SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report was originally published at PWTorch.com 20 years ago this week…
WWE Raw Report
Aired July 28, 2003
Live from Colorado Springs, Colo.
Broadcast live on TNN
1st Quarter Hour
The show opened with the usual still-shot photos of Eric Bischoff and Steve Austin… A highlight video recapped last week’s storylines that involved Kane, Steve Austin, Eric Bischoff, and Linda McMahon… The opening montage aired…
(Commentary: It’s worth noting that used a different camera angle than the live shot that aired last week of Kane piledriving Linda McMahon. The word backstage after last week’s show was that Vince McMahon was upset that the live shot gave away how much room there was between Linda’s head and the floor of the stage.)
Johnathan Coachman and Jerry Lawler introduced the show and hyped Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton as Chris Jericho’s guests in the Highlight Reel…
Vince McMahon walked onto the stage and said he was there to confront Kane. Vince said he wasn’t confronting Kane because he’s a good husband because everyone knows he’s not. Instead, he said he was at the show because Kane is an animal and he wanted him in the ring. Vince guaranteed that before the night ends, all hell would break loose…
(1) Booker T & Scott Steiner (w/Stacy Keibler) beat Test & Christian at 11:10. The announcers hyped that the main event of SummerSlam would be announced after the match. After some solid back and forth action, the show cut to commercial.
2nd Quarter Hour
[Commercial break]
After the break, Steiner was selling for the heels but made a quick comeback by hitting an impressive suplex on Test. Later, Booker hit a scissors kick on Christian for the win…
Highlights aired from the SummerSlam press conference held July 22 in the Staples Center parking lot, where it was officially announced that the Raw main event of SummerSlam will be Triple H vs. Goldberg…
The announcers hyped Goldberg for after the break…
[Commercial break]
(2) Goldberg beat Steven Richards at 1:14. An all out squash that had the live crowd on their feet and chanting “Goldberg” by the end of the match. Great intensity from Goldberg…
After the match, Goldberg mugged for the crowd until Triple H’s entrance music interrupted him. Triple H walked onto the stage with fellow Evolution members Ric Flair and Randy Orton. Triple H took the mic and mockingly stated that he was very impressed by Goldberg’s win over “Stevie Richards.” Hunter said that while Richards is an awesome competitor, he is not the World Hvt. Champion. “You see, Goldberg, I am the World Heavyweight Champion, and you, my friend, have no idea what you’re getting into when you go up against The Game.”
Goldberg told Hunter that he was waiting for him in the ring. “If you’re such a bad ass, why wait until SummerSlam?” Goldberg asked. “Why not tonight?” Triple H said he is the champion and that he is banking on Goldberg’s reputation to make him a lot of money. Triple H gave the logical answer that he didn’t want to destroy Goldberg’s reputation until SummerSlam. Ric Flair took the mic and backed up what Hunter had said. In the ring, Goldberg challenged Flair to meet him in the ring. Flair darted toward the ring, but was grabbed from behind by Hunter and Orton.
3rd Quarter Hour
Eric Bischoff walked onto the stage and refused to allow Goldberg vs. Flair to take place without the proper promotion. Instead, Bischoff proposed their match take place next week in Vancouver, B.C. Goldberg accepted those terms and warned Flair that he is next. Goldberg’s music played and the crowd chanted his name to end the segment…
(Commentary: Better hype than last week’s half-hearted initial confrontation between Triple H and Goldberg, but still nothing earth shattering. It was good to hear Triple H and Bischoff using logical explanations as to why neither Triple H nor Flair will get in the ring with Goldberg tonight. Will WWE do anything else tonight to get people talking more about this money match or will it once again be overshadowed by Kane and the McMahon family soap opera?)
