2003 in professional wrestling explained

2003 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 2003.

Promotion Name	Abbreviation	Notes
	CMLL
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide	AAA	The "AAA" abbreviation has been used since the mid-1990s and had previously stood for the promotion's original name Asistencia Asesoría y Administración.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling	NJPW
Pro Wrestling Iron	PWI
Ring of Honor	ROH
World Japan Pro Wrestling	WJ
World Wrestling All-Stars	WWA
World Wrestling Council	WWC
World Wrestling Entertainment	WWE	WWE divided its roster into two storyline divisions, Raw and SmackDown!, referred to as brands, where wrestlers exclusively performed on their respective weekly television programs.

Calendar of notable shows

January

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
January 4	NJPW	Wrestling World	Tokyo, Japan	Yuji Nagata (c) defeated Josh Barnett in a Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
January 19	WWE	Royal Rumble	Boston, Massachusetts	Brock Lesnar won by last eliminating The Undertaker in a 30-man Royal Rumble match for a world championship match at Wrestlemania XIX^[1]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

February

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
February 8	ROH	One Year Anniversary Show	Queens, New York	Da Hit Squad (Mafia and Monsta Mack), Divine Storm (Chris Divine and Quiet Storm), The S.A.T. (Jose and Joel Maximo) (with Trinity) and Mikey Whipwreck defeated Special K (Angel Dust, Brian XL, Deranged, Dixie, Hydro, Izzy, Jody Fleisch, Slim J, Slugger and Yeyo) in a Handicap Scramble match
February 23	WWE	No Way Out	Montreal, Quebec	The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan in a Singles match^[2]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

March

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
March 1	WJ	WJ MAGMA01	Tokyo, Japan	Riki Choshu defeated Genichiro Tenryu at the first World Japan event
March 16	AAA	Rey de Reyes	Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico	La Parka Jr. defeated Abismo Negro in a 2003 Rey de Reyes tournament final
March 30	WWE	WrestleMania XIX	Seattle, Washington	Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle (c) in a Singles match for the WWE Championship
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

April

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
April 4	CMLL	47. Aniversario de Arena México	Mexico City, Mexico	Shocker defeated Vampiro Canadiense in a Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match
April 27	WWE	Backlash	Worcester, Massachusetts	Goldberg defeated The Rock in a Singles match
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

May

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
May 9	CMLL	International Gran Prix	Mexico City, Mexico	Brazo de Plata, Cien Caras, and Gran Markus Jr. defeated Los Boricuas (Pierroth Jr., Sadam, and Violencia) in a Best two-out-of-three falls six-man tag team match
May 18	WWE	Judgment Day	Charlotte, North Carolina	Brock Lesnar (c) defeated Big Show in a Stretcher match for the WWE Championship
May 25	WWA	The Reckoning	Auckland, New Zealand	Jeff Jarrett (NWA World Heavyweight Champion) defeated Sting (WWA World Heavyweight Champion) in a Title Unification match to unify the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and the WWA World Heavyweight Championship
May 31	N/A	Second Annual Big Dick Dudley Memorial Show	Franklin Square, New York	Raven defeated Balls Mahoney (c) in a Singles match for the USA Pro Heavyweight Championship
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

June

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
June 7	WWE	Insurrextion		Triple H (c) (with Ric Flair) defeated Kevin Nash (with Shawn Michaels) in a Street Fight for the World Heavyweight Championship
June 15	AAA	Triplemanía XI	Naucalpan, Mexico	Lizmark, La Parka, Octagón and Super Caló defeated Abismo Negro, Cibernético and The Headhunters (Headhunter A and Headhunter B) by disqualification in a Best two-out-of-three falls eight-man "Atómicos" tag team match
June 15	WWE	Bad Blood	Houston, Texas	Triple H (c) defeated Kevin Nash in a Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship with Mick Foley as special guest referee
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

July

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
July 19	ROH	Death Before Dishonor	Elizabeth, New Jersey	Samoa Joe (c) vs. Paul London for the ROH World Championship
	WWC	WWC 30th Aniversario	Carolina, Puerto Rico	Thunder versus Lightning went to a no contest in a Singles match
July 20	WJ	WJ MAGMA03	Tokyo	Kensuke Sasaki defeats Kenzo Suzuki in a tournament final for the vacant WMG Heavyweight Title
July 27	WWE	Vengeance	Denver, Colorado	Kurt Angle defeated Brock Lesnar (c) and Big Show in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

