15 YRS AGO – WWE in Moline, Ill. (3-14-03): Jeff Hardy vs. Christian, Triple H vs. Booker T, Chief Morley & Lance Storm vs. Dudleys, plus RVD, Kane, Helms, Maven, Goldust

This report was published originally 15 years ago this week…

WWE Raw house show results
March 14, 2003
Moline, Ill at The Mark of the Quad Cities
Report by Adam Martin, PWTorch.com correspondent

– I just got back from the WWE Raw Brand House Show in Moline, Illinois at The Mark of the Quad Cities tonight. I would estimate that up to 4,000 people attended the show. The floor and second level were all sold out while the top level was not used. Overall, the arena can hold up to 9,000 people.

– Howard Finkel came out to “Welcome To The Jungle” to warm up the crowd for the show.

(1) Jeff Hardy defeated Christian. Very entertaining match overall, which ended with Jeff Hardy hitting the Swanton Bomb for the win. Jeff Hardy got a huge pop while Christian got lots of good heel heat. The interesting thing is that the first 8 minutes, both Christian and Jeff Hardy played to the hot crowd in attendance. At one point, they battled over who could get a better response from the crowd. Jeff Hardy went up on the top rope and got a pretty big reaction. Christian tried to do the same but tripped (on purpose) on the way up, getting laughs from the crowd.

(2) Maven defeated Rico. Rico actually got a mixed reaction from the crowd at first when he came out. Maven followed with a decent pop but nothing special. Lots of people booing him in my section. It was a pretty face paced match with Rico getting most of the offensive moves in. The match ended with Maven hitting a big dropkick from the top rope for the win. Some people around me were very upset that Rico put over Maven.

(3) The Hurricane defeated Rodney Mack (w/ Theodore Long). Some people actually didn’t know who Rodney Mack was and were still calling for D-Lo Brown. Theodore Long got on the mic before The Hurricane came out, doing his usual “The Man continues to keep us down” routine. He even brought up how that although The Rock has been successful in WWE, he really isn’t black. That got a few laughs from the crowd. The Hurricane got a big face reaction from the crowd, which continued throughout the match. Lots of interference from Teddy Long but in the end, The Hurricane picked up the win with the Eye of The Hurricane.

– Following this match, Earl Hebner came out to referee the next match. Both myself and a few others in my section stood up and started a very loud “YOU SCREWED BRET” chant. It caught on pretty good in my section, leading to Teddy Long getting on the mic and saying “Hey Earl, incase you have noticed, that whole section over there is saying you screwed bret.” Earl continued to stare down our section only to flip us the bird (a motion that we gladly returned).

(4) D-Von & Spike Dudley defeated Chief Morley & Lance Storm in a Tables Match. This was probably the most entertaining match of the night. The crowd was really into this match from the beginning to end. During the match, Spike went for a rollup but Earl Hebner didn’t make the count and laughed at Spike, saying it was a Tables Match. After about 10 minutes, a table was finally put into the ring and setup by Lance Storm. Spike Dudley attempted a Dudley Dog on Chief Morley but Morley threw him over the top rope to the outside. Bubba Ray Dudley then hit the ring and gave Morley a quick bodyslam, leading to the WAZZUP headbutt drop to the groin from D-Von off the top rope. Following this, Lance Storm hit the ring and tried to attack D-Von but D-Von countered out of a move, Lance turned around and Bubba Ray helped out by hitting Storm with the 3D through the table to end the match. After the match, Bubba Ray, D-Von & Spike Dudley celebrated by bringing a little kid from the crowd into the ring. Spike left after the in-ring stuff but Bubba Ray & D-Von stuck around for a while longer, celebrating with the crowd and even hopping the gate at a few points to celebrate in the crowd.

– On a side note, Spike Dudley may have injured his left shoulder/ribs. When he took the bump over the top rope to the outside, he made a very loud thud when he landed. I am not sure how serious he may have hurt himself but I could easily tell he wasn’t just selling due to D-Von trying to raise his left arm in celebration in the ring but Spike telling him not to because of the pain.

