WWE Bad Blood (2003 TV Special) User Reviews

My first live WWE show

[Terryfan · 7/10 · 15 June 2023]

June 15,2003 live from the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas Austin and Bischoff presented WWE Bad Blood. With the theme song being "Headstrong"by Trapt.

This was the first ever live event of professional wrestling that I ever attended. It was a experience that I appreciated even more and this was 20 years ago. I still remember the event and the moments from the show.

Match 1: The Dudley Boyz vs Rodney Mack and Christopher Nowinski. This match wasn't the best of the evening but the twist comes at the end.

Rating 6 out of 10

Match 2: Scott Steiner vs Test winner gets Stacy Keibler managerial service

The crowd was out during this match and Stacy got a huge pop.

Rating 7 out of 10.

Match 3: Booker T vs Christian for the Intercontinental Championship.

Booker T got a huge reaction as this was his home town and both work back and forth between the match. Too bad the finish leads much to be desired.

Rating 7 out of 10.

Match 4: La Résistance (René Duprée and Sylvain Grenier) vs Rob Van Dam and Kane for the World Tag Team Championship.

This match was in my opinion disappointing and too short Rating:5 out of 10

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Eric Bischoff during the night had a redneck triathlon a best of three happened during the night. 1. Burping contest 2. Pie eating contest 3. Pig pen fun. The first and last events were very funny especially when Stone Cold gave Eric the stunner.

Match 5: Goldberg vs Chris Jericho This is where we get the actual good matches of the show. This was build up so well and when they got into the ring they went at it like warriors with great spots.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Match 6: Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair This was another match the fans got thrilled about as two men were legends in their respective eras. Somehow both men pull off a good performance and Shawn having the Texas homefield made it easier to be the favorite in the match Rating: 8 out of 10

Match 7: Triple H vs Kevin Nash for the World Heavyweight Championship Hell In A Cell match with Mick Foley as Special Guest Referee

This match was brutal as expected when it comes to the Hell In A Cell matches.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Overall this show is a mix for a lot of funs. But being this was my first ever live professional wrestling show it definitely left a impact on me

I give WWE Bad Blood 2003 a 7 out of 10.

Well, at least they lived up to the first word in the title. *SPOILERS*

[VenomX · 5/10 · 22 April 2004]

*SPOILERS*

Bad Blood was an PPV experiment the WWE conducted back a year ago, not only was it the first PPV to feature only half the roster but it was the replacement for the King of the Ring tournament. I was sad to see the idea go, but it's not like it didn't have it's share of crap with Billy Gunn & Mabel winning the damn thing in the last decade. With the new Bad Blood, RAW would host this PPV event and all the superstars employed to that show would fill the card. The result is a mixture to say the least, while there are good PPV-style matches on the card (Ric Flair/Shawn Michaels) there was filler (Dudleyz vs. Nowinski/Mack) as well. This was going to be a problem with the start as you can get half the card filled with PPV-calibre matches, but then have to fill the rest in with filler.

Dudley Boyz (Bubba & D-Von Dudley) vs. Christopher Nowinski & Rodney Mack

Typical curtain jerker filler, with the most advanced move being a spinebuster. It's a shame that they didn't move more into D-Vons teased heel turn because it could have worked out storyline wise, (though the idea of giving singles pushes to them as a result causes me to think otherwise now). Rodney Mack I never really liked, primarily due to his lack of personality which impacts the heat he gets, Nowinski works well and considering his Tough Enough background he can improve.

Rating: *1/2

Test vs. Scott Steiner - Winner gets Stacy Kiebler

I pretty much railed on Steiner for most of last year, and with good reason as the guy botches the very first move he does in this match. After slipping on the apron while performing a double axe handle, the match progresses very uneventfully. The storyline featuring these two I will admit gave them something worthwhile to do, problem was it was all they could do and the feud lasted six months. Thankfully, this match occurred earlier in the feud which meant much of the psychology was still present. Test played a very good heel and was able to maintain his heat, shame the match wasn't any better.

