Welcome to the fifth instalment Tybo Talks 2003, this month we are talking Judgement Day.
I started this over a year ago when I thought it would be a good idea to start a ‘2002’ series. 12+ months and over 500 hours of wrestling later I’m still going with a
The idea was simple, with the ease of access to pretty much all of WWE’s back catalogue on the WWE Network I thought it would be cool to change it up a bit and do some classic review and drop them on the day they were held. The plan is to review every PPV of 2003 while watching all Raw and Smackdown episodes in between.
Now before I go any further, I’m not really going to explain the matches move for move. No one needs that, the PPV is on the WWE Network. This is going to be my thoughts on the booking and general thoughts about the matches and the event.
The Stats
This is the fifth annual Judgement Day PPV
Venue – Charlotte Coliseum. Charlotte, North Carolina
Attendance – 13,000
Tagline – You be the judge…
Theme Song – 12 Stones by Broken
The opening vignette is a standard Judgement Day 2000’s package, all about the end of the world, haunted houses, creepy kids. Standard. I can see what they were trying to do but the stage looks unfinished rather than (I’m guessing) apocalyptic.
The show opens with new Co-General Manager Steve Austin saying he was going to watch the show in ‘redneck heaven’ in the skybox. This is revisited a lot throughout the show.
John Cena & F.B.I (with Nunzio) vs Chris Benoit, Rhyno & Spanky
Spanky is what Brian Kendrick was calling himself in his early WWE career. This match seemed to come out of nowhere, F.B.I (Full Blooded Italians) have been on a roll recently taking out everyone including Undertaker and Nathen Jones, if you remember him? It’s funny to think that Chuck Polumpo was involved in a ‘gay’ wedding gimmick only a few months ago and now he is a ‘mobster’.
Cena and Spanky have been having rap-battles recently and Spanky has been winning them. Cena opens with a solid rap, although this early in the gimmick everything he did was gold. This was a good opening match, nothing out of the ordinary except it seemed to finish abruptly.
Winners – John Cena & F.B.I
We head up to Austin’s skybox, where we see Bischoff in and out of it.
Test & Scott Stiner (with Stacy Keibler) vs La Resistance
It was clear that the Test and Stiner tag team was never meant to last, but they were brought together by Stacy. Although they are a strange team, it does seem to work for a period and the addition of Stacy does help them get over quickly. As for La Resistance, these are completely new and are already clear heels. This is helped along by being French.
Fun Fact: Sylvain Grenier of La Resistance had previously refereed two huge matches for WWE, The Rock vs Hulk Hogan at No Way Out 2003, and Vince McMahon vs Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania XIX.
This was a great outing from La Resistance considering it was their first PPV match as a team, and due to some miscommunication between Stiner and Test, they pick up their first PPV win.
Winners – La Resistance.
Backstage – Mr America is talking to Gregory Helms. Two questions spring to mind, Is Hogan Mr America? Is Gregory Helms The Hurricane?
Smackdown Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (C) vs Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri
This match was originally meant to be Benjamin & Haas vs Los Guererro, but Chavo was recently injured so Eddie needed a replacement. Enter Tajiri.
With all the ladder matches in WWE history, this has a different pace, the match starts slow playing into Benjamin & Haas’ technical wrestling background. They start off a little wary of the ladders and there are very few attempts to climb a ladder. Telling a great story.
When the match gets going it picks up a lot, it’s not long before almost every move is off, on or with a ladder. This turns out to be a fun match, and with maybe the shocker of the night Guerrero and Tajiri become new Tag Team Champions. I thought with Chavo being injured this make-shift team has no chance.
Winners – Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri (New Tag Team Champions)
We head back to Austin’s skybox, there is a clear friendship between Austin and Bischoff as they have a great back and forth with each other.
Intercontinental Championship Battle Royal
This was the return of the Intercontinental Championship after it was unified with the new World Heavyweight Championship back in 2002. It was Austin who decided to re-activate it, with this battle royal. The only rule was you had to be a former Intercontinental Champion (the only excepting being Booker T) this meant that fifty-one wrestlers could be in this match.
Fun Fact: (if you believe it) The original plan was to elevate the Intercontinental Championship to the main Title on Raw, but Triple H thought the title would never kick it’s ‘mid-card’ reputation, so they compromised and re-activated the World Heavyweight Championship.
So, who is in the match (out of the fifty-one possible entrants) the returning Val Venis, Chris Jericho, Goldust, Lance Storm, RVD, Christian, Test, Kane and Booker T. This is a quick match, and a standard battle royal. The difference is the finish. The referee ends up getting knocked out, and Booker wins by throwing out Christian. Only to have Christian come back in with the title, hit Booker and threw him out. When the referee comes too he announces Christian as the winner.
This could be the start of a great feud between the two and instantly makes the title important again.
