Welcome to the eleventh instalment from 2003 of Tybo Talks… Fifteen Years Ago – Survivor Series 2003
I started this almost two years ago when I thought it would be a good idea to start a ’15 Years Ago’ series. Almost twenty-four months and just about 1000 hours of wrestling later I’m starting all over again with 2003.
If you want to read my Tybo Talks… 2002 series CLICK HERE!
(This is possibly the best most comprehensive series I have ever done and loved it!)
If you want to read my Tybo Talks… 2003 (so far) CLICK HERE!
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. Where better to start than 15 years ago. 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 17th annual Survivor Series PPV
Venue – American Airlines Center. Dallas, Texas
Attendance – 13,487
Theme Song – ‘Build a Bridge’ by Limp Bizkit
The opening vignette is all about survival (obviously), can Austin survive, can Vince survive? This is a pretty standard opening for a PPV in 2003, but dark by today’s standards.
There is no real staging area, but that’s because the stage is made up of the Ambulance and soil for the Buried Alive match, this looks cool to me.
Traditional Survivor Series: Team Lesnar vs Team Angle
(Brock Lesnar, Matt Morgan, Nathen Jones, Big Show and A-Train vs Kurt Angle, John Cena, Chris Benoit, Bradshaw and Hardcore Holly)
Fun Fact: This is Matt Morgan’s first WWE match, and this is Hardcore Holly’s first match in 13 months.
This one has so many feuds wrapped in feuds, it’s hard to explain them all. Let’s just say, no one really likes anyone on the other team. The match starts really fast and is already down to 3-4 in the first two minutes of the match. Holly is disqualified, Bradshaw eliminates A-Train, Show eliminates Bradshaw, and this all happens in a few seconds.
The main this I’m not a fan of in this match is both Show and Lesnar are champions, I understand that this adds to the WWE Championship feud, but there is no need for Show to be the United States Champion and in this match. That’s to me is at least one championship match missing off the show.
All in all, this isn’t a bad match, Morgan has a good showing, and Jones does look great even if he isn’t good in the ring. There is a lot of back and forth, and after some more eliminations, there is somewhat of an upset when Benoit makes the champ tap and eliminates Lesnar. Then after a huge FU from Cena to Show, Team Angle take the victory. Winners – Team Angle (John Cena & Chris Benoit, Survive)
Backstage – Vince continues to push that he is losing his mind over his Buried Alive match. Interesting meeting between Austin and Vince where they both just laugh at each other.
Women’s Championship: Molly Holly (C) vs Lita
It’s important to remember that Lita has been out of action for over a year with a broken neck, as that seems to be Holly’s only focus in this match. Straight off you can see that this one is going to be good, and a little more hard-hitting than most women’s matches back in the early 2000s and the crowd seem to enjoy it.
In this ‘divas’ era, you would be hard pushed to find two better women in the ring, Molly Holly is easily one of the most underrated women in this era, she is great in the ring. After Molly does a little heel work and removes the turnbuckle pad, Holly gets the win. Winner – Molly Holly
Ambulance Match: Shane McMahon vs Kane
This rivalry has been insane! Shane and Kane have basically done everything they possibly can to each other, so much so that I’m honestly not sure what else they can do?
They have involved fire pits, smashing a limo into a truck with Kane inside, and dousing Shane with water, then attaching jack-plugs to his balls, and all this isn’t even mentioning their match at Badd Blood. Seriously, what else can they do?
Shane and Kane have great chemistry and this match (and whole rivalry) shows it, Kane plays the monster and Shane plays the guys out of his depth just trying to survive to perfection. This match gets started quick and stairs, chairs and a huge elbow drop all goes down in the first five minutes.
I’m not usually a fan of Ambulance Matches but this one is one of the best, it’s an absolute spot-fest but it seems more thought out than most, and they incorporate the ambulance better than most ambulance matches, including a spot with the door on Kane that looks so stiff you feel his pain. The match all ends with a tombstone on the concrete. Winner – Kane
Backstage – The Champ meets the Champ. Lesnar and Goldberg meet, knowing what we know now this is a big moment in their history.
We now end up getting a very random segment in the ring with Coach and Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. This feels like it’s just filling time as the PPV is a little too long.
FunFact: This wouldn’t be the last time we would see Mark Cuban in a WWE ring, he would be the Guest Host of Raw in December 2009, and Sheamus would put him through a table.
Tag Team Championship: The Basham Brothers (C) vs Los Guerreros
What a shame that The Basham Brothers are chained’ (pun intended) to such a terrible gimmick. As a team, they aren’t bad, but the slave/dominatrix gimmick is really bad. What’s worse is that Shaniqua is legit. She won the previous years ‘Tough Enough’ contest so it’s clear she is a badass who can go in the ring.
Shaniqua could have been built to dominate the women’s division, but instead, she’s here whipping a sub-par tag team.
