Backlash (2003)

The 2003 Backlash was the fifth Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event took place on April 27, 2003, at the Worcester Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was the first Backlash event held under the WWE name after the promotion was renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May 2002. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WrestleMania XIX.

The main event and featured match of the Raw brand was the encounter of Goldberg and The Rock, where Goldberg, in his first WWE pay-per-view, defeated The Rock by pinfall, following a spear and a Jackhammer. The featured match on the undercard was a WWE Championship match from the SmackDown! brand, between John Cena and the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar, where Lesnar defeated Cena by pinfall after an F-5. The other predominant match on the undercard was a six-man tag team match from the Raw brand, between the team of Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho facing Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and Booker T. Triple H, Flair, and Jericho won the match by pinfall, after Triple H hit Nash with a sledgehammer. The predominant undercard match from the SmackDown! brand was the encounter of The Big Show and Rey Mysterio Jr., where Big Show pinned Mysterio after a chokeslam.

The event grossed $450,000 with 10,000 ticket sales and had a 0.67 buyrate. Following the event, Goldberg began a feud with Chris Jericho. At Bad Blood, Goldberg defeated Jericho via pinfall after a Jackhammer. Brock Lesnar began a storyline with The Big Show over the WWE Championship. At Judgment Day, Lesnar defeated The Big Show in a Stretcher match to retain the WWE Championship. Triple H engaged in a storyline with Kevin Nash over the World Heavyweight Championship. At Judgment Day, Nash defeated Triple H via disqualification; due to WWE regulations, Triple H retained the championship.

Production

Background

Backlash is a pay-per-view (PPV) event that was established by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 1999. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania. The 2003 event was the fifth event in the Backlash chronology and featured the backlash from WrestleMania XIX. It was scheduled to take place on April 27, 2003, at the Worcester Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. It was also the first Backlash event held under the WWE name after the company changed its name from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May 2002.

Storylines

The main event at Backlash was the encounter of Goldberg and The Rock; the main feud from the Raw brand heading into the event. The feud began on the March 31 episode of ''Raw'', where The Rock held a segment entitled ''The Rock Appreciation Night'', a segment intended to promote his win against Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIX. During the segment, The Rock discussed the list of people he has beaten in his career including Austin, wondering who would challenge him next into a match. Goldberg then made his WWE debut, as he came down to the ring and stated that he would be The Rock's next challenger. After the confrontation, Goldberg speared The Rock. On the April 7 episode of ''Raw'', Goldberg and The Rock had another confrontation, where Goldberg provoked The Rock into answering his challenge, but The Rock refused. The Rock finally accepted Goldberg's challenge on the April 14 episode of ''Raw'' via satellite. On the April 21 episode of ''Raw'', the feud intensified as The Rock held another segment entitled ''The Rock Concert'', where he mocked Goldberg with Gillberg, a wrestler whose gimmick was to parody Goldberg. Later into the segment, Goldberg appeared from the audience and entered the ring, only to have The Rock execute a Rock Bottom on him.

The predominant match at Backlash was a WWE Championship match between John Cena and the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar; the main feud from the SmackDown! brand heading into the event. Their feud began on February 13 on ''SmackDown!'', when Lesnar and Cena last fought, which ended with Lesnar almost ending Cena's career by using the F-5 to propel his leg into a ring post. At WrestleMania XIX, Lesnar challenged for the WWE title held by then-champion Kurt Angle. Toward the end of the match, Lesnar botched a shooting star press when he underestimated the distance, slamming his head into Angle's side and ribcage. This stunned Lesnar and forced Angle to improvise the finish of the match. Lesnar then capitalized and regained the WWE title. On the April 3 episode of ''SmackDown!'', General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced a WWE Championship tournament, where the winner would receive a WWE Championship match at Backlash against Lesnar. John Cena was involved in the tournament, where he defeated Chris Benoit in the finals on the April 17 episode of ''SmackDown!'' to earn a WWE Championship match at Backlash. On the April 24 episode of ''SmackDown!'', the feud intensified during a main event match involving Lesnar and A-Train, where Cena interfered by breaking a pinfall attempt by Lesnar. After the match, Cena hit Lesnar with his trademark chain and the WWE Championship title belt.