[Commercial break]
(3) Val Venis beat Rico (w/Miss Jackie) at 5:01. During the match, Coachman hyped the pending arrivals of Steve Austin and Kane. After some back and forth action that didn’t do much for the live crowd, Val fought off Jackie’s attempted interference and hit the Money Shot on Rico for the win…
Backstage, Bischoff had a group of security guards waiting for the sheriff’s van that brought Kane to the building. Bischoff stopped security from releasing Kane from the van and said he would have to wait in there until he received word from Vince McMahon that it was time to release him…
The announcers hyped the Highlight Reel for after the break…
4th Quarter Hour
[Commercial break]
Chris Jericho stood in the ring with the Highlight Reel segment and bragged about his victory over Shawn Michaels last week. Jericho said he and Randy Orton share a mutual hatred for Shawn Michaels, then introduced Orton as his first guest. Orton came out and presented Jericho with an Evolution t-shirt. Jericho asked Orton to name the finishing move he used on Michaels last week. Orton dubbed the move the RKO. Jericho took offense to Orton interfering in his match last week and demanded to know why he did it. Orton said he screwed Mick Foley and wanted to follow up by screwing Michaels. Orton vowed to live up to his nickname of Legend Killer by killing Michaels. Jericho introduced Michaels as “the man who tapped to the vicious power of the Liontamer.”
Michaels entered the ring and took exception to Jericho bragging about his win last week. Michaels then turned his attention to Orton, and said he wished he had a nickel for every nobody who ever vowed to end his career. Jericho got in Michaels face again, so Michaels challenged him to an immediate rematch. Jericho said Michaels is pathetic because he can’t admit that he was defeated last week. “I’m not going to give you a rematch in front of all of these jackasses tonight, because I already beat you last week,” Jericho said. “I’d face anybody in this building before I’d face you. I’d even face the fat guy in the front row.” Orton stepped in and asked Michaels if he wanted to fight, which Michaels responded to with a punch.
5th Quarter Hour
Chris Jericho and Randy Orton continued the attack on Shawn Michaels that they started in the first hour. Kevin Nash ran out and made the save. Nash challenged Jericho to live up to his word of facing anyone not named Shawn Michaels. “I’m not Shawn Michaels,” Nash told Jericho…
[Commercial break]
(4) Kevin Nash beat Chris Jericho by DQ at 4:51. There were some pro-NWA-TNA signs in the crowd, including an “Elix built this house” sign.” As for the match, Jericho spent most of the time working over Nash’s knee. Nash came back with a Big Boot and went for the Jackknife, but Jericho low-blowed Nash for the intentional DQ. After the match, Jericho removed one of the corner pads and attempted to slam Nash head into it. Nash fought off Jericho, who retreated to ringside. Jericho grabbed a chair and returned to the ring, only to have Nash kick the chair at his face. Nash punched Jericho repeatedly and then dropped him face-first on the exposed turnbuckle twice. Nash threw Jericho to ringside and continued his attack by throwing him into the ringsteps and dropping him throat-first on the guardrail. Nash picked up the ringsteps, which caused Jericho to run away…
(Commentary: I’m not sure this brawl resulted in what WWE was looking for. Instead of looking like a driven bad ass who won’t quit, Nash came away looking like a pussy for not being able to finish off the considerably smaller Jericho during their lengthy brawl.)
6th Quarter Hour
[Commercial break]
(Commentary: Unless I missed something, the announcers have yet to update Jim Ross’s condition or the storyline as to whether he will press charges against Kane.)
Backstage, Rosey told Hurricane he wasn’t so sure about the Super Hero In Training (SHIT) role because someone at the airport called him a big piece of, well, you get it. Besides, Hurricane cut him off before he could say the word because super heroes don’t use those words…
Backstage, Bischoff told the security guards that they were not allowed to open the van that transported Kane until they hear from him or Vince McMahon…
[Commercial break]
Finally, Jerry Lawler addressed the Jim Ross injury angle by saying that he spoke to Ross earlier today. Lawler said Ross is recovering at home and expects him to return sooner than later. Still no mention of the storyline regarding Ross pressing charges against Kane…
The Dudleys joined the announcers on commentary and exchanged words with La Resistance as the tag champs made their entrances…
(5) La Resistance beat Garrison Cade & Mark Jindrak to retain the Raw Tag Titles at 8:30. The announcers reminded viewers that Cade & Jindrak actually defeated the tag champs in a non-title match on Heat two weeks ago. For those of you who skipped the show, the announcers sold the non-title win for about five seconds before moving onto some video package. In other words, even loyal Heat viewers couldn’t possibly be excited about this rematch, which is a shame. Cade appears to have gained about 20 lbs. of muscle since he debuted on Raw a few weeks back. He’s just as ripped as both La Resistance members, which is odd considering that he looked like a scrawny kid less than two years ago while he was training in the HWA.
