The Match of 2003

[BOSS Productions]

Well if you have been following my previous threads you will know that I LOVE the year 2003 and now Brock Lesnar (who was the face of the company at this time) is my 2nd favorite wrestler.

This thread is pretty straight forward , I want to know what your favorite match or the best match of the year 2003 is, it can be any match what so ever and please tell me why don't just list your favorite match. Here are my favorite matches in order
1). Hulk Hogan VS Vinnie Mac WM 19 Street Fight- I really loved this match for a couple of reasons : the 3 leg drops that Hogan used on Vince, the leg drop of the ladder and the chair shots during the first part of the match it just seemed great and I watch this match over and over again and plus there really old so this match was well excellent in my opinion and it takes the number one spot.
2). Brock Lesnar VS Kurt Angle WM 19- Well I really liked this match but knowing that Kurt and Brock were not 100 percent that night and knowing that it could have been better is the reason why it is not number one. The reason why it is number two is because of the shooting star press which may have missed but still was insane, a lot of wrestling moves used in this match and finally the fact that it was Brock Lesnars and Kurt Angles first match together which made it that much better.
3). Kurt VS Show VS Lesnar Vengeance 2003- I Liked this match because I believe this was the best year for all three of those guys and these guys really put a lot of effort into this match especially the Big Show knowing that he is not that good of a wrestler and overall this match was really good.

Those were my 3 choices , now pick your match or matches from the year of 2003 that you think were the best and state why , also if you have more than one match state which one is your favorite out of the amount of matches you list.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Um...

Summerslam 2003: Elimination Chamber

-Clearly it's the greatest match, not only of 2003, but of all time. It has you thinking that Goldberg is going to OWN Triple H. He plows through all of the competition while Trips cowers away in his chamber in classic heel style. Then when it comes down to Goldberg and Trips...Trips sucks the energy right out of the building with great heel tactics.

It's a formula for greatness...and whoever booked and scripted that match is a genius.

 

[Jsaturn14]

1: HBK vs Chris Jericho (WM 19): This was clearly the best match of the year. You have two hall of fame guys going at it. You have the classic story of the student battling the teacher with how Jericho Idolized HBK growing up. Add in the fact that it was a fantastic match to watch, with nobody really getting the upper hand for the entire match, the taunts by Jericho, the way it ended with just a simple roll-up, and then the ending of the match with the hug, and then the backstabbing by Jericho. Not to mention the buildup to the match starting in December of 2002.....yeah, definitely the single best match of the year.

2: Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar (Iron Man Match on Smackdown): This won the Match of the Year for 2003, and I can easily see why, even though the award should have gone to the aforementioned match. It was a fantastic match to watch, that shook up the Iron Man format with Brock getting himself disqualified by using the Chair right off, and then dominating the first half of the match before you had Kurt make his comeback. The ending of the match was particularly good with Kurt getting Brock in the Ankle Lock with about a minute left, and then Brock holding on for the win. Yeah, definitely one of the best matches of the year.

3: Hogan vs McMahon (WM 19): Awesome Match with some classic spots: The three leg drops from Hogan, the leg drop off the ladder by McMahon, Piper's Appearance, and my favorite part, Vince's glare over the ring as he got his lead pipe. Such a classic look with the blood on his face.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

Royal Rumble 2003- Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle. Technical wrestling personified. They saved the PPV from complete, utter disaster. If it wasn't for Benoit's murder-suicide in 2007, I could watch that match again and again. But even so, that match was so good that Benoit, the loser, got a standing ovation from the Boston crowd after the match was over. For me, it was the best match just out of pure wrestling ability. Favorite match of the year.

