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The following report was originally published on PWTorch.com 15 years ago this weekend…
WWE Raw house show report
June 29, 2003 at 5 p.m.
Syracuse, N.Y. at War Memorial at Oncenter
Report by Rob Yunich, PWTorch.com correspondent
The War Memorial, which holds up to 8,000 people, was at most one-quarter full. If there were 2,000 people there, the WWE should be rejoicing. However, the crowd there was very loud and involved, so that made the night better. Most of the floor seats were full, but the rest of the arena was virtually empty. Additionally, an “updated” card had been issued on Monday, June 23, but the WWE still deviated from that tremendously.
The night started with The Fink (who also served as the bell ringer for some matches) introducing two local radio personalities, made his normal announcements, and was sure to say that it was good to be in Syracuse, home to the 2003 NCAA men’s basketball champions. The crowd, of course, ate that line up. The sirens went off and it was time for our first match.
(1) Scott Steiner (w/Stacy Keibler) defeated Test. Stacy got tons of cheap pops by going through the ropes two or three times and showing off her “assets.” Steiner was sure to get in his push-ups at the start of the match after attempting to pin Test. The two men went (methodically) back and forth with Test mocking Steiner’s push-ups and throwing some temper tantrums (a la Christian) after not getting a three count. The finish came when Test kissed Stacy, who slapped him and he went backwards conveniently into Steiner’s finisher for the 1-2-3. After the match, Test kicked the steel steps (“injuring” his foot), while Steiner and Stacy took their time leaving the ring to the delight of the crowd. The fans definitely supported Steiner in this match.
(2) Spike Dudley pinned Steven Richards. This match wasn’t on the card and Steven Richards wasn’t even listed as a wrestler who was supposed to appear. It seems Richards took Lance Storm’s spot on the card. This match had a 20-minute time limit. Richards started off with a promo by saying, “it’s only proper to give a hardcore legend like Steven Richards some respect.” (If Steven Richards is a hardcore legend, then I’m Hulk Hogan.) The match included several inside cradles, a Spike powerslam that was followed by a test of strength (read: way to waste time). After The Fink announced there was five minutes to go, Richards blocked a Dudley Dog, Spike kicked out from a pin following a Steven Kick, and executed the Dudley Dog for the win. The crowd serenaded Richards with a nice chant of “NA NA NA NA. Hey, hey, hey, goodbye” on his way to the back.
The Fink then made an announcement “brought to you by WWE Smackdown” saying that the new Syracuse UPN affiliate would debut on Tuesday, July 1 and be sure to catch Smackdown on the station every Thursday. That drew light applause. (WSBK from Boston currently serves as Syracuse’s UPN affiliate.)
(3) Christian pinned Goldust to retain the IC Title. RVD originally was scheduled to wrestle Christian, but he would get his chance at a title later in the show. Goldust was sure to throw in a pre-match “seizure” during a short promo. Christian took nearly five minutes to actually step foot in the ring. Goldust finally took the belt (literally) off of Christian’s waist, held it up and the match FINALLY got underway. There were several “Christian sucks” chants during the match and a few “boring” chants as well. Amidst plenty of stalling moves, such as bearhugs, these two managed to have a somewhat entertaining match. However, I did catch The Fink looking at his watch at one point, which is never a good sign. Christian, not to be outdone by Test, threw a few of his own tantrums after some near falls. The finish came after Goldust tried a small package, which Christian then rolled into his own for the win, with his feet on the ropes for good measure. After the match, Goldust took his time leaving the ring with his music blaring and making sure to greet every child possible.
(4) Randy Orton & Mark Jindrak defeated Garrison Cade & Maven. This match had a 15-minute time limit. Jindrak and Orton started with a pre-match promo (even before Cade and Maven were introduced) getting some cheap heel heat bashing Syracuse. Jindrak announced he grew up in the area, and crediting the fans in the arena for starting his wrestling career. “I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t end up like you losers,” he quipped. Orton then said that tonight the fans could forget about their pathetic lives and witness “perfection.” (He obviously wasn’t watching his own match, because it was far from perfect.) The match included some decent sequences, but nothing spectacular. Surprisingly, Cade seemed to get more ring time than Maven does. The finish came when Maven was pushed off the top rope into an Orton neckbreaker for the win.