Winner – Christian (New Intercontinental Champion)
Bikini Contest: Torrie Wilson vs Sable
Is it just me who finds watching a bikini contest awkward these days? It’s matches like this that show the women’s division is unrecognisable to what it is today, and to watch stuff like this is just a little weird…
Sable recently returned and wasn’t happy that Torrie Wilson is now the Playboy cover girl, so obviously Sable hates Torrie. Does Sable want to wrestle Torrie? Nope. Sable wants to seduce Torrie, same as Dawn-Marie did last year, I’m sensing a pattern here.
I’m sure I don’t need to explain a bikini contest, the tiniest bikini and biggest crowd pop get the win. The winner is obviously Torrie, with a none existent bikini.
Winner – Torrie Wilson
‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper vs Mr America
This one goes all the way back to Wrestlemania. Steph McMahon signed Mr America blind, when he debuted he had an uncanny resemblance to Hulk Hogan. Same music, same voice, same moustache, different guy… obviously.
There is no doubt that in the early 2000’s Hogan, I mean Mr America can still go in the ring, but Piper is showing a lot of ring-rust. This match is all about Vince proving that Hogan and America are the same guy, if they are they are both fired. As you would expect Mr America gets the win and Vince isn’t happy.
Winner – Mr America
World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H (C) (with Ric Flair) vs Kevin Nash (with Shawn Michaels)
This whole feud is basically an extension of the Triple H vs Michaels feud from 2002, Kevin Nash returned after the most unfortunate quad injury in anyone’s career. Nash wanted ‘the kliq’ back together but Triple H is currently the biggest heel on Raw and setting up the beginnings of his own kliq, Evolution.
It’s worth noting that on the Raw before Judgment Day Nash and Triple H had an all-out brawl that left them both bloody, beaten and ended in the street outside the arena. It’s clear from the Raw go home that this was set to be a physical match, but has Nash still got that in him?
The match itself isn’t anything fantastic, basically, every shortcut Triple H can possibly take, he does. It looks like he is trying a little too hard to be a cosplay, Ric Flair. Triple H is trying to be the ‘dirtiest player in the game’, even down to Triple H wearing new purple boots to match his trunks, just like ‘Natch’.
It’s not long before Triple H gets the sledgehammer out but hits the referee for an instant DQ. This doesn’t stop Nash from beating down Triple H and even hitting a thunderous Jack-knife Powerbomb through the announce table.
Winner – Triple H (and still) World Heavyweight Champion
We go back to Austin and Bischoff in the skybox, this time their drinking game hits its climax when Bischoff can’t hold it in anymore and throws up all over the crowd under the box. I wonder if there was a splash warning on those seats?
Women’s Championship: Jazz (C) vs Trish Stratus vs Jaqueline vs Victoria
The Women’s Championship has been in a bit of a lull lately, it’s like the matches get a little too good for the era and WWE officials decide to pull it back to obscurity. Don’t get me wrong Jazz is great, but she is just not a good champion at this point.
This is a fun-packed match from all four women. There is non-stop action throughout, the move that stands out is Trish going for The Stratusfaction and gets dumped over the top rope to the floor. Trish takes a huge bump and may have busted her nose or some teeth.
Winner – Jazz (and still) Women’s Champion
WWE Championship Stretcher Match: Brock Lesnar (C) vs Big Show
Fun Fact: This is the first Stretcher Match that WWE has produced in 17 years.
Lesnar and Show have had a long and great rivalry for the past few months, trading victories back and forth but this match seemed a strange path. The build-up seemed more about Show and Mysterio than Show and Lesnar after Show nearly ‘ended Mysterio’s career’ when he batted a stretchered Ray into the ring post.
This match is ultra-physical from the start, as you would expect this is two big powerful guys, who can throw each other around the ring. The interesting dynamic of this match is Lesnar is also the underdog, with Show being the bigger and stronger of the two.
A large portion of this match happens on the ramp trying to get each other on the stretcher and over the line. Lesnar tries everything, it’s only when Mysterio comes out and interferes, giving Lesnar time to head backstage. Lesnar re-emerges smashing through the stage area on a forklift truck.
Lesnar dives of the forklift, F5’s Show and takes him for a ride on the truck over the yellow line and retains his Championship.
Winner – Brock Lesnar (and still) WWE Champion
Overall
Unfortunately, as good as this PPV could have been on paper it certainly didn’t live up to the hype. There were not any standout matches, and everything felt rushed and badly produced.
I was honestly going to give this 1/5 on the Tybometer, but I’m going to bump that up and give it 2/5 purely for the fact that Lesnar bust through the stage area on a forklift truck, this was an awesome moment and reminded me of the old Raw vs Smackdown games.
If I was going to name a ‘Match of the Night’ it would have to go to the Tag Team Ladder match. This was the most entertaining match of the night, that being said it wouldn’t stand up against some of the fantastic Tag Team Ladder matches of the era, and there is no doubt Chavo was missed. Although unavoidable in the situation, I was shocked Eddie and Tajiri won the championships.
This was a low point in 2003 PPV’s. Now, who has an old Playstation2 and Raw vs Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain?!
Judgement Day Rating – 2/5
2003 Rating
Royal Rumble 3.5/5
No Way Out 2/5
Wrestlemania 4/5
Backlash 2/5
Judgement Day 2/5
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