15 YRS AGO – WWE Smackdown Report (6-5-03): Rey Mysterio vs. Matt Hardy headlines, Cena vs. Benoit, plus Roddy Piper, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Big Show

By B.J. Bethel, PWTorch contributor

Rey Mysterio is reportedly dealing with an injury
Rey Mysterio (art credit Grant Gould © PWTorch)

SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...

The following was first published on PWTorch.com 15 years ago this week…


WWE Smackdown review
Aired June 5th, 2003
From Anaheim, Calif.
By B.J. Bethel, Torch Team Contributor

A picture of Freddie Blassie opened tonight’s show. To think, three weeks before he died he still managed to show up the most over babyface in the company and one of its greatest tag teams and had the line of the night when he asked if Bischoff was going to hang himself in the ring.

The portrait of Blassie was followed up with the highlight package featuring Kurt Angle, minus the moments in the hospital. Two shots, the future and the past, all coming together.

1st Quarter Hour

Roddy Piper and Sean O’Haire came to the ring, arm and arm, and with grins on their faces. O’Haire declared tonight was a special night, because he was bringing out a special young man. Piper made a point to emphasize “special” in his name, in a mocking manner, then quickly turned serious when he welcomed him to the ring as a “young fellow with a dream.” Vince then came strutting out instead. Vince said he was wrong about Zach Gowen and said his blind hatred for Hogan shaped that opinion. He called Zach ” an American success story, and if anyone can appreciate that, it’s me, Vincent K. McMahon, because I’m a living, breathing American success story.”

Gowen then came out with a cane, and with Mr. America. Hogan tried to talk, but Vince cut him off and said he said the lie detector test from last week was faulty. He then told Zach that he admired him, but didn’t approve in his choice of friends, because Hogan/America couldn’t give him a contract. Vince said there will be an arm wrestling contest next week to see if Zach receives his contract. Vince said he would be representing WWE. Hogan offered to be an opponent and set McMahon off on a tantrum. After some more baiting, Vince finally announced that he would be arm wrestling Gowen, not Hogan. “What’s a matter Zach? You do look like you have two arms.” McMahon then pushed Zach over Piper with the classic school-boy. They took Hogan off his feet and the heels went back up the ramp, where Vince told Zach he would be “a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest.”

Neat little commercial featuring the upcoming Hulk movie. They mentioned Lee, Kirby and actually interviewed Lee, Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly for a short little commercial/preview deal.

2nd Quarter Hour

Classic Angle Moment: Milk-amania Running Wild

(1) Undertaker pinned Chuck Palumbo (w/Nunzio and Johnny the Bull). (Interference from FBI through entire match) Hip-toss and arm drag by ‘Taker to take the early advantage. ‘Taker quickly went to work on Palumbo’s arm with an arm-bar. Criss-cross ended with Undertaker landing a flying clothesline. Nunzio and Bull teased a run-in on ‘Taker, which allowed Palumbo to catch UT off-guard with a standing spine buster. A forearm later, and ‘Taker was on the floor and taking a beating from the rest of the FBI. Back in the ring, and Palumbo used a stalling vertical suplex on Undertaker to get a two count. ‘Taker fired back with some blows, but he had an arm-whip reversed and that allowed Palumbo to apply a sleeper. Not a bad match to this point, but they decided to go back to convention around here. Undertaker countered with a back suplex, leaving both men down on the mat. The two traded punches until Palumbo tried a back drop, but ate a DDT from Undertaker instead. Undertaker followed with two clotheslines on Palumbo in the corner and a Mafia kick. The FBI distracted again, letting Palumbo back into the game, but that was short-lived as Undertaker caught him with snake-eyes in the corner. Undertaker fought off Palumbo’s rally and used a choke slam to finish him off with for the pin. After the match, Stamboli and Nunzio ran in. ‘Taker tried setting Nunzio up for the Last Ride, but Palumbo nailed him with a super kick. The two big guys held ‘Taker by his arms as Nunzio slapped him. ‘Taker managed to fight out of it as Nunzio tried a chairshot and sent the three running out of the ring. If they are wanting to build the FBI up into something remotely strong, this isn’t the way to do it.

