The Goldberg coronation was postponed last month at SummerSlam, as Triple H instead got to walk out still as the World Heavyweight Champion despite doing virtually nothing in the Elimination Chamber main event, and he completely humiliated Goldberg after the match, making this former walking weapon look like an absolute chump, handcuffed to the side of the Chamber and covered in blood. It was a horrific booking decision to say the very least, and now the Raw creative team had to find some way to make the audience take Goldberg seriously again, since the post-match angle was designed to set up a singles match between he and the champion. The solution, apparently, was to have Goldberg be willing to put his career at stake for another shot at Triple H, but the former WCW demigod didn't even get the big pop for making that wager, as it was Triple H that demanded the career-threatening stipulation, which has the effect of making Goldberg look like a complete bystander in his own world title feud, as Triple H is the one calling all the shots and dictating what comes next. Despite being in a main event program with one of the WWE's biggest stars, Goldberg feels like a total afterthought right now, and while it might be easy to cry sabotage, given his status as an outsider in the locker room, I really can't say with absolute certainty that the lazy and harmful booking Goldberg has experienced is anything beyond pure incompetence. It's not a stretch to think that Vince and co. may have thought this would work; after all, it's all following a fairly standard path for a build to a title match, Steve Austin and The Rock were at the mercy of significant heel beatdowns all the time, and the fans never thought less of them for it. But Goldberg is a special case as a main event babyface. He doesn't have the obvious charisma or in-ring acumen that would make fans easily glom onto him. Goldberg's character is that he's a walking force of nature, so if he isn't that, nobody cares. This entire rant is probably giving you a lot of spoilers on how I'll be reacting to tonight's main event, but let's see if the WWE can find some way to redeem Goldberg after a costly defeat.
- Unforgiven 2003 comes to you from the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the home of the Hershey Bears hockey team, and an occasional home for WWE television tapings, with this being the one and only pay-per-view hosted here. As this is a Raw-branded show, the regular Monday night team of Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler are on the call.
- Our opening contest is a handicap tables match with the World Tag Team Championships on the line, as La Resistance (Rene Dupree and Sylvain Grenier are now joined by Robert Conway) defend against the Dudley Boyz. The champions drew heat during the build with an infamous table spot, where they attempted to send Spike Dudley through a table with their Bonsoir finishing move, only to not have enough strength and Spike whacked the back of his head off the table instead, a very scary botch that Spike was lucky to walk away from. For whatever reason, this match includes a lot of wrestling and very little focus on table bumps, an odd choice considering the carnage could have hid how green Dupree, Grenier, and Conway are, and also drawn a bigger reaction from the crowd. As was the case for the opener at SummerSlam, Bubba and D-Von get most of the offense, hitting a back suplex/neckbreaker tandem move and the Wazzup, before D-Von is sent flying through a table after an Irish whip. This isn't an elimination match, no clue why, so D-Von can still hang around, and Dupree and Conway, two absolute idiots, decide to brawl with him on the outside, leaving Grenier along with Bubba, who naturally puts Sylvain through a table with a vertical suplex. D-Von saves Bubba from going through a table after a double back drop, and Conway then takes a double powerbomb through a table on the outside, with a second one set up next to it that he bashes his head off of. I guess this is the way of discipling these guys for the botch with Spike, and clearly the only way to solve potential head trauma is just to give out more of it, I guess. Grenier goes through a table with a 3D, and we have new champions. On the grand scale of tag team tables matches, this ranks very close to the bottom for me, La Resistance still have a lot of developing to do.
- I don't know who cursed the general viewing public so that we all have to sit through more Test and Scott Steiner, as they're somehow still fighting over Stacy Keibler's managerial services, although now it's been added on that Steiner becomes Test's property if he loses. I'm just going to gloss right over that particular stipulation. After Test and Steiner have struggled to generate much excitement wrestling each other in the past, the booking of this contest tries to win the crowd back by adding more involvement from Keibler, and a raft of near falls during the closing stretch. It doesn't do much to make this match any good, but at least the crowd did get to enjoy a sexy booty wiggle from Stacy to distract Test, so there's a ray of sunshine for ya. I did love Stacy running smack into Steiner while being chased by Test, that was great. Keibler's frequent interference ultimately backfires, as her wild chair shot strikes Steiner in the dome, and Test wins with a big boot.
