World Wrestling Entertainment presents RAW
Date: 3/17/2003
From: St. Louis, MO
This episode is dedicated to the men and women in the armed forces.
Eric Bischoff starts the show standing in the middle of the ring with a spotlight on him. Bischoff says the main event tonight is himself against Steve Austin, but it will be a lumberjack match tonight. Bischoff says the lumberjacks will be every single member of the RAW roster. Bischoff warns if anyone doesn’t want to do their job tonight they will be fired. Bischoff wishes Austin good luck tonight.
Chief Morley cuts a promo during his entrance and says he’s replacing William Regal tonight. Morley announces if the Dudley Boys get involved in any more tonight there will be hell to pay.
Opening Contest: Kane & Rob Van Dam vs. Chief Morley & RAW Tag Team Champion Lance Storm: Morley and Kane kickoff the tag match. Morley kicks Kane in the midsection followed by right hands. Kane shoulder blocks Morley, but Morley responds with strikes in the corner. Kane tosses Morley into the corner and delivers several strikes to gain control. Kane sends Morley into the corner, but is met with a boot. Kane strikes Morley to the mat and tags in RVD. Kane slams Morley and RVD hits a top rope leg drop for a near fall. RVD stomps Morley followed by a forearm. RVD floats over Morley’s back and delivers a step over heel kick. RVD hits a handspring splash. RVD covers Morley for a two count. RVD is dropped over the top rope throat first. Morley tags in Storm and Storm kicks RVD followed by strikes. Storm misses a clothesline and is met with a spin kick. RVD kicks Storm, but is met with a strike by Morley. Storm accidentally knocks Morley off the apron and is monkey flipped off the apron. Storm spikes RVD with a DDT for a two count. Morley tags back into the match and strikes RVD. Morley clotheslines RVD for a near fall. Morley continues with a spinebuster and locks in an arm bar, but RVD doesn’t submit.
RVD gets a two count following a rollup and kicks Morley on the side of the head. Kane and Storm tag in with Kane cleaning house. Kane nails Storm with a big boot and backdrops Morley. Kane side slams Storm and clotheslines Morley in the corner. Kane heads to the top rope hitting a flying clothesline. Kane grabs Storm for a chokeslam, but is stopped by Morley. Morley nad Storm hit a double DDT on Kane. RVD leaps off the top to kick Morley and heel kicks Storm. RVD nails Morley with the rolling thunder. RVD mule kicks Storm into a chokeslam by Kane leading to the three count. After the match, Morley bails from the ring to avoid a frog splash. However, Dudley Boys come out and roll Morley into the ring. They also slide a table into the ring. Dudley Boys attack RVD and Kane from behind! Kane is put through the table with a 3D! Dudley Boys walk off after looking at Morley, who seems confused, but happy. (**1/2. Not a bad start to the show action wise. Kane and RVD seem to be a fun tag team as their styles mesh together fairly well. The Dudley Boys turn was not expected, but it’s a nice twist to the story. I don’t think it is something they wanted to do, but rather needed to do in order to have jobs. Judging by the reaction from the crowd, they don’t mind potentially booing the Dudley Boys.)
Backstage, D-Von Dudley tells Chief Morley that they made a choice after Morley called them this weekend. Bubba Dudley says they have decided to join the Bischoff/Morley administration and they ar enot happy. However, they need to feed their family. Morley tells them to not wait so long to make a decision. Morley announces their suspension as lifted officially. Morley offers a handshake as they will be answering to him. Bubba and D-Von shake Morley’s hand. Morley says they will surely be needed as lumberjacks tonight. Dudley Boys do not look thrilled.
RAW World Champion Triple H makes his way down to the ring to cut a promo. HHH is wearing his ring gear. Ric Flair joins him, but is not directly next to him. HHH says he was right when he said Booker T had no right to challenge him for the championship at WrestleMania. HHH says Booker proved his point last week. A real champion doesn’t attack someone from behind. HHH is the world champion and that’s why he’s waiting for Booker T in the ring and face him. HHH calls Booker a common street thug, but that’s when Goldust’s music hits.
