Wrestling Headcanon, Season 7: Ruthless Aggression

The Age of Backstage Shenanigans, Directors Of Authority, and General Managers runs amok across both WWE and, its closest competition, Impact, while Ring Of Honor remains the house of great wrestling and terrible storytelling. 

There is a lot of old WCW blood taking power in WWE and Impact as well, as Eric Bischoff co-manages the WWE with Steve Austin, and Dusty Rhodes's run as the Director of Authority in Impact gives way to a...*prolonged sigh*...Vince Russo era. There's something awful about even the idea of Vince Russo in a position of power in a company that can't keep the belt off of Honkey Tonk Junior, Jeff Jarrett. But, somehow, by the end of the season, Vince Russo ends up being a...good...guy? It ends surprisingly well, considering how terrible the company was when he took over.

Season 7:
​Ruthless Aggression

Sorbet Episode: Are You Adequately Prepared To Rock? (2003, 2004)

Be prepared to see a bunch of these faces from Pro Wrestling Guerilla popping up in Ring Of Honor and Impact in the next couple of seasons, and in WWE and AEW further down the line. CM Punk, who we already know, makes a brief appearance. Our two main eventers begin a decades long feud here that might have ended recently, as one of the participants may have injured himself into retirement. If not, I expect we'll see at least a few more matches between the two.

Not all the matches have commentary but those that do sound like two stoners watching the match on tape and making very tired jokes as they regurgitate the style of announcing in the late 80s early 90s. It’s somewhat endearing for one episode but I wouldn’t be able to endure an entire season of it.

1. Super Dragon vs Joey Ryan in a Guerrilla Warfare Match at An Inch Longer Than Average.

2. Chris Hero and CM Punk vs The Iron Saints at Tango and Cash Invitational.

3. Double Dragon vs The X-Foundation at Tango and Cash Invitational.

4. Super Dragon vs Scorpio Sky in a Guerrilla Warfare Match at Kee_ The _ee Out Of Our _ool.

5. Adam Pearce (PWG Champ) vs Frank Kazarian in a Loser Leaves Town Steel Cage Match at The Reason For The Season.

MAIN EVENT: SAMI ZAYN (as EL GENERICO) vs KEVIN OWENS (as KEVIN STEEN) at FREE ADMISSION (JUST KIDDING!!!)

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Season 7, Episode 1: Tag Team Turmoil (2002)

The Smackdown Six Era is still in full swing with Benoit, Angle, Edge, Rey Mysterio, and The Guerreros still absolutely dominating the WWE with their excellent matches. Tossing Lesnar and The Big Show into the various story angles spices everything up. 

Our only matches from the Raw side of the table are our payoff match from last season’s Bookdust storyline, and a six man match from Survivor Series.

1. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs Los Guerreros from Smackdown.

2. Chris Jericho and Christian (WWE Raw Tag Champs) vs Bookdust at No Mercy 2002.

3. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs Edge and Rey Mysterio for the Inaugural Smackdown Tag Championship at No Mercy 2002.

4. Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio from Smackdown.

6. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit (WWE Smackdown Champs) vs Los Guerreros at Rebellion 2002.

7. Brock Lesnar (WWE Champ) vs The Big Show at Survivor Series 2002.

8. Jeff Hardy, Bubba Ray Dudley, and Spike Dudley vs Rico and Three Minute Warning in a Tag Team Elimination Match at Survivor Series 2002.

9. Trish (WWE Womens Champ) vs Tara (as Victoria) in a Hardcore Match at Survivor Series 2002.

MAIN EVENT: KURT ANGLE and CHRIS BENOIT (WWE SMACKDOWN CHAMPS) vs REY MYSTERIO and EDGE at SURVIVOR SERIES 2002.

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Season 7, Episode 2: Totally Ntense Athleticism (2002)

We’re building up to ROH having their own episodes but in the meantime we have four strong matches featuring future WWE and NJPW Hall of Famers: Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Daniel Bryan, and two future AEW Hall of Famers: Jay Briscoe and Christopher Daniels.