August

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
August 10–17	NJPW	G1 Climax	Tokyo	Hiroyoshi Tenzan defeated Jun Akiyama by submission in a G1 Climax tournament final
August 24	WWE	SummerSlam	Phoenix, Arizona	Triple H (c) (with Ric Flair) defeated Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Kevin Nash in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship
August 31		Verano de Escándalo-A	Monterrey, Mexico	La Parka and Latin Lover defeated Cibernético and Héctor Garza in a tag team match
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

September

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
September 16		Verano de Escándalo-B	San Luis Potosí, Mexico	La Parka, Latin Lover and Máscara Sagrada defeated Cibernético, Héctor Garza and Juventud Guerrera in a Six-man Lucha Libre rules tag team match
September 19	CMLL	CMLL 70th Anniversary Show	Mexico City, Mexico	Shocker defeated Tarzan Boy in a Best two-out-of-three Lucha de Apuestas hair vs. hair match
September 20	ROH	Glory By Honor II	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Samoa Joe (c) vs. Christopher Daniels for the ROH World Championship
September 21	WWE	Unforgiven	Hershey, Pennsylvania	Goldberg defeated Triple H (c) in a Title vs. Career match for the World Heavyweight Championship^[3]
September 28		Verano de Escándalo-C	Guadalajara, Mexico	La Parka defeated Cibernético in a Street Fight
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

October

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
October 19	WWE	No Mercy	Baltimore, Maryland	Brock Lesnar (c) defeated The Undertaker in a Biker Chain match for the WWE Championship^[4]
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

November

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
November 15	PWI	Mike Lockwood Memorial Show	Lathrop, California	Donovan Morgan, Frank Murdoch and Vinny Massaro (with Patty Lockwood) defeated Hook Bomberry and the Thomaselli Brothers (Vito and Sal Thomaselli) in a Six-man tag team match
November 16	WWE	Survivor Series		Goldberg (c) defeated Triple H (with Ric Flair) in a Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship
November 30	AAA	Guerra de Titanes	Veracruz, Mexico	Latin Lover and Michael Shane defeated Mr. Aguila and David Young in a Final tag team match in the Televisa Tag Team Tournament
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

December

Date	Promotion(s)	Event	Location	Main Event
Notes
December 5	CMLL	Sin Piedad	Mexico City, Mexico	Universo 2000 defeated Pierroth Jr. in a Best two-out-of-three falls Lucha de Apuesta hair vs. hair match
December 14	WWE	Armageddon	Orlando, Florida	Triple H defeated Goldberg (c) and Kane in a Triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship^[5]
December 25	WWE	Tribute to the Troops	Baghdad, Iraq.	John Cena defeated Big Show in a Singles match
December 27	ROH	Final Battle	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff) vs. The Great Muta and Arashi
(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

Accomplishments and tournaments

AJW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Japan Grand Prix 2003	Amazing Kong	August 3
Tag League The Best 2003	Ayako Hamada and Nanae Takahashi	December 23

AJPW

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Champion Carnival 2003	Satoshi Kojima	March 28
Junior Heavyweight Champion Carnival	Carl Malenko	April 10
World's Strongest Determination League 2003	Justin Credible and Jamal	December 2

TNA

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
TNA Hard 10 Tournament	The Sandman
TNA Anarchy Alliance Tag Team Tournament	America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm)	June 11
2003 TNA Super X Cup Tournament	Chris Sabin	September 3

TNA Year End Awards

See main article: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Year End Awards.

Poll	Winner(s)
Tag Team of the Year	America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm)
Babe of the Year	Trinity
Finisher of the Year	The Styles Clash
Who To Watch in 2004	Abyss
Memorable Moment of the Year	Jeff Jarrett attacks Hulk Hogan in Japan
X Division Star of the Year	Matt Bentley
Match of the Year	The first ever Ultimate X Match
Mr. TNA	A.J. Styles

World Japan

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
WJ Strongest Tournament	Kensuke Sasaki	July 20
WMG Tag Team Title Tournament	Genichiro Tenryu and Riki Choshu	August 21
WMJ Young Magma Cup	Tomohiro Ishii	August 13

WWE

Accomplishment	Winner	Date won	Notes
Royal Rumble	Brock Lesnar	January 19	Winner received a match for their own brand's world championship at WrestleMania XIX—either Raw's World Heavyweight Championship or SmackDown's WWE Championship. Lesnar from SmackDown last eliminated The Undertaker to win a match for the WWE Championship, which he subsequently won from Kurt Angle.
WWE Championship #1 Contender's Tournament	John Cena	April 15	Defeated Chris Benoit in the tournament final to win a match for the WWE Championship at Backlash, but was unsuccessful against Brock Lesnar.
WWE United States Championship Tournament	Eddie Guerrero	July 27	Defeated Chris Benoit in the tournament final to win the reinstated United States Championship, which was previously a World Championship Wrestling title; the title was deactivated in 2001 when it was unified with the Intercontinental Championship at that year's Survivor Series.

