The 2003 Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. It was the 16th annual Royal Rumble event and took place on January 19, 2003, at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the first Royal Rumble held after the first brand split was introduced in March 2002 and it was also the first Royal Rumble produced under the WWE name after the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May 2002.
The event was based around the men's Royal Rumble match, a modified 30-man battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time with the winner receiving a world championship match at WrestleMania. Previously, there was only one world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania, but due to the brand split, which led to the creation of a second world championship with each brand having its own top title, the 2003 Royal Rumble winner received a match for their respective brand's world championship at WrestleMania XIX, either Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown!'s WWE Championship. This was in turn the first time in which two world championships were eligible to be challenged for by the winner.
Six matches were contested at the event, as well as one match taped for the Sunday Night Heat pre-show. The main event was the 2003 Royal Rumble match, which was won by SmackDown!'s Brock Lesnar, who last eliminated The Undertaker, also from SmackDown!. On the undercard, the primary match for Raw saw Triple H versus Scott Steiner for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Steiner won by disqualification resulting in Triple H retaining the championship as titles do not change hands by disqualification unless stipulated. The main match for SmackDown! was between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit for the WWE Championship, which Angle won by making Benoit submit to the Ankle Lock, thus retaining the championship.
Production
Background
The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling event, produced every January by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 1988; that first event was a television special before it became an annual pay-per-view (PPV) beginning in 1989. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs with the addition of King of the Ring in 1993 until it was discontinued as an annual PPV after its June 2002 event. It is named after and centered on the men's Royal Rumble match. The 16th Royal Rumble event took place on January 19, 2003, at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts.
This was the first Royal Rumble to occur under the first brand extension introduced in March 2002, which split the roster between the Raw and SmackDown! brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform on their respective shows. The 2003 event in turn included wrestlers from both brands. It was also the first Royal Rumble held under the WWE name, following the promotion being renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May 2002.
The Royal Rumble match is a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time, and the match generally features 30 wrestlers. Since 1993, the winner earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. Previously, there was only one world championship to challenge for at WrestleMania. As a result of the brand extension, which led to the creation of a second world championship with each brand having its own top title, the winner of the 2003 Royal Rumble match earned a match for their brand's top championship at WrestleMania XIX: Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown!'s WWE Championship. This made it the first Royal Rumble to feature the World Heavyweight Championship, following its introduction on Raw in September 2002 after the WWE Undisputed Championship became exclusive to SmackDown! and was renamed as WWE Championship. This was subsequently also the first time in which two world championships were eligible to be challenged for by the winner of the titular match.
Storylines The event comprised six matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown! brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown!.
The buildup to the Royal Rumble match began on the December 23, 2002 episode of Raw, when Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff informed viewers that the upcoming Royal Rumble match would feature 15 wrestlers representing the Raw brand and 15 wrestlers representing the SmackDown! brand, since this would be the first Royal Rumble match to take place after WWE's brand extension. The buildup continued on the January 2 episode of SmackDown!, where a vignette aired hyping the impending return of The Undertaker in the Royal Rumble match. Later that night, Paul Heyman announced that Brock Lesnar and Big Show would wrestle in a match at the PPV, with the winner receiving a spot in the Royal Rumble match. On the January 6 episode of Raw, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels argued over who would be drawing the #1 entry in the Royal Rumble match. On the January 13 episode of Raw, a Royal Rumble qualification match took place in which Jeff Hardy defeated Raven. Later that night, Jericho defeated Batista, Kane and Rob Van Dam in an over the top rope Challenge to earn the right choose an entry number of his choice. Jericho chose #2 because #1 was already given to Michaels.
