Backlash (2003)

Backlash (2003)

Pay-per-view event chronology

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Backlash (2003) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by Castrol GTX, and took place on April 27, 2003, at the Worcester Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts and starred talent from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brands. It was the fifth event under the Backlash chronology, the third consecutive Backlash presented by Castrol GTX.

The main event and featured match of the Raw brand was the encounter of Goldberg and The Rock, where Goldberg, in his first WWE Pay-Per-View, defeated The Rock by pinfall, following a spear and a Jackhammer. The featured match on the undercard was a WWE Championship match from the SmackDown! brand, between John Cena and the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar, where Lesnar defeated Cena by pinfall after an F-5. The other predominant match on the undercard was a six-man tag team match from the Raw brand, between the team of Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho facing Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and Booker T. Triple H, Flair, and Jericho won the match by pinfall, after Triple H hit Nash with a sledgehammer. The predominant undercard match from the SmackDown! brand was the encounter of The Big Show and Rey Mysterio, where Big Show pinned Mysterio after a chokeslam.

The event grossed $450,000 with 10,000 ticket sales and had a 0.67 buyrate. Following the event, Goldberg began a feud with Chris Jericho. At Bad Blood, Goldberg defeated Jericho via pinfall after a Jackhammer. Brock Lesnar began a storyline with The Big Show over the WWE Championship. At Judgment Day, Lesnar defeated The Big Show in a Stretcher match to retain the WWE Championship. Triple H engaged in a storyline with Kevin Nash over the World Heavyweight Championship. At Judgment Day, Nash defeated Triple H via disqualification; due to WWE regulations, Triple H retained the championship.

Storylines

The main event at Backlash was the encounter of Goldberg and The Rock; the main feud from the Raw brand heading into the event. The feud began on the March 31, 2003 episode of Raw, where The Rock held a segment entitled The Rock Appreciation Night, a segment intended to promote his win against Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIX. During the segment, The Rock discussed the list of people he has beaten in his career including Steve Austin, wondering who would challenge him next into a match. Goldberg then made his WWE debut, as he came down to the ring and stated that he would be The Rock's next challenge. After the confrontation, Goldberg speared The Rock. The following week on Raw, Goldberg and The Rock had another confrontation, where Goldberg provoked The Rock into answering his challenge, but The Rock refused. The Rock finally accepted Goldberg's challenge on the April 14, 2003 episode of Raw via satellite. The week before Backlash, the feud intensified as The Rock held another segment entitled The Rock Concert, where he mocked Goldberg with Gillberg, a wrestler whose gimmick was to parody Goldberg. Later into the segment, Goldberg appeared from the audience and entered the ring, only to have The Rock execute a Rock Bottom on him.

The predominant match at Backlash was a WWE Championship match between John Cena and the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar; the main feud from the SmackDown! brand heading into the event. Their feud began on February 13 on SmackDown!, when Lesnar and Cena last fought, which ended with Lesnar almost ending Cena's career by using the F-5 to propel his leg into a ring post. At WrestleMania XIX, Lesnar challenged for the WWE title held by then-champion Kurt Angle. Toward the end of the match, Lesnar botched a shooting star press when he underestimated the distance, slamming his head into Angle's side and ribcage. This stunned Lesnar and forced Angle to improvise the finish of the match. Lesnar then capitalized and regained the WWE title. On the April 3, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, then-General Manager, Stephanie McMahon announced a WWE Championship tournament, where the winner would receive a WWE Championship match at Backlash against Lesnar. John Cena was involved in the tournament, where he defeated Chris Benoit in the finals on the April 17, 2003 episode of SmackDown! to earn a WWE Championship match at Backlash. The week before Backlash, the feud intensified during a main event match involving Lesnar and A-Train, where Cena interfered by breaking a pinfall attempt by Lesnar. After the match, Cena hit Lesnar with his trademark chain and the WWE Championship title belt.

The main match on the undercard from the Raw brand, was a Six-man tag team match involving the team of Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho facing Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and Booker T. The feud began on the March 31, 2003 episode of Raw, in a backstage segment, where Booker T was being medically attended following his title match with Triple H at WrestleMania XIX, as Flair came into the scene to confront and taunt Booker T. Later that night, Jericho cut a promo, where he complained that he should have won his match against Michaels at WrestleMania XIX. After the promo, Booker T defeated Jericho via disqualification after Flair interfered in the match and attacked Booker T. Afterwards, Triple H came down to the ring, where he, Jericho, and Flair attacked Booker T simultaneously. The attack caused Michaels to come down to the ring to help Booker T to no avail, as Jericho locked Michaels in the Walls of Jericho and Triple H locked Booker T in an Indian deathlock. The following week on Raw, Nash entered the feud during a main event tag team match between the team of Triple H and Jericho facing Michaels and Booker T. After Booker T pinned Triple H to earn the victory for his team, Flair came into the ring and attacked Booker T, followed by Jericho attacking Michaels with a steel chair. The attack led to the return of Nash, who had been sidelined with an injury, who attacked Jericho and Flair. After the turn of events, Triple H prepared to hit Nash with a sledgehammer, only to retreat the ring soon afterwards. The week later, Nash said that he wanted Shawn and Hunter to be friends again, only for Triple H to tell him that they should side together, as Shawn turned on Nash in 1994. Triple H and Flair fought against Booker T and the Hurricane and lost thanks to Shawn Michaels. Jericho then attacked Shawn and Nash came to the rescue, but accidentally hit Booker with the Sledgehammer. The feud intensified during the week before Backlash, during a main event World Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T, and the reigning champion, Triple H, with Michaels as the special guest referee. During the match, Michaels superkicked Triple H, resulting in Flair and Jericho coming into the ring and attacking Michaels and Booker T. Nash then came down to the ring, where he dispersed Jericho and Flair. He also helped Michaels and Triple H back to their feet, only to receive a low blow by Triple H.