Rating: **

Christian vs. Booker T - Intercontinental Title

You'd think the best way to send a crowd home happy is to have the hometown hero go home with the gold, didn't happen. Instead of what should have been, we get a DQ ending that results in really nothing. The match itself was average with Booker, for some reason, being unable to work the crowd as much as he should. But he still pulled off some good spots such as a rollup off the turnbuckle and a nice missile dropkick. Christian as well works and plays a great heel and the heat he can pull off is seen as the crowd chants "Christian Sucks!" after he leaves.

Rating: **1/2

On a side note here to the WWE bookers: please, please do not put Mae Young on TV anymore. She was WrestleCrap three years prior and has been since and needs to be kept off to prevent any more mental scarring. I always had my theories that the only reason Vince hired Bischoff was to humiliate him on TV to get revenge...after watching this one segment, I now have reason to believe it.

Kane & RVD vs. La Resistance - World Tag Team Title

It was a pretty good match, though it felt a little short for what it was aiming for and that was putting La Resistance over. The two worked a good match and Rene being a complete natural considering his age (19). To be honest: looking back, RVD & Kane did make a good tag team in terms of chemistry (try to catch the subtle drug overtones in their promos). Also their ring styles (RVD's agility with Kane's power) seem to blend together well. Nothing really special to point out here, but it ended well and achieved the desired effect with La Resistance winning the Tag Titles.

Rating: **1/2

Chris Jericho vs. Goldberg

The interesting thing with Goldberg is this: the WWE immediately pushes him into a main-event feud with Rock, which ends shortly after Backlash 2003 when Rock goes back to Hollywood. This leaves a gaping hole in Goldberg's booking as he now has nowhere to go, Triple H was too busy working a feud with Kevin Nash at the time (which continued into this PPV). So after missing Judgment Day, Goldberg gets put into a midcard feud with Jericho and the result being this match. While not a bad match by any rate, you could tell that the Goldberg hype was beginning to show weakness here.

The build-up had a legitimate background to it: Jericho really did resent Goldberg back in their WCW days and pretty much every word he said regarding their relationship then is a shoot. He did blame Goldberg for his lack of a push, he blamed him for killing any chances for reaching the top and other resentments he had.

Jericho sells for Goldberg, puts him over and does the job...nothing really else to note folks. Well, except for the Tigger guy heckling Goldberg in the front row that actually caused Goldberg to go over and yell at him. Besides a guard rail bump where Goldberg speared through the thing, watching a Winnie the Pooh character get yelled was the best part.

Rating: **

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels

On paper it looks excellent, in execution you can tell this match should have happened ten years ago, (yes, Flair wasn't with the WWE back in '93, but let's just pretend). Both men did not look on top of their game, taking into consideration their prime years are behind them, (though both can perform better than other men their age). Some spots looked a little sloppy, both men looked a little tired but it was the best match on the card so I can give them that. The dirty ending didn't really work out, quite frankly this match could have been so much better if built up properly and executed at a better time.

Rating: ***

Triple H vs. Kevin Nash - World Heavyweight Championship

The last HIAC match took place in No Mercy 2002 and showed that it was possible for a great HIAC to occur even if it doesn't make it up to the roof. This match was the conclusion for a pretty lacklustre feud between Nash and Triple H, adding a HIAC was an attempt to salvage it and while it didn't do quite that, it made the feud a little better. I guess the one reason why HIAC's have been so successful in the past are due to the illusion of bump-taking, ever since the days of the original Bad Blood with Taker/HBK people expected spots, bumps and psychology to go along with the cell. Neither Triple H and especially Nash have the illusion of bump taking, meaning that potential is gone. Like I said before though, having a good brawl like the No Mercy HIAC can make up for it.

This one had some good bumps, only problem is that Foley, the guest referee, took them, (such as being knocked off the apron into the cage wall). The brawling was there and better than I expected, which included a hammer to the skull and a 2x4 wrapped with barbed wire. The reason why Lesnar/Taker's HIAC at No Mercy 2002 was a better executed brawl was the psychology, like seeing Taker's hand cast get repeatedly pounded with a steel chair, (is sends a chill down my spine when I see it). It's all about execution, and it just didn't click right between these two.

