SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following was originally published on PWTorch.com 15 years ago this weekend…
WWE Live Event – Raw Brand
May 23, 2003
Bossier City, Louisiana at CenturyTel Center
Report by Kevin Culpepper, Torch Team Contributor
Before the show, thanks to a local TV Sports Director friend, my step-son and I were invited to a “Meet and Greet.” About 25 of us were led to a room where we waited about 15 minutes, chatting wrestling of course, when the door opened and Bubba Ray, D-Von, and Spike Dudley appeared. They signed autographs, posed for pics, answered questions and such. All three were great guys and very good-humored. When I asked Bubba about his back, he winked and said it was better than Randy Orton’s foot! I asked Spike if he missed teaching and he said Hell No! These guys are very good ambassadors for WWE and were great with the children in attendance.
On to the matches:
(1) Rodney Mack (with Teddy Long) & Chris Nowinsky defeated Cowboy Lance Cade & some guys whose name I missed. Pre-match mic work from Peanut Head about the White boy Challenge. When two guys came out – Nowinsky appeared and offered his services as Mack’s tag team partner. Hilarity on the mike as Harvard educated Nowinsky attempted to be “ghetto.” At one point he said of Mack and Teddy “You are in the hizzle fo shizzle, my nizzle.” Finish came when Mack locked Cade in the Cobra Clutch.
(2) Mark Jindrak beat Goldust. Goldust was insanely over with the crowd. Good back and forth match. Goldy worked in all his usual spots. Finish came when Jindrak caught Goldy in a cradle and utilized the old foot on the ropes trick. Goldy did a victory lap and slapped hands with the fans to a huge Goldy chant. Why did they job him to Jindrak? I dunno, but Triple H should notice that Goldy was just as over after the loss.
(3) Jazz (w/Teddy Long) over Trish, Molly, and Victoria (w/Stevie) in an elimination Match. Jazz eliminated Molly with a boot to the face, Trish eliminated Victoria with the Stratusfaction, Jazz made Trish submit to the STF. Best spot of the match, Victoria and Jazz went to the top in opposite corners and were crotched by Teddy and Stevie, allowing Trish to execute the 2nd rope handspring Rana on both. After the match, Stevie and Victoria beat down Trish till Maven made the save.
Chris Jericho hosted Stacy Kiebler for the Highlight Reel. Jericho had the crowd hating him in about 45 seconds, this guy is such a great heel! After thoroughly insulting all things Louisiana, He called out Stacy, who got a huge pop. After Stacy told the crowd that Jericho had the “smallest wee-wee in the WWE, Jericho went for the beat-down. Test ran in for the save, then tried to get Stacy to leave with him. She refused and left alone. Good continuity!
(5) The Dudleys beat 3 Minute Warning & Rico in a table match. Great match with all the regular Dudley spots. Duds were over huge! In a nice bit of continuity, Rico apologized for walking out on Rosey and Jamal last Monday and offered them a chance to get back in his good graces with a win tonight. Finish came as Rosey and Jamal turned on Rico and walked out, leaving him to eat a 3-D thru the table. After the match, the Duds celebrated by bringing a small kid into the ring and posing with him before giving him a chunk of the table. They worked the crowd for a long time as their music played, slapping hands and posing for pics. The crowd ate it up.
(6) Christian beat Val Venis in an IC Title Match. These guys are true professionals, because the crowd was totally indifferent to both at first. Through a combination of comedy spots, working the crowd, solid technical wrestling, and help from Earl Hebner, they won the crowd over in about 5 minutes. After that the crowd was hot and popped for the near falls. Finish came as Val went for the Money Shot and met nothing but knees. Christian applied the Un-Prettier for the pinfall. Great work from both guys.
(7) “Dr Death” Steve Williams beat Lance Storm. Doc is a local boy well remembered from the old Bill Watts days. Good, solid old-school wrestling match that the crowd loved. Storm bumped like a madman. Doc won with the Oklahoma Stampede. Doc lost a Brawl for All match a few years ago on Raw.
(8) RVD & Kane beat La Resistance in a tag title match. RVD and Kane got huge pops. Good match considering how green the Frenchmen are. High spots included a rocket launcher by the Champs, and Kane hip-tossing RVD over the top rope into an unsuspecting French duo.
(9) Triple H beat Big Poppa Pump in a World Title Match. Triple H was out first for some un-intended comedy. He grabbed the mike from the Fink and as he started to speak, Steiner’s music hit. It stopped after about 4 seconds and Triple H lectured the sound guy “Numb Nuts” about what a microphone in his hand meant. Triple H went on to complain that he had come to Bossier city to confront Ric Flair for what happened on Monday, and to find out whose side Flair was on. He said Flair didn’t even have the balls to show up. Boring match. 2 Steiner suplexes, and 10 minutes of punching and kicking. You could have heard a pin drop – crowd was indifferent to both guys. At the 10 minute mark, Hebner was bumped. The Nature Boy ran out to a huge pop! He grabbed a chair as both men were down, and prepared to blast Triple H with it, but at the last minute – you guessed it – he hit Steiner. Kick, Wham, Pedigree, Yawn.
Over all, a great show with 3:30 of wrestling and a 15 minute intermission
Biggest Babyface Pops :
1. Dudleys
2. Goldust
3. Kane/RVD
4. Flair
Most Heel Heat:
1. Jericho
2. Storm
3. La Resistance
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS 15 YRS AGO FLASHBACK: 15 YRS AGO – WWA in Sydney, Australia: Sting vs. Steiner vs. Douglas, Lynn vs. Sabin, plus Konnan, Disco Inferno, Kazarian, Crowbar, Sabu
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