Of all the potential big name signings the WWF missed out on after the WCW buyout, perhaps none were bigger than Bill Goldberg. Goldberg had become an absolute megastar in WCW, a world-ending conqueror who left absolute destruction in his wake and unleashed a type of violence that had never been seen in the business before. His star did dip as WCW struggled to figure out what to do with him after the ending of his ungodly (and statistically inflated) 173 match winning streak, and by 2003, Goldberg was no longer the draw he had been in his prime. Still, he had retained his quick-twitch intensity and animalistic power that had comprised of his main appeal, and any mention of his name was sure to get at least some fans to tune in and witness more unfortunate souls be devoured. Setting Goldberg loose on The Rock was a good first step for the WWE to take upon Goldberg's signing, as "The Great One" had been doing fantastic work in the build to WrestleMania 19, drawing nuclear heat during his feuds with Steve Austin and The Hurricane. Rock was due for a return to Hollywood, and Goldberg being the man to send him packing was a perfect fit. Goldberg would deliver an a** whooping on a detested heel, picking up a completely clean win over one of the biggest names in entertainment, quickly positioning him as a man to be taken seriously and a looming threat for Triple H and the World Heavyweight Championship. It was all set up so perfectly, but we know with hindsight that Goldberg's first WWE run didn't exactly go smoothly. Tonight, on his first match in the company, we'll start to find out what went wrong.
- Backlash 2003 comes to you from the Worcester Centrum (now DCU Center) in Worcester, Massachusetts, the only WWE pay-per-view to date to take place in this venue. It was previously the host for WCW's Slamboree event in 1998, which took place a couple months before Goldberg's world title win over Hulk Hogan on an episode of Nitro, so there's an interesting piece of history for you. Michael Cole and Tazz are on the call for matches featuring competitors for SmackDown, while Jerry Lawler is joined by Jonathan Coachman to call the Raw-related matches, with Coachman filling in for Jim Ross, who quit the WWE in kayfabe over the management of Eric Bischoff.
- Our opening contest is for the WWE Tag Team Championships, the SmackDown tag titles, as Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) defend against Los Guerreros. Haas and Benjamin carry out a framed photo of Kurt Angle to position at ringside, as they've dedicated this match to their leader, who is still recovering from neck surgery and hasn't appeared since WrestleMania. There is certainly a lot of potential in the ring here, with four outstanding athletes who had some great tag matches in their time, but this was merely acceptable, brought down somewhat by the relative inexperience of the champions. Haas and Benjamin work a lot of holds in this one, losing some of the crowd's excitement, though the moments where the action does pick up are stellar. Chavo has a great hot tag, drilling a dropkick on Haas and Benjamin, before taking a hellacious powerbomb from Shelton. Eddie hits a gorgeous missile dropkick on Haas, and follows up with a Frog Splash later on when he's not the legal man. Just in general, there's a lot of cheating on both sides of this match, as neither team is anything approaching honorable, and each will do whatever it takes to win. In the end, Haas and Benjamin pull out a classic cheap finish, Benjamin snatching Chavo's leg with Haas about to receive a suplex, and Haas falls on top of Eddie to make the pinfall, with Benjamin still clutching Chavo's ankle. The two youngsters may have gotten the better of this match, but Eddie and Chavo still come out on top, thanks to a post-match attack where Eddie launches Chavo into a big dive to wipe out the champions, and Los Guerreros hightail with the gold, absconding into the night in a lowrider with "La Cucaracha" blasting. The crowd absolutely loved this ending, and it was an entertaining way to progress the feud between the two teams.
- It seemed as if Sean O'Haire was being primed for a big push in early 2003, starring in a series of compelling vignettes as a new "Devil's Advocate" character, excusing drug use and crimes. There was something there with this persona, but it was likely far too abstract for the WWE to actually portray on their programming, so instead, he was partnered up with the recently returned Roddy Piper as Piper's ally/protege. The two make for a very odd fit, and O'Haire's win over Rikishi on this night wasn't anything impressive. This match plays off the history between Piper and Jimmy Snuka, though I'm not quite sure why Rikishi would be fighting for Snuka's honor, they don't have anything in common. After a short and clunky match, Rikishi smacks Piper with a coconut, and O'Haire picks up the win with his finisher, The Prophecy, a weird inverted Death Valley Driver-esque move.