On the TNA side of this episode, we dig through the dregs of the Vince Russo era and find some excellent multi-man matches, only one of them involving Russo’s offensive stable of the moment: Sports Entertainment Xtreme.

1. The Prophecy vs Jay Briscoe and The Amazing Red at Scramble Madness 2002.

2.Homicide vs Samoa Joe at Scramble Madness 2002.

3. AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels at Scramble Madness 2002.

4. Daniel Bryan Danielson (as The American Dragon) vs Doug Williams in an Iron Man Match at Scramble Madness 2002.

5. The Disciples Of The New Church (NWA Tag Champs) vs America’s Most Wanted at TNA #27.

6. The Amazing Red and The Spanish Announce Team vs David Young, Jimmy Yang, and Shark Boy at TNA #29.

MAIN EVENT: AMERICA’S MOST WANTED vs TRIPLE X at TNA #29

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Season 7, Episode 3: Hungry Hungry Hippos (2002)

Named for a random RvD joke from a fun, throwaway skit, this episode continues the reign of The Smackdown Six while also introducing us to one of Eric Bischoff’s greatest ideas: The Elimination Chamber.

The Elimination Chamber is basically a War Games match where the competitors are placed in pods inside the cage until they’re released at two-minute intervals to join the match. Unlike War Games, there are no teams, it’s every wrestler for themselves. There have been absolute bangers over the ensuing decades but the first one is arguably still the best one they have ever booked.

1. Jamie Noble (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Billy Kidman at Survivor Series 2002.

2. Edge and Rey Mysterio (WWE Smackdown Champs) vs Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle vs Los Guerreros at Survivor Series 2002.

3. Chris Jericho and Christian (WWE Raw Tag Champs) vs Bookdust vs Lance Storm and William Regal vs The Dudley Boyz at Armageddon 2002.

4. Los Guerreros (WWE Smackdown Champs) vs Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle from Smackdown.

5. Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero vs Edge vs Kurt Angle from Smackdown.

MAIN EVENT: BOOKER T vs CHRIS JERICHO vs KANE vs RVD vs SHAWN MICHAELS vs TRIPLE H in the inaugural ELIMINATION CHAMBER.

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Season 7, Episode 4: New Angles (2002)

It’s getting boring to mention the Smackdown Six but here they all are again except instead of Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman gets subbed into various tag teams.

We also saw the return of Shawn Michaels at the end of last season, and he won a title in the last episode. His defense here is an epic match with his one-time tag team partner and fellow Clique Veteran.

1. Los Guerreros (WWE Smackdown Tag Champs) vs Billy Kidman and Chris Benoit from 
Smackdown.

2. Bookdust (WWE Raw Tag Champs) vs Chris Jericho and Christian from Raw.

3. Chris Benoit vs Eddie Guerrero at Armageddon 2002.

4. The Big Show (WWE Champ) vs Kurt Angle at Armageddon 2002.

5. Los Guerreros (WWE Smackdown Tag Champs) vs Billy Kidman and Edge from Smackdown.

MAIN EVENT: SHAWN MICHAELS (WCW CHAMP) vs TRIPLE H in a 3 STAGES OF HELL MATCH at ARMAGEDDON 2002.

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Season 7, Episode 5: Sports Entertainment Xtreme (2002, 2003)

Another ROH/TNA megacard. CM Punk debuts in the chronology. And we have our first look at Jeff Jarrett as NWA Champ. I’m pretty sure this isn’t his first reign, and we will be skipping over most of his matches as there’s only so many times you can watch a guy Honky Tonk Man another guy over the head with a guitar to win before it gets old. His bout with Styles here is a great one, though. 

1. Paul London vs Daniel Bryan Danielson (as The American Dragon) at Night Of The Butcher 2002.

2. Colt Cabana vs CM Punk at Night Of The Butcher 2002.

3. Xavier (ROH Champ) vs Paul London at Final Battle 2022.

4. The Amazing Red vs Jorge Estrada at TNA #30.

5. Triple X (NWA Tag Champs) vs Disciples Of The New Church at TNA #31.

6. X Division #1 Contender Gauntlet Match at TNA #32.
David Young, Jimmy Rave, Jerry Lynn, Joel Maximo, Jose Maximo, Paul London, Shark Boy, Tony  Mamaluke

7. Raven vs Sandman in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at TNA #32.

​MAIN EVENT: JEFF JARRETT (NWA CHAMP) vs AJ STYLES at TNA #33.