They showed Rey Mysterio’s wife and kids sitting at ringside.

3rd Quarter Hour

After airing some highlights of last week’s main event tag, they announced Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show for next week’s show. Wow, so far the arm wrestling match and a title match announced for next week.

A highlight package featuring Freddie Blassie aired. It started off with Blassie talking about what a wonderful life he had lived, along with photos of him managing Hogan, on Regis and Kathy Lee and Stephanie McMahon giving him a kiss on the cheek backstage. I swear I saw a picture of him shaking hands with Ike. The last pictures were of Vince holding his arm in the air at the ’96 Slammys and of him waking out a door, in black and white, and fading out into the light.

(2) Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri defeated The Basham Brothers. (Clean) Tajiri and Eddie came to the ring in a low rider Caddy this week. Somehow, Tazz managed to fill in a comment about Sammy Sosa and the Guerreros. Doug and Tajiri started the match off. Tajiri’s feet kept him ahead of Doug, who fell victim to a knee drop and took a two count from Tajiri. Eddie tagged in and took Doug off his feet with a back elbow. Doug had enough, and tagged to Danny. Eddie teased a test of strength, then tagged Danny with a sweet standing drop kick and followed up with three rolling suplexes. Eddie went upstairs, but Doug kept him from making it up the ropes. Eddie fought them both off, and did a double head scissors/wrist lock take over on both of the Bashams. Very nice. Cole mentioned that Team Angle called in sick since Kurt is coming back this week. The Bashams took the momentum back, taking Eddie off of his feet and making quick tags. The started working on the leg, but Danny went to a head lock. Eddie spun out of it and into a waist lock and fired off a quick back suplex and made the hot tag. Very, very nice. Tajiri tagged in hot, and he landed the hand spring elbow on Danny and nailed both guys with ‘ranas. Tajiri locked the Tarantula on Danny. Eddie then came in with a Frog Splash, which was followed by Tajiri’s big kick. Tajiri scored the pinfall after Eddie held Doug on the outside and kept him from breaking up the cover. Tazz put over the Bashams after the match, saying he was impressed with how well they managed to hang in there with the tag champs.

4th Quarter Hour

Kurt Angle made his return to a huge standing ovation from the fans. Kurt was all smiles as he did his traditional spin through the middle of the ring before grabbing the microphone. Kurt said he couldn’t believe how good it was to hear those “two words” (you suck) again. Kurt led the crowd in chanting it along to his music and raised his arms to the crowd afterwards. He said he was back for one reason, because he’s a champion, and he wants to be a champion again. The crowds fired off a couple “what’s,” which Kurt said he missed also. A Big “Angle” chant, which I couldn’t tell was canned or not, followed. Angle wanted to thank one person who became a friend to him and kept tabs with him while he was in the hospital. Big Show then interrupted.

Show said he didn’t give a damn about Kurt coming back. He said he didn’t care if he earned the fans respect or not, he said he didn’t earn his. He then backed Angle into the corner and said that he’s going to have to wait in line if he wants a title shot, because he has one next week. Show told him if he ever faced him one-on-one, he would put him in the hospital permanently. Angle then wiped off his face, and pulled out some breath strips and then told him how to use them. That was pretty good. Angle then climbed to the middle rope and screamed, “Look you overgrown son-of-a-bitch, last time we fought I kicked your ass for the WWE title.” Angle followed, “Last time I wrestled, I wrestled for the title with a broken neck, so excuse me if I don’t poopy in my pants right now.” Angle asked the crowd if he wanted him to kick his ass and Big Show grabbed him by the neck for a choke slam. Brock Lesnar’s music then hit and he came out to the ring. Show backed out of the ring and started walking up the ramp. Angle told Brock he gave him the beating of his life, but lately Show has beaten Lesnar twice. Angle said he wouldn’t be surprised if Show beat him next week. Lesnar fired back, saying he would beat Show next week and if he wanted a title shot after that, he has one. Angle said he wanted their match at ‘Mania to go down as the best ever. He also said that if he wanted to beat Lesnar, he had to be at the top of his game and he is now. Angle thanked him for giving him the hardest match of his career and for earning his respect. Kurt thanked him which led to the two shook hands and hugged.

