SummerSlam (2003)

Infobox Wrestling event
name=SummerSlam (2003)


theme="St. Anger" by Metallica [cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/news/1060371085.shtml|title=Full WWE SmackDown Results - 08/07/03 (Brock Lesnar turns heel and more)|last=Ouellette|first=Christopher|date=2003-08-07|publisher=WrestleView|accessdate=2008-07-10|Quote=Metallica's 'St Anger' is the theme song of SS this year.]
promotion=World Wrestling Entertainment
brand=Raw
SmackDown!
date=August 24, 2003
venue=America West Arena
city=Phoenix, Arizona
attendance=16,113
lastevent=Vengeance (2003)
nextevent=Unforgiven (2003)
event=SummerSlam
lastevent2=SummerSlam (2002)
nextevent2=SummerSlam (2004)

SummerSlam (2003) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on August 24, 2003 at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. [cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/2003/venue/|title=SummerSlam (2003) Venue|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|accessdate=2008-07-10] It was the 16th annual SummerSlam event and starred wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands.

Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The first was an Elimination Chamber match featuring wrestlers from the Raw brand fighting in a ring surrounded by a steel structure of chain and girders. World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeated Chris Jericho, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels to retain his championship. The other main event featured wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand, in which defending WWE Champion Kurt Angle defeated challenger Brock Lesnar in a standard wrestling match, also known as a singles match. Two featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a No Disqualification match between wrestlers from the Raw brand, Kane defeated Rob Van Dam. The other was a standard match involving four wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand; WWE United States Champion Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit, Rhyno, and Tajiri.

The event marked the second time the Elimination Chamber format was used by WWE; the first was at Survivor Series 2002. Including its scripted buildup, SummerSlam (2003) grossed over $715,000 ticket sales from an attendance of 16,113 and received about 415,000 pay-per-view buys, more than the following year's event. This event helped WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by $6.2 million from the previous year. When the event was released on DVD, it reached a peak position of third on "Billboard"'s DVD Sales Chart.

Background

The event featured nine professional wrestling matches with outcomes predetermined by WWE script writers. The matches featured wrestlers portraying their characters in planned storylines that took place before, during and after the event. All wrestlers were from either one of the WWE's brands - SmackDown or Raw - the two storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees.

Wrestlers from the Raw brand were featured in the main event at SummerSlam: an Elimination Chamber match, in which the ring is surrounded by a steel structure of chain and girders. The match was contested for the World Heavyweight Championship, in which Triple H (Paul Levesque) defended the title against Chris Jericho (Christopher Irvine), Goldberg (Bill Goldberg), Kevin Nash, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels. The buildup to the match began on July 22, 2003 during the SummerSlam press conference, where the authority figure Eric Bischoff, a portrayed match maker and rules enforcer, announced that Triple H would defend the championship against Goldberg in a standard wrestling match, known as a singles match, at the event.cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/news/1059451065.shtml|title=Shane McMahon returns to confront Kane|last=Martin|first=Adam|date=2003-07-28|publisher=WrestleView|accessdate=2008-07-03] cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reports_9/article_4709.shtml|title=7/28 WWE Raw: Powell's virtual time coverage (hour one) |last=Powell|first=Jason|date=2003-07-28|publisher=PW Torch|accessdate=2008-07-03] On August 4, 2003 during a television episode of "Raw", Bischoff announced that the World Heavyweight Championship match would be contested in a standard match under No disqualification regulations. Later during the episode, another authority figure, Steve Austin (Steven Williams), altered Bischoff’s announcement, stating that the championship would be contested in an Elimination Chamber match, with Triple H defending his title against Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Kevin Nash, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels.cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reports_9/article_4800.shtml|title=KELLER'S RAW REPORT 8/4: Ongoing "virtual time" analysis of live show |last=Keller|first=Wade|date=2003-08-04|publisher=PW Torch|accessdate=2008-07-03] cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20031205114124/raw.wwe.com/results/080403/results.html|title=Big Red Assault on Shane-O Mac|date=2003-08-04|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment (Internet Archive)|accessdate=2008-07-03] Six days before SummerSlam, during an episode of "Raw" on August 18, 2003, the staged rivalry among the six competitors intensified, as Jericho held a promotional interview segment in the ring, which he called the "Highlight Reel". During this segment, each participant in the Elimination Chamber discussed the match and taunted the other wrestlers. As a part of the storyline, later on the show during the main event of Orton versus Goldberg, Nash interfered in the match and attacked Goldberg. Michaels then came down to the ring, but as he was about to hit Triple H with the World Heavyweight Championship belt, Jericho ran into the ring and hit Michaels with a steel chair.cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20031205115544/raw.wwe.com/results/081803/results.html|title=Out of Control|date=2003-08-18|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment (Internet Archive)|accessdate=2008-07-03]