Awards and honors

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

See main article: List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards.

Category	Winner
PWI Wrestler of the Year	Kurt Angle
PWI Tag Team of the Year	The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin)
PWI Match of the Year	Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar (SmackDown!, September 16)
PWI Feud of the Year	Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle
PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year	Kurt Angle
PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year	Triple H
PWI Comeback of the Year	Kurt Angle
PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year	John Cena
PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year	Zach Gowen
PWI Rookie of the Year	Zach Gowen
PWI Woman of the Year	Trish Stratus
PWI Lifetime Achievement	Bret Hart

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

See main article: Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

Inductee
Chris Benoit
Earl Caddock
Francisco Flores
Shawn Michaels

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

See main article: List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards.

Category	Winner
Wrestler of the Year	Kenta Kobashi
Most Outstanding	Kurt Angle
Feud of the Year	Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
Tag Team of the Year	Kenta and Naomichi Marufuji
Most Improved	Brock Lesnar
Best on Interviews	Chris Jericho

Title changes

NJPW

Incoming champion – Yuji Nagata
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
May 2	Yoshihiro Takayama	Ultimate Crush
November 3	Hiroyoshi Tenzan	Yokohama Dead Out
December 9	Shinsuke Nakamura	Battle Final

Incoming champions – Cho-Ten
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
June 13	Hiroshi Tanahashi and Yutaka Yoshie	Crush
December 14	Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Osamu Nishimura	Battle Final

Incoming champion – Koji Kanemoto
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
April 23	Tiger Mask	Strong Energy
September 23	Vacated	N/A
October 13	Jado	Ultimate Crush
December 14	Heat	Battle Final

Incoming champions – Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
January 26	Jushin Thunder Liger and Koji Kanemoto	The First Navigation
November 4	Vacated	N/A
November 29	Gedo and Jado	Battle Final

WWE

– Raw

– SmackDown

Raw and SmackDown each had a world championship, a secondary championship, and a tag team championship for male wrestlers. SmackDown also had a title for their cruiserweight wrestlers. There was only one women's championship and it was exclusive to Raw.

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
September 21	Goldberg	Unforgiven	Career vs. title match
December 14	Triple H	Armageddon	Triple threat match, also involving Kane.

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
March 30	Brock Lesnar	WrestleMania XIX
July 27	Kurt Angle	Vengeance	Triple threat match, also involving Big Show.
September 16	Brock Lesnar	SmackDown!	60-minute Iron Man match.

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
May 18	Christian	Judgment Day	Raw Co-General Manager Stone Cold Steve Austin reactivated the title. Christian won the revived title in a battle royal.
July 7	Booker T	Monday Night Raw
August 10	Christian	House show
September 29	Rob Van Dam	Monday Night Raw	Ladder match
October 27	Chris Jericho	Monday Night Raw
	Rob Van Dam		Steel cage match
December 14	Randy Orton	Armageddon	Mick Foley was the special guest referee.

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
July 27	Eddie Guerrero	Vengeance	Formerly the WCW United States Championship, the title was reactivated as an exclusive title of the SmackDown! brand. Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit in a tournament final for the revived title.
October 19	Big Show	No Mercy

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
March 30	Trish Stratus	WrestleMania XIX	Triple threat match, also involving Jazz.
April 27	Jazz	Backlash
June 30	Gail Kim	Monday Night Raw	Seven-woman battle royal, also involving Ivory, Jacqueline, Molly Holly, Trish Stratus, and Victoria.
July 28	Molly Holly	Monday Night Raw

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
January 6	William Regal and Lance Storm	Monday Night Raw
January 19	The Dudley Boyz	Royal Rumble
January 20	William Regal and Lance Storm	Monday Night Raw
March 24	Vacated	Monday Night Raw	Vacated due to William Regal getting injured.
	Chief Morley and Lance Storm		Morley awarded himself and Storm the titles.
March 31	Kane and Rob Van Dam	Monday Night Raw	Three-way tag team elimination match, also involving The Dudley Boyz.
June 15	La Résistance	Bad Blood
September 21	The Dudley Boyz	Unforgiven	Handicap tables match in which Robért Conway teamed with La Résistance.
December 14	Evolution	Armageddon	Tag team turmoil match, also involving Robért Conway and René Duprée, The Hurricane and Rosey, Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade, Val Venis and Lance Storm, and Test and Scott Steiner.

