IWE Royal Rumble (2003)
From Iwe
| Royal Rumble (2003) | ||
 Promotional poster featuring Triple K | ||
| Theme song(s) | "Falling Apart" by Trust Company | |
| Imformation | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Entertainment | |
| Brand(s) | Raw Smackdown | |
| Date | January 19, 2003 | |
| Attendance | 15,338 | |
| Venue | Fleet Center | |
| City | Boston, Massachusetts | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| Armageddon (2002) | Royal Rumble (2003) | No Way Out (2003) |
| Royal Rumble chronology | ||
| Royal Rumble (2002) | Royal Rumble (2003) | Royal Rumble (2004) |
Royal Rumble (2003) was the sixteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by International Wrestling Entertainment (IWE). The event took place on January 19, 2003 at the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the first Royal Rumble event to take place after the Brand Extension and the first Royal Rumble event to be named under the WWE name.
The main event was the annual 30-man Royal Rumble match which featured wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown brands. Rob Lesnar, the twenty-ninth entrant won by last eliminating The Undertaker, the thirtieth entrant.
Featured matches on the undercard were Matt Borske versus Kevin Hunter for the [[IWE Championship, Triple K vs. Scott Hunter for the World Heavyweight Championship, Jessie Marie versus Torrie Marie and Rob Lesnar versus The Big Marc in a Royal Rumble qualification match. The Royal rumble of 2003 is notable for featuring the Matt Borske Kevin Hunter match for the IWE championship which is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestling matches of all time. The bout; which featured an array of technical wrestling holds, throws and takedowns was a huge hit among fans. Considered great rivals in their time the 2003 rumble match elevated the Hunter Borske rivalry to new heights.
Contents |
Background
- See also: Professional wrestling
Royal Rumble featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw and SmackDown! – International Wrestling Entertainment's (IWE) primary television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. The event featured wrestlers from IWE's Raw and SmackDown! brands – a storyline division in which IWE employees were assigned to a television program of the same name.
The main rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Triple K and Scott Hunter over the World Heavyweight Championship. On October 24, 2002, IWE had announced on its official website that Scott Hunter had signed a three-year contract with IWE. After eight years away, Hunter returned to IWE as a free agent at Survivor Series and attacked Matt Hooper and Jonathon Nowinski for insulting New York City. Hunter was approached by the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and the SmackDown General Manager Brittany McMahon for their respective brands. He initially decided to join the SmackDown brand but after McMahon rejected Hunter's advances, he moved to the Raw brand. At Armageddon, Triple K defeated Ryan Barnhart in a Three Stages of Hell to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On December 16 edition of Raw, Triple K held an Appreciation Ceremony on winning the title but the ceremony was interrupted by Hunter, who announced that his contract said that he would earn a world title shot. As a result, Hunter and Triple K's match for the World Heavyweight Championship was made official at Royal Rumble.
The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Mike Storm and William Kapphan and Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and Scott) over the World Tag Team Championship. On December 23 edition of Raw, the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff forced Raw commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler to wrestle in a tag team match against Storm and Kapphan for making bad comments against Bischoff. Ross and Lawler defeated Storm and Regal after interference by Dudley Boyz. As a result, on January 6 edition of Raw, Bischoff forced Dudley Boyz to wrestle 3-Minute Warning (Rosey and Jamal), Rico and Batista in a Handicap match. Storm and Kapphan avenged their loss by costing Dudley Boyz, the match. Later that night, Storm and Kapphan defeated Booker T and Goldust for the World Tag Team Championship. This led to a title match between Storm and Regal and Dudley Boyz at Royal Rumble.
The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the SmackDown brand was between Jessica Wilson and Dawn Marie. At Armageddon, Jessica and Dawn did a lesbian segment in the ring. On December 19 edition of SmackDown, Jessica gave bad remarks about her storyline father Al Wilson on getting married with Dawn. On January 2 edition of SmackDown, Dawn and Al had their storyline wedding in their undergarments. On January 9 edition of SmackDown, Josh Mathews announced that Dawn and Jessica would wrestle in a match at Royal Rumble.