Royal Rumble qualification matches Jeff Hardy defeated Raven - Raw January 13 Chris Jericho defeated Batista, Kane, and Rob Van Dam in a battle royal Raw January 13
The main feud heading into the event from the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit over the WWE Championship. At Armageddon, Angle defeated Big Show after interference from Brock Lesnar, to win his third WWE Championship. Prior to Armageddon, Angle had promised Lesnar that he would get his suspension lifted if he aided Angle in defeating Big Show. Angle had also promised to give Lesnar the first title shot after winning the championship. However, despite helping Angle win the title, Lesnar was not given his title shot as promised. On the December 19 episode of SmackDown!, Angle announced that he had hired Paul Heyman as his manager and that the two had conspired to get Lesnar reinstated just prior to Armageddon, only to reinforce a stipulation that Heyman had written into Lesnar's contract that he would not receive a title shot if he had lost to Heyman's other client, Big Show, at Survivor Series. Instead, Angle signed to defend against Big Show, who was irate about being used by Heyman and Angle, but went along due to promises made to him by Heyman. Later that night, Angle lost to Benoit in a non-title match by disqualification when Big Show interfered in the match and attacked Benoit. However, Lesnar rescued Benoit from the post-match assault by Angle and Big Show and brutally assaulted Angle, injuring him. On the December 26 episode of SmackDown!, as a result of Angle's injury, the SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon cancelled Angle's scheduled title match against Big Show and decided that Big Show would wrestle Benoit to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble; Benoit won the match.
The main rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Triple H and Scott Steiner over the World Heavyweight Championship. On October 24, WWE had announced on its official website that Scott Steiner had signed a three-year contract with WWE. After eight years away from the company, Steiner returned to WWE as a free agent at Survivor Series and attacked Matt Hardy and Christopher Nowinski for insulting New York City. Steiner was then approached by both the Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and the SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon, each looking to sign Steiner to their respective brands. He initially decided to join the SmackDown! brand, but after McMahon rejected Steiner's advances, he moved to the Raw brand. At Armageddon, Triple H defeated Shawn Michaels in a Three Stages of Hell to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The following night on Raw, Triple H held an Appreciation Ceremony on winning the title but the ceremony was interrupted by Steiner, who announced that his contract said that he would earn a world title shot. As a result, Steiner and Triple H's match for the World Heavyweight Championship was made official for the Royal Rumble.
The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the Raw brand was between Lance Storm and William Regal and The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) over the World Tag Team Championship. On the December 23 episode of Raw, General Manager Eric Bischoff forced Raw commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler to wrestle in a tag team match against Storm and Regal for making bad comments against Bischoff. Ross and Lawler defeated Storm and Regal after interference by the Dudley Boyz. As a result, on the January 6 episode of Raw, Bischoff forced the Dudley Boyz to wrestle 3-Minute Warning (Rosey and Jamal), Rico and Batista in a handicap match. Storm and Regal avenged their loss by costing the Dudley Boyz the match. Later that night, Storm and Regal defeated Booker T and Goldust for the World Tag Team Championship. This led to a title match being signed between Storm and Regal and the Dudley Boyz at the Royal Rumble.
The secondary rivalry heading into the event from the SmackDown! brand was between Torrie Wilson and Dawn Marie. At Armageddon, Torrie and Dawn did a lesbian segment in a hotel room. On the December 19 episode of SmackDown!, Torrie gave bad remarks about her storyline father Al Wilson on getting married with Dawn. On the January 2 episode of SmackDown!, Dawn and Al had their storyline wedding in their undergarments. On the January 9 episode of SmackDown!, Josh Mathews announced that Dawn and Torrie would wrestle in a match at Royal Rumble billed as a "Stepmother" vs "Stepdaughter" match.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsJim Ross Jerry Lawler Michael Cole Tazz Spanish commentatorsCarlos CabreraHugo SavinovichInterviewerJonathan CoachmanRing announcerHoward Finkel Tony Chimel RefereesCharles Robinson Nick Patrick Jack Doan Earl Hebner Mike Chioda Jim Korderas Brian Hebner Mike Sparks Chad PattonJacqueline General managersEric Bischoff Stephanie McMahon
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Spike Dudley defeated Steven Richards by pinning him after a Dudley Dog. The match aired live on Sunday Night Heat.
Preliminary matches The first match was a Royal Rumble qualification match between Big Show and Brock Lesnar. After Paul Heyman distracted Lesnar, Big Show executed a chokeslam on Lesnar for a near-fall. Big Show attempted another chokeslam on Lesnar, but Lesnar countered the move and pushed Big Show into Heyman, causing Heyman to fall off the ring apron. Lesnar executed an F-5 on Big Show to win the match and qualify for the Royal Rumble match. A backstage interview occurred next where Terri Runnels questioned Chris Jericho why he decided to enter the Royal Rumble at number 2 instead of number 30. Jericho said he was trying to make himself famous because Shawn Michaels was entering at number 1 (Which he won from in the 1995 Royal Rumble and who he was feuding with).