5th Quarter Hour

(3) John Cena pinned Chris Benoit. (Interference from Rhyno backfired during the finish) Cena was wearing a LeBron James St.Vincent-St.Mary’s high school jersey. Is that considered a throwback now? Benoit came to the ring with a noticeable black eye. The two started firing off blows immediately with Benoit giving Cena a monster chop, leaving Cena screaming “oh my god.” Cena came back with a hot shot, but Benoit came back quickly with the CCF. Cena managed to get out of the hold and toss the Crippler to the outside, which quickly took the intensity out of Benoit. Cole said he believed Cena would be carrying Smackdown into the future. Benoit worked his way back to his feet and quickly landed a double back elbow and a snap suplex for a two count. Cena had Benoit in a fireman’s carry for a moment, but Benoit reversed into a DDT. That set up the flying head butt, which Benoit landed to get a two count. Benoit followed with a German suplex. Cena blocked the second one, ran Benoit into the ref, and then gave Benoit a low blow. Cena went for his chain, but Rhyno came down to grab it. Rhyno tried to hit Cena with it, but missed and tagged Benoit instead, which led to Cena making the pin. Rhyno got into the ring afterwards to check on his tag partner.

6th Quarter Hour

(4) Torrie Wilson & Rikishi defeated Nidia & Jamie Noble. (Some heel tag work on Nidia and Noble’s part) Rikishi took Noble and Nidia off their feet to start, which let Torrie take the advantage to start the match. Torrie followed with a clothesline in the corner. Torrie teased a stink face on Nidia, but tagged to Rikishi instead. Nidia screamed and tagged in Noble. Sunset flip almost backfired, but Noble escaped and tagged Rikishi with a nice dropkick. Noble managed to duck a clothesline, but Rikishi caught him with a choke slam. He then tagged to Nidia, who talked trash to Rikishi, but he tagged out to Torrie anyway. Torrie went up top and landed a flying cross body for a two count on Nidia. Cole said the rules in mixed-tags were the guys had to tag out when a girl was in the ring, which I have never heard before. The match was booked pretty decently and held together most of the way through, but fell apart a little towards the end. Rikishi tossed Noble from the ring and gave Nidia a stink face. Nidia stumbled around the ring in a daze, which allowed Torrie to give her a spinning neck breaker for the three count.

Ad for Triple H/Nash at Bad Blood: “It couldn’t get anymore brutal.” They said it, not me.

7th Quarter Hour

They gave a “Tale of the Tape” on Misterio and Hardy. Interesting enough, they put over Rey’s reigns as WCW Cruiserweight and Tag champ.

Backstage, Rey told Josh Matthews that he’s ready, despite his groin injury. Eddie stepped in and wanted to talk to his homie. Eddie was even wearing one of his shirts. Eddie started speaking Spanish, then stated in English that “those are our people, make them proud.” Eddie then told him to not come back to the locker room without the gold around his waist. Now this is how you put over a Cruiserweight division.

Backstage, Stephanie confronted Vince McMahon back stage. Steph questioned his judgment. Steph berated him for picking on someone handicapped. Steph said if he wasn’t going to give him a contract, he would. Vince said he would fire her if he did, whether she was flesh and blood or not. Vince told Steph that she needed help, maybe psychological help, and then introduced her to her new assistant. He opened the door, and Sable was wearing something revealing and laying across her desk. Steph asked what position she was qualified for, Vince said she was qualified in many positions. Steph went on a rant about her suing the company for sexual harassment and she jumped on the bandwagon of anyone who said bad things about the company. Vince said she was jealous of Sable’s looks and took off. Sable then stood behind her and kind of checked her out as Steph looked off and shook her head with a look of disbelief.

8th Quarter Hour

(5) Rey Misterio pinned Matt Hardy (w/Crash Holly & Shannon Moore). (Interference from Moore and Crash during the beginning and end) The two had a stare down before the match as the ref told them the rules and held the belt. That’s a nice little touch. Lock up began the match between the two. Rey showed off his speed by getting a quick roll up for a two count. Cole and Tazz mentioned Rey’s name with the likes of Sasuke, Liger, Tiger Mask and Dean Malenko. Hardy came back with a whip to the turnbuckle on Rey a forearm to the back of the head. Hardy used the top rope to wrench Rey’s head back as the ref told Moore and Crash to back off. Rey came back with a slingshot into a drop kick and a follow up slingshot splash for a two count. Hardy tossed Rey to Moore and Crash, who stomped away on Rey until the ref came out of the ring and kicked them out of the ringside area. Matt went out to argue with him and Rey made him pay with a springboard press. Hardy was writing on the mat outside the ring as they went to a commercial.

