SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report was originally published 20 years ago this week here at PWTorch.com…
WWE RAW REPORT
OCTOBER 13, 2003
LIVE FROM PITTSBURGH, PA.
-Terri interviewed Ric Flair and Randy Orton. Flair had a crutch and said he “the whole wrestling world knows I was injured last night in Wheeling.” He said he pulled a hamstring and couldn’t wrestle Maven as planned. Terri asked about the bounty on Goldberg. Flair said the right person hasn’t come along yet, but he might tonight. Flair then saw Shawn Michaels in the hallway and called him over. He told him he’s only passed along the “greatest ever” title to two people – Michaels and Triple H. He told Michaels he doesn’t always decide to reach his potential, then gave him a long pep talk about being the one to collect the $100,000. He showed him the cash. Michaels didn’t say anything, then walked away. He didn’t reveal in his expressions whether he was considering the offer.
-Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler introduced the show as the camera panned the crowd signs. Ross said they’d get an update on Kane’s condition later and actually visit him in the hospital. He said his condition had been upgraded from critical to guarded. As they showed a replay of the crash last week, Chris Jericho interrupted from the ring. He, along with Christian, talked about how Steve Austin needed to be removed from his position as co-GM of Raw immediately. “I don’t want to be redundant and repeat myself,” Jericho said, with a joke meant to fly over most people’s heads.
Jericho blamed Austin for booking a reckless match involving Shane McMahon and Test. A handheld camera clip aired of Shane flying off the top rope in Louisville, Ky. with a Van Daminator, hitting a trash can in Test’s lap in the other corner. Jericho said the move broke Test’s foot in two places. Shane then came out dancing to his music. He entered the ring, and did some more of that dancing and then pulled a Hogan and waited to talk to milk the cheers from the crowd. He bowed at the fans, eliciting more cheers. Shane said with a smile he is responsible for sending Kane to the hospital and he is responsible for breaking Test’s foot, not Austin.
Shane said they called an ambulance for Kane last week, and this week they ought to call a “wha-wha-whambulance” for Jericho and Christian. Rob Conway and Rene Dupree walked out. Dupree said Austin is a problem because he cost La Resistance the tag titles and nothing was done about it. Jericho said they all had a message to send to Austin. Before they could execute their four-on-one attack, Shane threw a terrible looking clothesline to Jericho’s chest.
Then he was beat down. Jericho applied a Walls of Jericho and Shane tapped out. The Dudleys then made the save. The four heels fled the scene to the stage. The Dudleys challenged them to a match. The heels huddled. Jericho said: “We just had a huddle and our answer is this! No.” Then he dropped the mic and returned to the back.
-They cut to Goldberg arriving. A car sped at him. He had to dive onto the roof of his car to avoid death. He yelled, “You son of a bitch!”
[Commercial Break]
1 — ROB VAN DAM vs. SCOTT STEINER (w/Stacy)
Steiner dominated the offense early. Steiner then called for Stacy to get the chair for him. She grabbed the chair, but wouldn’t give it to Steiner. That gave RVD a chance to recover and nail Steiner with a drop spin wheel kick to his face. He caught a charging Steiner with a boot to the face. Then he nailed a top rope kick. He followed with the Rolling Thunder. Steiner rolled out of the ring at 3:00. RVD slidekicked Steiner. Steiner yanked RVD to ringside and swung a chair at him. RVD ducked and then went for a Van Daminator. Steiner ducked and then nailed RVD with the chair. The ref called for the bell.
WINNER: RVD at 3:22 via DQ.
STAR RATING: 3/4* — No wonder they didn’t hype this match at all. They didn’t plan to deliver much of a match.
-After the match, Steiner got mad at Stacy and threatened to hit her with a chair when Austin’s music blared. He strode to the ring and called for the wireless mic. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” asked Austin. He asked him if threatening a woman with a chair makes him some kind of a tough guy. Not to dig out any skeletons, but this lecture has a tinge of irony to it. Austin asked Steiner if he wants to hit somebody, he should hit him. Steiner said he didn’t have any problem with him. Austin begged Steiner to hit him.
