wrestling / Video Reviews
Random Network Reviews: Survivor Series 2003
Loading...Survivor Series 2003
November 16th, 2003 | American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas | Attendance: 13,487
I’ve reviewed a fair amount of Survivor Series Pay-Per-Views but this is one show that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen in full. I wasn’t ordering PPVs consistently at the time and skipped this one as only one or two matches interested me. This show features the usual traditional Survivor Series matches, an Ambulance match and even a Buried Alive match. Well damn. It was the 17th Survivor Series in history.
As usual for the time period, we got the split brand commentary teams.
Team Angle vs. Team Lesnar
Bradshaw, Chris Benoit, Hardcore Holly, John Cena and Kurt Angle vs. A-Train, WWE United States Champion Big Show, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar, Matt Morgan and Nathan Jones
WELP. HERE COMES THE PAIN! It’s as if Brock just got every big dude in the company to be on his team. Hardcore Holly attacked Brock during his entrance, leading to a brawl. Holly pushed the referee and got disqualified just as the match started. Bradshaw evened it quickly with a Clothesline from Hell on A-Train at 0:27. Rapid fire eliminations continued as Show sent Bradshaw home with a Chokeslam at 0:48. The heels began to pick apart Cena for a bit, but Benoit ended up taking a longer heat. When Angle got the hot tag, he went bonkers and eliminated Morgan with an Angle Slam at 9:11. THE STRAPS ARE DOWN! Angle made Jones tap to an Ankle Lock at 9:31, only for Brock to nail him with the F5 and get rid of him at 9:43. You don’t often see the team captain go out in the middle of the match. Even more surprising, a few minutes later, Benoit flat out made Brock tap to the Crossface at 11:43. He would go on to win the Royal Rumble in two months but that was huge. Big Show was left alone and had been on a dominant run as US Champion. A well-placed right hand with a steel chain wrapped around it allowed Cena to pin Show months before he’d take the title from him.
Winners: Team Angle (Survivors: Chris Benoit and John Cena) in 13:15
Solid opening contest here. I like Survivor Series starting with the traditional style matches. This one has a lot of energy and a hot crowd. Kurt Angle getting bumped so early was a cool surprise and the right guys survived for the winning team. ***
We get a backstage segment where Vince McMahon goes to see his son. He says that tonight, a father and a son face two brothers in separate matches. Shane doesn’t care so Vince leaves and runs into Steve Austin in the back. They slowly start to laugh for some reason, but Austin then stops and walks off.
WWE Women’s Championship
Molly Holly (c) vs. Lita
Lita had recently returned from a lengthy neck injury. Molly went after the beck and back of the challenger from the start. She really targeted it but the crowd didn’t seem to care. That was surprising considering how popular Lita was. She began a rally and scored on a pretty good powerbomb for two. She missed the big moonsault, opening the door for Molly to connect on the Molly Go Round. However, Lita got the shoulder up to the surprise of many. Like an old school heel, Molly exposed the middle turnbuckle and sent Lita face first into it to retain.
Winner and Still WWE Women’s Champion: Molly Holly in 6:48
I wanted this to be better. I like both of the women involved and the idea to work the neck was smart. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t seem to care much and things just never really clicked. **
Ambulance Match
Kane vs. Shane McMahon
Kane unmasked in the summer and went nuts. He attacked Linda McMahon, leading to infamous “momma’s boy” Shane to return and go to war with him. Kane was rocking a towel on his head like a giant, white Taz. Shane attacked at the bell and took Kane over the top. Kane looked like he was on the way to landing on his head but somehow didn’t. He does the big diving elbow through the announce table early on and it doesn’t really get the desired reaction. Things got quite out of hand when it went backstage as Shane backed a truck into Kane. I know you hate him but vehicular homicide might be a bit much. The match moved back to the entrance and near the ambulance where they continued to brawl. Shane did the always awesome coast to coast dropkick from the top of the ambulance in another cool spot. Kane got a second wind and nailed Shane with a Tombstone on the floor before tossing Shane into the ambulance and shutting the door.
Winner: Kane in 13:34
Better than I remembered. It felt like two guys that hated each other in a big fight. Some things were a bit over the top and they relied on high spots a bunch. Even so, I found this to be a rather enjoyable fourteen minutes. **¾
Josh Matthews interviews Brock on the loss earlier. Brock says that he didn’t lose or tap out. He says that it doesn’t matter who you line up in front of him, he’d beat them all. Goldberg shows up and introduces himself, planting the first seeds for their horrific WrestleMania XX matches.
Jonathan Coachman, in a neck brace, comes to the ring to tell the fans that he is going to recover soon from a 3D he took recently. He spots Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the front row and decides to interview him. Cuban says that he wants to see Steve Austin kick Eric Bischoff’s ass later. He also say that all referees suck, which I don’t completely disagree with. This brings out Bischoff, who gets Cuban to step into the ring with him. Eric pushes him back so Cuban shoves him on his ass. Randy Orton appears and hits Cuban with the RKO. Odd little segment though it gave Orton more heat.
Orton meets up with Evolution and a bunch of ladies in the back. He literally stops in his tracks to allow two women to touch his nipples.