Rating: **3/4

Best Match: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels: ***

Worst Match: Dudleyz vs. Christopher Nowinski & Rodney Mack: *1/2

Overall PPV Rating: 4.5/10

Bad Blood was a below average PPV and certainly not what the WWE would have wanted when they started experimenting with the idea of brand exclusive PPVs. A big problem I had was with the length, this PPV is a full half hour shorter than the norm 3 hours. That can be attributed to the bookers only putting seven matches instead of the norm eight on the card. Thankfully, a spectacular Vengeance showed that brand PPVs could work a month later and earlier this month RAW put on Backlash 2004, an excellent PPV.

Not bad for the second Raw PPV of 2003

[kliko400 · 7/10 · 17 January 2007]

This wasn't really a bad PPV even though it was second PPV of 2003 {The last Raw PPV was Insurrextion}.

FIRST MATCH- DUDLEY BOYS VS. RODNEY MACK & CHRISTOPHER NOWINSKI W/ THEODORE LONG Pretty bad match to start the night. Rodney Mack & Christopher Nowinski get the win in this tag team match. 2/10

SECOND MATCH- BOOKER T VS. Christian FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP Again these two can seriously put on a good match but if Booker T can seriously win. Christian wins after a roll-up on Booker T using the ropes to get the win & retain his WWE IC title. 4/10

THIRD MATCH- SCOTT STEINER VS. TEST WINNER GETS STACY'S MANAGERAL SERVICES Not a bad match between these two men as it is great to see Steiner finally getting the win. Steiner wins after a Pumphandle Slam. 3/10

FOURTH MATCH- ROB VAN DAM & KANE VS. LA RESISTANCE FOR THE WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP Good tag team match, it was definitely better than their previous encounter at Insurrextion. Unfortunately La Resisitance win to become the new World Tag Team Champions. 5/10

FIFTH MATCH- GOLDBERG VS. CHRIS JERICHO Okay brawl between these two men as Jericho hurts Goldberg's shoulders during the match & works on them trying to wear Goldberg down. But to no avail Goldberg fights back, nails a Spear, followed by a Jackhammer to get the hard fought win. 4/10

SIXTH MATCH- RIC FLAIR VS. SHAWN MICHAELS Believe it or not, the match between these two legends definitely pulls out a good match. The best highlight of the match is when Michaels nailed a flying elbow on Flair through a table {I was surprised that Michaels didn't get disqualified}. After Michaels was nearly about to get the win, Randy Orton interferes & nails an RKO on Michaels, then gets Ric Flair, puts him on Michaels for the cover as Flair gets the 3 count to get the huge win against Michaels. 5/10

SEVENTH MATCH- TRIPLE H VS. KEVIN NASH IN A HELL IN A CELL MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: MICK FOLEY Not the best Hell In A Cell match I watched but it was still alright. Both men were busted open, but HHH survived the brutal battle & nailed a Pedigree on Nash for the 3 count & to get the win to retain his World Heavyweight Championship in this brutal match. 5/10

This wasn't really a bad Raw PPV as it is the second of 2003. Most of the matches were dragged down a bit but the Flair-Michaels battle & the Hell In A Cell match made the PPV pretty good & better.

Overall: I'll give it 7/10 & a C+

Another let down

[inchalada · 3/10 · 4 September 2003]

Although it wasn't as big a dud as Judgment Day this was still bad.

Nash vs Triple H- bad, bad match. Mick Foley was the only interesting thing about this match. Hey Hunter you will never be an all time great. You were given three shots to get a decent match out of Nash and you failed every time. Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels carried him to excellent matches every time they were in the ring with him.

Y2J vs Goldberg- good match carried by Jericho.

Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels- A match that should have been given half an hour but was reduced to a measly 15 minutes. Best match of the night by a fair margin.

Booker vs Christian- Was passable until the worthless finish.