Finally, after considerable egging on, Steiner gave him a roundhouse that floored Austin. Austin took a deep breath, smiled, got up, and went after Steiner with a flurry of punches. The crowd got to see Austin give Steiner a “can of whoop ass,” as Ross called it. Austin rammed Steiner into the stairs at ringside, then choked him with a cable as Stacy watched and smiled. Steiner eventually escaped to the rampway, then called for Austin to come get him, all while backing up. I’m not entirely sure if there is more to the segment than meets the eye. Austin offered Stacy a beer, but she wouldn’t drink it. He offered her another beer. She took a sip and didn’t like it. So he gave her a Stunner. The crowd sorta cheered. Ross said he couldn’t condone that. Austin shrugged and smiled. I don’t really see the point of this other than establishing the Stone Cold’s character is an ass.s
[Commercial Break]
2 — MAVEN vs. RICO
Ric Flair joined Ross and Lawler at ringside and talked about how serious his injury was. This was a disappointment that we didn’t get to see Maven vs. Flair. Not much to the match. Maven won clean early after his finisher off the second rope. Ross must have been distracted by talking to Flair, because he didn’t call Maven’s finisher and seemed surprised that Maven scored the pin. Considering Maven just hit his finisher, Ross shouldn’t have been quite so surprised.
WINNER: Maven in 2:00.
STAR RATING: 1/4*
-After the match, Flair abandoned his crutch and ran to the ring and attacked Maven. Ross said Flair faked the injury to avoid wrestling Maven. Even though it’s disappointing that we didn’t see the match as advertised, the angle built up heat between the two for when they do wrestle and gave Flair a chance to be part of an old trick out of Heel 101 with the fake injury.
[Commercial Break]
-They showed Rosie trying to change into his superhero outfit inside a phone booth. He struggled to move and rip off his shirt. Lawler sold it as best he could. Ross turned the subject to the Kane-Shane angle last week. Extended clips aired of the angle.
-The Dudleys told Shane that they just came back from Austin’s office and he put a match together with Jericho & Christian & La Resistance vs. the Dudleys & Shane & a partner of their choice. Bubba added that it was a tables match. Shane smiled.
-Goldberg told a backstage worker that he is 100 percent sure it was a Cadillac that almost ran him down and to keep his eyes peeled. As Goldberg walked away, a box full of noisy stuff fell and nearly hit him. Rather than seek out the culprit, he just yelled in frustration, kicked another box, and walked away.
[Commercial Break]
-Goldberg walked to the ring and said he was going to make it simple – if anyone wanted the $100,000 bounty, come and try to collect it. Michaels walked out. He said he needs an explanation from Goldberg why he Speared him. Michaels said it wasn’t so much the Spear, because mistakes happen, but the lack of remorse. He said it seemed Goldberg “could care less” afterward. I assume he meant Goldberg “couldn’t care less.” Goldberg dropped the mic and butted up against Michaels, as if he was more willing to fight than explain himself. Tommy Dreamer then attacked Goldberg from behind with his kendo stick. Goldberg gave Dreamer a Spear to clear him from the picture. Ric Flair then came to ringside and encouraged Michaels, who picked up Dreamer’s Kendo stick, to go after Goldberg. Teddy Long and Mark Henry walked out. Henry said the bounty prize should be his. Eric Bischoff walked out and said tonight he was booking a handicapped match with Randy Orton & Mark Henry & Ric Flair vs. Goldberg & Shawn Michaels. That’s a nice main event because it leaves viewers to wonder whether it will be three-on-two or, if Michaels turned on Goldberg, four-on-one.
