WWE RAW
June 23, 2003
WWE RAW Report
June 23, 2003
Raw came to us live tonight from the home of WrestleMania XX,
Madison Square Garden!
TEST & WWE Intercontinental Champion CHRISTIAN def. BOOKER T & SCOTT STEINER:
Booker controlled the early action, punishing Christian in the corner but after Test
got the tag, the former Motley Crue guard turned the tide for his team, taking over
on Booker following a pair of hard clotheslines that bottled Booker in opposite corners.
Test then mocked Steiner with his pushup pose but Booker dropped behind Test as he
tried for a pumphandle slam, then after a spinning back heel kick, Booker made the
tag to Steiner. Big Poppa Pump came in and mowed Test down with a clothesline before
scoring with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on Christian then sending him into
orbit by press slamming him over the top rope to the floor. Steiner then scored with
a reverse DDT but Test quickly retaliated and set Steiner up for the pumphandle slam
as Stacy hopped onto the apron. Test took a moment to jaw with his former girlfriend,
even grabbing her by the arm before going for the big boot on Steiner. Scott ducked
and Test shoved Steiner into Stacy, sending her crashing to the arena floor, and
as Christian kept Booker detained, Test floored Steiner with the boot, giving his
team the victory!
Kane was shown in the back preparing for his World Heavyweight Title Match and footage
of his WWE debut at Bad Blood back in 1997 was aired.
Tough Enough I Champion MAVEN def. Tough Enough I Finalist CHRISTOPHER NOWINSKI:
Teddy berated Maven at the onset after saying Nowinski was discriminated against
because of his intelligence and Nowinski vented some of his frustrations on Maven,
stomping away on Maven as he entered the ring. However, as Nowinski tried for a suplex,
Maven dropped behind him and after rolling through into a bridge, Maven scored a
very quick pinfall on his former Tough Enough I castmate!
HIGHLIGHT REEL
Special Guest - LANCE STORM:
Chris Jericho welcomed Lance to the Highlight Reel, praising him as a fellow Canadian
and one of the most exciting individuals he'd ever met in his life but Stone Cold
wasn't as convinced as while Lance was talking, the Raw Co-GM hopped on the TitanTron
and began a "Boring!" chant! The Bionic Redneck then took it upon himself
to liven up Lance's night a little bit as he booked the former U.S. Champion and
Jericho together in a tag team match against..... the Dudley Boyz!
THE DUDLEY BOYZ def. CHRIS JERICHO & LANCE STORM:
The Boyz controlled much of the early going but Jericho and Lance turned things around
and isolated Bubba in their half of the ring. Bubba finally managed to break free
and D'Von came in with all cylinders firing and the Boyz were rolling after D'Von
caught Lance with a second rope hanging neckbreaker out of the corner. The Dudleyz
then put the finishing touches on the match following a 3D on Jericho and Bubba sent
some love out to the NYFD and NYPD as the Boyz celebrated another triumph!
Kane was shown in the back looking at himself hard in the mirror.
HARDCORE LEGEND CEREMONY
Raw Co-GM STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN honors MICK FOLEY:
Stone Cold took to the ring and wasted little time in calling Mick out. The Texas
Rattlesnake expressed his admiration for Foley before calling the last WWE Hardcore
Champion, Rob Van Dam, out to the ring, but the Whole F'N Show was flanked by a slew
of WWE SuperStars.... and Al Snow (sorry, had to take a page out of Mick's book,
there!)
Stone Cold aired a tribute piece to Mick, dubbed to a song off of Staind's new album,
14 Shades of Grey, before calling Mick the toughest man he'd ever met and presenting
Mick with the Hardcore Title belt, which RVD had brought to the ring. Vince sauntered
down to the ring at that point and told Mick that based on the last time that they
talked in his private plane, he was under the impression that he'd never see Mick
in a WWE ring ever again.
All the same, Vince said the two words that every SuperStar and every fan in the
arena wanted to say to Mick and those two words, very simply, were "thank you."
Mick admitted that he had sat at home and wondered how guys could tear up when a
segment such as the one he had just seen aired, but wouldn't you know it, Mick's
waterworks had been turned on and in front of his hometown crowd, Mick quoted Frosty
the Snowman saying he would say goodbye, but don't you cry, he'd be back again someday!
WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH
World Tag Team Champions LA RESISTANCE def. THE HURRICANE & SGT. SLAUGHTER:
La Resistance took to the mic upon hitting the ring and the tag champions greeted
the crowd before they sang the French National Anthem. However, Hurricane came out
to the stage and wondered how the champs could disrespect America like they had right
in New York City.... come on now, whassupwidat?
Grenier and Dupree told Hurricane that if he was so offended, perhaps he should just
find a partner and come to the ring and do something about it, a request that Hurricane
happily obliged after being joined by Sgt. Slaughter! Hurricane and the Sarge gave
the champions all that they could handle but as Sarge clamped on the Cobra Clutch
in the middle of the ring, Dupree took advantage of the referee's preoccupation with
Hurricane to blast Sarge across the back with one of the tag straps! Grenier then
rolled Slaughter up and the titlists snuck out of the Garden, titles in hand!
