September 22, 2003
- The Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar iron man match on Smackdown is in the books, but almost didn't happen. Two days before the match, Lesnar blew out his knee at a house show and there was fear that it may be a torn ACL. Then, just one day later, Kurt Angle's sister passed away unexpectedly due to heart problems (Angle later revealed it was actually a heroin overdose). So with all of that floating around them, both men stepped into the ring to deliver the first 60-minute ironman match ever on free TV. Lesnar won 5-4 to capture the WWE title and even though he worked as a heel, Lesnar won every fall cleanly (though he cheated throughout the match in other ways). An emotional Angle was given a standing ovation afterwards. Lesnar appeared to tire a couple of times, but Angle looked like he could have wrestled 10 more hours (you young'uns who weren't around to witness it won't recall just how much of a freak of nature athlete Kurt Angle was). Anyway, this hasn't aired on TV yet so Dave is just going off early reports but here it is:
- WATCH: Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle - Iron Man Match (2003)
- Uh-oh. Another huge chunk of WWE history has dropped. Looks like Dave is running through 1991 this time. If you're just checking in, throughout 2003, Dave was dropping huge chunks of material telling the history of WWE (and really, American wrestling as a whole). Anyway, now we got 14,000+ words 1991 so let's sum it up real quick: Slaughter as champion, Iraq War, moving WM7 due to "security concerns", losing the NBC deal for SNME amid plummeting popularity, Dr. Zahorian's trial and conviction and all the negative publicity from that, Hogan's disastrous Arsenio Hall Show appearance, WCW's business struggles, the NWA/WCW/NJPW world title shituation with Tatsumi Fujinami, Sid Vicious jumping to WWF from WCW, followed by Flair getting fired and jumping to WWF, the World Bodybuilding Federation, Ultimate Warrior getting fired at Summerslam, and more. Might I recommend the 1991 Observer Rewinds if you're further interested in this (although looking back on it, it's kind of embarrassing how lacking those early Rewinds are compared the later ones as I developed a groove but whatever).
- The Wall Street Journal published a very misleading story accusing WWE of headhunting amateur wrestlers and stealing them away from potential Olympic teams, of course naming Angle and Lesnar as the two examples. The article neglected to mention that Angle retired from amateur wrestling in 1996 and Lesnar in 2000, both prior to signing with WWE because they had no interest in pursuing it further at the time. Angle had already won a gold medal and Lesnar wanted to make money, having said numerous times that he had no interest in the Olympics. He'd already accomplished his goal (NCAA national title) and the Olympics was too much work for too little reward (Lesnar is the living embodiment of "fuck you, pay me"). Lesnar has said that if WWF hadn't come calling, he was going to try out for the NFL (could you imagine?!). Furthermore, Lesnar wasn't exactly a shoo-in to make the Olympics even if he stuck with wrestling. The gap between NCAA champion and Olympic-level is enormous. The big crux of the story is about amateur wrestling programs being cut from schools and Dave would argue that the success of Angle and Lesnar as much hyped amateur wrestlers probably helped the popularity of amateur wrestling with school-age kids more than it hurt.
- Following a backstage amateur wrestling bout in which Angle beat Lesnar, Angle was considering returning to the sport for the 2004 Olympics, but he decided against it. It was 8 years since he won the gold medal and reality is Angle might not have even made the team in 2004. The sport has progressed a lot in those 8 years and Angle had a ton of serious injuries even before the recent neck issues. But there's been no evidence otherwise that WWE is out there stealing the best amateur wrestlers away from America's team or preventing Angle and Lesnar from going to win the gold.
- MLW has dropped Jerry Lawler from an upcoming show, in which Lawler was supposed to captain a team against Terry Funk's team in a War Games match. MLW has a TV show that airs on the Sunshine Network (which is included for those who purchase the sports package on DirecTV as well as locally in Florida). Lawler's contract allows him to work indie dates, but not appear on TV shows for other companies. When Vince found out that Lawler was going to be appearing on MLW's show (which airs on Monday nights after Raw, no less), he said "Nah fam." He said MLW could still use Lawler, but the match involving him couldn't air on TV. MLW's Court Bauer issued his own "Nah fam" and pulled Lawler from the show entirely. It's kind of a mess because this match had been hyped for weeks and they just filmed a big angle for it and now one of the two main guys is out at the last minute.
- Lawler's contract with WWE is unique, since his deal is not a wrestler contract, but rather an announcer's contract which is headed up by Kevin Dunn's production department (rather than Jim Ross in the talent relations department). He's still allowed to take as many indie dates as he wants, with some provisions: no appearing on other TV/PPVs, and nothing that could mess his face up (blading, chairshots, etc.). Otherwise, he's free to book himself anywhere else when WWE isn't using him (weird, this arrangement almost sounds like an independent contractor or something). There's an exception to the TV rule, as Lawler is allowed to appear on local TV for his own Memphis promotion.