Honorable Mentions:

Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho- WrestleMania XIX- Again, another match which stole the show. This was heavily rumored to be Shawn Michael's last WrestleMania appearance at the time since no one really knew how well HBK's back could really hold up. The performance from both wrestlers was excellent with both performing technical wrestling, countermaneuvers, drawing the crowd in through their natural charisma, and kept fans at the edge of their seats. One of the top 10 WrestleMania matches ever for me.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit- Vengeance 2003- On what is probably my favorite brand exclusive PPV of any of the ones done over the years, this opening contest for the then vacant United States Championship was a gem. Eddie was getting a huge singles push and Chris Benoit was always a threat to whatever title he challenged for. Great technical match with plenty of high-risk maneuvers. But to me, I'll never forget the classic Lie, Cheat, and Steal moments with Eddie knocking out Benoit with the belt, trying to wake up the ref to catch Benoit with the title. Plus, the end with Eddie's expression after Rhyno "betrays" Benoit was priceless. It was the perfect end to the match and really put over the character in my opinion. RIP Eddie.

 

[Doctor Awesome]

I, too went with my favorite wrestling match of all time. It was @ the first PPV of the year, so the bar was set extremely high:

Match of the Year: Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle Royal Rumble Title Match
It for me to date is the best match that I have seen since. A perfect mix of strong style chain wrestling, submission, aerial attack, and all out brawling rolled into one. Benoit came closer than ever before, but still came up short. The standing ovation was so well deserved.

Honorable Mention:Rock vs. Austin WM 19 Stone Cold's farewell
It certainly wasn't their best match, but knowing the ramifications as many of us did, knew Austin was out and Rocky was close to ending a full time schedule, eventually gone in about a year. They really did a good job with the match, you could tell Austin was in real serious pain, and took (count em) 3 Rock Bottoms. The chat between the two in the middle of the ring, Rocky breaking the losing streak. And what a man, Austin put someone else over in his final match.

Honorable Mention:Triple H vs. Booker T WM17 World Title Match
I have always been a fan of this match, and felt that was when Booker T was at his best
as a singles wrestler in WWE. The storyline and buildup was put together very well, Trips was on fire as a heel w/Flair in his corner, and Booker T insulted and ridiculed for his past exploits. The match was real stiff, Seeing Booker T nearly pop H's head like a pimple with that 180 legdrop from the top. Trips working the knee, and using the old school Indian Deathlock made me mark out. Just a very good program, buildup and delivery.
Honorable Mention:

 

[TLC]

I'm going to say a match nobody has said yet and that is the 5 vs 5 tag match at Survivor Series 2003, of course I am talking about Team Bishoff vs Team Austin. The reason I chose this match is because I think it is one of the best elimination style matches ever. I just find it just a great match to watch even in the first 15 minutes or so when Mark Henry and The Dudleys are still in, still too me is very entertaining. I find the it amazing when its Shawn vs Christian, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton, I actually thought that Shawn was going to pull it off, he managed to eliminate two of them even wearing a crimson mask and he was so close to eliminating Randy before Batista ran in and powerbombed him. I was so shocked and really thought it was going to be Austin's last night.

Ofcourse he'd be back a number of times but was really shocking at the time.


Honourable mentions go to:

Shane McMahon vs Kane
Last Man Standing match
Unforgiven 2003

Now this is not the greatest match of all time, no where near in fact but it sure is entertaining, I just love watching it with the stops, it is pretty brutal with some of the shots and the ending I thought was very good with Shane needing to dive of the titan tron to put Kane down but Kane was able to get out of the way, really fun match to watch.

Triple H vs Shawn Michaels
Last raw of 2003

This match is a really good match between two athletes with great chemistry in the ring. This match was for the World Heavyweight championship, finally a good match for the World championship which had been lacking throughout the year. I really thought Shawn had it one with that fantastic ending but then Bishoff screwed him out of it, I so wanted him to kick Bishoff's head off. Still a really good match.

 

[kcordloh]

Benoit Angle RR: Just an amazing match, nothing I can say about it speaks to what it truely was.

Goldberg/Rock @ Backlash: I was a huge fan of both of these guys, so I really enjoyed seeing them lock up. Kind of like Hogan/Rock, doesn't hold up later on but at the time it was just amazing (at least for me).