Goldust gets in HHH’s and grabs a microphone. Goldust says HHH put on a good performance and it could be Oscar worthy. Goldust knows that HHH feels good about himself and feels confidence. Goldust thinks deep down, down there and begins to stutter suggesting that HHH is worried. HHH laughs at Goldust twitches and stuttering. Ric Flair also cracks up. HHH laughs hysterically. HHH can see Goldust is serious about the topic and tells Goldust to finish what he was talking about. Goldust continues to have twitches and stutter causing HHH to chuckle again. HHH mocks Goldust until Goldust decks HHH and Flair with right hands. Flair grabs Goldust by the leg and HHH pummels Goldust on the mat with strikes and stomps. Flair holds Goldust to allow HHH to strike Goldust and tries for the Pedigree, but Booker slides into the ring and helps Goldust. Goldust backdrops HHH and Booker attacks Flair. Booker decks HHH with right hands and chops. Flair helps HHH, but Booker recovers and heel kicks HHH followed by a kick to Flair. Booker backdrops Flair while Goldust clotheslines HHH to the floor. Booker grabs Flair and tries for a scissors kick, but Flair is pulled out by HHH.
Backstage, Triple H flips out about what just happened. HHH tells Flair to go tell Eric Bischoff that he wants Goldust in the ring tonight. Flair had asked if HHH meant Booker T, but HHH confirmed it was Goldust he wanted tonight.
Second Contest: Rico vs. Maven: Maven puts a headlock on Rico, but Rico breaks free quickly. Maven drop toe holds Rico and keeps a front face lock on Rico. Rico forearms Maven and ducks a clothesline, but not an elbow strike. Maven scoop slams Rico followed by an arm drag. We see that the Rock has arrived to the arena during the match. Rico backs Maven against the ropes and delivers a knee strike. Rico kicks Maven across the back to maintain control. Jamal comes out of nowhere and drops Maven over the top rope as the referee was distracted. Rico delivers a mule kick for a near fall. Rico chokes Maven over the middle rope and delivers a strike over the chest. Rico kicks Maven between the ropes for a near fall. Rico kicks Maven several times on the mat. Rico uppercuts Maven on the back. Rico neck twists Maven for a near fall. Rico puts a neck vice on Maven, but doesn’t get a submission. Maven elbows free, but Rico delivers a neckbreaker for a near fall. Rico delivers an elbow drop on the mat and heads to the middle rope. Rico leaps off missing an elbow drop attempt. Maven yanks down on Rico’s arm and kicks Rico away in the corner. Maven plants Rico with an arm breaker and forearms Rico followed by a clothesline. Maven backdrops Rico and heads to the middle rope hitting a bulldog for a near fall. Rosey grabs Rico to prevent a dropkick. Maven counters a neckbreaker with a backslide to pickup the win. (*1/2. They told a story, which I can appreciate. The action wasn’t overly great or anything, but it wasn’t a chore to watch. There’s something about Rico that I dig and despite the character he still works well.)
Backstage, Terri is waiting outside Steve Austin’s locker room when Shawn Michaels walks into the locker room.
Backstage, Shawn Michaels is standing face to face with Steve Austin. Michaels tells Austin about the weather in Texas, but Austin doesn’t buy it. Michaels tells Austin that he’s a lumberjack tonight per Bischoff’s request. Austin explains that Michaels could grab him, but Michaels promises he will grab Austin. Michaels will take care of Chris Jericho if he gets involved. Michaels tells Austin that Rock will be a lumberjack, too. Austin thinks Michaels came into the room to stir things up. Austin recalls Rock not doing anything to him last week, but he did lose to Hurricane, which will happen at WrestleMania, too. Austin says if he’s going down then Bischoff is going down with him.
Backstage, The Rock is walking when Teddy Long gets Rock’s attention. Long is hiding something in the magazine, and Rock asks what Long is hiding. Rock grabs the magazine and looks at the magazine in disbelief. Rock is pissed to see that Hurricane is on the cover. Long tells Rock that Rodney Mack is taking care of Hurricane this week. Long believes it was a conspiracy by the man for Rock losing last week. Mack appears behind Rock and says he’s going to take care of Hurricane tonight.