- Randy Orton has been a little behind fellow OVW call-ups Brock Lesnar and John Cena, who have already begun to develop into stars on SmackDown, while Orton had largely toiled in the lower echelon of the roster through the first year on the WWE payroll. But after joining Evolution earlier in 2003, Orton has finally started to get a bit of a push, and he's wisely been paired up with Shawn Michaels, who is more than capable of getting the most out of this blue chipper. Orton cost Michaels at Bad Blood, competed in the main event of SummerSlam, and has taken one of the best WWE-created personas ever as the "Legend Killer", targeting many members of the old guard of wrestling, including a famous attack on Mick Foley during an episode of Raw at Madison Square Garden, kicking Foley down a flight of stairs. Randy gets his first big singles match here against Michaels, and while we would see far better from the young Orton in the future, including against HBK, this was still a solid outing for both men. Shawn controls much of the match early on, breaking out a diving crossbody to the floor and a German suplex, complete with the requisite amount of showmanship, with some slaps to the back of Orton's head and a lax pose across the top turnbuckle. Orton gains control after Shawn charges shoulder-first into the ring post, working over the arm with an armbar DDT and a few submission holds. Orton isn't the greatest at this type of mat work, and starts to lose the crowd, but luckily Shawn wins them back during his comeback routine. The two men put together some drama, with Orton countering Sweet Chin Music into an RKO for a near fall, and Ric Flair, Orton's mentor in Evolution, saving the match for young Randy by placing his foot on the rope after Sweet Chin Music connects. The ref doesn't initially notice Orton's foot placement, as he calls the match for Michaels before issuing a restart, and the chaos allows Flair to slide a set of brass knuckles to Orton, who lays Shawn out with multiple punches to the head to score a three count.
- Lita and Trish Stratus began to break through as major characters in the summer of 2000, feuding briefly with each other while both built extensive fan support due to their looks and charisma. Lita seemed to have significant potential as a star beyond the world of wrestling, but her foray into the acting world ended very quickly, picking up a serious neck injury while filming for Fox's Dark Angel, and her rehabilitation left her on the sideline for most of 2003. After 17 months out of the ring, Lita finally returned a couple weeks prior to Unforgiven, saving Trish from an attack by Molly Holly and the newly heel Gail Kim, setting up a tag match here on pay-per-view. These are four of the best from this era of women's wrestling, so it's no surprise they put on a solid match, with the best work coming from Gail, who has the athleticism and skill to really put over both faces. A cool spot sees Gail apply a Dragon Sleeper on Trish, who escapes by scaling the corner, ala Bret and Austin at Survivor Series '96, only Stratus gains even more height to float up and nail a Shiranui (Brian Kendrick's Sliced Bread #2). Lita flattens Gail with a powerbomb, and the two faces dismantle Molly, who takes Trish's top rope headscissors takedown, a reverse Twist of Fate from Lita, and is then finished off by the Litasault. It's a damn shame WWE never recognized Kim's potential, as she could've been a cornerstone for the division for years to come.
- Shane McMahon and Kane took an odd pit stop at SummerSlam, breaking from their violent feud to instead go after Eric Bischoff and Rob Van Dam, but now Shane and Kane can finally start trying to kill each other in a Last Man Standing match. It's real personal between these two men now, as Kane has not only Tombstoned Linda McMahon on the stage, he's also electrocuted Shane's testicles, which is how you know it's a blood feud. Shane immediately ambushes Kane, whacking the monster with a chair, but Kane shakes that off to hit a chokeslam. Shane evades the Tombstone on the steel steps, hitting a bulldog on the steps instead, and we get the first big spot of the match, Shane taking flight to hit the Coast to Coast, with Kane trapped in the corner by the steps, which are kicked into Kane's face. Kane gets back in control by tossing Shane into the Unforgiven sign on the pay-per-view set four times, then Lawn Darts Shane into the Spanish announce table, which seemed to be well out of harm's reach up near the stage, but is never truly out of danger because it's wrestling. Shane avoids having the table tossed onto him, choking Kane with electrical cords and hitting him with the arm of a camera rig. Shane, the idiot, then decides that it's a good time to try diving off the set. I have no clue what he was hoping to accomplish here, and all he gets is a big crash through part of the floor, and some obvious crash mats that at least remain hidden. The ref makes the ten count, and Kane gets the dub. This wasn't particularly terrific, as it's hard to buy Shane as a legit threat to Kane when the former isn't using weapons, and Shane's fall wasn't one of his more iconic bumps, although it was still a cool visual. There was enough inventive violence for this to remain interesting, and I will say that, contrary to what I've seen from some critics elsewhere, I didn't feel this was especially harmful to Kane's character. The loss of his mask and the subsequent aftermath are really what completed destroyed Kane's mystique, nothing that happened here could match the damage that had already been done.
