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What happens when you watch an entire year of WWE Raw from two decades ago? We found out. Explore the rise of Evolution, Scott Steiner's main event push, and the weird clashing of eras that defined professional wrestling in 2003.
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00:00Let us try a game. Close your eyes. Think of something from 2003 in WWE. I'll give you a
00:05second. And my guess will be, you just drew a blank. It really is such an odd year, and I
00:09think
00:10a big reason for this is because, for one reason or another, Vince McMahon decided to steer clear
00:14of some obvious huge matches. I would guess in some form or fashion, the backstage political
00:19game was getting in the way. What else can we learn if you do sit down and binge watch WWE
00:23from
00:23decades ago? I'm Simon Miller, I've just done that, and I'm going to tell you.
00:27Number 9. The Stupid Chris Jericho Easter Egg
00:30So this one is a bit silly, but it does open your eyes instantly as to how much has changed
00:34in wrestling. During the first show of the year, WWE put on Chris Jericho and Christian
00:38vs RVD and Kane, and when it's time for announcer Jerry Lawler to describe all this, he says,
00:43you know what, that's going to be a dynamite main event. Cue laughter.
00:49Now of course, AEW wasn't even a thought in anybody's mind all this time ago, but if you're
00:53a nerd like me, you will notice it, and the next step is for your brain to realise that
00:57not only is Jericho in AEW, but Christian is there, and to a smaller degree, so is RVD.
01:02Or at least that's as of me talking. Chris Jericho has likely by now gone back to WWE.
01:07Lawler is also sitting next to Jim Ross who also went to All Elite Wrestling, and then
01:11there's Kane. I mean, he became a politician, but let's not talk about that. I only mention
01:15it because the equivalent would be getting to 2047, and seeing Wade Barrett in some promotion
01:20that is yet to exist as Bron Breaker headlines. I mean, that sounds ridiculous now, but that's
01:25what anybody would have said back in 2003 too. Chris Jericho ain't gonna go anywhere else.
01:30Well, let's double back around to this in a couple of decades.
01:33Number 8. The Weird Coming Together of Eras
01:352nd of June. Monday Night Raw. Evolution face Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, and the Hurricane.
01:40And if that hasn't already made your eyebrow raise, it should start twitching now.
01:44It means Randy Orton and Shane Helms are duking it out with Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and
01:49Kevin Nash. That does make sense when you think about it, but at first, it really does feel
01:53like the coming together of two totally different generations. Triple H is there as well, but
01:57it kind of feels like he's always around. And do not forget Orton was being pitched as
02:01the guy in 2003. I always liked to think the Hurricane was on that list too, and while the
02:06gimmick was great, it did kind of feel like it had a ceiling. He was very good mind.
02:11You even get the superhero posing with a heartbreak kid, and again, Michaels wrestled for years
02:15after this, so I don't really know why I was so surprised. I guess I just never had it
02:19in my head, especially them teaming together. So yeah, all kind of ties in. 2003 really was
02:25a strange old 12 months. Number 7. Scott Steiner doesn't work out. Or does he? Of course,
02:31I don't mean literally. Scott Steiner clearly goes to the gym.
02:34Now overall, I actually think this is quite a shame, because when people do think back
02:37to Scott Steiner's time in WWE, they get a sad face. And I get that. The dude was a huge
02:42deal in 2003. He most definitely should have been part of the invasion angle, but that's a whole
02:47different video. But to be fair, if you do go back and watch it today, I don't think it's as
02:52bad as
02:53we remember, or maybe the discourse that it created after the fact. Now it is ridiculous for me to say
02:58out loud, but I was so jacked, ironically, to see him and Triple H do a bodybuilder pose down.
03:03Everybody in the stands loves this guy. Big Papa Pump was getting pops all over the place,
03:07and his promo work was as unhinged as ever, but it did allow him to stand out. You just eventually
03:12do
03:12get to those matches at the Raw Rumble and No Way Out, and they're all just a bit meh.
