SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report was originally published 15 years ago this weekend on PWTorch.com…
WWE Raw house show
October 18, 2003
Providence, R.I.
Report by Neil Gagne, PWTorch.com reader
This was a great house show with a fairly strong card. It was definitely nowhere near full capacity in the arena, but there was a good turn out despite the show not being televised. In fact, I enjoyed this house show more so than I did when they had a televised Raw show here back in January. The matches were better and the wrestlers seemed to enjoy themselves a lot more without the restraint of time. The quality of their performance was also excellent.
The show started with Eric Bischoff coming down to the ring and jumping on the house mic. He ran down an overweight man in the front row, gaining some cheap heat from the audience. He then insulted the audience in general and ran down the Red Sox, which is something you don’t want to do in Providence especially after thursday’s playoff game. Bischoff then introduced the human suplex machine, Scott Steiner, and lead us into the first match.
(1) Rob Van Dam defeated Scott Steiner to retain the Intercontinental Championship. RVD got great reaction from the crowd and got us to chant his name several times throughout the match. Steiner showed off a move other than his kick, punch, suplex set and applied some headlocks. A “we want Stacy” chant erupted. Not a bad match; Van Damn showed off most of his signature spots, such as the rolling thunder and split leg moonsault. Finish came when Steiner knocked down RVD inside the ring then went outside and grabbed a chair. When he came back in RVD jumped to his feet and delivered a Van Daminator to the chair swinging Steiner. After the match, Bischoff came down and demanded RVD should be disqualified for the finish and then Steiner regained himself and took down RVD with the chair. Bischoff and Steiner taunted the downed Van Dam and celebrated their beatdown.
(2) Val Venis defeated Steven Richards (w/Victoria). A decent match between two of Heat’s mightiest athletes. Val got a decent pop from the audience. My friend and I started a “Money Shot” chant to which Val responded by performing the move, only to have it blocked by Richards. Victoria interfered several times throughout the match. Val hit a nice looking fisherman’s suplex and a spinout powerbomb pin. Finish came when Richards got knocked down after bumping into Victoria on the apron and Val applied a spinning leg lock submission for the victory. After the match, Val had the audience roaring as he tried to decide who to give his towel to. It ended up being this beautiful stripper who had appeared before the show with a local radio DJ.
(3) Lita & Ivory defeated Molly Holly & Gail Kim. Lita received a great pop when she first came down and then both Lita and Ivory got a big pop as they posed on the turnbuckles for a while. Great ring work by the four divas in this match. Ivory played the face in trouble until the hot tag to Lita and the finish came when Lita delivered the twist of fate to Gail and picked up the duke. All four of these women are absolutely gorgeous in person.
(4) Mark Henry (w/Theodore Long) defeated Tommy Dreamer. Not too much to this match. Theodore Long jumped on the mic before it started and ran down the crowd and also put down the Red Sox gaining some temporary heat. Goldberg chants began during this match whenever Henry looked toward the crowd. Henry won after his “devastating” body slam.
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(5) The Dudley Boyz defeated La Resistance (Renee Dupree & Rob Conway) to retain the World Tag Team Championship in a Table Match. Fink gave us the option of seeing the two teams compete in either a No DQ match, a falls count anywhere match, or a table match. The response for table match was almost as defeaning as the pop the Dudleys received on their way to the ring. Easily match of the night, just great work by both teams. The Dudleys especially really know how to put on a show and got the crowd involved every chance they got. D-Von was beaten for most of the match until the hot tag saw Bubba come in and clean house to a chorus of USA chants. Finish came when Bubba powerbombed Conway through a table. After the match the Dudley’s pulled a little kid from the audience up into the ring and gave him a piece of the table. Bubba then headed to the back while Dvon stayed out and celebrated with the crowd for a bit.
Intermission.