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Season 7, Episode 6: Maple Syrup Candy Asses (2002, 2003)

The Rock returns to cut some promos here (he’ll be back in the ring soon) and immediately turns heel.

The Victoria/Trish Stratus storyline continues to be better and less problematic than almost any previous women’s storyline.

We also continue to see Brock Lesnar pull some of the best matches out of The Big Show in wrestling history. And we’re not even close to the best of their matches yet.

We also get a delightful look at how talented Scotty 2 Hotty was when not saddled with Brian Christopher, as he takes on XPac for the Light Heavyweight Championship.

1. Tara (as Victoria) (WWE Womens Champ) vs Trish Stratus vs Jacqueline at Armageddon 2002.

2. The World’s Greatest Tag Team (as Team Angle) and Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit and Edge from Smackdown.

3. Brock Lesnar vs The Big Show at Royal Rumble 2003.

4. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs Chris Benoit at Royal Rumble 2003.

5. XPac (WWE Light Heavyweight Champ) vs Scotty 2 Hotty from Raw.

MAIN EVENT: THE ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH 2003.
Albert (as A-Train), Batista. Bill DeMott, Booker T, Brock Lesnar, Bull Buchanan, Charlie Haas, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Christian, Christopher Nowinski, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Goldust, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Kane, Matt Hardy, Maven, Rey Mysterio, Rikishi, RvD, Rosey, Shawn Michaels, Shelton Benjamin, Tajiri, Test, Tommy Dreamer, Umaga (as Jamal), The Undertaker

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Season 7, Episode 7: The New Year Of Honor (2003)

Our first all-ROH card of this season is familiar faces continuing to grow into the best wrestlers in the industry. It culminates in the First Anniversary Show and the best defense from early ROH champion, Xavier, who’s not as fondly remembered as many of his peers from the era but who had several really good matches against the right opponents.

1. AJ Styles and Lo Ki vs The Prophecy at Revenge On The Prophecy.

2.Daniel Bryan Danielson (as The American Dragon) vs Samoa Joe at Revenge On The Prophecy.

3. BJ Whitmer vs Colt Cabana vs Homicide vs Paul London in a Four Corners Match at Revenge On The Prophecy.

4. Jay Briscoe vs Matt Briscoe at One Year Anniversary Show.

5.Daniel Bryan Danielson (as The American Dragon) vs Samoa Joe at One Year Anniversary Show.

6. AJ Styles vs Lo Ki vs Paul London at One Year Anniversary Show. 

​MAIN EVENT: XAVIER (ROH CHAMP) vs PAUL LONDON at ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW.

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Season 7, Episode 8: The Doctor Of Thugonomics (2003)

Scott Steiner’s year in WWE was rough. He was immediately plopped into the main event scene where he and Triple H put on a series of matches that were embarrassingly bad, given how talented each of them are. They just had zero chemistry. And while most of his storylines in WWE have aged as badly as his latter-day WCW stories, he did have a decent scrap with Batista.

Apart from the debut of Brian Kendrick (aka Spanky from ROH) in this episode, it’s the usual Smackdown heroes putting on the best matches. Importantly, “the usual Smackdown heroes” now includes John Cena.

1. Batista vs Scott Steiner from Raw.

2. Los Guerreros (WWE Smackdown Tag Champs) vs World’s Greatest Tag Team (as Team Angle) from Smackdown.

3. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs Chris Benoit in a Non-Title Match from Smackdown.

4. John Cena vs Brock Lesnar from Smackdown.

5. World’s Greatest Tag Team (as Team Angle) and Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar and Chris Benoit from No Way Out 2003.