Third Contest: Rodney Mack vs. The Hurricane: Hurricane gets a rollup for a two count at the start of the match. Mack doesn’t budge on a shoulder block attempt. Mack runs the ropes and is met with a clothesline. Hurricane punches Mack in the corner. Mack decks Hurricane after a distraction by Long. Mack powerslams Hurricane for a near fall. Mack rams Hurricane into the corner and hits a leaping middle rope shoulder block. Mack elbow drops Hurricane several times for a near fall. Mack sends Hurricane into the corner, but misses a splash. Hurricane delivers a neckbreaker and strikes Mack a few times. Hurricane head scissors Mack to the mat and delivers the shining wizard. Hurricane heads to the top rope hitting a crossbody. Hurricane covers for a two count. Hurricane strikes Mack and sends Mack into the corner. Hurricane hits a middle rope blockbuster. Hurricane signals for a chokeslam, but the Rock runs into the ring to cause the match to be thrown out. Rock plants Hurricane with a DDT. Rock tosses Hurricane over the top to the floor. Rock crotches Hurricane onto the railing. Rock delivers a low blow at ringside. Rock grabs a steel chair and whacks Hurricane over the back several times. (*. I thought it was a bit odd booking for Mack to potentially lose this early into his career, but Rock’s involvement makes sense to avoid either guy losing. I don’t mind this as I’m hoping it leads to another meaningful bout between Hurricane and Rock. Hurricane has potential to breakout in a big way for the RAW brand.)
Earlier tonight, WWE Women’s Champion Victoria talked about the title being hers and nobody is going to take it from her. Steven Richards talks about Victoria having beaten Stratus in the past. Richards recalls his relationship with Jazz in the past, but considers it ancient history. Richards assures Victoria that she’s going to retain the title at WrestleMania.
Fourth Contest: WWE Women’s Champion Victoria & Steven Richards vs. Jazz & Trish Stratus: Jazz and Victoria kickoff the tag match. Jazz backs Victoria into the ropes and pushes her away. Victoria slaps Jazz and is knocked down by a strike. Victoria strikes Jazz several times followed by a slam. Victoria sends Jazz into the corner and delivers a shoulder ram several times. Jazz sends Victoria into the corner chest first and delivers a dropkick. Jazz plants Victoria with a powerslam for a near fall. Jazz jabs Victoria several times and strikes Victoria in the midsection. Stratus gets tagged into the match, but Victoria eye rakes Stratus. Victoria chops Stratus against the ropes. Stratus clotheslines Victoria a few times followed by a dropkick. Stratus nails Victoria with a kick to the face for a two count. Stratus chops Victoria in the corner several times. Stratus kicks Victoria away in the corner and tries for a head scissors, but is dropped to the mat. Victoria hits a standing moonsault for a near fall. Victoria kicks Stratus several times on the mat and pulls Stratus by her hair. Richards is on the middle rope, but Victoria is sent into Richards. Stratus head scissors Richards off the middle rope. Victoria tosses Stratus across the ring a couple of times. Victoria chokes Stratus over the middle rope followed by a kick. Victoria misses a somersault leg drop attempt from the apron.
Richards tags into the match, but misses a splash in the corner. Stratus crawls to the corner, but Jazz short arms Stratus and doesn’t tag into the match. Jazz walks out on the match. Richards hits a sit out spinebuster. Victoria tags into the match and delivers the Widows Peak for the win. After the match, Victoria grabs a steel chair as Richards holds Stratus. However, Jeff Hardy runs into the ring and makes the save. Hardy leg drops Richards on the groin. Victoria is backed into a corner and Richards accidentally splashes Victoria. Hardy heads to the top rope, but Richards pulls Victoria to the floor. Hardy gives Stratus a kiss before departing the ring. (*1/2. Jazz walking out on Stratus is not a shock since they are in a three way match at WrestleMania for the title. Remember when Hardy was kind of a heel? Anyway, Hardy and Stratus as a unit could be interesting.)
