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The following was published on PWTorch.com 15 years ago…
WWE Raw Report
Aired Feb. 24, 2003
Live from Toronto, Ont.
Broadcast live on TNN
1st Quarter Hour
The photo of Eric Bischoff opened the show… The opening montage played… Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler introduced the show and hyped that Steve Austin returned at the previous night’s pay-per-view…
A battered and bruised Eric Bischoff walked onto the stage wearing a pair of shades and with his arm in a sling. As Bischoff walked to the ring for a promo, Ross said he doesn’t feel the least bit sorry for him. “Despite what Steve Austin tried to do to me last night, I’m still standing,” Bischoff boasted. Bischoff ticked off the live crowd by saying that he’d banned Austin from the building, then added, “It’s really too bad because Stone Cold is going to miss out on tonight’s main event, a 20-man over the top rope battle royal in which the winner will face Triple H for the World Title at WrestleMania.”
Bischoff, who appeared to have cotton balls in his mouth to create the impression that his mouth was swollen, said Austin would be allowed back at next week’s Raw. He said Austin wasn’t on the show because he wanted to give the stage to the biggest star in the industry. Rock’s new entrance video played mostly to silence in the building, because evidently most of the live crowd didn’t see the pay-per-view the night before. As soon as Rock’s face appeared in the video, the live crowd popped. The Rock walked onto the stage as the announcers questioned what he was doing on Raw when he’s Smackdown property.
Once his slow march to the ring was complete, Rock entered the ring and said, “Finally, the Rock has come back to Toron… Toron… to run his mouth on all your candy asses.” A small “Rocky” chant broke out, which Rock stopped by telling the crowd they should hear what he has to say before they decide whether to chant his name or not. Rock bragged about whipping Hulk Hogan’s ass. Seconds later, Rock explained that Vince McMahon had given him the option to go where ever he wanted. Rock drew the crowd into a cheap pop by saying he wanted to go to Toronto. Then Rock pulled the rug out from under the fans by mocking them for cheering the mere mention of their hometown.
Rock said the reason he wanted to come to Toronto was because it was the same city in which “the mother Canuckers” turned on him. He said he was also offended that WWE fans voted Steve Austin the Raw superstar of the decade at the Raw X anniversary show. “Everybody loves Steve Austin,” Rock said. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Rock doesn’t love Stone Cold.” Rock proclaimed himself the one and only superstar of the decade, then drew cheap heat in a creative way by working “the Maple Leafs suck” into one of his rhymes.
2nd Quarter Hour
Rock added himself to the main event battle royal, saying he would go onto win the World Hvt. Title at WrestleMania. Rock cut the crowd off from joining him in saying, “If you smell what the Rock is cooking.” After forbidding them from saying his line, Rock delivered it and left the ring…
(Commentary: A strong opening promo, although he didn’t draw as much heat as WWE was probably hoping he would. Here’s hoping WWE goes all the way with the “Rock’s a sell out” theme, as it would be pretty entertaining to watch him play it up by getting facials and hiring a personal assistant to escort him to ringside.)
[Commercial break]
(1) Jazz beat Jacqueline at 2:24. Victoria and Steven Richards sat in on commentary. Jazz dominated the match and won with the STF. The live crowd couldn’t have cared less. Afterward, hometown girl Trish Stratus made her return to a nice ovation. She ran to the ring and brawled with Jazz until they were separated by four referees…
3rd Quarter Hour
[Commercial break]
Ross and Lawler hyped Lawler’s match against Chief Morley for later in the show…
A video aired of Test meeting “Girls Gone Wild” owner Joe Francis, who introduced Test to the girls of GGW. Back in the building, Test told Maven that after all of the “stupid things” Stacy Keibler hooked him up with, he couldn’t believe she came through with something right up his alley. Stacy entered the picture and wasn’t happy about GGW. Maven made his exit as Morley entered the scene. Morley booked Test & Stacy vs. Chris Jericho & Christian for later in the show. Test promised Stacy that nothing would happen to her during the match…
Highlights aired of Goldust’s “electrocution”…
Jim Ross’s sit-down interview with Goldust aired. As Goldust talked, he twitched and shouted uncontrollably. Amazingly enough, Goldust was somehow able to fight off his medical condition long enough to deliver his catch-phrase. What a trooper…
[Commercial break]
(2) Kane (w/Rob Van Dam) beat Lance Storm (w/William Regal) at 2:23. Kane dominated the match and chokeslammed Storm twice for the win. The Canadian crowd wasn’t crazy about Storm losing, but they didn’t put up too much of a fuss. The announcers used the match to sell the ongoing tension between Kane and RVD…
Backstage, Randy Orton told Batista that what they did to Goldust wasn’t funny, but only because he was initially concerned that he threw his shoulder out. Orton said his shoulder is 99 percent, and he’s ready for tonight’s match against Booker & Scott Steiner…
[Commercial break]
(3) Booker T & Scott Steiner vs. Randy Orton & Batista (w/Ric Flair) concluded in the show’s second hour.