Kane/RVD vs La Resistance- Another passable time filler.

Everything else was pathetic to say the least. The main one being the Austin-Bischoff redneck triathlon. I cant understand why matches weren't given time to develop why these two took up half an hour of time. And also why not have 11 or 12 matches just for the sake of having everyone on PPV. That would make the Raw Roster happy seeing as they would receive royalties out of the PPV and therefore would be excited to work unlike what we get now with half hearted efforts.

Bad Blood is just plain......bad

[jameslj-cannon · 1/10 · 21 October 2006]

Well, what can you say about this car crash of a paper view. You would have thought the WWE would have wanted to redeem themselves after the unbelievably bad Judgement Day. However, Bad Blood is up there with JD for the contender of the worst ppv of 2003. Anyway, on with the matches:

Match 1:The Dudley Boys vs. Rodney Mack and Christopher Nowinski. A pretty bog standard opener. Not very exciting, and extremely forgettable. Mack and Nowinski cheat for the win. Winners: Mack and Nowinski

Match 2:Scott Steiner vs. Test. The winner gets Stacy Keibler as their manager. I was not expecting an amazing match, and I was not wrong. The best part about this one was Steiner trying to jump off the apron on to Test, but ending up slipping, and making a right prat of himself. Steiner still managed to pull off the victory. Winner: Scott Steiner

Match 3:Intercontinental Title Match:Christian vs. Booker T. Compared to the first two matches this was quite entertaining. The event was held in Booker's home state, and yet he didn't win. It's not the fact that he didn't win that annoys me, its that he lost in the most stupid ending to a match ever. Christian tried to get himself counted out, but the ref went on the mike and said he would lose his title if he got counted out. So Christian ran back to the ring and nailed Booker with the title belt to get himself dq'ued. Winner and still IC Champion: Christian

Match 4:Tag Team Title Match: Kane and RVD VS. La Resistance. Tag matches, in my opinion are absolute tripe. This match is another example of bad tag team matches. Anyway, RVD makes a mistake and takes out Kane. This leads to the French guys to pick up the win and become new tag champions. Who cares? I certainly don't. Winner and new champs: La Resistance

Match 5:Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho. This was the second best match of the night. These two men genuinely don't like each other back from the old WCW days. Anyway, the highlights of this one were Goldberg missing a spear on the outside, and going straight through the barricade. Bill recovered though and hit Chris with the spear and the jackhammer. Funny at the end when Bill argues with an idiot in a Tigger costume. Winner: Goldberg

Match 6:Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair. On paper this looked like it would be a great match. Great this wasn't, but its still the best match of the night. Its biggest fault was the length. It was too short in my opinion. Highlights include Michaels hitting a huge splash on Ric from the top rope through a table on the outside. Randy Orton came out from the crowd and got a sick Sweet Chin Music for his trouble. Another cheap ending, as Orton nails Michaels with a chair, and rolls the nature boy on top of him for the win. Winner: Ric Flair

Match 7:Hell in a Cell for the World Heavyweight Championship:Triple H vs. Kevin Nash. Special guest ref Mick Foley. Well were do I start. This match was the epitome of poor. Most Hell in a Cell matches are memorable for a good reason. This however, will probably not be remembered, although if it were, it would be remembered as the worst cell in history. This was even worst than Undertaker Boss Man cell at Wrestlemania XV. The best bumps in this match went to Mick. Thats right, the ref. Most Hell in a cell matches now don't finish on top of the cell. However all the other cells after this were very good. This match was brutal, but in all honesty, really boring as well. All three men were busted open by the end. I always knew the game would win this match, and what do you know he did. He hit Nash with the pedigree for the win. Winner, and still champion: Triple H.

By the way there was a redneck triathlon between Stone Cold and Eric Bishoff. It was absolutely awful. Austin won, but this entire contest was time wasting. It took up too much of the show. Its not because of this though, that this event is so poor. The matches were just plain bad. Only two matches were pretty good, but thats it. Bad Blood was really bad, and its not worth watching again I can tell you. Stay away at all costs if you are tempted to see this. You have been warned....

