9 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 2003

Let us try a game. Close your eyes. Think of something from 2003 in WWE. I'll give you a

second. And my guess will be, you just drew a blank. It really is such an odd year, and I think

a big reason for this is because, for one reason or another, Vince McMahon decided to steer clear

of some obvious huge matches. I would guess in some form or fashion, the backstage political

game was getting in the way. What else can we learn if you do sit down and binge watch WWE from

decades ago? I'm Simon Miller, I've just done that, and I'm gonna tell ya

9. The Stupid Chris Jericho Easter Egg So this one is a bit silly, but it does open your eyes instantly as to how much has changed in wrestling

During the first show of the year, WWE put on Chris Jericho and Christian vs RBD and Kane

and when it's time for announcer Jerry Lawler to describe all this, he says, you know what, that's going to be a dynamite main event

Cue laughter. Now, of course, AEW wasn't even a thought in anybody's mind all this time ago

but if you're a nerd like me, you will notice it, and the next step is for your brain to realize that not only is Jericho in AEW

but Christian is there, and to a smaller degree, so is RVD. Or at least that's as of me talking

Chris Jericho has likely by now gone back to WWE. Lawler is also sitting next to Jim Ross, who also went to All Elite Wrestling

and then there's Kane. I mean, he became a politician, but let's not talk about that

I only mention it because the equivalent would be getting to 2047, and seeing Wade Barrett in some promotion that is yet to exist as Bron Breaker headlines

I mean, that sounds ridiculous now, but that's what anybody would have said back in 2003 too

Chris Jericho ain't gonna go anywhere else. Well, let's double back around to this in a couple of decades

Number eight, the weird coming together of eras. Second of June, Monday Night Raw, Evolution face Kevin Nash

Shawn Michaels and the Hurricane. And if that hasn't already made your eyebrow raise

it should start twitching now. It means Randy Orton and Shane Helms are duking it out

with Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash. That does make sense when you think about it

but at first it really does feel like the coming together of two totally different generations

Triple H is there as well, but it kind of feels like he's always around. And do not forget Autumn was being pitched

as the guy in 2003. I always liked to think the hurricane was on that list too

And while the gimmick was great, it did kind of feel like it had a ceiling. He was very good mind

You even get the superhero posing with a heartbreak kid and again, Michael's wrestled for years after this

So I don't really know why I was so surprised. I guess I just never had it in my head

especially them teaming together. So yeah, all kind of ties in. 2003 really was a strange old 12 months

Number seven, Scott Steiner doesn't work out, or does he? Of course, I don't mean literally

Scott Steiner clearly goes to the gym. Now, overall, I actually think this is quite a shame

because when people do think back to Scott Steiner time in WWE they get a sad face And I get that The dude was a huge deal in 2003 He most definitely should have been part of the invasion angle but that a whole different

video. But to be fair, if you do go back and watch it today, I don't think it's as bad as we remember

or maybe the discourse that it created after the fact. Now it is ridiculous for me to say out loud

but I was so jacked, ironically, to see him and Triple H do a bodybuilder pose down. Everybody in

the stands, loves this guy. Big Papa Pump was getting pops all over the place and his promo

work was as unhinged as ever but it did allow him to stand out. You just eventually do get to those

matches at the Royal Rumble and No Way Out and they're all just a bit meh. They're not awful

Scott is just struggling with a foot injury and it does kind of feel like Steiner and Triple H

well maybe they just don't like each other. He did not flop as a superstar attraction however

Once again people were desperate to see him and early on in the year I think he's actually the

most popular dude on the roster. WWE most definitely needed that in 2003, and the debut

itself is flipping awesome. It just runs out of steam so fast. Although there are a lot of

different attributes to blame. A lot of people point the finger at Scott. I think that's true

Number six, the unmasking of Kane. Some will say this was needed. Live and in person in 2003

sure, I get it. Kane definitely needed a creative shakeup, but in hindsight

I think we should have just taken him off TV for a while, or essentially pull an Undertaker

This wasn't on the cards though, so yeah, we did what wrestling always does because it removed the mask from the mask guy

I mean, don't forget the Deadman version of The Undertaker returned a year after this, which was done for the exact same reason

How do we freshen these characters up? We've basically done everything else

I think the real problem was that 2002 had seen the Big Red Machine dragged through the mud

because he had to be in that Katie Vick story, and that essentially ended everything that the old persona was

I mean, we had humanized him and basically made him a joke. Why bother keeping the mask on

We've already admitted the original backstory was a lie. I mean, there are no burns

Without those constraints, though, WWE absolutely went to town. And a decade later, for example, we had corporate Kane with a big old mug

It was ridiculous. Removing the so-called hood did make him feel like more of a freak, though

which was exactly the idea. So I still didn't like it, but sure, I understand

And, I mean, before this, WWE really had no idea what to do with him

Remember that time he used a voice box, and then he stopped using a voice box? Let's move on

Number five, the co-general managers. Something fascinating about 2003 in general is the use of Steve Austin

He retired quietly at WrestleMania 19, but WWE were never going to ignore him

It was stone cold. He was still the biggest draw they had. Nobody could have had a proper plan, however, because somebody decided