5th Quarter Hour
(3) Booker T & Scott Steiner beat Randy Orton & Batista (w/Ric Flair) at 7:45. During the match, Ross compared Randy Orton’s injury to the “half decade” Bob Orton Jr. wore a cast after breaking his arm. In the end, Orton went for a top rope body-block on Booker, who rolled through the move and scored the pin. A solid match with good heat. Even Steiner was drawing some cheers from the tough crowd…
Highlights aired from earlier in the show of Rock vowing to win the battle royal main event and the World Hvt. Title. The wrestlers pictured in the battle royal graphic were Rodney Mack, Rosey, Test, Jamal, Hurricane, Christian, Al Snow, Steven Richards, Batista, Randy Orton, Maven, Booker T, Lance Storm, William Regal, Rob Van Dam, Kane, Jeff Hardy, Scott Steiner, Chris Jericho, and The Rock. That’s 20 men, so barring some sort of a swerve, there won’t be any surprise entrants in the battle royal…
[Commercial break]
A video hyped Steve Austin return to Raw for next week…
(Commentary: Although it hasn’t made for the most exciting show in Raw history and the live crowd certainly wouldn’t agree with me, I agree with the decision of holding off Austin’s return until next week. Viewership will likely be up this week due to last night’s pay-per-view and the possibility of Austin returning tonight, so unless
(4) Test & Stacy Keibler beat Chris Jericho & Christian by DQ at 1:15. Jericho hit Test with a chairshot in front of the referee for the DQ. Afterward, the heels handcuffed Test to the one of the ropes, then dragged Stacy (wearing a Maple Leafs jersey) inside the ring, where Jericho locked her in the Walls of Jericho. Jeff Hardy ran out for the save, but he must really be a puss since he was taken down by Christian, who doesn’t beat up anyone on his own. Shawn Michaels ran out for the save, causing the heels to split…
6th Quarter Hour
[Commercial break]
A shot aired of Vince Carter and members of the miserable Toronto Raptors basketball team sitting in the front row…
(5) Christopher Nowinski beat Jeff Hardy by DQ after the referee reversed his original decision. Before the match, Nowinski had a momentary problem with a mic while trying to cut a promo. Eventually, Nowinski got the mic to work and mocked Jeff for his failed attempt to save Stacy. Jeff attacked Nowinski and gave him the Twist of Fate. The time keeper ran to start the match. Jeff hit the Swanton Bomb and scored the pin at 0:11. Jeff continued to punch Nowinski after the match, so the referee reversed his decision and gave the match to Nowinski via DQ…
[Commercial break]
Backstage, Kane told RVD he couldn’t wait to get his hands on Rock and win the battle royal. RVD agreed with the idea of eliminating Rock, but said he would win the battle royal and challenge Triple H for the title at WrestleMania…
Backstage, Rock was on the phone with Vince McMahon. Rock blew off Vince’s concerns about Steve Austin. Rock picked up a guitar and performed a short song about people giving him a hard time since he’s returned. Hurricane stormed into the room and ripped Rock for turning his back on the people. “Who in the green hell are you,” Rock asked.
7th Quarter Hour
Rock later admitted to being familiar with Hurricane, but said every super hero, even Aqua-Man, could kick Hurricane’s ass. Hurricane fired back by saying he could beat the Scorpion King. Funny confrontation…
Lawler’s entrance music played, signaling that it was time for his match against Morley…
[Commercial break]
(6) Jerry Lawler beat Chief Morley in a No DQ match when The Dudleys interfered at 4:47. Before the match, Ross reminded viewers of the No DQ stipulation. At 3:30, Morley hit a top rope splash but refused to pin Lawler. Instead, Morley brought a chair inside the ring. While he was arguing with the ref, the Dudleys ran out and 3D’d Morley. Lawler recovered and hit a second rope fist-drop for the win. The crowd popped for the Dudleys, but seemed uninterested in the match otherwise…
[Commercial break]
8th Quarter Hour
Another video hyped Austin’s return for next week…
Backstage, Flair pumped up Orton and Batista for the battle royal…
A shot aired of The Rock walking backstage…
Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam made their ring entrances for the battle royal…
[Commercial break]
(7) Booker T eliminated The Rock to win a battle royal at 12:22 to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania. Jericho and Christian eliminated Test to start the match. Jericho then eliminated himself while running away from the angry Test just a few seconds later. Tommy Dreamer was eliminated next. The Rock eliminated his mini, Maven. Scott Steiner eliminated Steven Richards at 3:45. Orton and Batista eliminated Van Dam in what was a sloppy elimination at 5:15. Hurricane eliminated Rodney Mack. Al Snow was also eliminated from the match, although I missed which wrestler did the deed.
9th Quarter Hour
Hurricane and Rock squared off for the first time. Hurricane hit Rock with a series of punches which drew a pop from the crowd, but Rock fired back with a low blow and then eliminated Hurricane. Rock and Booker rolled to ringside, where Rock got the better of the situation. Rock walked up the ramp and joined the announcers on commentary. Rock said he was smarter than the rest of the crew, because he would wait until they had eliminated one another before returning to the ring. As Rock spoke, several wrestlers were eliminated, and only Rosey, Kane, Storm, Christian, Booker T, and Rock (still talking to the announcers) remained. Kane eliminated Rosey with a clothesline at 10:00, then eliminated Lance Storm a few seconds later, leaving Kane, Booker, Christian, and The Rock. Oh yeah, Christian is going to WrestleMania!
Nope, Rock returned to the ring and eliminated Christian and Kane simultaneously. Rock laughed at the fallen Booker, his only remaining opponent. Booker got to his feet and threw a flurry of punches at Rock, who came back with a DDT. Booker recovered again, then eliminated Rock from the match out of nowhere. Booker looked at Rock in shock, as if even he was surprised he had eliminated Rock from the match…
(Commentary: Very predictable, but definitely the right outcome. Sure, the battle royal came off like a Royal Rumble consolation match to crown the challenger to the inferior WWE Hvt. Title. Still, the match accomplished what it needed to. Here’s hoping we get one more Rock vs. Booker match before they shift gears and focus on their WrestleMania opponents.)
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