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
February 4	Team Angle	SmackDown!
May 18	Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri	Judgment Day	Ladder match. Los Guerreros had invoked their rematch clause, but Chavo Guerrero Jr. got injured prior to the match. Instead of forfeiting, Tajiri replaced Chavo.
July 1	The World's Greatest Tag Team	SmackDown!	After Benjamin and Haas lost the titles to Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri, they were "fired" from Team Angle. They then became known as The World's Greatest Tag Team.
September 16	Los Guerreros	SmackDown!
October 21	The Basham Brothers	SmackDown!

width=14%	Date	width=14%	Winner	width=14%	Event/Show	width=58%	Note(s)
February 23	Matt Hardy	No Way Out
June 3	Rey Mysterio	SmackDown!
September 23	Tajiri	SmackDown!
December 30	Rey Mysterio	SmackDown!

Debuts

• Uncertain debut date

• Aero Star

• Drew McIntyre

• John Wayne Murdoch
• January 31 – Nobutaka Moribe
• June 26 – Daichi Kakimoto
• February 2 - Hiroshi Nagao
• March 16 - Hiroshi Nagao and Takaya Shibayama
• July 6 - Deborah K
• July 7 - Kuniyoshi Wada
• July 20 - Kyoko Kimura
• August 1 – Mike Mizanin
• August 2 – Mickie Knuckles
• September 17 - TAMURA
• October 3 - Andrade El Idolo
• October 11 - Ricochet
• December 14 - Yuya Susumu, Juri Ogawa and Yumiko Kawada

Retirements

• Steve Austin (1989–March 2003) (returned to wrestle at Wrestlemania 38)
• Bruce Hart (1972–2003)^[6]
• Brian Adams (1986–January 2003)
• Eric Angle (2000-December 2003)
• Taylor Matheny (2001–2003)
• Nick Mondo (1999-2003) (Returned for a match in 2017)
• Christopher Nowinski (2001-June 24, 2003)
• Ahmed Johnson (1989-November 2003)

Deaths

• January 18 - The Original Sheik, 76
• February 3 - Shadito Cruz, 88
• February 10 – Curt Hennig, 44
• March 19 – Hiromichi Fuyuki, 42
• March 20 - Sailor Art Thomas, 79
• April 16 - Ray Mendoza, 73
• May 1 – Miss Elizabeth, 42
• June 2 – Freddie Blassie, 85
• July 20 - Bull Johnson (wrestler), 49
• August 8 - Giant Ochiai, 30
• August 24 - Kent Walton, 86
• September 7 - Great Antonio, 75
• September 25 – Anthony Durante, 36
• October 16 – Stu Hart, 88^[7]
• October 19 – Road Warrior Hawk, 46
• October 26 - Floyd Creatchman, 46
• November 6 - Crash Holly, 32
• November 24 - Dick Hutton, 80
• November 29 – Moondog Spot, 51
• December 6 – Jerry Tuite, 36
• December 19 - Mike Lozansky, 35
• December 26 – Danny Fargo, 44

See also

• List of WWA pay-per-view events
• List of WWE pay-per-view events

Notes and References

1. Web site: Royal Rumble Event Results. Pro Wrestling History. 2009-07-09.
2. Web site: WWE No Way Out 2003. Pro Wrestling History. 2008-03-13.
3. Web site: Unforgiven 2003. Pro Wrestling History. 2008-02-22.
4. Web site: No Mercy 2003 at Pro Wrestling History. Pro Wrestling History. 2008-11-03.
5. Web site: Armageddon 2003 results. Pro Wrestling History. https://web.archive.org/web/20080623205432/http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/usa/wwf/armageddon.html#2003. June 23, 2008. dead. August 4, 2008.
6. https://archive.today/20240524144150/https://www.webcitation.org/5knSG6rek?url=http://www.geocities.com/canadianwrestlemedia/Canwest5.htm Vance Nevada's Canadian Wrestling Results Archive
7. CLEVETT, Jason (October 24, 2003). "Friends and family celebrate Stu". Slam! Wrestling. Canadian Online Explorer.