Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe - ROH One Year Anniversary Show (2003)
Apparently it's siblings day, so here's some real sibling fighting.
This match at ROH's first anniversary show is only one of countless times the Briscoes have fought each other in the squared circle, just last summer they were facing each other for the ROH World Heavyweight title, but this match is significant in that it is a tribute to Mark's late friend, Brock who had been killed in a car accident earlier that year. The two brothers shake hands and announce that this will be the last time the two will ever fight each other again and will soon be joining the tag team division, a division they would go on to dominate for some time.
Obviously, that whole "last time we ever fight each other" thing didn't last, but this is still an important Briscoe Brothers' match.
Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar - WWE Championship match - Smackdown! (2003)
So here it is, the first time in the history of WWE that a slam was so powerful that it literally broke the ring.
To be quite honest, this was actually really awesome for my young elementary school mind at the time it took place. I remember going to school the next day, SD! was still on Thursdays, and telling everybody and anybody willing to listen. This was a big fucking deal. So, when I came back to wrestling after taking some time off to learn that this same exact spot was redone in 2011, I was furious! Now hear me out, when I say that the same exact spot was redone, I don't just mean that Big Show was in a match where the ring completely collapsed again, I mean Mark Henry (playing the role of Brock Lesnar) got Big Show up on the top rope and superplexed him in such a incredible fashion that the ring implodes.
Looking back on things now, I guess it makes more sense that Mark Henry could break the ring from superplexing Big Show since Brock Lesnar, a smaller individual compared to the 400+ pound World's Strongest Man, was able to in this match.
Happy Royal Rumble weekend! All match of the days this weekend will be Royal Rumble PPV matches!
Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show - Royal Rumble (2003)
Recently, WWE has gone back in time to relive all sorts of things from its past. From Randy Orton attacking John Cena's Dad like in 2007, to Batista being back, to just having The New Age Outlaws around to talk about 1998 and that better era; everywhere you look, there is things that have seeming already happened - like, for instance, this match. Did I mention Batista's back? Oh right, I did.
Yep, "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar and the "World's Largest Athlete yadda yadda" Big Show are at it again just like here in 2003 when the two took on each other for a spot in the Royal Rumble match later that night. For what it's worth there is one small difference to the match we'll see on Sunday, and that's that Paul Heyman was in Big Show's corner. Will this benefit Brock Lesnar now that he's got Paul by his side once again? Will Big Show punk out the beast because he's bigger? Tune in to the Royal Rumble this Sunday on PPV (and the internet) to find out.
Bernard Herrmann - Twisted Nerve from Twisted Nerve original score (1968) or Kill Bill Vol. 1 Original Soundtrack (2003)
Every once and a while I'll be walking to class and a man behind me will be whistling this song. I wonder if he picked it up from watching Twisted Nerve, or from Kill Bill Vol. 1, or maybe more recently, from American Horror Stories...
I sure hope this guy's not out to kill me. That would really suck.
Lita vs. Victoria - steel cage match - Raw Roulette (2003)
In a surprising turn of events AKA the spinning of the Raw Roulette wheel, the returning (from neck injury) Lita took on her scheduled opponent, the deranged Victoria, in Raw's (and WWE's for that matter) first ever women's steel cage match to kick off the very first Raw Roulette episode in 2003; and it's really not that bad.
Victoria returned to the cage in 2010 when she took on Mickie James for Impact Wrestling as Tara.
As the title suggests, this is the match where Tajiri, the current Cruiserweight champ at the time, took on Jamie Noble in singles competition with his girlfriend and Tough Enough 1 winner, Nidia by his side. During the match, Tajiri looks to use his Cruiserweight title as a weapon on Noble, but as Nidia tries to intervene by grabbing the title away from Tajiri, Tajiri sprays her in the face with his Asian mist. According to legend, the black mist, which was the mist used on Nidia in this sequence, is said to blind the recipient for weeks.
Eventually, Nidia would get her sight back, but would milk the incident for well over the time she could see again.
Rob Van Dam & Kane vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) - World Tag Team titles match - Raw (2003)
Eric Bischoff decides to "raise the bar" on Raw in 2003 by bringing in one of the greatest tag teams of all time - The Road Warriors (referred to as the Legion of Doom in WWF/E) - to face the tag champs at the time, RVD and Kane for one night only.
Unfortunately, this match would not only be LOD's last return match to WWE, but also Hawk and Animal's last Televised match as a team. Hawk passed away after years of battle with his personal demons and alcohol addiction a few months later.