Backstage, Coach interviews Chris Jericho regarding his match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania. Jericho talks about a video package that was shown about Michaels legacy at Mania. Jericho says he dreamt about being champion at Mania, and he did that. Jericho’s dream is to end Michaels legacy at Mania and he’ll do it. Christian grabs Jericho for their tag match against Test. Jericho asks who Test has a partner and Christian asks if it maters. It doesn’t matter and they walk off to the ring.
Backstage, Stacy Keibler walks up to Test, who is looking at a magazine. Stacy says that Jericho is going to get his ass kicked tonight. Stacy walks off and it is revealed that Test was looking at Torrie Wilson in Playboy.
Scott Steiner is revealed as being the mystery partner for Test. I think the tease here was that it would be Shawn Michaels. Steiner gets a decent reaction.
Fifth Contest: Chris Jericho & Christian vs. Scott Steiner & Test: Test pummels Jericho on the mat with right hands. Test sends Jericho into the ropes and delivers an elbow strike. Test sends Christian to the floor. Test press slams Jericho over the top to the floor onto Christian. Steiner rolls Jericho into the ring. Test pummels Jericho some more to keep the advantage. Jericho kicks Test, but Test recovers and takes care of Christian. Steiner tags in and rams Christian into the corner with a powerslam. Steiner does it again. Steiner powerslams Christian to the mat. Steiner pummels Christian on the mat and threatens the referee. Steiner decks Christian with a clothesline before delivering an elbow drop and does a few pushups. Test tags into the match and strikes Christian in the midsection. Test decks Jericho off the apron. Christian nails Test with a spinning heel kick. Jericho enters the match and strikes Test several times. Jericho elbow strikes Test and delivers a few stomps. Christian tags into the match, but Test decks Christian with a clothesline and tags in Steiner. Steiner clotheslines Christian and delivers a powerslam. Steiner works over Jericho in the corner and press slams Christian to the mat. Steiner delivers a belly to belly suplex to Jericho. Steiner tosses Christian overhead with a suplex for a near fall. Steiner grabs Christian, but Jericho slides in and low blows Steiner as the referee is distracted. Jericho tags into the match and elbow drops Steiner. Jericho rams Steiner into the corner face first followed by chops.
Jericho is caught coming off the middle rope and Steiner hits an overhead belly to belly suplex. Test tags in and clotheslines Jericho a few times. Test backdrops Jericho and side slams Christian. Test rams Christian into the corner followed by a clothesline. Jericho boots Test, but Test hits a tilt a whirl slam for a near fall. Test tries for a powerbomb, but Christian chop blocks Test. Steiner dumps Christian to the floor. Steiner drops Jericho over the top rope. Jericho nearly collides with Stacy off the apron. Test hits a pump handle slam for a near flal as Christian pulls Test out. Steiner tosses Jericho with another suplex. Test powerbombs Jericho, but Christian breaks the cover. Steiner tosses Christian to the floor. Christian and Stacy get on the apron until Steiner sends Christian into the ring steps. Jericho runs off the ropes, knocking Stacy off into Steiner’s arm. Test sees this and gets distracted. Jericho gets a rollup on Test and steals the match. After the match, Stacy tries to cool Test down, but Test leaves the ring frustrated. (**. A decent tag match where the action was mostly constant and there wasn’t a lull during it. Test turns out to be a bit of a dirtbag, which he plays fairly well. I think there was potential for him to have a decent babyface run before this apparent pivot to Test being a scumbag.)
Backstage, Goldust and Booker T are talking as Goldust heads towards the ring.
