SummerSlam (2003)

Storylines

The professional wrestling matches at SummerSlam featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting promotion, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows Raw and SmackDown! with the Raw and SmackDown! brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs.

On July 22, 2003, during the SummerSlam press conference, authority figure Eric Bischoff announced that Triple H would defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg at the event. On the August 4, 2003 episode of Raw, Bischoff made the match stipulations No Disqualifications. Later that night, another authority figure, Steve Austin, altered Bischoff's announcement, stating that the title would be contested in the Elimination Chamber, with Triple H defending his title against Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Kevin Nash, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels. On the August 18, 2003 episode of Raw the feud among the six men intensified during a promotional interview segment, where each superstar in the Elimination Chamber discussed the match and taunted the other wrestlers. During the main event, where Orton faced Goldberg, Nash interfered in the match and attacked Goldberg. Michaels then entered the ring, but as he was about to hit Triple H with the World Heavyweight Championship belt, Jericho ran into the ring and hit Michaels with a chair.

On the July 31, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, during an interview promotion in the ring, Brock Lesnar challenged Kurt Angle to a WWE Championship rematch from Vengeance, WWE's previous pay-per-view event. The WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon, decided that Lesnar would have to earn his rematch by competing in a steel cage match against Vince himself the next week on SmackDown!, with Angle officiating as a special guest referee. The Steel Cage match resulted in a no-contest after McMahon and Lesnar attacked Angle. On August 14, 2003 during an episode of SmackDown!, McMahon announced that Angle would defend the championship against Lesnar at SummerSlam.

On the June 23, 2003 episode of Raw, Kane removed his mask and exposed his face in front of Rob Van Dam and the crowd after losing to Triple H during a World Heavyweight Championship in a Mask vs. Title match. Two weeks later on Raw, Kane attacked Van Dam backstage. The next week on Raw, Eric Bischoff gave Van Dam a match against Kane, which took place the next week on Raw and ended in a no-contest. On August 4, 2003, Shane McMahon, Mr. McMahon's son, scheduled a No Disqualification match between both men for SummerSlam.

On the August 7, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, United States Champion Eddie Guerrero faced Chris Benoit. However, during the match, Rhyno and Tajiri interfered, thus the match ended in a no-contest. Sgt. Slaughter, a WWE official, scheduled Guerrero and Benoit to face Rhyno and Tajiri in a tag team match, which Guerrero and Benoit won. The next week on SmackDown!, a SummerSlam advertisement announced that Guerrero would defend the United States Championship against Benoit, Rhyno, and Tajiri.

Sunday Night Heat

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Matt Hardy faced Zach Gowen on Sunday Night Heat, one of WWE's secondary TV programs. Gowen, however, was unable to compete due to legit injuries he sustained on the August 21, 2003 episode of SmackDown!. In result, Hardy was declared the winner via forfeit.

In the next match, Rey Mysterio faced Shannon Moore for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, in which Rey Mysterio. Mysterio pinned Moore to retain the title after he performed 619.

Preliminary matches

After Sunday Night Heat, the pay-per-view event began with a tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship. The champions, La Résistance (René Duprée and Sylvain Grenier), defended their titles against The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von). Throughout the match, both teams performed many offensive maneuvers, though The Dudley Boyz were able to gain the upper hand when they executed a 3D on Duprée. As D-Von covered Duprée, Rob Conway, who was disguised as a cameraman, hit D-Von with a camera while the referee was distracted. Duprée then covered D-Von for a successful pinfall to retain the championship.

The following match pitted The Undertaker against A-Train in a standard match. In the early stages both competitors wrestled inconclusively before The Undertaker gained the advantage. He attempted to lift A-Train Tombstone piledriver. A-Train countered it, in the process knocking the referee down. He attempted to take advantage of the situation by trying to hit The Undertaker with a chair. The Undertaker, however, countered the attack with his boot, causing the chair to hit A-Train in the face. The Undertaker then chokeslam A-Train and, since the referee had recuperated, covered his opponent for the pinfall.

The third contest had Shane McMahon against Eric Bischoff in a standard match. McMahon and Bischoff began by brawling on the arena ramp, as Jonathan Coachman appeared from the backstage area and hit McMahon with a folding chair. Bischoff grabbed a microphone and announced that the match would be contested under no disqualification, falls count anywhere regulations; as a result, Bischoff could not be disqualified for Coachman's interference. Coachman and Bischoff performed double-team attacks on McMahon until Steve Austin interfered by performing a Stone Cold Stunners on Coachman and Bischoff. After Austin's interference, McMahon positioned Bischoff on the television commentators' table, performed a Leap of Faith onto Bischoff's chest, thereby breaking the table and covered Bischoff for the pinfall.

The next match involved four wrestlers from the Smackdown! brand in a match for the WWE United States Championship; Eddie Guerrero defended the title against Chris Benoit, Rhyno, and Tajiri. The match began with Guerrero wrestling with Tajiri, while Benoit wrestled with Rhyno. During the encounter Guerrero applied a Lasso From El Passo on Tajiri, while Benoit employed a Crippler Crossface on Rhyno. Afterwards, Tajiri applied a Tarantula on Benoit. The hold distracted the referee, which allowed Guerrero to hit Rhyno with the United States Championship belt. Tajiri then attempted to hit Benoit with a Buzzsaw Kick, but Benoit countered the maneuver by lifting and sitting Tajiri onto his shoulders. Tajiri, however, countered by tossing both himself and Benoit over the top rope onto the arena floor. Capitalizing on the situation, Guerrero then performed a Frog splash on Rhyno, after which he scored the pinfall, thus retaining the WWE United States Championship.