–INTERMISSION–

(5) Victoria defeated Trish Stratus & Jazz to retain the WWE Women’s Championship. Things kicked right off after we came back from intermission. Trish got a big reaction from the crowd as well as Victoria while reaction for Jazz was pretty much dead. The match started with Victoria/Jazz double teaming on Trish. Eventually, Victoria/Jazz went at it only to see Trish interfere and get some big offense in on her own. The match ended with Trish trying to rollup Victoria but Victoria countered out of it and rolled up Trish into a pin as well, holding onto the tights for the win (exposing Trish’s ass in the process – which made the $40 well worth spent for the tickets). After the match was done, Victoria left with Steven Richards. Jazz tried to attack Trish in the ring but Trish fought back and attempted a Stratusfaction but they botched it on the first attempt. Trish picked up Jazz and they attempted it a second time but they still screwed it up. Trish looked very frustrated and pretty much gave up after the referee told her not to try again.

(6) Kane & Rob Van Dam defeated Three Minute Warning (Rosey & Jamal). Three Minute Warning got some big heel heat entering the match and maintained it well up until the end. Both Kane and RVD got a big reaction from the crowd. This was a very good, fast paced match. I normally am not a big fan of Three Minute Warning but they did an excellent job of playing up to the crowd and yelling things like “hey fat people, watch how this is done” or “hey, shut the hell up, I am trying to work here.” It really put them over well as heels and made them entertaining to watch for once. Lots of big spots from both teams that you would usually see each week on Raw. The match ended with Kane hitting the chokeslam on Rosey followed by RVD hitting the Five Star Frog Splash for the win.

(7) Goldust defeated Steven Richards. Steven Richards got a surprisingly good pop from a section of the crowd while still maintaining heat in the process. Goldust came out with a new design painted on his face, stil sticking with the same colors though. Before the match started, Goldust continued to play up his “twitching”, which saw Steven Richards laugh at him. Goldust got on the mic and asked Richards if he thinks his condition is amusing. Richards said yes. Goldust said that he finds Richards pink tights even more amusing, getting laughs from the crowd. Goldust then said quote, “And tonight, I am gonna *bah* *bah* *bah* kick your ass”, still playing up his new gimmick. Overall, the match was good, fast paced and kept short to keep the fans interest. Goldust picked up the win with a quick, and might I add very powerful, running powerslam.

(8) Triple H defeated Booker T to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Booker T entered this match first, getting a big reaction from the crowd. Triple H entered next to a mixed reaction from the crowd but that changed towards the end. Overall, I was very entertained by this match and they kept it very fast paced. If they do this same thing at WrestleMania 19, then you are in store for a very good World Heavyweight Title match. The match ended when Triple H accidentally knocked out Earl Hebner in the corner, allowing Triple H to turn around and get a big spinning heel kick from Booker. Booker went for the pin but obviously, no ref was around to make the count. A new referee hit the ring but Triple H kicked out after 2. Triple H eventually brought a chair into the mix but it didn’t come into play until later. Triple H took down Booker with a knee to the face followed by knocking the second referee out. Triple H then hit Booker with the steel chair, followed by the Pedigree for the 1, 2, 3. It was sort of hard to enjoy this match when you knew the outcome but overall, it was entertaining despite the predictable finish.

BEST MATCH: D-Von & Spike Dudley vs. Chief Morley & Lance Storm (Tables Match)

WORST MATCH: If I had to pick one simply due to lack of interest from the fans, it would be The Hurricane vs. Rodney Mack. The fans really didn’t want to listen to Teddy Long’s promo before the match and the only thing keeping the fans interest was The Hurricane. The match was by no means horrible, just had a lack of interest overall.

BIGGEST POPS:
1. Triple H (before the match)
2. The Hurricane
3. Booker T
4. Jeff Hardy
5. Bubba Ray, D-Von & Spike Dudley

MOST HEAT:
1. Three Minute Warning
2. Triple H (following the main event)
3. Earl Hebner (“you screwed bret” chants)
4. Chief Morley & Lance Storm
5. Christian

NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS 15 YRS AGO FLASHBACK: 15 YRS AGO – WWE Smackdown Review (3-6-03): Hulk Hogan calls out Vince McMahon, Heyman-Angle-Lesnar-Steph interactions, plus Taker, Rey, Matt