- Rob Van Dam and Kane have butted heads with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff frequently over the past few months, mainly due to each man's feud with Triple H, who is in the good graces of Bischoff, and their World Tag Team Championships have been put in serious jeopardy on this night as a result. RVD and Kane defend against the Dudley Boyz, with Eric's right hand man, Chief Sean Morley (Val Venis) as the likely corrupt referee. Van Dam is the absolute star of this match, showboating by moonsaulting off the top rope before hitting Bubba with a dropkick in the corner, and later taking a middle rope leaping neckbreaker from D-Von, the spot of the match. The match descends into absolute chaos from there, with Kane leaping from the top rope to hit a big clothesline on Bubba, only to then take a low blow from Morley, his first real involvement in the match. Morley misses a clothesline to Van Dam, hitting Bubba instead, and D-Von, who already didn't trust Bischoff and Morley, goes berserk. Lance Storm, an ally of Morley's, runs in to go after D-Von for his treachery, only to take a Bubba Bomb, and Morley is then planted with a 3-D. Kane and Van Dam take advantage of the moment, with the former dropping Bubba with a chokeslam, and the latter delivering the Five-Star Frog Splash as a new referee runs in to make the three count. Those final few minutes were complete anarchy and so much fun, making up for a match that didn't do a whole lot prior to that point.
- Theodore "Teddy" Long, who been restricted to referee work in the WWE since leaving WCW, has finally re-entered the managerial scene, picking up Jazz as a client. The new partnership pays off immediately with a Women's Championship win over Trish Stratus here at Backlash in a solid match. Jazz exploits injuries that Trish suffered at the hands of the Dudleys, who were instructed to attack her to earn their tag title shot, and both women combine for a very impressive spot, Jazz blocking Trish's headscissors takedown on the top rope, catching Stratus by the leg and falling down into a single leg Boston Crab. Trish breaks out a Boston Crab of her own, and copies a spot Jazz often used, transitioning from the Crab into an STF. Teddy Long's presence at ringside is the difference maker here, as he chucks a shoe at Trish after the Stratusfaction connected, certainly a unique way to break up a cover. Jazz counters a sunset flip, sitting down on Stratus and gaining leverage by holding onto the middle rope to win the gold.
- The Big Show spent the first couple months of 2003 in a feud with The Undertaker, and it didn't do a whole lot for him, with a couple dull matches against Undertaker at No Way Out and WrestleMania, the latter being a handicap match where Show teamed with A-Train. The creative team needs Show to be presented as a threat again so he can be set up as a challenger for Brock Lesnar, so Show gets to absolutely demolish Rey Mysterio here in a fun extended squash. Rey does get some shots in during their match, even hitting three consecutive 619s, striking the gut, leg, and head of Big Show, but the West Coast Pop is blocked and Rey gets planted with a chokeslam. Just to make sure Big Show is being taken seriously, Rey then takes a horrifying bump after the match, being strapped to a gurney and swung into the ring post, Mysterio landing head first on the floor. That spot was just asking for trouble, Rey could've easily sustained some serious head trauma there, he got off lucky.
- There might not be any gimmick more beneficial to a career than John Cena becoming a street-tough, trash-talking white rapper, a complete departure from his bland good guy persona and one that instantly began to elevate his stock. Cena has been thrown straight into the fire, challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship, a massive leap for a guy that had been on the verge of being cut just months prior. Even more impressive, Cena isn't here to be embarrassed by Brock or anything, this is a competitive title match with plenty of offense by both champion and challenger, and while Cena isn't terribly impressive in the ring, he still bring plenty to the table, drawing tons of heat during his pre-match rap, before holding his own against Brock by using his grasp of psychology. Brock overpowers Cena early, tossing the challenger around the ring with a a fallaway slam, a fisherman's suplex, and a big press slam. But Cena gets into it by exploiting Brock's taped forehead, which Cena had busted open on SmackDown using his steel chain and the WWE title belt, and Brock gets opened up again. The crowd is hooked as both men trade offense, Cena nearly winning it with a DDT and a low blow. Cena's downfall comes when he attempts to take a swing with the chain, which is stopped by the referee. Brock then gets Cena up for the F-5, retaining his gold, a result that was never truly in doubt, although both men did an excellent job of making it seem like it might be.