6. Chris Jericho vs Jeff Hardy at No Way Out 2003.

7. Brock Lesnar vs Paul Heyman in a Steel Cage from Smackdown.

8. Rey Mysterio vs Jamie Noble vs Tajiri from Smackdown.

9. Matt Hardy (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Brian Kendrick in a Non Title Match from 
Smackdown.

​MAIN EVENT: KURT ANGLE (WWE CHAMP) vs BROCK LESNAR from SMACKDOWN.

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Season 7, Episode 9: TNECW (2003)

A quarter of a century after ECW died, it’s still not buried. In 2003, the veterans of violence were all over Impact and ROH. In this episode, Raven and Sandman are reunited, and Raven climbs into the main event scene.

Apart from that, it’s still all about the X Division.

1. AJ Styles vs Sandman at TNA #34.

2.Jerry Lynn vs Super Crazy at TNA #35.

3. Kid Kash (Impact X Champ) vs Amazing Red at TNA #35.

4. Raven vs Sandman in a Clockwork Orange House Of Fun Match at TNA #35.

5. Kid Kash (Impact X Champ) vs Amazing Red vs Johnny Storm at TNA #36.

6. Triple X vs America’s Most Wanted for the NWA Tag Championship at TNA #36.

7. Juventud Guerrera and Konnan vs Jason Cross and Jerry Lynn at TNA #37.

8. Kid Kash (Impact X Champ) vs Amazing Red vs Trinity at TNA #37.

MAIN EVENT: AJ STYLES vs RAVEN in a LADDER MATCH at TNA #37

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Season 7, Episode 10: The Quiet End (2003)
Pinpointing when The Attitude Era officially ends and when Ruthless Aggression begins is much debated. While the term “Ruthless Aggression” was introduced during the end of last season, I find it sort of slides around. I think you can label anytime where The Smackdown Six are at the top of the card as Ruthless Aggression. But this is the last episode where you can reasonably argue about it being The Attitude Era as we see the final Steve Austin match for two decades. It wasn’t announced beforehand, and nobody knew it was the final match until the next episode of Raw where Austin was “fired” (he was back a month later as the co-general manager of Raw). It was a great match to go out on.

We have our first Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho match here. Their feud is years long and almost consistently excellent. This is a great starting point.

The Hulk Hogan/Vince McMahon match is surprisingly entertaining. It technically led to another feud between Vince McMahon and Mr. America (Hulk Hogan in a patriotic superhero costume) but the less said about that wrestlecrap, the better. For my money, this is the last time Hogan was interesting as a wrestler.

1. Tara (as Victoria)(WWE Womens Champ) vs Jazz vs Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania 19.

2. Team Angle (WWE Smackdown Tag Champs) vs Los Guerreros vs Chris Benoit and Rhyno at Wrestlemania 19. 

3. Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 19.

4. Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania 19.

5. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 19. 

​MAIN EVENT: THE ROCK vs STEVE AUSTIN at WRESTLEMANIA 19​

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Season 7, Episode 11: Expect The Unexpected (2003)

Just that crop of ROH guys doing their usual excellent matches. No cool storylines, no interesting promos, nothing very gimmicky. It’s just that The Usual happens to be very good.

1. Chad Collyer vs Matt Stryker at Expect The Unexpected.

2. CM Punk vs Raven at Expect The Unexpected.

3. Doug Williams vs Christopher Daniels at Night of Champions 2003.
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4. AJ Styles and The Amazing Red (ROH Tag Champs) vs The Briscoes at Night Of Champions 2003.

5. Paul London vs Daniel Bryan Danielson (as The American Dragon) in a 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match at Epic Encounters 2003.

6. Homicide vs CM Punk at Round Robin Challenge 2. 

MAIN EVENT: SAMOA JOE (ROH CHAMP) vs DOUG WILLIAMS at ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE 2.

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Season 7, Episode 12: Stretchering The Truth (2003)

In small doses, The Hurricane is an excellent gimmick. Here, he gets an actual title shot, which is, of course, just a setup for a completely different angle. That, a women’s match, and an Intercontinental title match are the only things buffering the continuing onslaught of The Smackdown Six And Friends.