The other predominant match at SummerSlam featured wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand fighting in a standard match for the WWE Championship, in which Kurt Angle defended the title against Brock Lesnar. The hype to the match began on July 31, 2003 on an episode of "SmackDown!", the other main television program for WWE. During an interview promotion in the ring, Lesnar challenged Angle to a rematch of their bout at Vengeance, WWE's previous pay-per-view event. The WWE Chairman, Mr. McMahon (Vince McMahon), announced from the ring that Lesnar would have to earn his rematch by competing in a match in which a steel cage would enclose the ring. The match would be against McMahon himself, and would take place on SmackDown! the following week, with Angle officiating as a special guest referee.cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reports_9/article_4758.shtml|title=7/31 WWE Smackdown review: Angle & Lesnar test their friendship |last=Radican|first=Sean|date=2003-07-31|publisher=PW Torch|accessdate=2008-07-03] cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20041022042036/smackdown.wwe.com/results/073103/results.html|title=Caged Aggression|date=2003-07-31|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment (Internet Archive)|accessdate=2008-07-03] The Steel Cage match resulted in neither wrestler winning the match, after McMahon and Lesnar attacked Angle.cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20041009210228/smackdown.wwe.com/results/080703/results.html|title=Caged Destruction|date=2003-08-07|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment (Internet Archive)|accessdate=2008-07-03] cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reports_9/article_4869.shtml|title=8/7 WWE Smackdown review: Radican's reaction to program|last=Radican|first=Sean|date=2003-08-10|publisher=PW Torch|accessdate=2008-07-03] On August 14, 2003 during an episode of "SmackDown!", McMahon announced that Angle would defend the championship against Lesnar at SummerSlam.cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20041022235521/smackdown.wwe.com/results/081403/results.html|title=Stephanie Derailed!|date=2003-08-14|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment (Internet Archive)|accessdate=2008-07-03] cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reports_9/article_4934.shtml|title=8/14 WWE Smackdown review: Steph vs. A-Train headlines|last=Radican|first=Sean|date=2003-08-14|publisher=PW Torch|accessdate=2008-07-03]

Rob Van Dam (Robert Szatkowski) versus Kane (Glen Jacobs), wrestling under No disqualification regulations, was the main preliminary match that featured wrestlers from the Raw brand. The events leading up to this match began on July 7, 2003 when, in accordance with the scripted events, Kane attacked Van Dam backstage during an episode of "Raw". [cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reports_9/article_4513.shtml|title=7/14 WWE Raw: Powell's virtual time coverage (hour one) |last=Powell|first=Jason|date=2003-07-07|publisher=PW Torch|accessdate=2008-07-03] [cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20031205111901/raw.wwe.com/results/070703/results.html|title=Time to Move On|date=2003-07-07|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment (Internet Archive)|accessdate=2008-07-03] The following week on an episode of Raw, Bischoff granted Van Dam a standard match against Kane. [cite web|url=http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TV_Reports_9/article_4515.shtml|title=7/14 WWE Raw: Powell's virtual time coverage (hour two) |last=Powell|first=Jason|date=2003-07-14|publisher=PW Torch|accessdate=2008-07-03] [cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20031204052244/http://raw.wwe.com/results/071403/results.html|title=Kane sets Fire to J.R|date=2003-07-14|publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment (Internet Archive)|accessdate=2008-07-03] The match took place the following week on "Raw", which ended in neither wrestler winning the match. On August 4, 2003, Shane McMahon, the son of Mr. McMahon, announced that Kane and Van Dam would wrestle in a No Disqualification match at SummerSlam.

A standard match between four wrestlers for the WWE United States Championship was the other main preliminary match. The match featured wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand, where Eddie Guerrero defended the title against Chris Benoit, Rhyno (Terry Gerin), and Tajiri (Yoshihiro Tajiri). The buildup to the match began with two different staged rivalries, one between Guerrero and Tajiri, and the other between Benoit and Rhyno. On August 7, 2003 during an episode of "SmackDown!", Guerrero and Benoit were scripted to wrestle in a standard match. However, during the match, Rhyno and Tajiri interfered as part of the storyline, which ended in neither wrestler winning the match. Sgt. Slaughter (Robert Remus), a WWE official, promoted a tag team match between the team of Guerrero and Benoit and the team of Rhyno and Tajiri, which Guerrero and Benoit won. The following week on an episode of "SmackDown!", it was announced via a SummerSlam advertisement that Guerrero would defend the WWE United States Championship against Benoit, Rhyno, and Tajiri.

Event

References

External links

* [http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam/history/2003/ Official 2003 SummerSlam site]
* [http://www.insidearenas.com/western/USAirwaysCenter.htm Inside the U.S. Airways Arena (America West Arena)]