Judgment Day (2003)

Judgment Day (2003)
Promotional poster featuring Booker T
Tagline(s)	You will be the judge...
Information
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)	Raw SmackDown!
Sponsor(s)	Clearasil
Date	May 18, 2003
Attendance	13,000
Venue	Charlotte Coliseum
City	Charlotte, North Carolina
Pay-per-view chronology
Backlash (2003) Judgment Day (2003) Insurrextion (2003)
Judgment Day chronology
Judgment Day (2002) Judgment Day (2003) Judgment Day (2004)

Judgment Day (2003) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and presented by Clearasil that took place on May 18, 2003, at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the fifth annual WWE Judgment Day event and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands.^[1]

Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the event which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main bout. The first match from the SmackDown! brand featured WWE Champion Brock Lesnar's defeat of The Big Show in a Stretcher match to retain the title after Rey Mysterio interfered, attacking The Big Show.^[2] The second match from the Raw brand was between Kevin Nash and World Heavyweight Champion Triple H, where Nash won by disqualification. Three matches were featured on the undercard. The first match featured Women's Champion Jazz defeating Victoria, Jacqueline. and Trish Stratus in a Fatal Four-Way Match to retain the title. The next was a Battle Royal featuring Christian, Val Venis, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Test, Rob Van Dam, Kane, Goldust, and Booker T for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Christian won the title, re-activating it after it had been unified with the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002.^[3][4] The final was between the team of Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri, and the team of Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) in a ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Guerrero and Tajiri won the match and the titles.^[5]

Tagline: Old friends, new rivalries, the return of a championship- all bets are off!

Background

The event featured nine professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWE script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. All wrestlers were from either one of the WWE's brands – SmackDown! or Raw – the two storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees.

The main feud heading into Judgment Day on the SmackDown! brand was between Brock Lesnar and Big Show, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. At Backlash, The Big Show defeated Rey Mysterio and then attacked him with a stretcher. On the next episode of SmackDown!, Lesnar confronted Big Show about it while Big Show refused to face him. The next week, Big Show was set to team up with A-Train against Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar, as Lesnar challenged Big Show to a Stretcher match at Judgment Day. The F-B-I then locked Lesnar in his room as Big Show defeated Benoit. Big Show tried to injure Benoit as he did to Mysterio but Lesnar saved him, only to get chokeslammed by Big Show. The next week, Big Show took Rey Mysterio during an interview to the ring as Lesnar ran out to save Rey, helping him hitting Show.

The main feud on the Raw brand was between Triple H and Kevin Nash, with the two feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship. After Triple H pinned Nash at the six men tag at Backlash, him and Ric Flair challenged Rob Van Dam and Kane for the Tag titles. Nash interfered and then chased Triple H out of the arena, as Triple H flew with his car. The next week, both Nash and Triple H were guests of the Highlight Reel, Chris Jericho's talk show. Both brawled all over the arena. The next week, Nash fought against Jericho, and won after Shawn Michaels pervented Triple H and Ric Flair from interfering. Nash then hit Triple H with the Jacknife Powerbomb.

The secondary feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Mr. America (Hulk Hogan) and Roddy Piper. After Hogan won against Vince McMahon WrestleMania XIX, McMahon was frustrated with him and wanted Hulkamania to die, and forced him to sit out the rest of his contract. For weeks after that, mysterious Mr. America promos airing for weeks during SmackDown! shows. On May 1, Mr. America debuted on SmackDown! on a Piper's Pit segment. McMahon appeared and claimed that Mr. America was Hulk Hogan in disguise; Mr. America shot back by saying, "I am not Hulk Hogan, brother!" (lampooning Hogan's use of "brother" in his promos). McMahon couldn't fire Mr. America due to his contract with Stephanie McMahon. The next week, Vince said that he would prove that Mr. America is Hulk Hogan in order to fire him. He interviewed Hogan live via satellite from his home, but then was informed that Mr. America was in the building. Vince tried to rip the mask off Mr. America's face but Mr. America laid him out. The next week, Piper challenged Mr. America to a match at Judgment Day, but then Piper attacked Mr. America and his fan. Piper then pulled the prosthetic leg off the fan, who was revealed as Zach Gowen.

Event

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, a dark match took place in which The Hurricane defeated Steven Richards.