1. Triple H (WCW Champ) vs The Hurricane from Raw.

2. John Cena vs Chris Benoit from Smackdown.

3. World’s Greatest Tag Team (as Team Angle)(WWE Smackdown Tag Champs) vs Los Guerreros at Backlash 2003.

4. Rey Mysterio vs The Big Show at Backlash 2003.

5. World’s Greatest Tag Team (as Team Angle) vs Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri in a Ladder match at Judgment Day 2003.

6. Jazz (WWE Womens Champ) vs Trish Stratus at Insurrextion 2003.

7. Christian (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Booker T at Insurrextion 2003.

MAIN EVENT: BROCK LESNAR (WWE CHAMP) vs THE BIG SHOW at JUDGMENT DAY 2003.

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Season 7, Episode 13: Truly Nevermore Again (2003)

Raven’s promos were iconic during his Impact run, even if I find them a little dweeby.
The real story is the continuing feud between Kid Kash, The Amazing Red, and Trinity, which might be the most underrated feud in Impact history.

1. Kid Kash (Impact X Champ) vs Jerry Lynn at TNA #39.

2. Jerry Lynn and The Amazing Red vs Chris Sabin and Jonny Storm vs Jason Cross and Shark Boy vs Triple X at TNA #40. 

3. Trinity vs Kid Kash at TNA #42

4. Triple X (NWA Tag Champs) vs Jerry Lynn and The Amazing Red at TNA #41.

5. CM Punk vs Jason Cross vs Kid Romeo vs Paul London at TNA #46.

6. Kid Kash (Impact X Champ) vs Amazing Red at TNA #43

7. Triple X (NWA Tag Champs) vs America’s Most Wanted at TNA #42.

8. Chris Sabin vs Jason Cross vs Jimmy Rave vs Shark Boy at TNA #43.

9.Justin Credible, Slash, and The Amazing Red vs Triple X at TNA #46.

MAIN EVENT: JEFF JARRET (IMPACT CHAMP) vs RAVEN at TNA #43

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Season 7, Episode 14: Bad Blood (2003)

Tajiri’s unlikely insertion into The Smackdown Six after The Big Show demolished Rey Mysterio out of Smackdown while Chavo Guerrero had to take time away, was brief but fantastic. 

Less fantastic is the entire career of Rodney Mack, a wrestler managed by former WCW manager, former referee, and future manager of Smackdown, Theodore Long. In 2003, his gimmick was The White Boy Challenge, where he would, you know, challenge a white guy to come out and beat him in less than five minutes. They were usually dull but the Spike Dudley bout is far and away the best of them, and worth the watch.

We also see Rey return, and Evolution is finally given something interesting to do. Implode!

1. Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri (WWE Smackdown Tag Champs) vs World’s Greatest Tag Team (as Team Angle) from Smackdown.

2. Rodney Mack vs Spike Dudley in a White Boy Challenge Match from Raw.

3. Goldberg vs Lance Storm from Raw.

4. Triple H (WCW Champ) vs Ric Flair from Raw.

5. Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker vs The Big Show and The FBI from Smackdown.

6. Matt Hardy (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Rey Mysterio from Smackdown.

7. Goldberg vs Chris Jericho at Bad Blood 2003.

8. Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair at Bad Blood 2003.

9. Triple H (WCW Champ) vs Kevin Nash in a Hell In A Cell Match at Bad Blood 2003.

MAIN EVENT: BROCK LESNAR (WWE CHAMP) vs THE BIG SHOW from SMACKDOWN.

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Season 7, Episode 15: Frontier Of Honor (2003)

Samoa Joe continues to stomp all competitors as the Ring of Honor Champion. 

CM Punk has his first epic Dog Collar Match here, as well. I think it’s a long while before we see the second one.

Homicide steps up to the top of the ROH card in this episode where he’ll have a brief but engaging stint as an absolute killer who looks strong even when he loses.

Also, after seeing them mainly battle each other, The Briscoes finally team up here to challenge for the ROH Tag Titles.