03:16And they're not awful. Scott is just struggling with a foot injury, and it does kind of feel
03:21like Steiner and Triple H. Well, maybe they just don't like each other. He did not flop as a
03:25superstar attraction, however. Once again, people were desperate to see him, and early on in the
03:30year, I think he's actually the most popular dude on the roster. WWE most definitely needed that in
03:352003, and the debut itself is flipping awesome. It just runs out of steam so fast, although there
03:41are a lot of different attributes to blame. A lot of people point the finger at Scott.
03:46I think that's true.
03:47Number 6. The Unmasking of Kane
03:49Some will say this was needed. Live and in person in 2003, sure, I get it. Kane definitely
03:55needed a creative shakeup, but in hindsight, I think we should have just taken him off TV
04:00for a while, or essentially pull an Undertaker. This wasn't on the cards though, so yeah,
04:05we did what wrestling always does because it removed the mask from the mask guy. I mean,
04:09don't forget the Deadman version of The Undertaker returned a year after this, which was done
04:13for the exact same reason. How do we freshen these characters up? We've basically done everything
04:18else. I think the real problem was that 2002 had seen the Big Red Machine dragged through
04:22the mud because he had to be in that Katie Vick story, and that essentially ended everything
04:26that the old persona was. I mean, we had humanized him and basically made him a joke. Why bother
04:32keeping the mask on? We've already admitted the original backstory was a lie. I mean,
04:36there are no burns. Without those constraints though, WWE absolutely went to town, and a decade
04:41later, for example, we had corporate Kane with a big old mug. It was ridiculous. Removing the
04:47so-called hood did make him feel like more of a freak though, which was exactly the idea.
04:51So I still didn't like it, but sure, I understand. I mean, before this, WWE really had no idea what
04:57to do with him. Remember that time he used a voice box, and then he stopped using a voice box?
05:02Let's move on.
05:03Number five, the co-general managers.
05:05Something fascinating about 2003 in general is the use of Steve Austin. He retired quietly
05:10at WrestleMania 19, but WWE were never going to ignore him. It was stone cold. He was still
05:15the biggest draw they had. Nobody could have had a proper plan, however, because somebody
05:19decided, well, you know, he did used to have beef with former WCW head honcho Eric Bischoff,
05:24so why can't those two be co-general managers like we're trying to script some kind of sitcom?
05:29And they do have a ton of fun together, and you can see that they're enjoying themselves,
05:32and we certainly get some moments, but after a while, it sort of becomes a way to fill TV
05:36time, and the constant teasing of a match just wasn't needed. That was never going to
05:41happen for all the reasons we just talked about. Also, it would just be Steve Austin
05:44versus Eric Bischoff. We'd seen that before. That's kind of just a gimmick.
05:48Now, Austin was great, because without the pressure of wrestling, he can just be so over-the-top
05:52funny, but maybe the transition just happened too fast, and it didn't really have an end
05:56goal. So I wouldn't call it bad, it's just jarring, because a lot of Raw in 2003 is them
06:02arguing as the wrestlers sort of stand around waiting to deal with the consequences. I suppose
06:07WWE was as blindsided as the rest of us, because in January, nobody thought Austin was going
06:11to be done in-ring in a couple of months. But yeah, could we have used Stone Cold Steve Austin
06:16a lot better than this? I do believe the answer is yes.
06:19Number four, Goldberg actually does better than people say.
06:21Now, something must have gone wrong here, because between 2003 and 2004, Goldberg hated
06:26being in WWE, and WWE didn't really like him being there. They just did not see eye-to-eye
06:32at all. When you do go through the whole run, though, here's a couple of words to change
06:36the narrative. It was fine. Massive matches against The Rock and Triple H are given suitable
06:40hype, and he does go and win the World Heavyweight title. And sure, politics went and ruined
06:45that one, but he still gets there, which, dare I say, is exactly what the fans wanted.
