Brand(s) Raw
SmackDown! Date May 18, 2003 | Sponsor(s) Clearasil Attendance 13,000 | |
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Tagline(s) You will be the judge... Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment | ||
Judgment Day (2003) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) 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.
Contents
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. 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. 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.
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.
At Backlash, The Big Show defeated Rey Mysterio and then attacked him with a stretcher. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown!, WWE Champion Brock 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.
After World Heavyweight Champion Triple H pinned Kevin Nash at the six-man tag team match at Backlash, he 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 defeated Jericho after Shawn Michaels prevented Triple H and Ric Flair from interfering. Nash then hit Triple H with the Jacknife Powerbomb.
After Hulk Hogan defeated Vince McMahon WrestleMania XIX, Vince 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. Vince 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'd 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.
Sunday Night Heat
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, The Hurricane defeated Steven Richards in a dark match.
Preliminary matches
In the first match, John Cena and The F.B.I. (Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli) (with Nunzio) faced Rhyno, Spanky, and Chris Benoit. In the end, Benoit applied the Crippler Crossface on Cena, distracting the referee, whilst Palumbo and Stamboli performed the Kiss of Death on Spanky. Palumbo pinned Spanky to win.
In the second match, Test and Scott Steiner (with Stacy Keibler) faced La Résistance (Sylvain Grenier and René Duprée). Test accidentally performed a Big Boot on Steiner, allowing Grenier and Dupree to perform the Bonsoir on Steiner. Dupree pinned Steiner to win.
In the third match, Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri faced Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) in a ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship. 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 tried 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 belts to win the match.
In the fourth match, Christian, Val Venis, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Test, World Tag Team Champions Rob Van Dam and Kane, Goldust, and Booker T fought in a Battle royal for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship. Kane eliminated Storm. Other wrestlers eliminated Kane, leading to Kane performing Chokeslams on Venis, Test and Van Dam. Booker T eliminated Test. Goldust eliminated Venis. Jericho eliminated Van Dam after a Springboard Dropkick. 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 knocked down a referee with a Baseball Slide and Booker T performed a Superkick onnChristian to eliminate Christian but the elimination wasn't seen. Christian attacked Pat Patterson and hit Booker T with the belt. Christian eliminated Booker to win the match and the title.
In the fifth match, Torrie Wilson faced Sable in a Bikini Contest, which was hosted by Tazz. After taking a poll from the audience, Tazz declared Wilson the winner. Afterwards, Wilson kissed Sable.
In the fifth match, Mr. America (with Zach Gowen) faced Roddy Piper (with Sean O'Haire). Vince McMahon interfered in the match, giving O'Haire a steel pipe. O'Haire attempted to hit Hogan with the pipe but Hogan avoided O'Haire, causing O'Haire to hit Piper with the Pipe. Hogan pinned Piper after an Atomic Leg Drop to win the match.
Main event matches
In the sixth match, Triple H (with Ric Flair) faced Kevin Nash (with Shawn Michaels) World Heavyweight Championship. Before the match, Michaels and Flair fought into the backstage area. Triple H accidentally knocked down the referee with a Clothesline, allowing Triple H to attack Nash with a low blow. 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 and was disqualified but retained the title. 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.
In the main event Brock Lesnar faced The Big Show in a Stretcher match for the WWE Championship. Early in the match, Lesnar used the body board as a weapon on Big Show. Big Show performed a Chokeslam on Lesnar and a Leg Drop on Lesnar, who was laid on the Body Board. After pushing Big Show onto a Stretcher, Lesnar went backstage. Rey Mysterio interfered, performing a 619 on Big Show. Big Show performed a Clothesline on Mysterio before Lesnar drove a forklift out. Lesnar drove 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 across the yellow line to win the match and retain the title.