7th Quarter Hour
During the match, the tag champs grabbed their flag and prepared to use it as a weapon, which brought the Dudleys racing down from the announcers’ perch to stop them. The referee stood between the Dudleys and La Resistance as the show cut to commercial.
[Commercial break]
The Dudleys had returned to the announcers’ table and the match was going on in the ring by the time the commercial break ended. The Dudleys spent most of their time on commentary complaining about La Resistance having the nerve to bring their flag to ringside. Let me guess, we’re about to see a La Resistance vs. Dudleys flag match? In the end, La Resistance hit their finisher on Cade for the win. Afterward, the champs continued to attack their challengers until the Dudleys ran in for the save. The Dudleys got the better of the situation until Rene Dupree snuck back inside the ring and attacked them from behind with the French flag…
Backstage, Bischoff told the security troops that Vince McMahon was ready to confront Kane. Security released the shackled Kane from the van and led him through the backstage area while security aimed their taser guns at him as a security precaution…
(Commentary: I’m trying to decide whether Kane look more like Darth Vader unmasked in “Return of the Jedi,” or a super jacked up Billy Corgan?)
[Commercial break]
8th Quarter Hour
(6) Molly Holly beat Gail Kim to win the WWE Women’s Title at 3:20. In the end, Molly flipped off the top rope onto the standing Kim for the win. It’s good to see Molly finally get a well-deserved run with the WWE Women’s Title…
(Commentary: Could WWE treat their champions any worse than they have tonight? With the exception of Triple H, every Raw champion has wrestled on the show, yet the announcers never bothered to mention any of them prior to their matches.)
A shot aired of Vince McMahon walking backstage…
[Commercial break]
After the break, Vince was already standing in the ring. The policemen escorted Kane to ringside at Vince’s request. Vince said it would be too easy to beat Kane while he was in his shackles, so he ordered them to remove them. After the police removed the shackles, Vince dismissed them and then called for Kane to enter the ring with him. Kane and Vince stood face-to-face for a moment, then Vince backed up and asked, “Who in the hell do you think you are?” Vince asked Kane what gives him the right to touch any McMahon family member without his permission. “I know who you are,” Vince said regarding Kane. “You’re a monster. Yeah. You’re a real, live, remorseless monster. What would a man like me do with a monster in the palm of my hand.” Vince said he could forgive Kane for attacking his wife, then threw out the possibility of “McMahon and Kane,” and said it has a nice ring to it.
Steve Austin stormed to the ring. “The first thing I want to say is, yes, Stone Cold Steve Austin is staying on as the co-general manager.” Austin reiterated the storyline that he will not be able to attack WWE wrestlers unless they physically provoke him. “I accept that,” said Austin. “So that being said, I am out here looking to be provoked.” Austin glared at Kane and said, “So provoke me, Kane. Do something to me. Touch me, hit me, do something. Look at you, your stupid towel, your little black and red trunks. Is that supposed to scare me? Do something. You stupid son of a bitch.” Kane removed the towel from his head but still refrained from attacking Austin.
9th Quarter Hour
Austin invited Kane to take a free shot at him. “Please hit me,” Austin said, but Kane kept his composure. Doesn’t Austin know that you just have to tell Kane that he is ugly and freakish? Shane McMahon’s music played and he walked to the ring and clotheslined Kane over the top rope. Shane continued his attack on Kane at ringside until Vince pulled him off. In the meantime, Kane walked up the ramp. Shane ran after Kane and caught him at the top of the ramp, where he hit him with three chairshots. The third shot knocked Kane off the stage and through a couple of tables. Kane sat up and started laughing. “Oh my God,” Lawler said, “Kane is a monster”…
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