SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report was originally published 20 years ago this week on PWTorch.com…
WWE Raw house show results
July 20, 2003
San Jose, Calif.
Report by Tony Batalla, Torch Team Contributor
The Big News: Goldberg and Triple H had a complete match that ended with Triple H going over clean. It was more of a Goldberg style match in that he didn’t sell much and used his intensity to his advantage, but in the end, something just didn’t click which left the crowd mixed in their reaction to him. Flair did a great job keeping the crowd hot. Despite the past legit heat between Goldberg and Hunter, they cooperated without incident. With Goldberg still not mega over, with his matches receiving mixed reviews, and his demeanor nothing to be commended, the entire “disappointing” $1.5 mil Goldberg debacle has mysteriously worked right into Triple H’s advantage. Goldberg didn’t react at all to the fans, during the match or after, and left as soon as he could. The show ended awkwardly with Randy Orton lying in the ring for at least 5 minutes selling a Jackhammer. By shrugging off the boo’s with a shake of his head and walking away, barely even giving high five’s to the fans (including a rabid Goldberg-clad lady who looked heart-broken when Goldberg walked right by her and didn’t acknowledge her presence) Goldberg isn’t doing himself any favors. He remains a long shot to walk out of Summerslam with the World Title. This match just proved that further.
The Other, Kinda Big News: Kane’s storyline was explained further by Eric Bischoff during the Jericho Hi-Lite reel. Bischoff explained that Kane is on “house arrest” for his actions against Jim Ross on Raw, awaiting the decision of officials whether or not to press charges. However, to demonstrate how much “stroke” Eric has, he was able to get the house arrest “temporarily lifted” and booked Kane in a match against RVD for later in the show. Considering that the entire Kane Saga is being totally booked on the fly, it came off creative and passable enough. At least it was mentioned, explained and served a purpose or two and wasn’t totally ignored.
Match Results:
(1) La Resistance over The Dudleys. Good match, great heat. Big pops for the Duds.
(2) Rosey over Rodney Mack. Nacho Grande match. Boring chants got started.
(3) Gail Kim over Molly. I just don’t see Gail Kim being over enough for her push. And why does she do a Rey rana for her finisher? Finishers are one to a performer. At least they should be. Molly was solid.
(4) Kevin Nash & Scott Steiner & Trish over Test & Steven Richards & Victoria. Test’s new ‘cocky strut’ is pretty hilarious. He has this “I’ve been practicing for hours, do I look good yet?” thing going with it. Test beat up Trish until everyone bumped for Nash and he hit the Jackknife on Test.
Jericho Highlight Reel. Lots of improv. Chris Jericho and Steve Austin had awesome chemistry. It did run a little long, though (longer than any of the matches to that point) and with a poor PA system in effect, it probably wore down it’s share of fans. It’s got to be nice for Jericho, though. Plus, seeing Bischoff and Austin in action (who delivered multiple Stunners after momentarily selling a Jericho beat down from behind) was good for paying fans. I believe Austin getting physically involved is just as much Austin’s call as anyone’s. If he truly didn’t feel safe, or more importantly didn’t want to be involved, I don’t think he would be. Also of note, Kane’s storyline was explained by Bischoff (see above).
(5) Lance Storm & Randy Orton (w/Ric Flair) over Maven & Hurricane. Solid, but the Boring chants are killer. Storm stomped away, ran the ropes, nailed a suplex, all to boring chants. He slapped on a chin lock (wink, wink, to encourage it) and the crowd just died. Sure, it gets them vocal, but in the long run it’s damaging to his character. Nothing at this point could convince me that it isn’t some kind of punishment.
(6) Booker over Christian. Good match. Book wasn’t as over as I’ve seen him here before. But at least it’s the “feel good moment” that a babyface IC champ can provide. Although, with the Hi-Lite reel on the road, that’s as much as a “feel good moment” as any IC defense provides and, in that case, makes the IC being held by a babyface seem unnecessary.
(7) Kane vs. RVD went to a No Contest when Kane immediately chokeslammed RVD, then chokeslammed the ref. Maven and Mark Jindrack ran down to help RVD and both got chokeslammed as well. Kane came out to a very mixed reaction compared to RVD’s noticeable pop. Surely, some fans were disappointed with the non-match, although because technically, it wasn’t “advertised” on the card, it’s something WWE can get away with.
(8) Triple H (w/Ric Flair) over Goldberg. Triple H came out to a big pop. Goldberg’s wasn’t as big but the Goldberg chants were vocal. Tension, stare down. Started with a long, mean collar and elbow. GB worked a long headlock. Triple H stalled. Flair chopped GB, who no sold sending Flair tearing down the aisle in full sprint. H got a mic shot. GB sold it momentarily until Triple H got a sleeper. GB powered out with a wicked back suplex. A powerslam set up the Spear but H ducked out. A chase ensued leading to a Hebner bump. Goldberg got the shoot-plex for a visual 3 count. Triple H came back with a low blow and the Pedigree for his own visual three count. Nick Patrick ran down but GB kicked out at 2, so H decked Nick. Flair ran in and got a double stompdown going until GB no sold and rammed Flair and H’s heads together for a double Flair Flop. Spear on target set up the Jackhammer but Randy Orton ran down for the save. He got tossed but Triple H sneaked in a school boy from behind to win the match around the 15:00 mark. Afterwards, GB got a double spear on Hunter and Flair and Jackhammered Orton. But the crowd was very mixed after, booing GB more than during the entire match. He didn’t look thrilled and just shook his head and left, rather than celebrate intensely in the ring. (**1/2)
Overall: Good house show that moved along stories from TV. However, like the TVs it didn’t have the in-ring action that recent Smackdown house shows I’ve attended had.
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