- An outbreak of conjunctivitis (pink eye) has spread through the locker room in IWA, causing a lot of the wrestlers to miss shows recently. That's nice.
- Goldberg has been confirmed for Zero-One's 10/25 show in Japan. If everything goes according to plan, Goldberg should be WWE champion by then, which makes things interesting. This is part of the deal Goldberg signed before coming to WWE and they agreed to allow him to keep his previously-arranged Japan bookings.
- Masahiro Chono was in Florida this week to meet with Hulk Hogan to negotiate a deal for Hogan to work the NJPW Tokyo Dome show next month. Word is they were very close to a deal but Hogan has yet to officially commit. Hogan hasn't wrestled in Japan in 9 years and he doesn't want to do it unless he knows it'll be a sold out show. He doesn't want to make his return on a show that flops. Hogan vs. Chono is a big match, but it's not going to sell out the Tokyo Dome (don't fret, Inoki's got some bullshit up his sleeve).
- Joanie Laurer did an interview and said she's changing her name to Chyna Doll because she's no longer allowed to use Chyna. She said she still loves Sean Waltman and that's why she no-showed the court appearance for the restraining order, and then added walked back her previous domestic violence allegations, adding, "He wouldn't try to kill me because I would kick his ass, right?" She claimed she was in a bad mood when she filed the restraining order. And she said she had no idea Triple H and Stephanie were getting married in a couple of weeks.
- Randy Savage walked out of a radio interview in Cleveland. He was trashing Hogan when the hosts pointed out that Hogan was a bigger star than Savage ever was. As he left, they joked about how old he looked walking down the stairs and made fun of him for trying to be a rapper.
- Jim Cornette will be returning to ROH after all. He originally appeared at a show in driving distance, because he hates flying, but ROH wanted him back bad enough that Gabe Sapolsky upped his offer significantly enough that Cornette was willing to get on a plane. So he'll be at the New Jersey show in November 2003. Get your tickets now!
- There's a lot of talk that Dutch Mantel will be leaving Puerto Rico to become a booker for TNA. What that means for Vince Russo is unclear, because this would absolutely be Dutch taking over the job Russo has had off-and-on since the beginning (that's pretty much what happens. Russo's creative input over TNA is mostly over until 2006).
- Triple H has gotten his first major movie role, as he will be playing a villain in the movie Blade: Trinity. It starts filming this month in Vancouver so he's going to miss several shows that he was previously advertised for, so Dave suspects an injury or suspension angle soon. Dave thinks it's a little too soon for Orton to turn on him and go face, but that's in the cards eventually (still a year away).
- Triple H is also expected to star in a WWE Films project called Jornada del Muerte ("Day of the Dead"), a modern-day Western written by screenwriter John Milius (this dude wrote Dirty Harry, Apocalypse Now, Conan The Barbarian, Red Dawn, etc). WWE hired Milius specifically to write the script for Triple H, with the goal of trying to springboard him into Hollywood success like The Rock. The plot is for Triple H to be a guy fighting off motorcycle gangs and drug dealers in the Southwest. People within WWE have all pointed out that this seems like a role much better suited for Steve Austin, who is also a much bigger star, but nope. Milius was specifically told to write the script with Triple H in mind as the lead (so I did some research on this. Milius was an Academy Award nominated screenwriter with a bunch of hits under his belt but by the early 2000s, he was apparently in really bad financial trouble and was taking any job he could get, hence: writing scripts for Triple H. This movie languished in developmental hell for years and ultimately never got made).
- Speaking of developmental hell, Rock did an interview where he said his next project is playing the role of King Kamehameha, the former king of Hawaii. I mention that because this is in 2003. And here is a post from Rock's instagram in 2018 where he reveals that he's still planning to make this movie, this time with some specifics. And yet, as of 2024, this movie is still "in development."
- Kevin Nash has had some neck issues for awhile and it might be the beginning of the end of his career. He's seeing a doctor this week to see if he needs surgery but even if he doesn't get it, he's expected to only work a limited schedule when he returns from filming the Punisher movie. Plus his contract expires in February and he'll be almost 45. He had a two-year contract ($700k downside) but he spent most of those 2 years injured. With his injuries and his age and the fact that WWE is the only game in town, there's zero chance WWE is going to offer him that same kind of money to re-up. And Nash doesn't do shit if there's not a big check in it for him, so if (when) WWE low-balls him, who knows what his wrestling future holds.