But yes, they did looked a lot better than that last Ultimate Warrior return we just saw.
From wrestling on velocity in 2003 to main eventing Summerslam in 2013 for the World title, here's where it all started. Kinda. It's John Cena taking on the beardless Bryan Danielson (now known as the "YES!" man, Daniel Bryan).
I sure hope Cena brought those banana pants with him!
Raven vs. CM Punk - Dog Collar match - ROH Death Before Dishonor (2003)
One of CM Punk's greatest rivalries in Ring of Honor. Features an early use of Punk's straight edge lifestyle versus a man who is struggling with his personal demons - a gimmick that was later used in Punk's rivalry with Jeff Hardy which some say really put Punk over in WWE. Parts of this rivalry were also used again in the Punk/Jericho Best in the World '12 feud.
Raven and CM Punk fought in many hardcore matches together around this time... some for ROH and some for TNA when Punk was in Raven's "Gathering"; TNA's version of The Flock.
It has come to my attention today that New Jack has retired from wrestling. I guess there's one less liability to worry about.
Rather than posting his retirement match (against Necro Butcher at this years' PWS Super Card), I've decided to just post this match instead for no reason other than I didn't want to post his notorious scaffold match with Vic Grimes yet or any match where he tries to stab his opponent to death.
That's New Jack's thing. Stabbing people to death.
New Jack vs. Sandman - Finals for the Hard 10 championship - NWA:TNA (2003)
Back in '03, TNA decided to add a little hardcore to their menu. So what better way to do this then by making a tournament revolving around a few ECW alumni mixed in with some guys who wrestled a couple times for ECW (Devon Storm, Vampire Warrior, Wolfie D) along with Mike Sanders and Sonny Siaki from WCW's Power Plant. But here's the catch - because this is TNA remember: there's got to be a catch on top of a catch - there was a point system.
A hardcore point system!
Apparently the way to win a match in this tournament was to get 10 points by using the weapons that were strategically placed around the ringside area and held by fans. The weapons that the competitors brought to the ring themselves did not count, however. Also, using a table was 5 big ones alone. So basically this tournament was just an excuse to see wrestlers get hit with random objects for five minutes like WWF's hardcore division circa 2000.
But it had a hardcore point system!
New Jack and Sandman, the two people hardcore enough to make it to the finals, battled it out in a back and forth struggle for points using the weapons they could find just laying around. Towards the end of the match, everyone loses count of the points and New Jack and Sandman make their way to the nearest balcony for New Jack to fall off of.. I mean get pushed off of.
Classic New Jack.
All that's missing is "Natural Born Killaz" being played on repeat throughout the duration of the match.
Big Show vs. Zack Gowen & Stephanie McMahon - No Holds Barred Handicap match - WWE Smackdown! (2003)
In Zack Gowen's first official match on Smackdown!, the youngster had to prove that he had just what it takes to be a true competitor in WWE by defeating the 500 pound Big Show and seizing an official contract out of Vince McMahon's cold dead hands. Throw Stephanie McMahon, the General Manager at the time, in there and you got yourself a classic pro wrestling Cinderella story.
Did I mention Zack Gowen is a one-legged wrestler? Oops, that was important.
Anyways...
As Zack Gowen was a legitimate amputee and Stephanie McMahon couldn't wrestle to save her life, this truly was WWE's first "real" handicap match.
Get it?
Thanks to face Kurt Angle, face Brock Lesnar, and a steel chair, Gowen's Cinderella story comes true and he gets his contract. The icing on the cake? A combination of Gowen's rival and soon-to-be boss, Mr. McMahon getting knocked on his ass and Gowen's perfect one-legged moonsault onto Big Show for the win!
Gowen's time in WWE was very short-lived despite making it to Vengeance of that year in a match against Mr. McMahon and a short rivalry with Matt Hardy Version 1. I remember him having a broken leg (that's right, the one leg he has) courtesy of Brock Lesnar (heel again) and then never really seeing him on Smackdown! much after that. I guess once you break a one-legged man's only leg you really can't do much else with him. His character was pretty much dead from that point on.
Scott Steiner vs. Christopher Nowinski - Raw (2003)
Long before WWE gave us Cody Rhodes and his crushed face gimmick and Jennifer Hudson's Harvard grad husband, WWE gave us Christopher Nowinski who, mind you, already had all of those things. Including Jennifer Hudson.
That's a lie of course.
But hey, it gives this match a little more life...