- While SmackDown's main event scene featured a fresh match between two rising stars in the WWE, Raw has continued to be led by big names of the past, with the debut of Goldberg and the return of Kevin Nash, back from yet another quad tear to target his buddy, Triple H. Everything about this feud seems like an absolute throwback to me, from Nash main eventing as a babyface to the continual squabbles between members of the Kliq, to the fact that there is no world title defense on this pay-per-view, as instead Nash teams with Shawn Michaels and Booker T to take on Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho in a six man tag. I guess the thought was to avoid giving away the Nash/Triple H singles match right away, to try and have the champion run away from his new challenger and build anticipation for a showdown later on, but the crowd here in Worcester is having none of it. Nash's time on offense is met with silence, as the folks in attendance obviously aren't impressed by his style and vastly prefer the younger, more athletic talents. When Nash isn't in there, this match is entertaining and moves at a quick pace, with Shawn spending a lot of time in the ring, getting mocked by Jericho and trading offense with Flair. Booker, already becoming a forgotten man in the world title scene thanks to the drama between Helmsley, Michaels, and Nash, does get a moment to shine in this match, hitting an Axe Kick and getting a big pop for the Spinaroonie. I did love the tandem move Flair and Jericho pulled off, with Ric getting Shawn locked in the Figure Four, and Y2J then hitting a Lionsault. Jericho eats a Jackknife from Nash, but with the ref down, Triple H sneaks in to drill Nash with his trusty sledgehammer to pick up the win. Figures that even in a match designed to put over the danger Nash presents to Triple H, "The Game" still wins anyway, totally undermining the story being told just so Hunter can add another dub to his tally.
- Main event time, as Goldberg and The Rock collide in the former WCW Champion's debut match in the WWE. Right out of the gate, it seems like Vince and the booking team fundamentally misunderstand a large amount of Goldberg's appeal, which was his destructive nature showcased in quick squash matches. Goldberg's opponents could get offense in, sure, but when he went on the attack, it was pretty much over, no one could take what he dished out for very long. But the WWE had relied on long, competitive, story-drive contests in the main event scene for a number of years, and didn't adjust to compensate for Goldberg's style. The result was a slow, uninteresting match, where you can just tell that the crowd gets more and more disappointed in what they're seeing out of Goldberg, who has been robbed of everything that made him special. He's just another guy now, albeit one with some devastating moves in his repertoire that aren't as impressive when spaced out over a 13 minute match. Goldberg's mystique also takes a hit due to just how much Rock was able to dish out in this one, as Rock hits all of his best offense, getting near falls off a Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow. I guess the idea was to have Goldberg brush off Rock's best shots and then pulverize "The Great One", but Goldberg ended up looking way too beatable here, he's supposed to be a killing machine, but he was laying on the canvas for huge portions of time. Goldberg did at least get the emphatic win in the end, drilling two Spears and the Jackhammer, but this way closer than it ever should have been. Rock could've just had his fun, entertained the crowd for a bit, then gotten absolutely slaughtered in quick and decisive fashion, but no, Goldberg had to be presented the exact same way as every other member of the main event, to his great detriment.
6/10
Relying so heavily on Kevin Nash and a poor man's interpretation of Goldberg was never going to be a recipe for success, and Backlash 2003 largely disappointed. There was some good to be found on the undercard; the Big Show/Rey match was an entertaining iteration of the classic big man versus little man formula, both tag title matches had their moments, and Cena showed his vast potential in the WWE Championship match, though nothing really stuck out overall.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: Judgment Day 2003, where Brock Lesnar defends his WWE Championship against the Big Show in a Stretcher Match. See you soon.
- Henry
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