WWE Tag Team Championship
The Basham Brothers (c) w/ Shaniqua vs. Los Guerreros
I was close to being upset that I sat through three segments for a Basham Brothers match but Los Guerreros could make up for it. Still though, the BDSM Bashams were terrible. While the Guerreros started hot, the Basham Brothers quickly turned things around and surprisingly worked over Eddie for a while. Commentary sold that it had been a rough few months for Eddie. Chavo did alright with his hot tag but the crowd wasn’t feeling it. Thanks to a Shaniqua distraction, the Bashams pulled off Bella Twin magic. Pissed about it, Eddie hit her with a frog splash and Chavo spanked her. Chavo then accidentally kicked Eddie on a DDT, allowing one of the Bashams to roll him up with a handful of tights and retain.
Winners and Still WWE Tag Team Champions: The Basham Brothers in 7:31
This was pretty standard and basic. The Bashams did heel stuff, the Guerreros had some babyface fire while the crowd was only invested at certain points. They teased Eddie/Chavo tension but not much more. *¾
Team Austin (Chris Jericho, Christian, Mark Henry, Randy Orton and Scott Steiner) w/ Eric Bischoff, Stacy Keibler and Teddy Long vs. Team Austin (Booker T, the Dudley Boyz, Rob Van Dam and Shawn Michaels) w/ Steve Austin
For years I’ve heard tons of praise for Shawn Michaels’ legendary last stand at Survivor Series 2003 and I remember it being great but I hadn’t seen it since it aired live. Early on, this match followed the formula that we’ve come to expect from a traditional Survivor Series match most of the time. The guys that were getting eliminated early, (Scott Steiner, Mark Henry, Booker T and RVD) were given a chance to get in their stuff before going home. When it got down to a three on three match, the heels used shady tactics to send the Dudley Boyz home and leave Michaels alone. What happened next is how you expertly book the heroic comeback. Shawn took a beating and does one of the better blade jobs I can remember. When he makes his comeback, it’s not done in superhuman fashion. He doesn’t just shrug off the damage and start taking people out. He hit Sweet Chin Music from out of nowhere and took out Christian before using a fluke pin to get rid of Jericho. It is a desperate man on his last legs. The finish involves all kinds of shenanigans from Bischoff, Austin and then an appearance by Batista who ends up costing Shawn the match and allowing Orton to pin him.
Winners: Team Bischoff (Sole Survivor: Randy Orton) in 27:27
Like I said, this is rightfully mostly remembered for Shawn Michaels’ incredible last stand. Don’t get me wrong, the stuff before Shawn got left alone was solid too but everything after was magical. It was a masterful performance and perfectly booked, even giving the up and coming star the pin on HBK. The second best traditional Survivor Series match in my opinion. ****¼
Steve Austin comes back out and thanks the fans for everything they’ve done for him. See, with the loss, Austin is out as General Manager and commentary sells this as if it is really the end f Austin. He gives a heartfelt goodbye until Jonathan Coachman shows up singing goodbye with security. Austin beats up security and plants Coach with a Stunner. He leaves open beers in the ring before exiting.
Buried Alive Match
The Undertaker vs. Vince McMahon
Undertaker was looking rough on his way to the ring, like he really needed time away. Vince seemed to pray during his entrance and kept speaking of a “higher power”. Uh, Vince, you were the higher power dude. Don’t you remember “IT’S ME AUSTIN”? Within a minute or so, Vince was busted open in a bad way. I mean, it is a complete annihilation as Vince gets in no offense and just gushes all over the place. Undertaker dragged this out and brought Vince up to the grave. He put him in but before he could fill it with dirt, fire exploded and Kane came out. Kane put his brother into the grave, a barely conscious Vince filled it up and the American Badass died. He wouldn’t be seen again until WrestleMania, where the “Deadman” rose again.
Winner: Vince McMahon in 11:59
A completely one sided squash that made it hard to really give a big score too. Seeing Vince get his ass kicked was cool though it dragged on for too long and became boring. Points to Vince for his badass blade job. *½
World Heavyweight Championship
Goldberg (c) vs. Triple H w/ Ric Flair
Yikes, this was during Triple H’s biker shorts era. I mostly forgot about Goldberg as champion since I ignored a lot of Raw in 2003. Apparently, Goldberg had a busted ankle coming into this and it was the focal point throughout the match. Ric Flair was pretty great at ringside. Seeing Triple H attack the leg with chop blocks and such just showed you that he really studied Flair. Triple H was into all of the classic heel tropes, from outside interference to brass knuckles. He got the sledgehammer but Goldberg took it before he could do damage. Orton and Batista ran out only to get taken out by Goldberg. He decided against using the sledgehammer himself and forgot to sell the ankle as he nailed the spear and Jackhammer. The referee was down so the count was slow and HHH was sure to kick out right after three.
Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion: Goldberg in 11:44
It was your classic WWE “babyface overcoming all of the odds” story. He had to get over his ankle, Evolution and the sledgehammer to retain. For the most part, it was a paint by numbers match. Wisely, it didn’t go too long and what they did was fine. **½