It sucked!

[warheroking300 · 1/10 · 16 June 2003]

This pay-per-view was NOT too good. Hardly any of the matches were cool, Christian's match against Booker T sucked because Christian hit Booker T with his belt in order to keep it and be disqualified, Chris Nowinski hit the Dudleys with his mask to win and The hell in a Cell match was great until the Evolution (Triple H, Kevin Nash and Randy Orton) decided to interfere. What will become of the Evolution? Kane and RVD's match against La Resistance was boring because La Resistance badmouths our country. I can't believe RVD and Kane would lose to the French. The only good things about Bad Blood were Stone Cold and Eric Bischoff's "Redneck Trimuph--however you say it, with Austin winning, Goldberg's match against Jericho, winning, leaving Jericho speared and Scott Steiner's match against Test, for the management of Stacy Keibler. Otherwise, bor-ing. Do not rent or buy this when it comes out on video or DVD, it's just plain stupid and boring!

Bad Blood 2003, AKA: The reason RAW should not be 3 hours

[Styles_Clash · 3/10 · 22 August 2003]

My God, this was a bad show. Just awful. First off you have Kevin Nash and Triple H in the main event. That match was so bad at Judgment Day they had to throw a gimmick like the Hell in a Cell in to raise people's interest. And even that didn't get the job done. They needed to take Mick Foley (who as ref is more fun to watch than H and Nash wrestling) to get people to care.

This show had a little bit of potential. Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels could have been so much better. But it was just a let down. Booker T and Christian was decent but had an awful ending. Sadly the best match on the card was Jericho vs. Goldberg. Which proved why Y2J is the MVP of the RAW brand. He can get a good match out of Goldberg. That's pretty impressive.

Those are just the main matches. The other parts were nothing to write home about either. Mae Young (who should never be on TV period) was in a thong. Why McMahon thinks she should be on TV is beyond me. And Kane and RVD, two of the most under used members of the WWE roster job to La Resistance. The most green wrestlers in the company.

Anyway, awful show. Don't buy the video or DVD. Instead by some real entertainment and check out a NWA: TNA show.

not good,,,,but not bad

[skforrest · 18 June 2003]

bad blood on pay-per-view was not very well planned. the only really good match was the main event,,,, kavin nash vs. triple h. this match was probably one of the most brutal matches i have ever seen. triple h came out the winner, and kevin nash went home with many cuts and bruises. not a bad ppv.

Pretty Bad

[babysweetie111 · 13 August 2003]

I was kind of excited to see the first only Raw pay per view, but after it was all over, I have to say that the excitement turned into disappointment. Bad Blood was pretty bad with only the Redneck Triathlon saving this pay per view. It was pretty funny.

Rating:2.5/10

First RAW-only PPV

[Gary Ballance · 19 June 2003]

Ever since the brand extension in April '02, there have been debates over which is the better show- RAW or Smackdown? The general consensus is that Raw is better for storylines (look no further than Smackdown's Al Wilson fiasco or the neverending Hogan-Vince feud for proof of that!)

Smackdown, however, takes the lead (generally) from a wrestling standpoint (Big Show, Albert & Rikishi excluded) with fantastic talents like Matt Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Eddy Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle. The Raw brand suffers from a weak selection of mid-card wrestlers, so the outlook of the first Raw-only PPV didn't seem too good. Here's what happened at June's Bad Blood (**Match result SPOILERS**)

MATCH 1- Rodney Mack and Christopher Nowinski vs The Dudley Boyz. I don't like the Dudleyz (though Bubba is a good singles wrestler) and I haven't been impressed by Mack squashing 'jobbers' every week on Raw, so I wasn't looking forward to this match. At all. It was a pretty dull match with Mack & Nowinski picking up the win after Nowinski hits Bubba in the head with his protective mask. Not a great start. (2/10)