1. Samoa Joe (ROH Champ) vs Zebra Kid at Frontiers Of Honor 2003.

2. AJ Styles vs Paul London at Night Of The Grudges 2003.

3. Samoa Joe (ROH Champ) vs Homicide at Do Or Die 2003.

4. CM Punk vs Raven in a Dog Collar Match at Death Before Dishonor 2003.

5. Trent Acid vs Homicide in a Fight Without Honor at Wrestlerave 2003.

6. AJ Styles and Amazing Red (ROH Tag Champs) vs The Briscoes at Death Before Dishonor 2003.

MAIN EVENT: SAMOA JOE (ROH CHAMP) vs PAUL LONDON at DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR 2003. ​

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Season 7, Episode 16: Toothless Aggression (2003)

Chris Benoit starts wearing his “Toothless Aggression” shirt in this episode. It’s the only humorous thing I really remember him doing, apart from some skits with Kurt Angle.

This is the usual Smackown Six and Friends run rampant card with some quick Raw peeks at Chris Jerico vs Shawn Michaels, and the breakdown of Kane and RvD. Also, the first ever woman in the Impact Hall Of Fame, Gail Kim, debuts for us here, already the WWE Womens Champ. Don’t blink, though, her WWE tenure was brief.

1. Chris Benoit vs Rhyno from Smackdown.

2. Gail Kim (WWE Womens Champ) vs Molly Holly from Raw.

3. Rey Mysterio (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Nunzio from Smackdown.

3. Eddie Guerrero and Tajiri (WWE Smackdown Tag Champs) vs World’s Greatest Tag Team from Smackdown.

4. Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels from Raw.

5. Chris Benoit vs Matt Hardy from Smackdown.

6. The Big Show and World’s Greatest Tag Team (WWE Smackdown Tag Champs) vs Brock Lesnar (WWE Champ), Kurt Angle, and Zach Gowen.

7. Kane vs RvD from Raw.

8. Eddie Guerrero vs Chris Benoit for the US Championship at Vengeance 2003.

MAIN EVENT: BROCK LESNAR (WWE CHAMP) vs THE BIG SHOW vs KURT ANGLE at VENGEANCE 2003. 

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Season 7, Episode 17: Ultimate X (2003)

The Ultimate X stipulation is one of Impact’s best inventions. This first one isn’t great, as they hadn’t quite figured out how to set up the space and book it, but it’s fun to see them experiment with it.

D-Lo Brown pops over from the WWE, and has a briefly solid run. I like him in Impact much more than I liked him in The Fed.

As has been the case since we started following Impact, though, a majority of the great matches have AJ Styles in them.

1. Amazing Red (Impact X Champ) vs Chris Sabin vs Jerry Lynn at TNA #46.

2. AJ Styles vs D-Lo Brown at TNA #48.

3. Chris Sabin (Impact X Champ) vs Shark Boy at TNA #49.

4. D-Lo Brown vs Julio Dinero at TNA #49.

5. Triple X (NWA Tag Champs) vs America’s Most Wanted in a Steel Cage Match at TNA #51.

6. CM Punk vs Shane Douglas in a Clockwork Orange House Of Fun Match at TNA #52.

7. AJ Styles (Impact Champ) vs Frank Kazarian at TNA #52.

8. Chris Sabin (Impact X Champ) vs Frank Kazarian vs Michael Shane at the inaugural Ultimate X Match at TNA #59.
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IMPACT SEASON FINALE MAIN EVENT: AJ STYLES (IMPACT CHAMP) vs RAVEN at TNA #60.​

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Season 7, Episode 18: The Real Brock Lesnar (2003)

The less said about the Vince McMahon/Zach Gowen feud the better. It’s not that it didn’t age well, it’s that it sucked and was offensive when it appeared 22 years ago. Gowen himself is a talented wrestler but a terrible actor/promo deliverer. Here he gets massacred by The Real Brock Lesnar (newly turned back into a heel after a very brief face run), who then goes on to destroy Kurt Angle.

The Parking Lot Brawl as the semi-main event for this episode is a nice break from the WWE visuals at the time, and includes a less-offensive-than-usual rap from John Cena. Not inoffensive. Less offensive than usual.