(6) Lance Storm defeated Rico (w/Jackie Gayda). Lance got a decent pop in the beginning of this match as he did the “Lance Dance” on his way to the ring. A fun and quick paced match between the two, with Rico doing his usual homoerotic shtick with both Lance and the referee. Jackie is extremely beautiful in person and should really be used on TV more for the crowd broke into “Jackie” chants a few times. Lance got a “Rico Sucks” chant going and really worked hard in this match. He executed numerous innovative spots which looked awesome in person. Lance proved he is an extremely talented worker and not in the least boring. What happened to Lance’s push? Finish came after Lance kissed Jackie and downed Rico with a jumping missile dropkick from the top rope. Lance celebrated with good response from the audience. Good match of the night candidate.
(7) Shane McMahon defeated Kane in a street fight. A fairly quick match, but very good at the same time. Before the match started, Kane got on the mic and told Shane that he should have finished the job two weeks ago when he tried to kill him because now he was going to beat him. A great match between the two with some sick spots. Kane got a decent pop in the beginning, despite being a heel. Shane also got a great response. Kane put down Shane with a chokeslam, but the referee was down. So, Kane picked up the ref and gave him a chokeslam for not making the count. Finish came when Shane knocked down Kane in a corner with a trash can and then delivered a sick looking Van Terminator from the opposite side of the ring. Awesome finish, though it seems Kane should be picking up the win over a non wrestler if he is to be portrayed as a monster heel. Oh well, still a great match and the crowd was into it.
(8) Goldberg & Booker T defeated Ric Flair & Randy Orton (w/Triple H). Triple H was supposed to be teaming with Orton for this one, but apparently he pulled his hamstring again during the show in NH. Trips got on the mic and told us a city who loved the Sox so much didn’t deserve to see him wrestle because he was the rightful world champion. He had his briefcase with him and stated that tonight we would see someone get $100,000. No matter about Triple H not wrestling, we had the honor of seeing Flair mix it up in this one. Book came out to a tremendous pop and Goldberg came out to an even greater pop A great match between these four, with most of it being between Flair and Booker. A comedic spot came when Booker went to roll up Flair, but instead ended up pulling his trunks down. The crowd was treated to Flair’s bare bottom for a while. Flair can still get it down in the ring and shows great emotion while he’s out there. Mark Henry rushed the ring towards the end and took out Goldberg, but it wasn’t enough to put him away. Goldberg got up and speared Randy Orton, then he speared Ric Flair and then picked up the win after giving Orton the Jackhammer. After the match, Goldberg called Book back to the ring and told him they couldn’t leave until we saw the spinaroonie. Book obliged and the crowd went crazy. Goldberg pulled a kid out of the audience and put him on the ring apron with his belt draped over him. Goldberg then thanked the crowd for coming out and then he and Booker went around the ring shaking hands. Goldberg stuck around ringside longer and signed autographs for people.
After the show, my friend and I stuck around outside trying to catch a glimpse of some leaving superstars. We saw Ivory leave. Kane and Steven Richards left together, as did the Dudleys and Tommy Dreamer. Rico came out and the crowd called to him like the others, but this time Rico said he would come over. A few minutes later Rico came over to the wall and signed autographs for everyone and went around shaking hands. Rico’s a real class act and a great guy. Lance Storm also came around shaking hands and signing autographs. RVD and Booker T started to drive off in a jeep, but then turned around and drove back toward the crowd. RVD rolled down his window and threw out some of his wrist wraps to the crowd, the two of them waved and then left. Goldberg peeled out in the parking lot in a nice looking mustang and then raced out into the street to cheers from the crowd. All in all, a great show from the Raw brand superstars.
Biggest Pops:
1. Goldberg
2. Booker T/ RVD
3. Dudley Boyz/ Shane’s Van Terminator
4. Lita/ Ivory/ Val Venis when he went to hand out his towel
Most Heat:
1. La Resistance
2. Scott Steiner/ Eric Bischoff
3. Evolution/ Rico
4. Anyone who bashed the Red Sox
NOW CHECK OUT THIS FLASHBACK: 15 YRS AGO – KELLER’S NWA-TNA PPV REPORT (10-15-03): Dusty Rhodes and C.M. Punk in matches, Jarrett cuts promo on Hulk Hogan, plus Raven, Erik Watts, Eric Young, Bobby Roode, Sonjay Dutt, Disco Inferno
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