Brock/Show w the ring collapse: not so much of a match as an angle, but damn if it didn't stick in my mind. And the match leading to that point was pretty good.

Team Angle/Team Brock: Really got over the pushes of Benoit & Cena, and as Benoit is my favorite wrestler of all time seeing him get built up for another title shot just excited me alot.

Benoit/Brock: WWE Title: Thanksgiving: WOW. Awesome match, I marked, then Lesnar retained and sucked the life out of the building. It reminded me of SS where Goldberg lost to HHH, only different. Benoit had just a genuine connection with the crowd, whereas Goldberg at that time was more "damn, HHH got lucky, oh well 'Berg will get it next time" and Benoit was "Oh no! He rarely gets shots at the belt!"

 

[therealicon86]

my favorite match was eric bischoff vs. shane mcmahon (summerslam 2003)
this match was my favorite because eric bischoff cut the most funniest promo of all time "vince why do you go out chasing hamburgers when you got a nice juicy felay menyon at home" pure gold and then he went on to describe what happened when he made out with linda mcmahon hahaha good mic work by bischoff.
it also revealed who the real jonathan coachman was lol andit also revealed that coach could do commentary by himself and he really put bischoff over and on top of that we saw what "stunned" stone cold----and that was shane giving the elbow to bischoff throguh the table.

runner up ....
booker t vs. triple h at wrestlemania 19
just because of jr and king's commentary and also the booker t impression oh and the houston hangover by booker t

 

[The Brain]

There were some great matches in 2003. I’m going to list my top five in descending order.

5. Triple H vs. Booker T, WrestleMania XIX:

I’m glad to see this was already mentioned. I’ve always felt it’s an underrated match. I thought the story was very good going in and the match was very solid. Great storytelling and great action. It’s just overshadowed by bigger matches on that card.

4. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels, RAW December:

This was a ppv quality match on free tv. In 2002 and 2003 SmackDown was delivering great matches and it was nice to get such a good one out of raw. I think the only time these two worked better together was SummerSlam 2002.

3. Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle, WrestleMania XIX:

I couldn’t wait to see this match. I hadn’t been so excited for a match since WrestleMania XII. Honestly it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but it was still great. I admit my expectations were too high, especially considering Angle was hurt. I always found it to be ironic that everyone was so worried about Kurt’s neck during the match, but in the end it was Lesnar who almost broke his neck.

2. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit, Royal Rumble:

In almost any other year this would be #1. This was a beautiful match. Angle and Benoit had clashed many times before, but this was their masterpiece.

1. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho, WrestleMania XIX:

This was a true classic. This is a great example of why I’m a wrestling fan. These two just had great chemistry together. The action was back and forth and the best part was I had no idea who was going to win. This is not only the match of 2003, but in my opinion the match of the decade.

Is it any wonder why WrestleMania XIX is my favorite? Three of the top five matches that year were at Mania. That doesn’t even include the famous matches of Austin vs. Rock and Hogan vs. McMahon. I hope someday something can top WrestleMania XIX, but it’s going to be tough.

 

[Blade]

Austin vs Rock has to be in any list of best matches from 2003. Sure it wasn't a technical masterpiece, but the build up was awesome and you just knew you were witnessing something special yet slightly sad. The news was out that Austin wasn't in great health and wouldn't be wrestling for much longer. And it was only a matter of time until the Rock went back to hollywood. So watching these to absolute icons go at it and have one last huge match was just great to behold. An unforgettable match that'll always have a special place in my heart.

Benoit vs Angle at the Royal Rumble was another classic. Not many people actually thought they'd be able to match their Wrestlemania 17 outing, but not only did they match it, they topped it. This was the match that kinda told the world that Chris Benoit was going to be getting his proper world title push very soon. And just a year later, he went on to win the Rumble.
The match had a good mix of technical wrestling and nice spots, and it was just a nearly perfect match that had people on the edge of their seats until the very end. And the standing ovation for Benoit at the end was awesome.