Well you know he did used to have beef with former WCW head honcho Eric Bischoff So why can those two be co managers like we trying to script some kind of sitcom And they do have a ton of fun together and you can see that they enjoying themselves

and we certainly get some moments, but after a while it sort of becomes a way to fill TV time

and the constant teasing of a match just wasn't needed, that was never going to happen for all the reasons we just talked about

Also, it would just be Steve Austin versus Eric Bischoff, we'd seen that before

that's kind of just a gimmick. Now, Austin was great because without the pressure of wrestling, he can just be so over-the-top funny

But maybe the transition just happened too fast and it didn't really have an end goal

So I wouldn't call it bad. It's just jarring. Because a lot of Raw in 2003 is them arguing as the wrestlers sort of stand around waiting to deal with the consequences

I suppose WWE was as blindsided as the rest of us because in January, nobody thought Austin was going to be done in-ring in a couple of months

But yeah, could we have used Stone Cold Steve Austin a lot better than this? I do believe the answer is yes

Number four, Goldberg actually does better than people say. Now something must have gone wrong here, because between 2003 and 2004

Goldberg hated being in WWE, and WWE didn't really like him being there

They just did not see eye to eye at all. When you do go through the whole run though, here's a couple of words to change the narrative

It was fine. Massive matches against The Rock and Triple H are given suitable hype

and he does go and win the world heavyweight title. And sure, politics went and ruined that one

But he still gets there, which, dare I say, it is exactly what the fans wanted

I mean, making Bill do long WWE main events and selling wasn't smart. But even these aren't horrible

Before all of that too, Goldberg is squashing a bunch of dudes too

So, you know, they kind of did do it. Ultimately, it was when we did go too far

For example, making him wear a wig. And the obvious poor relationship which brings all this down

I tell you though, if you come up to me right now and say, Simon, do you think this run was better than Goldberg in WCW 2000

Absolutely, I do. I mean, that one was genuinely horrendous. Dare I say, embarrassing

In fact, one idea they put out there, I won't even repeat on this video

because it was so stupid. That's Vince Russo's problem. You know what? Let's talk about it another time

Number three, Raw does become WCW. And not that it's bad, but at the same time

some of the main players on Monday Night Raw are Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Gottsteiner, and Goldberg

So it basically becomes Nitro. SmackDown also has Hulk Hogan doing his thing, which means 2003 is more invasion than the 2001 invasion, which is 2 plus 2 equals potato

The only difference is that nobody is waging war against WWE. And yes, you know the deal with all of that, it was rushed and silly

It was kind of inevitable because as WWE wanted to inject life into the product they went with the old established stars as opposed to building fresh talent However because they never really been on WWE TV before that kind of made them feel individual and unique or something Now there pros and cons to all of that but go and watch the whole year now if you want to be a massive nerd They are all over the thing

and by the end of 2003, you'll actually be a little bit mad. If only we had brought them in 2001

or, you know, just held off the invasion angle until we could pull the trigger

I would never understand why we had to do this in fast forward. Number two, the ignored match

Now, this will sound nuts at first, but I do believe at one point WWE clearly thought about doing Vince McMahon versus Kane, and then they just didn't

I mean, the Big Red Machine tombstoned wife Linda on the 21st of July Raw, and their following week actually had a stare down with the boss

Now, WWE rarely does that without a plan, and incredibly, too, Vince was the babyface, and fans bought into all that

Wrestling's nuts. As I'm sure you remember, we then pivoted to Shane McMahon instead, who was going to defend his mother's honor

And eventually somebody had their testicles electrocuted. I'm sure some of you think I'm joking

I am not. Look at the screen. The way it kind of does go all down, though, suggests that Shane was one part of this, but Vince was definitely the other

McMahon was having a lot of big matches around this time, too. He would face Brock Lesnar, Zach Gowen, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, and his daughter, Stephanie McMahon

Maybe that's why he didn't do it. He filled up his bump card. Shane and Kane was totally fine as well, all things considered

And also, that does rhyme. So maybe that's why WWE did it

You can't argue against a rhyme. Number one, sadness. Because of the amount of teases WWE did do in 2003

It's sort of hilarious because in later years, the word was always that if Vince McMahon could not pay off a story on TV, he wasn't even going to suggest it

You go back a few decades. Nope, not here at all. Because come the 12th of May, things start to really get tense between Bill Goldberg and Steve Austin

and surprise, surprise fans thought this was the final coming together of the Attitude Era's biggest stars

They have a proper stare-off too, and you can feel the buzz in the room

but nope, I guess it was just down for TV ratings because nothing was coming

I would imagine the creative team just felt like they couldn't ignore it, because how do you have Bill and Stone Cold under the same roof and act like they wouldn't clash at some point

So I can understand it, but the fact we never got this fight properly, it just feels wrong, I tell you

This was the match. It also goes to show that 2003 was just trying to grab whatever they could

but if they could hint at something which could spark interest, well, they'd basically go and do it

There's more man as you can tie in as well, because when Paul Heyman and Austin did this on the Stone Cold podcast a decade later

to pretend we were getting Steve Austin versus Brock Lesnar, Vince McMahon allegedly went nuts

That is not on the cards, so don't you dare act like it is. Well, they just copied you, Vince

So if you do need a life lesson, in short, never trust professional wrestling