10 Fascinating WWE Survivor Series 2003 Facts
Shawn Michaels makes believers out of the cynics.
There weren't too many WWE pay-per-views in 2003 that one could consider "good". Aside from WrestleMania XIX, Vengeance, and half of Royal Rumble, the batch was an especially weak one in terms of quality. Survivor Series falls somewhere in the middle of the year's rankings - better than outright abominations like Judgment Day, Unforgiven, and Armageddon, but notches below the aforementioned truly great shows of the year.
The match that keeps Survivor Series 2003 firmly out of the cellar is Raw's five-on-five elimination match. In it, Shawn Michaels delivers on one of the best-booked stories of grit and determination, trying to survive three-on-one odds and a copious amount of blood loss in order to save Steve Austin's job. It was a rare bit of tense business in a time where genuine drama was lacking.
Otherwise, Survivor Series 2003 was a bit murky. The McMahon men each faced off with the different Brothers of Destruction in gimmick matches that ranged from "overbooked and nonsensical" (Shane vs. Kane) to "bloody but dull" (Vince vs. Undertaker). The Goldberg/Triple H World Championship main event was a pretty bland finale, though there were reasons for that. In all, Survivor Series 2003 was a bit of a downer from the previous year's, but one match makes it worth a watch.
Here are ten facts about Survivor Series 2003 you may not have known.
10. The Cruiserweight Title Match Was Bumped To The Pre-Show
It was a decent, if unspectacular, four-minute match on Sunday Night Heat when Cruiserweight champion Tajiri went over on Jamie Noble. There was actually a storyline in play: Tajiri had blinded Noble's girlfriend Nidia with the dreaded black mist, and Noble was naturally avenging her like any self-respecting redneck beau would.
The match was originally scheduled for the pay-per-view itself, but later bumped to Heat. According to Figure 4 Weekly, the match was reportedly pulled from the pay-per-view so that WWE could run a bit in which Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (the event was in Dallas) endured an RKO from a young Randy Orton.
The angle was fairly well executed, and Cuban bumped exceptionally well for a non-wrestler. However, the move is said to have angered a number of wrestlers who felt the match should not have been tinkered with.