20 YRS AGO: WWE Live Event in South Korea Report (1-23-2003): Steiner, Kane, Triple H, Batista, Jericho, RVD, D-Lo, Hurricane, Storm, Booker T, Goldust, Regal

This was originally published 20 years ago this week on PWTorch.com….

WWE house show report
January 23, 2003
Seoul, South Korea
Report by Jong-Hoon Yeo, PWTorch.com correspondent

Attendance: Over 10,000 people (sell out).

Howard Finkel started the show and introduced Chief Morley, who explained how Raw is better show than Smackdown. Moment later, Steph came out and said the people don’t like Morley and wanted him to leave the ring. Morley left. Steph did some greeting stuff.

(1) Hurricane Helms beat Steven Richards via his finisher.

(2) Trish Stratus & Jackie beat Victoria & Molly. Trish hit the Stratusfaction bulldog on Victoria for the win.

(3) Test (w/Stacy Keibler) beat D-Lo Brown via the Big Boot. Stacy said “hello” in Korean language (“An-Nyung-Ha-se-yo”) and introduced Test. The brought a camera with them and filmed the crowd. In the end, Stacy distracted D-Lo, who chased her, only to eat Test’s big boot.

(4) Rico beat Spike Dudley.

(5) The Dudleys beat Jamal & Rosey in tables match. Rico ran out and interfered on behalf of Jamal & Rosey. Spike Dudley ran out to even the sides. He hit the Dudley Dog on one of the Three Minute Warning members, but his second attempt on the other member failed. Still, it gave Dudleys enough time, and they 3D’d one of the 3MW members through a table. (dudleys didn’t do Whassup… it disappointed…). After the match, the Dudleys gave the crowd a piece of a broken table as a gift.

15 minute intermission

(6) Rob Van Dam beat Christian with the FiveStarFlogSplash.

(7) Lance Storm & William Regal beat Booker T & Goldust to retain the Raw Tag Titles. Storm hit Booker with one of the title belts, which led to the pin. After the match, Booker Goldie did some poses for the fans.

(8) Chris Jericho beat Tajiri with the Walls of Jericho. When Jericho entered the ring, the crowd give him a loud cheer, but he still ripped Korea, causing the people to boo him. Some great action. Tajiri’s Springboard elbow, talantula… but finally Y2J got the win via the Walls of Jericho.

(9) Kane & Scott Steiner beat Triple H & Batista (w/Ric Flair). Kane chokeslamed Batista, and Steiner scored the pin. The heels did some hilarious things that had the people laughing out loud. After the match, Kane and Steiner posed for the fans.

Notes: The matches were not great, mostly of average quility. The show was very successful. because of the crowd, which was the best and loudest crowd in the universe. Just a super hot crowd. They popped over or booed each and every move. When a babyface entered, the crowd went crazy, especially for RVD, Booker T, Triple H, Stacy, and Trish).

During the match, they Chant “Asshole” “You Sucks” things so loudly… They never stop pop/boo/chant. They cheered Loser whether he is face or heel..

I have seen so many pro wrestling shows (tv,video), but I’ve never seen anything like this. A super, super, hot and awesome crowd.

Biggest disappointment: There was a great big TV screen, but WWE never used it.

I think WWE should be very happy, and the Korean fans are very happy too. I heard they’ll come back to Korea again next July, but that was never officially announced.

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