The main match on the undercard from the Raw brand, was a Six-man tag team match involving the team of Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho facing Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and Booker T. The feud began on the March 31 episode of ''Raw'', in a backstage segment, where Booker T was being medically attended following his title match with Triple H at WrestleMania XIX, as Flair came into the scene to confront and taunt Booker T. Later that night, Jericho cut a promo, where he complained that he should have won his match against Michaels at WrestleMania XIX. After the promo, Booker T defeated Jericho via disqualification after Flair interfered in the match and attacked Booker T. Afterwards, Triple H came down to the ring, where he, Jericho, and Flair attacked Booker T simultaneously. The attack caused Michaels to come down to the ring to help Booker T to no avail, as Jericho locked Michaels in the Walls of Jericho and Triple H locked Booker T in an Indian deathlock. On the April 7 episode of ''Raw'', Nash entered the feud during a main event tag team match with Triple H and Jericho facing Michaels and Booker T. After Booker T pinned Triple H to earn the victory for his team, Flair came into the ring and attacked Booker T, followed by Jericho attacking Michaels with a steel chair. The attack led to the return of Nash, who had been sidelined with an injury, who attacked Jericho and Flair. After the turn of events, Triple H prepared to hit Nash with a sledgehammer, only to retreat the ring soon afterwards. The week later, Nash said that he wanted Michaels and Triple H to be friends again, only for Triple H to tell him that they should side together, as Michaels turned on Nash in 1994. Triple H and Flair fought against Booker T and The Hurricane and lost thanks to Michaels. Jericho then attacked Michaels and Nash came to the rescue, but accidentally hit Booker T with the Sledgehammer. The feud intensified on the April 21 episode of ''Raw'' during a main event World Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T, and the reigning champion, Triple H, with Michaels as the special guest referee. During the match, Michaels superkicked Triple H, resulting in Flair and Jericho coming into the ring and attacking Michaels and Booker T. Nash then came down to the ring, where he dispersed Jericho and Flair. He also helped Michaels and Triple H back to their feet, only to receive a low blow by Triple H.

The main match on the undercard from the SmackDown! brand, was the encounter of The Big Show and Rey Mysterio. The feud began on the April 17 episode of ''SmackDown!'', during a tag team match pitting Mysterio and Tajiri against Big Show and A-Train. Big Show and A-Train won the match via pinfall. After the match, however, Tajiri sprayed green mist into A-Train's face, while Mysterio delivered a 619 on Big Show, which caused him to collapse onto the floor. After the match in a backstage segment, Big Show appeared frustrated with Mysterio for being embarrassed by him. The feud escalated during the April 24 episode of ''SmackDown!'' during a match between Big Show and Tajiri. After Big Show performed a chokeslam on Tajiri, Mysterio came down to the ring and distracted Big Show, which caused Big Show to chase Mysterio at ringside, resulting in Tajiri winning the match via countout.

Event

Sunday Night Heat

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Scott Steiner defeated Rico in a match on '' Sunday Night Heat'', which aired on TNN.

Main card

The first match was a tag team match for the Tag Team Championship between Los Guerreros (Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr.) and Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas). The match began as Team Angle gained early advantage over Los Guerreros, after they performed a leapfrog stun gun on Eddie. Benjamin and Haas prevented Eddie from tagging Chavo into the match for a period of time, but Chavo was eventually tagged into the match, where he gained the advantage over Haas. While Chavo was the legal wrestler in the match, Eddie illegally entered the ring and executed a frog splash on Haas, only for an unsuccessful pin attempt by Chavo. After the pin attempt, Eddie and Benjamin fought onto ringside, where Benjamin tripped Chavo, who was in the ring about to perform a suplex on Haas. Benjamin held Chavo's leg down, allowing Haas to pin Chavo to retain the title.

The second match was Sean O'Haire (with Roddy Piper) versus Rikishi. O' Haire gained the early advantage, as he clotheslined Rikishi. Rikishi was able to retaliate with a stink face attempt. Piper tried to hit Rikishi with a coconut, but Rikishi broke it over Piper's head. The distraction allowed O' Haire to perform the Prophecy on Rikishi for a pinfall.

The third match was for the World Tag Team Championship between The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) and the reigning champions, Kane and Rob Van Dam, with Chief Morley as the special guest referee. The match began with Kane and Van Dam in control of the match, after Kane performed a spinebuster on Bubba Ray. D-Von, though, gained the advantage after delivering a sidewalk slam onto Van Dam. Later in the match, Kane regained control, which proceeded into a chokeslam attempt on Bubba Ray. Morley, however, gave Kane a low blow. Afterwards, Lance Storm attempted to interfere in the match on Kane and Van Dam's behalf, to no avail, which proceeded with a 3-D from The Dudley Boyz onto Morley, thus knocking out the official of the match. The distraction by Morley and Storm allowed Kane to successfully deliver a chokeslam, followed by a Five-Star Frog Splash onto Bubba, into a pinfall officiated by a new referee, to retain the title.

The fourth match was for the Women's Championship, where Jazz, who was accompanied by Theodore Long, faced the reigning champion, Trish Stratus. As part of the storyline, Stratus came into the match with injured ribs and was advised not to wrestle by doctors, but was forced to wrestle by Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. Both women wrestled a back and forth match, until Stratus gained the advantage over Jazz by performing a Stratusfaction (springboard bulldog

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