3 — BUBBA & D-VON DUDLEY & BOOKER T & SHANE MCMAHON vs. ROB CONWAY & RENE DUPREE & CHRIS JERICHO & CHRISTIAN
Booker got a nice pop when it was revealed he was the mystery partner. Shane entered the match at 6:00 and worked over Jericho, dominating him (including using the Spear, which is one of the reasons he’s not a sympathetic characters behind the scenes with the wrestlers, because the rules are different for him and he gets to use other wrestlers’ moves and instead of having the wisdom to know better than doing it, he does it because he can) until the heels yanked him crotch first into the ringpost. Jericho then clotheslined him over the top rope to the floor. Shane’s teammates went to tend to Shane at ringside as they cut to a commercial.
[Commercial Break]
They returned to Shane being attacked by the heels. Shane took a really awkward bump on a Jericho chop, which of course was officially deemed Jericho’s fault because he threw the chop at the wrong angle. Jericho then went into a chinlock, which Shane managed to avoid screwing up. Shane elbowed out and then DDT’d Jericho. Shane crawled over and hot-tagged Booker. Jericho KO’d Bubba with a trash can, but then D-Von surprised Jericho with a reverse suplex. Dupree entered the ring, but Booker gave him a Spinebuster (which was botched at first, but they recovered and hit the move). Booker then set up Dupree for the move that put Test out of commission for months. Shane flew off the top rope and dropkicked the trash can into Dupree’s gut. Conway then gave Shane a neckbreaker. Bubba then gave Conway a bodyslam and held him prone for D-Von’s diving crotch headbutt. Bubba then called for D-Von to get the table. Bubba actually helped D-Von get the table. Christian attempted to slidekick the table, but the moved the table out of his path, then hit him with the table. By the time they got the table into the ring, Jericho hit them with the French flag which looked like it hurt about as much as Sid Vicious’s punches. Spike Dudley ran out and attacked Jericho. The Dudleys then gave Christian a 3D, but Conway moved the table. Booker then chokeslammed Conway through the table. Ross stressed over and over again throughout the match that Shane is “the ultimate risk taker,” which is a line fed to him by Vince McMahon, and it says a lot about what Vince wants Shane’s role to be and the message he’s sending to the locker room.
WINNERS: Booker T & Shane McMahon & The Dudleys at approx. 18.00.
STAR RATING: **1/2 — A pretty basic match for the first half, but good chaotic six-man action in the final minutes. Raw needs a dose of this much sustained in ring action more often.
-Ross said as much as they’re happy that fans tune in to Raw each week, there’s nothing like seeing the WWE Raw superstars live. They then went to a video montage showing brief clips from all three nights of house shows, stressing the interaction of fans and wrestlers and the energy and adrenaline rush of being there live. It was a great touch on Raw to sell fans on the idea of house shows being more than a half-assed chance to take money from them, which is how fans in Trenton, N.J. felt last week for the Smackdown house show. This approach to selling house shows has been a long time coming and something that for years I’ve touted in the Torch, arguing that paying more attention to house shows on the big TV shows with video highlights from events could only help attendance.
[Commercial Break]
-The babyfaces were celebrating their win in the ring. Coach then walked out and apologized for breaking up their party, but said he had something important to do. He said Bischoff has authorized him to interview Kane from his hospital bed and he was going to do it from the ring. They showed the limo crashing into the semi trailer again. Coach said that was brutal. Shane yanked the mic out of Coach’s hands and said if there is anything that’s brutal, it’s his interviewing skills. He told the wrestlers to escort Coach out of the ring.
They carried Coach to the back. Shane said he was going to conduct the Kane interview. They showed Kane in a hospital bed with a nurse and doctor tending to him. Shane said they can continue to attack each other until one of them is dead, but Shane suggested they settle it once and for all. The doctor kept talking throughout Shane’s comments, which was annoying. Shane asked Kane to settle their feud once and for all at Survivor Series. Kane’s heart monitor went mad. Kane began going through the incident the night before. He said he heard Kane “crying like a little bitch.” The doctor said they had to stop the interview. Kane then rose out of bed and attacked the doctor and nurse and then they lost the feed. Shane just nodded.
