-McMahon were hogging tv like crazy! Vince, and Stephanie in the I quit match, Shane getting the better of Kane in their feud, Linda McMahon putting Kane on "house arrest", Stephanie McMahon main eventing Smackdowns vs the likes of the Big Show and Albert, Vince and Sable the couple, and Stephanie McMahon's awful acting in her last promo before the I quit match.
-Triple H hogged the world title and made others look bad in the process.
-The misuse of Goldberg
-Stone Cold vs Eric Bischoff in a redneck triathlon.
-Kevin Nash headlining ppvs who at this point was practically immobile.
With the exception of Vince vs. Steph, the majority of terrible things to come out of 2003 happened on Raw. Smackdown had its shit moments, but not nearly as dreadful as what Raw had became. Now to try to defend the some of the crap that went down on Raw:
1. Never have I seen Shane as interesting until his fight with Kane. And Tombstone Piledriving Linda, a political hopeful, was hilarious.
2. Triple H always catches shit for his early 2000s run as World Champion. But you have to look at the roster at the time and wonder who on Raw could have taken the belt off of 'H and still draw as much as he was? HBK and Goldberg were the only believable guys.
All the other threats were on The Blue Show.
3. Goldberg misused? He was the biggest thing to come out of WCW that the WWE could acquire. There was nothing they could possibly do with him to make him a bigger name besides beat Triple H, and so he did. His drawing power stayed the same even facing La Resistance. I just chalk this up to not having anything for such a big name to do besides face someone on the other show.
And you see how that turned out.
4. I agree Kevin Nash even then was passed his prime, but one of the best storylines to come from Raw at the time that didn't involve Shawn Michaels was Nash facing his former friend, the one he hugged it out with at the MSG Incident, Triple H. It told a good story of betrayal.
My 2 cents on Raw 2003: Having Booker T face Triple H at WrestleMania with no real buildup was, in my opinion, the worst part of 2003on the Raw side. Everything screamed that Rob Van Dam, someone who had arguably the biggest pop at the time, should have taken Booker's place. At least that way RVD had a solid revenge-angle going for him; Triple H cheating his way to beat him earlier that year. But no WWE went with Booker T vs. Triple H that played a lot like R-Truth's "I came from prison" gimmick, mixed in with a bland underdog story and racial undertones.
Now, onto Smackdown...
-Roddy Piper coming back to rekindle a feud with Hulk Hogan from 20 years earlier!
You didn't enjoy that? I admit, Mr. America, fun as it was, in hindsight was a terrible idea, but having 2 men with still a little in them squaring off like they did "back in the day" made for a great story that is rare to tell in this day and age.
How it started was epic. Where it ended up was the shitty part.
-Torrie Wilson/Dawn Marie/Al Wilson drama which ended with him "dead".
But...but...the Bra and Panties Matches?? Shouldn't that angle be forgiven for that?
And personally, I love kayfabe heaven.
-Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar in a "biker chain match" main events No Mercy which is a huge stepdown from their awesome hell in a cell match from a year earlier.
I agree that it was a step down, but having Undertaker fight Brock Lesnar sold tickets no matter what, and was good business. They could have fought in a Tuxedo Match and still put asses in seats.
My 2 cents for Smackdown: To me, the worst part of 2003 was a segment that promised so much, and gave us so little. I am talking about the Torrie Wilson/Jamie Noble "If you beat Billy Gunn, I will sleep with you." Match. Of course with that kind of stipulation, Jamie Noble won, and what did the 18-35 year old male demographic get? Jamie Noble, Nidia, Torrie Wilson, and Billy Gunn all sharing a bed and just chilling. This was the predecessor of trolling.
I personally think 2002 was a worse year for WWE- you at least had solid performers all over the place, but what did we get for storyline? "Hot Lesbian Action" and Katie Vick. I rest my case.