Main event matches

The fifth match was the main event from the SmackDown brand, a standard match for the WWE Championship, in which Kurt Angle defended the title against Brock Lesnar. At the beginning of the match, Lesnar tried to walk away from the ring, but Angle brought him back. There, Angle performed many offensive maneuvers, including DDT and Angle Slam. He then applied an ankle lock on Lesnar. During this tussle, Lesnar countered the hold but knocked down the referee. Angle applied a guillotine choke on Lesnar, which brought Lesnar down onto his knees and allowed Angle to perform another ankle lock. Mr. McMahon, who had accompanied Lesnar to the ring, came into the ring and hit Angle's back with a folding chair to break the submission hold. Because the referee was incapacitated, Lesnar was not disqualified for the interference. Afterwards, Lesnar twice attempted to lift Angle onto his F-5. During the second attempt, however, Angle countered the throw into another ankle lock, which forced Lesnar to submit. As a result, Angle retained the WWE Championship.

In a preliminary match from the Raw brand, Kane faced Rob Van Dam in a No Disqualification match. Both wrestlers used a ladder to their advantage early in the match. After Kane used the ladder on Van Dam, he attempted to hit Van Dam with a flying clothesline. However, Van Dam moved out of the way and Kane landed on the arena barricade. Van Dam performed a variation of a rolling thunder on Kane using a folding chair. Following this, Van Dam attempted to hit Kane with a Van Daminator with a chair, but Kane rolled out of the ring to avoid the attack. Van Dam then attempted an aerial technique from inside the ring towards Kane, but Kane caught Van Dam in mid-air and executed a tombstone piledriver, after which he covered Van DAm for the pinfall.

The main event from the Raw brand was the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, in which Triple H defended the title against Chris Jericho, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels. The match began with Jericho and Michaels in the ring, while Goldberg, Nash, Orton, and Triple H were locked in the chambers. Michaels and Jericho wrestled, with neither of them gaining the advantage over the other. Orton and Nash were the third and fourth entrants into the match, respectively. Nash was the first wrestler eliminated from the match after Michaels executed a superkick and Chris Jericho covered him for a pinfall. Triple H and Goldberg were the fifth and sixth entrants. Michaels performed another superkick on Triple H as soon as he exited his chamber, and as a result, Triple H was knocked back into his chamber. As soon as Goldberg entered the match, he performed a spear for a pinfall to eliminate Orton. Next, Goldberg performed a Jackhammer on Michaels and Jericho, eliminating both via pinfall. This left Goldberg alone with and Triple H, who at the time had remained inside the chamber. Goldberg performed a spear on him through the glass of the chamber, in the process pushing him out of the chamber. Ric Flair, who was managing both Triple H and Orton, then handed Triple H a sledgehammer. Goldberg attempted another spear on Triple H, who countered the maneuver by hitting Goldberg with the sledgehammer and covered him for the pinfall. Triple H therefore retained the World Heavyweight Championship.

Aftermath

During an episode of Raw after SummerSlam, Goldberg challenged Triple H to another match for the World Heavyweight Championship. This match took place at the Unforgiven pay-per-view on September 21, 2003 with a stipulation that, should he lose, Goldberg would retire from WWE. Goldberg defeated Triple H to become the new champion. After SummerSlam, Kurt Angle focused his attention on The Undertaker, whom he wrestled in a match for the WWE Championship during an episode of SmackDown! on September 4, 2003. During the match, Lesnar attacked both wrestlers with a folding chair, leading to an Iron Man match between Angle and Lesnar. Lesnar won five falls during the match, while Angle won four, and as a result Lesnar won the title.

The rivalry between Kane and Rob Van Dam stopped, as Kane engaged in a feud against Shane McMahon. In a scenario on the August 25, 2003 episode of Raw, Kane attempted to throw McMahon into a dumpster that was set on fire, but McMahon avoided it and threw Kane into the dumpster. On September 8, 2003 during an episode of Raw, Eric Bischoff scheduled a Last Man Standing match between Kane and McMahon for Unforgiven. In that match, Kane defeated McMahon after McMahon was unable to respond to a ten count. After SummerSlam, Eddie Guerrero began a rivalry with John Cena over the WWE United States Championship. Guerrero retained the championship in two title defenses that took place on SmackDown!. Guerrero then engaged in a feud with Big Show. At No Mercy, Big Show defeated Guerrero via pinfall to win the WWE United States Championship.

Reception

The America West Arena has a maximum capacity of 19,000, but that was reduced for SummerSlam 2003. The event grossed over US$715,000 in ticket sales from an attendance of 16,113, the maximum allowed. This was later confirmed by Linda McMahon, WWE CEO, in a press release on August 26, 2003. The event resulted in 415,000 pay-per-view buys (a 0.88 pay-per-view buyrate). The promotion's pay-per-view revenue was $24.7 million.

Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the entire event a 7 out of 10 stars. The rating was higher than the SummerSlam event in 2004, which was rated a 5 out of 10 stars. The Elimination Chamber main event match from the Raw brand was rated an 8.5 out of 10 stars, with an additional rating of 1 out of 10 stars for the process in which the match ended. The SmackDown! brand's main event, a standard match for the WWE Championship, was rated a 9 out of 10 stars, a better reception than the Raw brand's main event. Wade Keller reviewed the event for the Pro Wrestling Torch. He rated the Angle-Lesnar match 4-and-a-half out of 5 stars, declaring it an "excellent match". The Elimination Chamber match received a rating of 3 stars. The event was released on DVD on September 23, 2003 by Sony Music Entertainment.