Event
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Jerry "The King" Lawler (Raw / Royal Rumble match) |
| Jim Ross (Raw / Royal Rumble match) | |
| Michael Cole (SmackDown) | |
| Tazz (SmackDown) | |
| Carlos Cabrera (Spanish) | |
| Hugo Savinovich (Spanish) | |
| Interviewer | Terri Semmler |
| Ring Announcers | Tony Chimel |
| Howard Finkel | |
| Referees | Jack Doan (Raw) |
| Chad Patton (Raw) | |
| Nick Patrick (Raw) | |
| Charles Robinson (Raw) | |
| Mike Chioda (SmackDown) | |
| Brian Hebner (SmackDown) | |
| Mike Sparks (SmackDown) | |
| Jim Korderas (SmackDown) | |
| General Managers | Eric Bischoff (Raw) |
| Stephanie McMahon (SmackDown) |
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view (PPV), Spike Dudley defeated Steven Richards by pinning him after a Dudley Dog. The match aired live on Sunday Night Heat.
Preliminary matches
As the event concluded, the first match that aired was a Royal Rumble qualification match between Big Show and Rob Lesnar. As the match started, Big Show shoved Lesnar into the corner twice until Lesnar drove him into the corner by spearing him. Lesnar started dominating Big Show and hit him with two consecutive Belly to Belly Suplexes and attempted to perform a third one but Big Show prevented Lesnar from performing the move by grabbing his throat. Big Show then tossed Lesnar over the top rope to the ringside. After Lesnar returned to the ring, Big Show charged at him in the corner but Lesnar avoided the charge and pulled Big Show out of the corner by performing a German Suplex and got a near-fall. Lesnar tried to escape the ring but his former and Big Show's then-manager Paul Heyman grabbed Lesnar's leg, allowing Big Show to kick him in the face. Big Show then attempted to perform a Chokeslam on Lesnar but Lesnar reversed the move into an Oklahoma Roll to get a near-fall. Lesnar followed it by performing a Belly to Belly Suplex on Big Show. Heyman distracted Lesnar by climbing the apron and Lesnar pulled him into the ring and attempted to perform a F5 on Heyman but Big Show prevented Lesnar from hitting F5 by delivering him a Chokeslam. Big Show got a near-fall. He became frustrated and attempted to perform another Chokeslam on Lesnar but Lesnar avoided the move and shoved Big Show into Heyman, who was standing on the ring apron. This allowed Lesnar to finish Big Show with a F5 and Lesnar qualified for the Royal Rumble match.
The second match was a tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship. Mike Storm and William Kapphan defended the titles against Dudley Boyz (Bubba Harlan and Scott). Bubba Harlan and Storm started the match by exchanging Armbars until Storm started applying submission maneuvers on Bubba Harlan. He whipped Bubba Harlan off the ropes and Bubba Harlan performed a Shoulder Block. Bubba started dominating the match as he hit Storm with a Side Slam, a Release German Suplex and a Bionic Elbow before finishing Storm with a Sitout Full Nelson Atomic Drop, which he called Bubba Bomb. Bubba Harlan attempted to pin Storm but Kapphan interfered and broke the pinfall. Bubba Harlan hit Kapphan with a Scoop Slam and then Dudley Boyz performed a "Whassup" on Kapphan. Scott was tagged in and Dudley Boyz focused on the legal wrestler Storm and hit him with a Double Flapjack, giving Scott a near-fall. Dudley Boyz followed by attempting to perform a "3D" on Storm, but Chief Morley interfered in the match and decided that Storm and Kapphan retained the titles by disqualification but the referee refused and the match continued. Kapphan took advantage of the situation and took a pair of brass knuckles to hit Dudley Boyz with the pair but Dudley Boyz performed a 3D on Kapphan. Scott grabbed the brass knuckles and hit Storm with it and pinned him to win the Tag Team Championship.
Next match was Jessica Wilson versus Dawn Marie. Before the match started, the referee Mike Sparks asked Jessica if she wanted to start the match but before Jessica could make a choice, Dawn attacked her and started the match. The match went back and forth until Torrie performed a Swinging Neckbreaker on Dawn to win the match.