- Christian's largely uneventful Intercontinental Championship reign chugs on here at Unforgiven, as he retains against Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam. These three workhorses put on a solid enough match, focused on Van Dam fighting against the numbers game, needing to find a way to fend off the two Canadians. He does land some impressive offense, with a moonsault to the outside and a double DDT, but the crowd is still recovering from seeing Shane's dive, so there isn't much reaction. The crowd does start to wake up for Jericho countering a hurricanrana by Van Dam into the Walls of Jericho, and a Five-Star Frog Splash delivered by Van Dam onto both Jericho and Christian gets a decent pop. The folks in Hershey also appreciate a Tower of Doom spot, with Van Dam holding Jericho in an electric chair on the top rope, and Christian then bringing both his challengers crashing down with a powerbomb to Van Dam. Van Dam attempts another Five-Star onto Christian after catapulting the champion into Y2J, but Christian gets his knees up and holds the IC title belt over them, resulting in a crash and burn from Van Dam that does enough damage for Christian to get the pin. Some good work here, but 18 minutes was definitely too much time.
- I really don't know why the WWE is so obsessed with having commentators involved in storylines, but at least normally, a commentator is feuding with an active wrestler, making sure there's at least somebody who's physically able to work a grudge match when it comes time for it. Here at Unforgiven, we've got a whole bunch of commentators fighting, none of whom are especially interesting to watch wrestle, in 2003 or ever. Al Snow and Jonathan Coachman, two heels who have the support of Eric Bischoff, are taking on the tenured duo of Ross and Lawler, and for some reason, this tag match is contested completely without commentary. Watching a tag match involving two non-wrestlers in Coach and Ross, plus a guy who's essentially retired in Lawler, would be painful enough, but there's no one who can put the action over for the crowd watching at home. It would've made sense to me to just have co-GMs Bischoff and Steve Austin do the commentary duties; I doubt they would be as good as Ross and Lawler, but it would be better than nothing, and it would make sense, as they should have a vested interest in the future of their on-screen product. As for the action, Lawler gets in some solid strikes on Snow, as well as his trademark piledriver, before nailing Coach with the diving fist drop and tagging in Ross. Poor old JR, who has never been properly trained to wrestle and isn't in anything close to proper shape for wrestling, tries his best, hitting Coach with an awful clothesline to the back, and some mounted punches. At least the crowd is into it, cheering Ross on and counting along to the punches, which are then interrupted by Chris Jericho, who brains Ross with a dropkick, allowing Coach to make the cover and signal a changing of the guard at the announce desk. Jericho's interference does make sense, as he's beefing with Austin, who has been close with Ross for a while, and this is setting the stage for Jericho's role at Survivor Series. Hilariously, despite losing, Ross and Lawler return to commentary for the main event role, showing how little faith the company has in Coachman and Snow, despite the fact they just won the right to be Raw's main commentary team. Who thought any of this was a good idea?
- Main event time, as Triple H defends the World Heavyweight Championship against Goldberg, with the challenger's career at stake, while the title can change hands on a count-out or disqualification, meaning Hunter will have to win decisively. If you've been paying any attention to my reviews of Goldberg matches, I think you will how I felt about this one, though his already lackluster work is accentuated in this one by Triple H's quad injury, forcing the champion to work at an even slower pace than usual. There wasn't much to this one, despite the fact that it lasted 15 minutes. Goldberg dominates early, but Triple H counters the Spear with a high knee, and he works over Goldberg's leg, which is a plot point that gets abandoned after Goldberg escapes a Figure Four. Both men trade some offense, and Goldberg avoids a Pedigree by sending Triple H to the floor with a back drop. At this point, you can tell that Goldberg is struggling, breathing heavy and ready to just go home. And go home we do, as Triple H nails Goldberg with a sledgehammer shot, which the challenger shakes off to connect with the Spear, then the Jackhammer, and we have a new champion. This was easily Goldberg's weakest match thus far, and while he did get a decent pop for the quick recovery after the sledgehammer shot, the reaction is nowhere near as electric as it was at SummerSlam. The WWE royally boned this one, and resulted in a forgettable end to Triple H's nine month reign with the gold.
4/10
Unforgiven 2003 was all over the place as a show, ending with a whimper after two absolute stinkers. The Last Man Standing match and IC title triple threat both had their moments, and Orton beating Michaels was a solid way to elevate a new star, but I can't say there's anything that took place on this night that I'll remember going forward. Outside of the main event title change, there wasn't anything particularly meaningful that took place on this night, and even that lacked any real oomph after Goldberg's star diminished heavily at SummerSlam.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: No Mercy 2003, where Brock Lesnar faces The Undertaker in a Biker Chain match, one year after their classic inside Hell in a Cell. See you soon.
- Henry
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