Sixth Contest: RAW World Champion Triple H vs. Goldust in a non-title match: HHH backs Goldust into a corner and tries for a strike, but Goldust ducks and jabs HHH. Goldust strikes HHH and taunts HHH. HHH is ready for a fight, but Goldust responds with a series of jabs to knock HHH into the ropes. Goldust ducks a clothesline and continues with strikes. Goldust delivers a jumping butt strike. HHH low blows Goldust and delivers a strike into the corner. HHH strikes Goldust in the corner. Goldust backdrops HHH out of the corner. Goldust clutches his arm in pain and HHH sends Goldust shoulder first into the ring post. HHH sends Goldust shoulder first into the post and delivers an arm breaker for a near fall. HHH keeps wrist control on the mat and twists the left arm. Goldust strikes HHH, but HHH plants Goldust with a spinebuster. HHH taunts Booker T at ringside. Goldust strikes HHH a few times, but HHH knee lifts Goldust. HHH runs into a boot in the corner. HHH kicks Goldust and tries for the Pedigree, but Goldust counters with a rollup for a two count. Goldust plants HHH with a side slam. HHH strikes Goldust a few more times. Goldust nails HHH with a clothesline a couple of times. Goldust strikes HHH to the mat. Goldust atomic drops HHH followed by a clothesline for a two count. Goldust misses a clothesline, but HHH tosses Goldust to the floor. Flair cheap shots Goldust until Booker T comes over and attacks Flair. Booker gets hit by a crutch, and it ends up being Randy Orton! Orton is on the injured list, but lives in St. Louis. Orton is escorted away. Goldust bulldogs HHH and works over HHH in the corner. Goldust sets HHH up in the corner, but holds his arm in pain. Goldust punches Flair off the apron. HHH nails Goldust with a high knee lift. HHH plants Goldust with the Pedigree to win the match. (**1/4. A decent match and I liked Orton’s involvement since he lives in the area and could give Orton an immediate issue with someone upon his return if they decide to remember this moment. Goldust plays the underdog role incredibly well, too.)
Backstage, Eric Bischoff is stretching when the Rock enters the scene playing guitar and sings a song for Bischoff. Rock is happy because he kicked Hurricane’s ass tonight. Rock tells Bischoff he can’t touch the guitar that is signed by Willie Nelson. Rock thinks there should be a concert next week with the Rock singing for the fans. Rock insults St. Louis. Bischoff agrees for the concert in Sacramento. Rock talks about the lumberjack match and tells Bischoff he doesn’t want everyone out there because it will make Bischoff look bad. Rock tells Bischoff to make the match a no disqualification match so he can come down and take care of business when he’s ready. Rock tells Bischoff nobody embarrasses the Rock. Bischoff asks if Rock will make sure nothing happens. Rock promises with a song.
Main Event: Steve Austin vs. Eric Bischoff in a no disqualification match: Bischoff bails to the floor to regroup and is chased by Austin. Austin clotheslines Morley and delivers stomps on the floor. Bischoff begs off as Austin chases and Bischoff falls down. Austin decks Bischoff with a right hand and they return to the ring. Austin stomps Bischoff several times in the corner. Austin puts a Boston Crab on Bischoff. Austin lets go as Morley got on the apron. Austin works over Bischoff some more in the corner with strikes. Morley sneaks into the ring and low blows Austin. Bischoff kicks Austin several times in the corner. Bischoff chokes Austin over the bottom rope. Austin tosses Bischoff into the corner and delivers several kicks. Austin knocks Morley off the apron. Austin hits the stunner on Bischoff and tosses Morley to the floor. Rock enters the ring and nails Austin with a stunner! Bischoff covers, but Austin kicks out at two. Rock can’t believe it and stomps Austin. Rock misses the People’s Elbow and Austin clotheslines Rock to the floor. Austin nails Morley with a stunner and does another to Bischoff. Austin covers Bischoff and wins the match. After the match, Rock plants Austin with a Rock Bottom. Rock grabs a beer and walks up the ramp. (*. Obviously this is just Austin kicking Bischoff’s ass for a few minutes and overcoming the Rock’s interference to still send the fans home happy. It’s cool to see Austin compete on RAW, but this is ultimately not that big of a deal.)
Final Thoughts:
A decent episode of RAW. The storytelling throughout was enjoyable, but they continue to lack consistently good in-ring wrestling. The opening tag was fun, but the show never got back to that level in-ring. Goldust/HHH was a fine undercard match, as well. It’s a bit odd that Michaels never appeared in front of the crowd, though. The crowd was lively, which helps the viewing as well.
Thanks for reading.