Back from the break, Hardy tried to set Rey up for a crucifix power bomb, but Rey slipped out. Hardy quickly followed with a blind low blow with his leg, and that immediately took the “spirit” out of Rey. Hardy locked on a half crap, but Rey made it to the ropes. Hardy tried for the move again, but got kicked off. Rey tried the 619, as Hardy was hung up on the ropes, but Rey couldn’t make it across the ring to do the move. Rey tried climbing up top, but he was too injured to make it up. This allowed Hardy to hang him up in the tree of woe. Hardy tried a hard corner charge, but Rey sat up out of it, sending Hardy into the ring post. Asai moonsault by Rey, but Hardy caught him, but that didn’t matter as Rey quickly followed with a spinning DDT for a two count. Very nice. Rey pushed Hardy down on the mat and gave him a bulldog from the second rope. Rey made the cover, but Hardy put his leg on the rope at two. Hardy managed to get the advantage back. He tried to go for his second rope leg drop, but Misterio caught him. Hardy fought Rey off, and gave Rey a side-effect from the middle rope for a near three count. Rey then gave Hardy a Twist of Fate. How ironic. Rey went for the cover, but only got a two count as the crowd popped for the count. Rey tripped Hardy across the middle rope and gave him the 619. Rey went for the springboard ‘rana into the cradle, but Hardy caught him on his shoulders. Before Hardy could power bomb him, Rey leaned back and made Hardy flip over the top rope with him to the floor on the outside. Both guys were out on their feet. Rey made it into the ring at seven, but the ref came out of the ring to keep Hardy from using the title belt. This let the MFers run in and give Rey a double inverted DDT. They ran off as the ref returned to the ring. Hardy delivered his middle rope leg drop, but only got a two count. Hardy was beside himself, taking off his elbow pads and throwing a tantrum. He went for the Twist of Fate, but Rey countered it into a roll up for the three count. After the match, Rey held the title with one of his kids in the ring as the fans applauded.

Final Thoughts: A very solid show tonight, with the ring action definitely picking up a notch this week. Kurt Angle’s return was surprisingly good. He definitely looked more comfortable in the role this time then he did during his first face turn during the Invasion angle… The quicker a death the Mr. America angle has, the better. When it isn’t cheesy, it’s coming off as Vince being mean-spirited, just for the purpose of being mean-spirited. It would be scary to see how bad this angle would be if Piper wasn’t involved. His interviews have been the highlight of the entire storyline… Undertaker doesn’t look to be suffering any ill-effects from his time off. He’s been his usual solid/big-man self. Still, he should have ate the pin last week and he should have let the FBI keep some heat tonight instead of squashing them like he did… Tajiri and Eddie may go down as one of the best tag teams in term of ring work ever. The Bashams definitely showed they could hold their own in a big TV match… Angle’s return came off well. Hopefully they keep him in a babyface role for the long-term and forget any ideas of making a quick heel turn with him… Benoit looked great against Cena. Cole mentioned that Cena was the “future of Smackdown,” as far as he was concerned. I think Cena has potential, but they are definitely pushing it a little too hard with him at this point… WWE made their first on-air reference to Sable’s sexual harassment suit. The mention was by Stephanie, who berated Vince for making Sable her new assistant. Strangely, WWE is almost making Sable’s old case that she pleaded… Rey and Hardy had a very solid match, but not the breakout I think people expected from Hardy…


NOW CHECK OUT THIS PREVIOUS 15 YRS AGO FLASHBACK: 15 YRS AGO – WWE in Portland, Ore.: First WWE event in Portland in 10 years, Triple H vs. Nash headlines, plus Jericho’s Highlight Reel, Booker T, Christian, Dudleyz

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