(Time check: 6:07 p.m.)
Two chairs were set up in the ring and it was time for.
Jericho’s Highlight Reel featuring Trish Stratus (and others)
Jericho’s entrance doesn’t work without the monitor and the countdown. You can picture the numbers going from five to one, but it’s not the same. Jericho, wearing a Fozzy shirt, sauntered down to the ring and took his opportunity to bash Syracuse. “I think you Syracuse jackasses need to shut up and listen to me,” he said. People were yelling “Fozzy sucks” and calling Jericho and “asshole.” Y2J replied, “I couldn’t suck and be an asshole because I’m not from Syracuse.” (Sense a theme?) He then uttered the line of the night: “I can’t wait to pull a Carmelo Anthony and get the hell out of here.”
A “Goldberg” chant started and Y2J says that he was “too chicken to show up at a house show.” He FINALLY introduces Trish who came out to a nice cheer. Y2J then utters how all the divas in the back “want a piece of Vitamin C,” yada yada yada. Trish had some good comebacks saying that the divas do talk about Jericho because “not everyone can pull off pink tights like you.” Then, in the second-best line of the night, Trish said “You might be a huge rock star, but that’s the only thing huge about you.”
Jericho was not amused and introduced Victoria, who Y2J noted, kicked Trish’s ass. The two divas started hitting each other and Trish tore off Victoria’s shirt (she was wearing a bra) to the delight of the crowd. Gail Kim then came to the rescue, followed by Molly Holly, and Ivory. The faces chased off the heels, but then Y2J put the Walls of Jericho on Ivory. Trish made the save; Trish then did her handstand move throwing Jericho to the ground. Jericho attacked Trish and left to his music. Ivory and Gail Kim returned and the three celebrated and left to Trish’s music. Trish was sure to hold up Victoria’s shirt. (Was that her secret?)
(Time: 6:24 p.m.)
(6) La Resistance defeated The Dudley Boyz to retain the Tag Team Titles. Loud “USA” chants as LR attempted to sing the French National Anthem. The Dudleys’ music hits and they run into the ring, chasing LR. A “tables” chant started immediately. At one point after the match finally started, Bubba had one of the LR members (I can’t tell them apart) in the corner and yelled “God Bless America” before hitting him with the elbow, like Dusty Rhodes. Later, the Dudleys threw both LR members out of the ring and encouraged a “We want tables” chant. After another 10 minutes of forgettable back-and-forth action, the Dudleys set up their “wassup” spot followed by a blocked 3D and a LR chokeslam for the win. Post-match, LR yelled (on the microphone) that they were going to get the tables. Spike Dudley ran into the ring and performed a Dudley Dog on a LR member, which led to a 3D onto the table – which didn’t break. D-Von then grabbed a LR member and gave him to Bubba, who was sitting on the top rope waiting. Bubba slammed the LR guy through the table, which broke this time.
LR left, and D-Von spotted a kid in the crowd. He brought the kid into the ring and Spike took a picture of the kid with Bubba Ray and D-Von and a piece of the table. They gave the piece of the table to the kid’s father and the child went back to his seat. The crowd gave the Dudleyz a HUGE ovation for that kind gesture and the Dudleys returned to the back.
The Fink hawked some merchandise and it was time for intermission around 7 p.m.
(7) The Hurricane & Val Venis defeated Rodney Mack & Rosey (w/Theodore Long, Chris Nowinski) . Before the match, Long told us that Rosey had decided to “Back the Mack” so he was out with the gang for the match. Mack and Venis started the match. Both Venis and The Hurricane tried to bodyslam Rosey (with no success). Venis then gave the Hurricane some encouraging words and rubbed his shoulders for good measure. Nowinski, even though he wasn’t wrestling, kept his mask on the entire match. It looked pretty dumb if you ask me.