The match itself is pretty standard, Eddie and Chavo make it better than most others could but still nothing amazing. The Basham’s steal the win. Winners – The Basham Brothers
Traditional Survivor Series: Team Austin vs Team Bischoff – If Austin Loses, he is fired
(Austin – Booker T, Dudley Boyz, RVD and Shawn Michaels vs Bischoff – Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Christian, Scott Stiner and Randy Orton)
A match between Austin and Bischoff of some sort has been a long time coming, as co-general managers they started out with fun games between them both (Redneck Triathlon) but this soon turned sour. Austin was then told that he isn’t allowed to attack anyone anymore (clearly a way to keep him out the ring, as he is cleared to wrestle)
So, this match was made, neither Bischoff or Austin would be in the team, but they would captain. If Bischoff won Austin would no longer be Raw GM and if Austin won, he could happily ‘whoop-ass’ anytime he feels.
The first thing you notice about this match is the star-power involved in the match, there are 9/10 former World Champions (looking at it from 2018, and counting WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA)
FunFact: as of writing this (2018) there are 43 World Championship reigns (WWE, WCW, ECW, TNA) combined within the match, not including Austin.
Matches like this are always a hard watch in the beginning as there is so much humanity in the ring, but this one is without a doubt worth the watch after each team loses some members, more specifically the second half of the match when it’s down to Michaels vs Jericho, Christian and Orton.
This is a story of heart and zero quit in The Heartbreak Kid, it’s not long before Michaels is bleeding (a lot!) but simply will not stay down. After some interference and a huge Batista Bomb, the odds provide to must and Orton gets the win, being the sole survivor. This was easily the best ‘Survivor Series Elimination’ match I have seen in a long time. Winner – Orton
Even the moment between Michaels and Austin when it’s over with Shawn saying sorry to Austin (reminiscing of him saying sorry to Flair) this one was emotional, and I fully recommend going back to watch.
Austin is back out to give his Farewell Speech, in a strange way this is his actual goodbye as he wouldn’t have another long-tenure in WWE after this, only guest spots.
Buried Alive: The Undertaker vs Vince McMahon
FunFact: This Survivor Series falls on the 13th Anniversary to the date of The Undertaker’s debut.
It was Vince that screwed ‘Taker out of the WWE Championship at No Mercy, so if ‘Taker won a match against Lesnar he could pick his Survivor Series opponent and stipulation, and here we are.
In some of Vince’s best work, he has been losing his mind for the last month over this match but convinces he is protected by a ‘Higher Power’ (wasn’t Vince the Undertaker’s higher power?)
FunFact: This is only the fourth Buried Alive Match in WWE history and The Undertaker has been involved in all four.
It takes (literally one punch and McMahon is pissing blood out of his head, the cut must be huge became it’s like a tap dripping blood. Now, there is no denying that Vince is terrible in the ring, but that dude can sell and will go all in. There are puddles of his blood everywhere and he still takes a huge shovel to the face, which looks stiff. I think Vince does about six moves in the whole match. This all ends with a huge explosion and Kane attacking his brother in the grave, with Vince dropping the payload of soil it’s all over. This was an absolutely brutal match. Winner – Vince McMahon
World Heavyweight Championship: Goldberg (C) vs Triple H, with Ric Flair
I think it’s fair to say that Triple H has gotten the best out of Goldberg in WWE, maybe even his career. This feud is potentially one of the best Goldberg had up to this point in terms of match quality. This could be because the feud is basically Goldberg vs Evolution. This was stepped up even more after Goldberg won a Title vs Career match and Triple H put a $100,000 bounty on Goldberg’s head.
After some failed attempts it was the returning Batista who cashed-in in the bounty and filled out the final member of the Evolution faction we all remember.
FunFact: This is Triple H’s sixth Survivor Series appearance and he is yet to win one match at the PPV.
As you would expect from everything leading up to this match, this basically feels like it’s Goldberg vs Evolution. With Flair coming out with Triple H, then Batista and Orton doing the run in later in the match, it looks like the Goldberg has no chance.
After some back and forth, it’s Goldberg who comes out on top with the help of Triple H’s trademark sledgehammer. This is a mark-out moment for all Goldberg fans when he stands over all of Evolution laid out with the ‘Big Gold’ still around his waist. Winner – Goldberg
Overall
This PPV had such a slow start, I was worried I would make it through the whole thing in one sitting. Although opening the show with the Lesnar vs Angle Survivor Series Match, the match itself wasn’t the best. This could have been down to multiple factors but its clear that Matt Morgan and Nathen Jones being so green in the ring didn’t help at all.
The second half of the show what far better, and although the main event was lacking, I think it was the best match you were going to get out of Goldberg. Personally, I would have put the Raw Survivor Series match on last as it was truly fantastic. The difference between Raw and Smackdown in these matches were honestly worlds apart. If you haven’t seen Shawn Michaels fight back against the odds, I highly recommend it, it was easily the Match of the Night.
A mention should be made for the Buried Alive match, this was ultra-violent and something you are likely never to see anything like it in a WWE ring ever again. It was brutal and bloody, and the finish made me want to check out Smackdown to see the fall out between Undertaker and Kane.
3/5
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