The main event is only the third Iron Man Match we’ve seen from the WWE, and it’s probably the best.

1. Brock Lesnar vs Zach Gowen from Smackdown.

2. Eddie Guerrero (WWE US Champ) vs Chris Benoit vs Rhyno vs Tajiri at Summerslam 2003.

3. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs Brock Lesnar at Summerslam 2003.

4. Rey Mysterio (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Tajiri at Summerslam 2003.

5. Kurt Angle (WWE Champ) vs The Undertaker from Smackdown.

6. Eddie Guerrero vs John Cena in a Parking Lot Brawl from Smackdown.

MAIN EVENT: KURT ANGLE (WWE CHAMP) vs BROCK LESNAR in an IRON MAN MATCH from SMACKDOWN.

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Season 7, Episode 19: Better Friends, Stiffer Enemies (2003)

The newer, darker (as in the lights are much dimmer) ROH continues to showcase excellent matches with minimal storylines. They just look a bit more professional now. Apart from a Jim Cornette cameo, this is a promo free show, full of hand-shaking and face-kicking. The featured debut in this episode sees future WWE, Impact, and NWA Hall of Famer, Mickie James, appear as Alexis Laree.

1. BJ Whitmer vs Colt Cabana vs Dan Maff vs Homicide at Death Before Dishonor 2003.

2. Mickie James (as Alexis Laree) vs Sumie Sakai at Wrestlerave 2003.

3. Christopher Daniels vs Xavier at Better Friends, Stiffer Enemies.

4. Homicide vs Steve Corino in a No Holds Barred Match at Better Friends, Stiffer Enemies.

5. Samoa Joe (ROH Champ) vs Jay Briscoe at Tradition Continues.

6. The Backseat Boyz vs Special K vs The Carnage Crew vs The Next Generation Hart Foundation vs The Spanish Announce Team in a Scramble Cage Tag Match at Main Event Spectacles.

ROH SEASON FINALE MAIN EVENT: AJ STYLES vs DANIEL BRYAN DANIELSON (as BRYAN DANIELSON) at MAIN EVENT SPECTACLES.​

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Season 7, Episode 20: Birth Of The Legend Killer (2003)

Much of the Raw Era this season draws from includes a storyline where Eric Bischoff and Steve Austin are forced to co-exist at co-managers of Raw. It’s a bad storyline. Not quite as bad as Vince McMahon vs Stephanie McMahon and Zach Gowen and Mr America over on Smackdown, but pretty close. As a result, I didn’t include much of it. But the final moment of it was a Survivor Series Match that was excellent, and also feeds into the rise of Randy Orton as The Legend Killer. But the final moment of the match is Steve Austin taking a bow and leaving some Steveweisers in the ring as he officially retires from wrestling. Something he didn’t do after his final actual match a few episodes ago.

While we continue following the amazing wrestling angles from Smackdown, and watch Kane demolish Shane McMahon, the real story here is Randy Orton finally getting a gimmick to match his talent: The Legend Killer. Val Venis is NOT a legend but it is right before his match that we see Orton cut a promo that will lead him to wipe out four actual legends in this episode: The Fabulous Moolah, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels, and Steve Austin. Not a bad start.

1. Randy Orton vs Val Venis from Raw.

2. Kane vs Shane McMahon at Unforgiven 2003.

3. Randy Orton vs Shawn Michaels at Unforgiven 2003.

4. Brock Lesnar (WWE Champ) and John Cena vs Kurt Angle and The Undertaker from 
Smackdown.

5. Tajiri vs Rey Mysterio at No Mercy 2003.

6. Chris Benoit vs Albert (as A-Train) at No Mercy 2003.

7. Kurt Angle vs John Cena at No Mercy 2003.

SEASON FINALE MAIN EVENT: TEAM BISCHOFF vs TEAM AUSTIN in a SURVIVOR SERIES MATCH at SURVIVOR SERIES 2003.
Chris Jericho, Christian, Mark Henry, Randy Orton, and Scott Steiner vs Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, RvD, and Shawn Michaels