fights out with right hands. Van Dam gets the hot tag but the referee was distracted by Orton. Van Dam distracts the referee as Flair low blows Michaels. Michaels yanks Flair’s trunks down and gets a near fall with a rollup. Flair gets to the top rope but is slammed off by Michaels. Orton and Van Dam get tags and Van Dam works over Orton with strikes. Van Dam hits a somersault monkey flip on Orton and a step over heel kick. Van Dam kicks Orton in the corner and hits a leaping kick off the middle rope. RVD hits the rolling thunder but only gets a near fall as Flair breaks up the cover. All four men are brawling in the ring as Kevin Nash makes his way down to the ring while RVD is getting double teamed. Nash trips Flair while the referee was distracted. Van Dam leaps off the top to hit the Five Star Frog Splash and gets the win. (***. Not a bad match here as the fans were going nuts for pretty much everything going on here. They didn’t do nearly as much stuff as they could have done as Orton seemed to not do much in the match. The best match on the show, thus far.)

Sixth Contest: Kane vs. The Hurricane: Early on Hurricane tries to knock Kane off his feet but Kane drops Hurricane with a strike. Hurricane fights back with strikes in the corner but Kane slams Hurricane down to the canvas. Kane works over Hurricane on the apron with strikes causing Hurricane to crash to the floor. Kane clotheslines Hurricane in the corner and chokes his former friend with his boot. Hurricane fights back with punches but Kane lifts Hurricane up and hits a side slam. Kane heads to the top rope and misses a flying clothesline. Hurricane hits a shining wizard for a near fall. Hurricane avoids Kane in the corner and hits a middle rope flipping neck breaker for a near fall. Hurricane heads to the top and attempts the move a second time but Kane counters with a power slam for a two count. Kane signals for the choke slam but Hurricane attempts one of his own. Kane dismisses that and hits the choke slam for the win. (*1/4. An effective squash match for Kane, but it wasn’t an overly entertaining match.)

Seventh Contest: WWE Intercontinental Champion Booker T vs. Chris Jericho: Christian and Jericho attack Booker before the bell and Jericho gets early control on Booker as the match officially begins. Jericho works over Booker in the corner with several stomps and taunts the fans. Booker nails Jericho with forearm shots and a standing spin kick for a near fall. Jericho runs into a super kick and Booker plays to the crowd by performing the spinarooni. Christian trips Booker as the referee was distracted. Jericho puts the Walls of Jericho on Booker but isn’t able to get the submission. Booker reaches the bottom rope and Jericho thinks he won the match, but he obviously didn’t. Jericho begins to shove the referee who shoves back. Jericho goes back to working over Booker with strikes and Christian gets a few shots in with the referee distracted. Jericho chops Booker in the corner but misses a splash in the corner. Booker hammers away on Jericho until an eye rake stops that. Booker attempts the Book End and hits it on the second attempt to win the match! (*1/2. Way too quick of a match and it was a rather limited match with not a lot of action going on. This was a rather disappointing match.) After the match, Jericho and Christian tease hitting each other but they instead embrace.

Main Event: WWE Raw Tag Team Champions La Resistance vs. Dudley Boys in a non-title tables match: Dupree and Grenier work over the Dudley Boys to kick off the main event with Dupree working over D-Von on the floor choking him with his jacket. Grenier controls Bubba in the ring. They are brawling on the floor with the heels still controlling the match. Grenier drives Bubba back first into the ring apron and the Dudley’s are rolled into the ring. The champs have a trash can and kendo stick. Bubba gets a street sign to hit Grenier and D-Von dropkicks a trash can into Dupree as they get control of the match. D-Von chokes Dupree with a kendo stick as Bubba has a boomerang, which D-Von uses on the champs. Bubba also gets a cricket stick and he whacks the champs with it as well. Bubba has a football and plays catch with D-Von and Grenier gets the ball and is speared by Bubba. Dupree pretends to try and tackle Bubba but is clotheslined by D-Von. Dupree has a street sign on his groin and D-Von whacks the sign with the cricket stick.

Grenier is scoop slammed and the Dudley Boys hit the What’s Up. Bubba whacks Dupree over the back with a kendo stick. The champs recover and attack the Dudley’s with a trash can and kendo stick. Grenier whacks Bubba over the back with the French flag and the same for D-Von. The champs try to suplex Bubba through the table, but D-Von moved the table out of the way. Grenier hits D-Von with the flag and they taunt the fans. D-Von is stomped on by the champs who continue to work over him with stomps. Bubba uses a fire extinguisher on the champs and sets up a table with D-Von. Grenier gets up and is met with a 3-D through the table to end the match. (**1/2. It’s not a bad little brawl and the finish was never in doubt especially considering it was a non-title match. This was just a match to send the fans home happy. I thought it was going to be a lot worse than what actually was presented.)

Final Thoughts:
There was a couple of matches mainly the main event and the tag match earlier in the show that were really entertaining. However, there isn’t a lot of crap. Most of the matches weren’t given enough time to really become anything, but it’s not an awful two hour experience. I’ll give this a neutral rating.

Thanks for reading.