MATCH 2- Scott Steiner vs Test. OK match. Steiner's fall off the apron is pretty funny! Not much else to say. Steiner wins with a version of the Flatliner/Novacaine and gets the services of Stacy Keibler. (4/10)

MATCH 3- Booker T vs Christian. Quite good. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but good. I like when signature moves are swapped, so Booker's reverse DDT (Christian's move) and Christian's Bookend (Booker's move) keep things interesting. Very weak ending that the crowd did NOT like one bit! (Chants of "Bullsh*t" after the match!) Christian tries to get counted out, then deliberately gets DQ'd, blasting Booker with his IC title. Decent match, dreadful finish. (6/10)

MATCH 4- La Resistance vs RVD/Kane. Another dull tag match. RVD wrestles the same match every time in the tag division. They should let him go solo again- he's a much better singles wrestler. RVD messes up a tumbling senton over the top, hitting Kane, and falls victim to a double spinebuster. La Resistance get the 1-2-3 and the tag titles. (3/10)

MATCH 5- Goldberg vs Chris Jericho. The only match on the card I was really looking forward to, especially considering the history these two have had (on and off-camera). Apparently, Goldberg refused to work with Jericho back in WCW because of his size, and Jericho didn't take too kindly to it. Then, when Goldberg arrived in WWE this March, it was rumoured that the two had an altercation as a result of some derogatory comments made by Goldberg regarding Jericho. (Jericho reportedly trapped Goldberg in a front facelock!) So, this match had a pretty good build-up. The match itself was very good, I thought, even if a win for Goldberg was obvious. (Interestingly enough, Goldberg is booed for another PPV with a number of Jerichoholics leading a 'Y2J' chant). Good selling of the arm injury by Goldberg and a great effort (as always) by Jericho- the king of Raw! How is this guy not a World title contender? Spear, Jackhammer win for Goldberg. (7.5/10)

MATCH 6- Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels. Flair has surprised me recently, with a number of good matches- this being one of them. Except for a slight miscalculation with his flip-over-the-buckles spot, he & HBK work a great match. Michaels too is on top form- his top rope splash through a table to Flair is spectacular, so too is his Sweet Chin Music to the Nature Boy. Randy Orton blasts Michaels in the head with a chair and rolls 'Naitch' on top for a cheap victory. Great match. (8/10)

Before the main event I must mention Austin & Bischoff's 'Redneck Triathlon'. The first event- a belching contest (with piped-in belches) was painful to watch! Awful lip-synching. Austin won. We were promised a 'pie-eating' contest and (like every other time WWE tries to be risque to win buyrates) it fails to deliver. (Remember the HLA farce at Unforgiven with Rikishi in drag? Sorry for the reminder!) Anyway, Mae Young bronco busts Bischoff in a thong and Bischoff wins the second event. Why do they bother promising things they can't deliver? Austin throws the Bisch in some pig manure for the win (bringing back some fond memories of when Triple H used to fight in those hog pen matches!) Bit of a waste of time, to be honest. (I really could have done without seeing Mae Young in a thong! Although, big respect to the woman for taking that powerbomb through a table a few years ago.)

MATCH 7- Triple H vs Kevin Nash (Hell in a Cell) Better than their Judgment Day bout, but I'll never buy Nash as a serious #1 contender. Totally undeserving. Without Mick Foley as guest ref, this match wouldn't have been half as good. Great man. Triple H wins with the Pedigree, thankfully. Who will he drop the title to? I definitely don't think he'll job to Goldberg- at least not on their first encounter. Anyway, average match. Nash will go the way of Booker, Kane, RVD, Steiner and every other person who has challenged Triple H in the past- straight down into the murky depths of... the midcard. (5/10)

2 very good matches, the rest poor to OK. I was surprised that Jazz vs Ivory wasn't a match (but glad at the same time, as Jazz would've killed Ivory's momentum). As a PPV, Bad Blood was average. The failure to make good on the 'pie-eating' contest will not be forgotten the next time WWE tries to promise something risque. The question now is: how will the Smackdown-only PPV Vengeance fare next month? It'll be interesting to see.