WWE REWIND: The Nature Boy picked up a very tainted victory over Shawn Michaels at
Bad Blood, a big assist going to Randy Orton!
SHAWN MICHAELS & KEVIN NASH def. RIC FLAIR & RANDY ORTON:
Michaels started out with Flair and the pair picked up right where they left off
in their classic at Bad Blood. Michaels got the upper hand and after Nash got the
tag and disposed of both Orton and Flair, Michaels followed the Evolution tandem
out to the arena floor. After the commercial break, Orton and Flair took over on
HBK but the ShowStoppa fought back and although Orton blocked Sweet Chin Music, he
collided with Shawn head-to-head in the middle of the ring, sending both men to the
canvas. Michaels made the tag to a very fresh Nash, who came in smoking and although
Evolution managed to temporarily derail the big man, Nash scored with a double clothesline,
enabling him to tag Shawn back in. Nash brawled with Orton out on the floor as Shawn
dropped Flair with a massive flying forearm, then moments later, MSG was rocking
as the band tuned up and Shawn dimmed Natch's running lights with a little Sweet
Chin Music, giving he and Big Daddy Cool the win!
Orton and Flair were in the back stewwing over their loss when Flair got into the
face of Mick Foley. Flair tried to level Mick with a cheap shot but was unsuccessful
and Mick tore into the former 16-time World Heavyweight Champion! However, Randy
Orton jumped Mick from behind and hurled him into a cage in the back before proceeding
to brawl throughout the back with the former 3-time WWE Champion. Orton, in a despicable
act, tossed Mick down a flight of stairs and Vince came by to check on the hubbub
and although he did call for help as Mick laid at the bottom of the stairs, he was
only calling for a janitor!
FIVE MINUTE CHALLENGE
GOLDBERG def. RODNEY MACK (w/THEODORE R. LONG):
Rodney was notably panicked as Goldberg's music hit after Teddy laid out another
five-minute challenge but Mack bolted up the ramp and tried to attack Goldberg as
he entered the arena. However, Goldberg speared Rodney through his pyro and then
after a pair of knees to the midsection, Goldberg brought the match to a screeching
halt following a thunderous Jackhammer. Oh, for those of you wondering, time of the
match -- 28 seconds.
King and J.R. revealed the results of the poll, saying that 56% of the fans predicted
that Kane would indeed defeat Triple H for the World Heavyweight Title.
RVD caught up with Kane in the back and wished him luck in his World Title Match
but after RVD headed off, Kane looked into a mirror with disgust before smashing
it to pieces!
MASK VS. TITLE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
World Heavyweight Champion TRIPLE H def. KANE to retain the World Heavyweight Title;
KANE is forced to unmask:
Kane tore into the World Heavyweight Champion at the onset and continued the onslaught
out on the arena floor, hurling Triple H into the steel steps. However, Triple H
took over as while Flair distracted the official, Hunter wound up and clocked Kane
with a steel chair shot to the head!
Hunter further punished Kane in the ring and although Kane fought back, landing a
clothesline from the top rope, a big boot misfired and the referee took the brunt
of the blow. Kane then delivered a thunderous chokeslam and a second referee sprinted
to the ring from the back but The Game kicked out at two and an incredulous Kane
launched the referee over the top rope, sending him crashing to the arena floor.
Kane then tried to wake the original referee up but the lapse of concentration allowed
Triple H to sneak in a low blow, a desperate maneuver that gave Triple H the opportunity
to score with the low blow. Kane incredibly kicked out at two after the referee struggled
to make it back into position and a livid Cerebral Assassin went for a second Pedigree.
Kane countered and as Flair hopped into the ring, Triple H tried for the Pedigree
on a third occasion.
Kane slingshot Hunter into Flair, stunning Hunter and giving Kane a chance to line
up for the chokeslam but Randy Orton stormed through the crowd and into the ring
before dropping Kane with a Diamond Cutter. Hunter then pulled himself to his feet
and the fourth time was a charm for the World Champion as he pasted Kane to the canvas
with the Pedigree to earn a hard-fought triumph! Eric Bischoff then took to the stage
and told Kane that he knew the deal and Kane reached for his mask but Evolution attacked
from behind and Orton and Flair held Kane in place as Hunter looked to unmask Kane.
RVD charged the ring and made the save for his friend, sending Evolution scampering
but a dejected Kane stood in the middle of the ring, distraught over having to reveal
his face. Nonetheless, Kane unmasked, his hair falling to his side with his mask
then the irate Big Red Machine grabbed Van Dam by the throat and chokeslammed him!
Kane seethed in the middle of the ring, his scarred face seeing light for the first
time ever in WWE as Raw came to a close!
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