06:50I mean, making Bill do long WWE main events and selling wasn't smart, but even these aren't
06:54horrible. Before all of that, too, Goldberg is squashing a bunch of dudes, too. So, you
06:59know, they kind of did do it. Ultimately, it was when we did go too far, for example, making
07:04him wear a wig, and the obvious poor relationship which brings all this down. I tell you, though,
07:09if you come up to me right now and say, Simon, do you think this run was better than
07:12Goldberg in WCW 2000? Absolutely, I do. I mean, that one was genuinely horrendous and
07:18dare I say embarrassing. In fact, one idea they put out there, I won't even repeat on
07:23this video because it was so stupid. That's Vince Russo's problem. You know what? Let's
07:27talk about it another time.
07:28Number three, Raw does become WCW. And not that it's bad, but at the same time, some of
07:33the main players on Monday Night Raw are Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Gott Steiner,
07:38and Goldberg. So, it basically becomes Nitro. SmackDown also has Hulk Hogan doing his thing,
07:43which means 2003 is more invasion than the 2001 invasion, which is 2 plus 2 equals potato.
07:49The only difference is that nobody is waging war against WWE. And yes, you know the deal
07:54with all of that, it was rushed and silly. It was kind of inevitable because as WWE wanted
07:58to inject life into the product, they went with the old established stars as opposed to
08:02building fresh talent. However, because they'd never really been on WWE TV before, that kind
08:07of made them feel individual and unique or something. Now, there's pros and cons to all
08:11of that, but go and watch the whole year now if you want to be a massive nerd. They are
08:14all
08:14over the thing. By the end of 2003, you'll actually be a little bit mad. If only we had
08:20brought them in 2001 or, you know, just held off the invasion angle until we could pull the
08:24trigger. I will never understand why we had to do this in fast forward.
08:28Number two, the ignored match. Now, this will sound nuts at first, but I do believe at one
08:33point, WWE clearly thought about doing Vince McMahon versus Kane, and then they just didn't.
08:38I mean, the Big Red Machine tombstoned wife Linda on the 21st of July Raw, and their following
08:43week actually had a stare down with the boss. Now, WWE rarely does that without a plan,
08:48and incredibly too, Vince was the babyface, and fans bought into all that. Wrestling's nuts.
08:54As I'm sure you remember, we then pivoted to Shane McMahon instead, who was going to defend
08:58his mother's honor, and eventually somebody had their testicles electrocuted. I'm sure
09:03some of you think I'm joking. I am not. Look at the screen. The way it kind of does go
09:08all down, though, suggests that Shane was one part of this, but Vince was definitely the
09:11other. McMahon was having a lot of big matches around this time, too. He would face Brock
09:15Lesnar, Zach Gowen, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, and his daughter Stephanie McMahon. Maybe
09:21that's why he didn't do it. He filled up his bump card. Shane and Kane was totally fine as
09:25well, all things considered. And also, that does rhyme, so maybe that's why WWE did it,
09:30when you can't argue against a rhyme.
09:32Number one, sadness. Because of the amount of teases WWE did do in 2003. It's sort of
09:38hilarious, because in later years, the word was always that if Vince McMahon could not
09:42pay off a story on TV, he wasn't even going to suggest it. You go back a few decades, nope,
09:48not here at all. Because come the 12th of May, things start to really get tense between Bill
09:52Goldberg and Steve Austin. And surprise, surprise, fans thought this was the final coming together
09:56of the Attitude Era's biggest stars. They have a proper stare-off, too, and you could feel the
10:01buzz in the room. But nope, I guess it was just down for TV ratings, because nothing was coming.
10:07I would imagine the creative team just felt like they couldn't ignore it, because how do you have
10:11Bill and Stone Cold under the same roof and act like they wouldn't clash at some point? So I can
10:16understand it. But the fact we never got this fight properly, it just feels wrong, I tell you.
10:21This was the match. It also goes to show that 2003 was just trying to grab whatever they could,
10:25but if they could hint at something which could spark interest, well, they'd basically go and do
10:29it. There's more man as you can tie in as well, because when Paul Heyman and Austin did this on
10:33the Stone Cold podcast a decade later to pretend we were getting Steve Austin versus Brock Lesnar,
10:38Vince McMahon allegedly went nuts that it's not on the cards, so don't you dare act like it is.
10:43Well, they just copied you, Vince. So if you do need a life lesson, in short, never trust
10:48professional wrestling.