[Commercial Break]
4 — LITA & TRISH & IVORY vs. VICTORIA (w/Steven Richards) & GAIL KIM & MOLLY HOLLY
WINNERS: Lita & Trish & Ivory when Trish pinned Victoria at 4:05.
STAR RATING: *1/4 — Typical strong energized match from this group.
After the match, Richards and Victoria teamed up against Trish. Jericho came to the ring, presumably to help the heels. Instead, he turned on Richards and knocked him and Victoria out of the ring. Trish looked confused as Jericho smiled at her and helped her to her feet. Ross said just when you think you know the answers, everything changes.
[Commercial Break]
-They replayed Austin giving Stacy the Stunner.
-Austin asked Jericho backstage what he was up with him and Trish. Jericho said he was just showing Austin what it’s like to show respect to a woman, something he doesn’t know about. Austin just said everyone needs to lighten up. The tall muscular fan who gave him tickets to Raw a couple weeks ago gave him a demo tape of his wrestling. He asked him to do what he can to help him get in the door. He said he didn’t put the tape together, “Little Johnny” did. Austin asked him who Little Johnny is, but the fan got nervous and walked away. Terri approached Austin for an interview. Austin said he was about to make a phone call to order more beer because he needed a lot of beer with all of the crazy stuff going on. He walked past Rosie stuck in the phone booth. He didn’t help him, despite Rosie’s cries for help.
-They cut backstage to Flair getting excited about their main event. As Flair gave Orton a pep talk, and told him to stop thinking about women, Mark Henry barged in and said he wanted the money. Orton said they’re cool. Orton congratulated Henry and Long for the nice touches with the sneak attacks on Goldberg. Long said that’s not how they work and it wasn’t them. Orton and Flair walked off to put the suitcase with the 100K in a safe place.
[Commercial Break]
5 — GOLDBERG & SHAWN MICHAELS vs. RANDY ORTON & RIC FLAIR & MARK HENRY
Michaels wore tights that he should have retired when Zubas went out of style ten years ago. Flair called for Goldberg to tag in. Michaels tagged in Goldberg. Flair tagged in and the crowd “Whoo’d.” Flair threw some chops, which Goldberg no-sold. No heat. Goldberg backdropped Flair. Orton and Michaels each tagged back.Orton hit Michaels with a ridiculously high dropkick. Wow. It didn’t land solid because it was so high, but it was still really athletic. Henry tagged in and pressed and slammed Michaels. Michaels took a Flair flip in the corner. Fans began an “HBK” chant as Henry beat on him. Lawler speculated that Michaels might have been sneak attacking Goldberg. Flair and Michaels exchanged chops and then collided mid-ring. Michaels hot-tagged Goldberg at 4:45 to very little if any pop. He beat up all three heels, including a press drop of Orton. He took Henry down with a clothesline. He threw Orton into the ropes, and Orton bailed out by leaping over the ropes (at least I hope that was what it was supposed to look like). Michaels then dove with a flip splash onto Flair and Orton at ringside. Goldberg then nailed Henry with a Spear. That got a rise out of the crowd. He followed with a Jackhammer. Ross sold it big when he successfully executed the move.
WINNERS: Michaels & Goldberg when Goldberg pinned Henry at 6:10.
STAR RATING: *1/2 — Goldberg was barely in the match except for the finish. Michaels carried it, but it wasn’t anything special even when he was in. Okay, though.
-After the match, Michaels nailed Goldberg with a superkick. Bischoff stepped out and said that is the Shawn Michaels he knows. Bischoff said Flair told him that Michaels is the only person who can beat Goldberg. Bischoff said they would put that to the test when Michaels faces Goldberg next week for the World Heavyweight Title. Goldberg struggled to his feet as Michaels sorta trash talked him and Ross plugged next week’s main event.
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s NXT Hit List: Carmelo Hayes vs. Bron Breakker with John Cena and Paul Heyman at ringside, Ilja Dragunov vs. Dominik Mysterio for the NXT Title with LA Knight as special referee, Asuka vs. Roxanne Perez
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