Main event matches
The Raw brand main event was between Triple K and Scott Hunter for the World Heavyweight Championship. Hunter dominated Triple K for much of the earlier match. Hunter applied a Boston Crab on Triple K but Triple K caught the ropes and got out of the hold. Hunter released Triple K and Triple K performed a Knee Smash Facebreaker bu Hunter was not affected by the move and he applied a Bearhug on Triple K and followed it by performing a Belly to Belly Suplex for a nearfall. Hunter then attempted to apply a Hunter Recliner on Triple K but Triple K's manager Ric Flair pulled Triple K out of the ring to prevent Triple K from receiving the hold. Hunter started chasing Flair but the referee interjected himself to stop Steiner. Triple K started gaining momentum on a distracted Hunter before attempting to perform a "Pedigree"' on Hunter but Hunter broke the move and performed an Exploder Suplex and tried to perform a Military Press Slam but Triple K countered it and performed a Neckbreaker to get a near-fall. Flair continuously interfered in the match, prompting the referee to eject him from the ringside. Triple K eventually tossed the referee out of the ring but the referee did not disqualify Triple K and the match continued. Triple K eventually grabbed a sledgehammer and nailed Hunter in the gut with it and the referee disqualified Triple K. As a result, Triple K retained the title but Hunter attacked Triple K after the match and applied a Hunter Recliner.
Aftermath
Results
| No. | Results | Stipulations |
|---|---|---|
| Heat | Spike Dudley defeated Steven Richards (with Courtney Savoie) | Singles match |
| 1 | Rob Lesnar defeated The Big Show (with Paul Heyman) | Royal Rumble Qualification match |
| 2 | Dudley Boyz (Bubba Harlan and Scott) defeated William Kapphan and Mike Storm (c) | Tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship |
| 4 | Scott Hunter defeated Triple K (c) (with Ric Flair) by disqualification | Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship |
Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations
Red ██ and "Raw" indicates a Raw superstar, blue ██. and "SD!" indicates a SmackDown! superstar. A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.
| Draw | Entrant | Brand | Order | Eliminated by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Barnhart | Raw | 1 | McGowan |
| 2 | Kris McGowan | Raw | 14 | Test |
| 3 | Christpher Wheat | Raw | 2 | Wright |
| 4 | Scott Wright | SD! | 3 | McGowan |
| 5 | Edge | SD! | 10 | McGowan |
| 6 | Khristian | Raw | 9 | McGowan |
| 7 | Chavo McAlmond | SD! | 8 | Edge |
| 8 | Park | SD! | 6 | McGowan |
| 9 | Bill DeMott | SD! | 4 | Edge |
| 10 | Tommy Brown | Raw | 5 | McGowan & Khristian |
| 11 | B-2 | SD! | 7 | Edge |
| 12 | Kyle Van Dam | Raw | 26 | Kane |
| 13 | Matt Hooper | SD! | 21 | Lesnar |
| 14 | Brian McAlmond | SD! | 13 | Booker |
| 15 | Josh Hooper | SD! | 11 | Van Dam |
| 16 | Rosey | Raw | 12 | Kane |
| 17 | Test | Raw | 17 | Jesse Dern |
| 18 | Dustin Simpson | SD! | 22 | Undertaker |
| 19 | Jared Keller | SD! | 20 | Lesnar |
| 20 | Kishi | SD! | 18 | Jesse Dern |
| 21 | Jamal | Raw | 23 | Undertaker |
| 22 | Kane | Raw | 28 | Undertaker |
| 23 | Junior Remeriz | SD! | 19 | Lesnar |
| 24 | Booker T | Raw | 16 | Keller & Remeriz |
| 25 | A-Train | SD! | 25 | Kane & Van Dam |
| 26 | Maven | Raw | 24 | Undertaker |
| 27 | Goldust | Raw | 15 | Keller & Remeriz |
| 28 | Jesse Dern | Raw | 27 | Undertaker |
| 29 | Rob Lesnar | SD! | - | WINNER |
| 30 | The Undertaker | SD! | 29 | Lesnar |