- Notes from 9/15 Raw: kind of a nothing show. Fabulous Moolah, at age 80, had a brief match against Victoria. Vince had always promised her she'd let her have a match when she turned 80, so here we are. Mae Young assisted in Moolah rolling up Victoria to pin her. After the match, Randy Orton came in, mentioned he was a legend killer and gave Moolah an RKO. She was fine afterwards, but it was sloppy and Dave really thinks this was risky and she could have been hurt, but whatever. Lita made her long-awaited return, attacking Gail Kim and Molly Holly to save Trish. Dave really thinks they blew this and should have made her return seem like a much bigger deal since she's been gone for so long, but.....welcome to the women's division of 2003. Speaking of, I haven't mentioned it but there's been an ongoing storyline where Gail Kim apparently slept with Eric Bischoff to get her way to the top or something. The show was in Columbia, SC and that's the heart of Flair country so whenever they did the Goldberg/Triple H stuff, they made sure Flair wasn't out there because they didn't want the crowd turning on Goldberg.
- WATCH: Fabulous Moolah vs. Victoria (with Orton RKO aftermath) - 2003
- After Raw, they did a big birthday celebration for Moolah with a cake and Vince and a lot of the roster out there. Mark Jindrak and Lance Cade both had to make out with Moolah ("welcome to WWE fellas, check your dignity at the door," Dave quips) and then Cade got the cake in the face.
- Notes from 9/16 Smackdown: aside from the Angle/Lesnar ironman match, which was covered above, the only other thing notable from this show was John Cena's pre-match rap having a line about John Ritter's death only 3 days after it happened, which Dave thinks was pretty tasteless (the line, in case you're wondering: "Leaving cats dead in their tracks with heart attacks like John Ritter")
- No word on when The Rock will be back. They're hoping to get him in the lead up for Wrestlemania 20, but even that's not a sure thing anymore with his movie schedule (Rock at Wrestlemania does indeed happen, but it'll be the last time for the next 7 years. At this point of the Rewinds, the Rock's in-ring career is basically over. He's wrestled less than 10 matches in the 20 years since this).
- WWE signed 2 wrestlers from UPW in Los Angeles to developmental deals and are bringing them to OVW. One of them is Ryan Sakoda, who later briefly becomes a sidekick for Tajiri before washing out. And the other is Chris Mordetzky, who wrestles as Big Chris and is said to look like a young Lex Luger. He was signed without even having a dark match on WWE TV. Mordetzky would later be known as the "Masterpiece" Chris Masters.
- Fun fact, Kurt Angle is actually forbidden to use references to the Olympics as part of his character in WWE. The US Olympic Committee is pretty strict on their trademarks over "Olympics" and all that shit. Sorta like how the NFL trademarks "Superbowl" and everyone has to call it "the big game" when talking about it. Angle is allowed to refer to himself as an Olympic gold medalist because he earned that right by winning them, but he can't say "I won these medals at the Olympics" or references like that. This is also the reason his finisher is called the Angle Slam, instead of the Olympic Slam, which is what they originally tried calling it before they got their hand slapped.
- Hurricane and Rodney Mack got into a backstage fight at a house show in Knoxville. The only details Dave has is that Hurricane was laying out plans for a tag match that night and wasn't interested in Mack's suggestions for the match. It escalated and Hurricane challenged him to a fight. Bad idea. Mack apparently beat the fuckin' brakes off Hurricane and he ended up bloody and had to go to the hospital to get his head stapled shut. At the TV tapings, they were both talked to by management but there seems to be no further punishment coming from it (I watched a Rodney Mack interview with Rene Dupree talking about this and yeah, that's basically the story as it happened. Dupree confirms that Hurricane's head and face were a bloody mess after it and that Mack fucked him up good. But Mack also said they squashed it after and they're cool now).
- OVW had its anniversary show and it was a big deal. Brock Lesnar sent in a video thanking Danny Davis for his training and OVW as a whole. John Cena appeared, as a babyface, cutting a promo on Kenny Bolin and later refereeing the main event. Rico and Victoria also returned, teaming together for a match that Rico was the clear star of, as they completely ignored his WWE gimmick and treated him like the star he was in OVW before he got called up. Matt Morgan vs. Big Bad Jon (better remembered as Jon Heidenreich) with Cena as the referee ended with babyface Cena and Morgan standing tall.
- WATCH: Matt Morgan vs. Big Bad Jon (special referee John Cena) - OVW 2003
- Edge said he hopes to be back in about six months (yup) and said he won't be doing anymore ladder matches and TLC matches because he blames those matches for his injuries (nah, he does plenty more of those matches).