Preliminary matches

The first match was between John Cena and The Full Blooded Italians (Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli) (with Nunzio) and Rhyno, Spanky, and Chris Benoit. At the end of the match, Benoit applied the Crippler Crossface on Cena, which distracted the Referee, whilst Palumbo and Stamboli performed the Kiss of Death on Spanky. Palumbo pinned Spanky to win the match.

The second match was between Test and Scott Steiner (with Stacy Keibler) and La Résistance (Sylvain Grenier and René Duprée). Test accidentally performed a Big Boot on Steiner, which allowed Grenier and Dupree to perform the Bonsoir on Steiner. Dupree pinned Stiner to win the match.

The third match was a ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship between Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) and Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri. After a back-and-forth match, Guerrero performed a Frog Splash off a Ladder on Benjamin. Haas climbed a Ladder but Guerrero performed a Sunset Flip Powerbomb on Haas off the Ladder. Benjamin attempted to prevent Guerrero from retrieving the Title Belts but Tajiri spat Green Mist at Benjamin, causing Benjamin to fall off the Ladder. Guerrero retrieved the Title Belts to win the match.

The fourth match was a Battle royal for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship involving Christian defeated Val Venis, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Test, World Tag Team Champions Rob Van Dam and Kane, Goldust, and Booker T. Storm was the first wrestler eliminated by Kane. Kane was eliminated by the other wrestlers, leading to Kane performing Chokeslams on Venis, Test and Van Dam. Test was eliminated by Booker T, Venis was eliminated by Goldust and Van Dam was eliminated by Jericho after Jericho performed a Springboard Dropkick on Van Dam. Goldust performed Shattered Dreams on Jericho and Christian but Booker T eliminated Goldust. Jericho and Christian double-teamed Booker T before Jericho attempted a Lionsault on Booker T but Christian eliminated Jericho. Christian performed a Baseball Slide on the Referee, knocking the Referee down, before Booker T performed a Superkick on Christian to eliminate Christian but the elimination was not seen. Christian attacked Pat Patterson and hit Booker T with the Belt. Christian eliminated Booker T to win the match and the Title.

Torrie Wilson and Sable competed in a Bikini Contest, which was hosted by Tazz. After taking a Poll from the Audience, Tazz declared Sable the winner. Afterwards, Torrie kissed Sable.

The fifth match was between Mr. America (with Zach Gowen) and Roddy Piper (with Sean O'Haire)., Vince McMahon interfered in the match, handing a Steel Pipe to O'Haire. O'Haire attempted to hit Hogan with the Steel pipe but Hogan avoided O'Haire, causing O'Haire to hit Piper with the Steel Pipe. Hogan pinned Piper after a Running Legdrop to win the match.

Main event matches

The sixth match was for the World Heavyweight Championship between Triple H (with Ric Flair) and Kevin Nash (with Shawn Michaels). Before the match, Michaels and Flair fought into the backstage area. Triple H accidentally performed a Clothesline on the Referee, knocking the Referee down, which allowed Triple H to perform a Low Blow on Nash. Triple H drove Nash into an exposed turnbuckle and performed a Pedigree on Nash for a near-fall. Triple H hit the Referee with the Sledgehammer, resulting in Nash winning by Disqualification. After the match, Nash performed a Big Boot and Jacknife Powerbomb on Triple H. Nash attacked Flair and performed a Jacknife Powerbomb on Triple H through an announce table.

The seventh match was a Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Women's Championship between Jazz (with Theodore Long) defeated Victoria (with Steven Richards), Jacqueline, and Trish Stratus. Jazz pinned Jackie after a DDT to win the match and retain the Title.

The main event was a Stretcher match for the WWE Championship between Brock Lesnar and Big Show. Early in the match, Lesnar used the Body Board as a weapon on Big Show. Big Show performed a Chokeslam on Lesnar, followed by a Leg Drop on Lesnar whilst Lesnar was lay on the Body Board. After pushing Big Show onto a Stretcher, Lesnar went into the Backstage Area. Rey Mysterio interfered, performing a 619 on Big Show. Big Show performed a Clothesline on Mysterio before Lesnar drove a Forklift to the Ring. Lesnar dove off the Forklift onto Big Show and performed an F5 on Big Show, allowing Lesnar to place Big Show on a Stretcher. Lesnar used the Forklift to drive Big Show acroos the Yellow Line to win the match and retain the title.

Results

Battle royal

See also

• List of WWE pay-per-view events

References

External links

• Official website