The main match on the undercard from the SmackDown! brand, was the encounter of The Big Show and Rey Mysterio. The feud began on the April 17, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, during a tag team match pitting Mysterio and Tajiri against The Big Show and A-Train. The Big Show and A-Train won the match via pinfall. After the match, however, Tajiri sprayed green mist into A-Train's face, while Mysterio delivered a 619 on The Big Show, which caused him to collapse onto the floor. After the match in a backstage segment, The Big Show appeared frustrated with Mysterio for being embarrassed by him. The feud escalated during the week before Backlash, during a match between The Big Show and Tajiri. After The Big Show performed a chokeslam on Tajiri, Mysterio came down to the ring and distracted The Big Show, which caused The Big Show to chase Mysterio at ringside, resulting in Tajiri winning the match via countout.

Aftermath

After Backlash, The Rock left WWE to focus on his acting career, as he filmed Walking Tall, a film co-produced by WWE Films, released in 2004. As The Rock left WWE, Goldberg began a feud against Chris Jericho on the April 28, 2003 episode of Raw, during Jericho's first episode of the Highlight Reel, an interview show, where Goldberg was the guest. During the segment, Jericho stated that no one wanted Goldberg in WWE, sparking a feud between the two wrestlers. Less than a month later, on the May 12, 2003 episode of Raw, a mystery assailant attempted to run over Goldberg with a limousine. The following week on Raw, Co-Raw General Manager Steve Austin interrogated several Raw superstars to find out who was the assailant. One of the interrogated was Lance Storm, who admitted that he was guilty. Austin then forced Storm into a match with Goldberg, who defeated Storm via pinfall. After the match, Goldberg forced Storm to admit that Jericho was the superstar who conspired Storm into running him over. On the May 26, 2003 episode of Raw, Goldberg yet again was a guest on the Highlight Reel, where Jericho and Goldberg agreed to a match at Bad Blood. At Bad Blood, Goldberg defeated Jericho via pinfall, after a Jackhammer.

Brock Lesnar engaged in a feud against The Big Show over the WWE Championship. The feud began on the May 1, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, where Lesnar cut an in-ring promo against Big Show, stating that he was a coward for defeating Rey Mysterio at Backlash. The Big Show later appeared on the stage, where he challenged Lesnar into a WWE Championship match. The following week on SmackDown!, it was announced that The Big Show would face Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Judgment Day in a Stretcher match. Later that night, the feud escalated during a Handicap match between Chris Benoit and the team of The Big Show and A-Train. Benoit lost via pinfall; after the match, Benoit was double-teamed by The Big Show and A-Train. The double-team caused Lesnar to come and assist Benoit to no avail, as The Big Show performed a chokeslam on Lesnar. At Judgment Day, Lesnar defeated The Big Show in the Stretcher match to retain the WWE Championship.

The aftermath of the six-man tag team match from Backlash, was a feud over the World Heavyweight Championship between Kevin Nash and the reigning champion, Triple H. The feud began on the April 28, 2003 episode of Raw, during a tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship involving Triple H and Ric Flair facing the reigning champions, Kane and Rob Van Dam. As Triple H attempted a pinfall on Rob Van Dam, Nash came down to the ring and chased Triple H to the backstage area with a sledgehammer. Triple H then ran towards a limousine, where Nash smashed the windows with the sledgehammer and threw it into the limousine, as it drove off with Triple H. The following week on Raw, Co-Raw General Managers, Austin and Eric Bischoff announced a World Heavyweight Championship match between Nash and Triple H at Judgment Day. At Judgment Day, Triple H was disqualified to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

Results

No	Results	Stipulation	Time
1H	Scott Steiner defeated Rico	Singles match
2	Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) (c) defeated Los Guerreros (Eddie & Chavo Guerrero)	Tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship
3	Sean O'Haire (with Roddy Piper) defeated Rikishi	SIngles match
4	Rob Van Dam and Kane (c) defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley)	Tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship
5	Jazz (w/ Teddy Long) defeated Trish Stratus (c)	SIngles match for the WWE Women's Championship
6	The Big Show defeated Rey Mysterio	Singles match
7	Brock Lesnar (c) defeated John Cena	Singles match for the WWE Championship
8	Triple H, Chris Jericho and Ric Flair defeated Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels and Booker T	Six-man tag team match
9	Goldberg defeated The Rock	Singles match
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match H – indicates the match was broadcast prior to the pay-per-view on Sunday Night Heat

Other on-screen personnel

English commentators Jonathan Coachman Jerry Lawler Michael Cole Tazz Spanish commentators Carlos Cabrera Hugo Savinovich Interviewers Lilian Garcia Terri Runnels

Ring announcers Howard Finkel Tony Chimel Referees Charles Robinson Nick Patrick Chad Patton Brian Hebner Earl Hebner Jim Korderas Mike Sparks

See also

• List of WWE pay-per view events
• Backlash