Later in the match, Hurricane kicks out of a Samoan Drop by Rosey, Hurricane blocks a suplex, hits a Shining Wizard and then tags Venis, who bodyslamed Rosey. The finish came with Hurricane kicking Rosey (in mid-air) and then Venis executing a very nice lateral press from the top rope for the pin.
After the match, Venis got the ref (I think it was Mike Chiota) to take his shirt off and emulate Venis’ pre-match towel routine. It was very funny. Venis then gave the towel to a female in the crowd and left to his music. Hurricane gave away his mask to a kid and left to his music.
(Time: 7:28 p.m.)
(8) Tommy Dreamer pinned Rico (with Jackie Gayda). This match was torture and hardly featured any wrestling. Rico did a lot of skipping, fluttering, and prancing around the ring. He felt Dreamer’s chest (causing Charles Robinson to shake his head) and did some other antics that reminded me of his days as the manager of “the ambiguously gay duo.”
After an announcement that there were five minutes left (thankfully), Dreamer chased Jackie around the ring, and Jackie went through the ring and back onto the floor. Dreamer went to pick up Jackie, and Rico tried attacking Dreamer from behind, but almost hit Jackie. He stopped, but Dreamer grabbed him for an F5-like move and the 1-2-3.
The Fink then announced that Raw would be live tomorrow night from Buffalo and thanked the fans for coming tonight. He even went to say that the “Syracuse fans are among the best in the WWE.” (They must favor quality over quantity.) Then it was time for the main event.
(9) Triple H pinned Rob Van Dam to retain the World Title. Triple H was back to wearing his traditional black trunks and milked his pre-match water routine for all it was worth. He then took the opportunity to remind the crowd that last week on RAW, Kane exposed himself by showing his face “and he was one of the ugliest sons of bitches I’ve ever seen.” He also said Kane was a coward because he hasn’t been seen ever since. (Obviously Triple H forget about the previous two nights’ house shows.) So he said that he came all the way to. (He asked the Fink where they were, pretending to forget) Syracuse and now didn’t have an opponent. However, RVD’s music hit and we had our main event.
After the necessary attacks on the floor, Triple H and RVD finally made it back to the ring for a couple of near falls. Triple H was sure to mock RVD’s pointing routine (when he says “Rob Van Dam”) and then went into a series of sleeper holds that took WAY too much time and practically sucked the life out of the crowd. RVD recovered and hit a spinning heal kick, several more kicks, and then ducked a Triple H punch.
RVD took the opportunity to attempt the Five-Star Frog Splash, but Randy Orton ran ut to make the save. RVD hit Orton and then nailed the Five-Star on Triple H, but Orton pulled the ref out of the ring. Kane then made his way down the ramp (with his music blaring) and choke-slammed RVD and ran after Orton. Triple H climbed back into the ring and pinned RVD to retain the belt.
Kane went back into the ring and took RVD to the woodshed. He set up another chokeslam, but Val Venis, Maven, and the Hurricane come out and blocked his path to RVD. Venis, Maven, Hurricane, and RVD get chokeslams for their trouble and Kane walks to the back. Several refs came out to check on the four wrestlers in the ring (Triple H and Orton had already gotten out of Dodge) and the four finally left with some help, except for RVD.
FINAL THOUGHTS: All in all, it was a good show, well worth the price of admission. The arena was very dark, with only two spotlights and two light towers next to the ring providing light for the matches. The towers were so close to the turnbuckle that they shook when anybody was whipped hard into the ropes… I was sitting near the entranceway, and I could easily see the wrestlers and WWE staff walking around the stage waiting for their matches, conversing, eating and drinking, and just hanging around.
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS 15 YEARS AGO FLASHBACK: 15 YRS AGO – WWE in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: Triple H vs. RVD headlines, Christian vs. Goldust, Dreamer, Orton, Steiner, Lance Storm, Val Venis
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