Revisiting WWE's 2003 Royal Rumble Match

Who Won The 2003 Royal Rumble Match?	Brock Lesnar
Where Did WWE Royal Rumble 2003 Take Place?	Fleet Center (now TD Garden) in Boston Massachusetts
How Long Was The 2003 Royal Rumble Match?	53 minutes 47 seconds

As we ready up for the 39th annual Royal Rumble event, it's time to ignite the fuel of anticipation about one of the most exciting and important events in WWE's calendar. To celebrate the history of the Royal Rumble, let's head back to the year 2003, where the Ruthless Aggression Era was still in its rookie year, and where the entire show was built to consolidate the rise of the rookie superstar who arguably epitomizes ruthless aggression: The Next Big Thing Brock Lesnar.

Let's start things by talking not about the Royal Rumble match, but the first match of the evening-Brock Lesnar vs. The Big Show. This match was important as the winner would be allowed to participate in the Royal Rumble Match later in the evening. This bout not only showcased Lesnar's power, but allowed Brock to exact revenge on the man who beat him for the WWE Undisputed Championship a couple of months earlier at Survivor Series. Not even the bald-headed walrus Paul Heyman could stop the steam locomotive that was Lesnar's ascent toward immortality, so Brock made relatively quick work of The Big Show and landed himself a spot in the Royal Rumble.

READ MORE: The 5 Best Things About The Triple H Era (& The 5 Worst)

Now onto the event itself, the 2003 Royal Rumble Match might be one of the most overlooked events in the history of the event. Admittedly it wasn't particularly great, but there were some excellent moments within that made it stand out among many of the other Royal Rumble matches.

The 2003 Royal Rumble Match Began With Chris Jericho Jumping Shawn Michaels From Behind

One example of this Royal Rumble's worthiness is at the very start. Shawn Michaels came out as the number 1 entrant, signaling to us that he could win the Royal Rumble from the number 1 spot just like he did in 1995. The next entrant was Chris Jeri... no wait a second! THAT'S CHRISTIAN! Yes that's right, Jericho's pal Christian had us fooled as he pretends to be Jericho for a minute, right before Jericho comes from behind and low blows Michaels like the dastardly heel he is - now this is how you open a Royal Rumble!

After assaulting Michaels including smashing him over the head with a steel chair, Jericho tips him over the top rope to eliminate him from the match. Christopher Nowinski entered at number 3, but was all too happy to stop himself from entering the ring so that Jericho could continue his assault on Michaels, and who would only enter the ring thereafter when opportune moments presented themselves.

"The SmackDown Six" Showed Off Their Skills At WWE Royal Rumble 2003

Rey Mysterio entered number 4 and had no problem dazzling Jericho with his slick and quick offense, featuring a springboard dropkick followed by a springboard headscissors and a high-elevation facebuster. Jericho tries to shut down the offence, but Rey eventually set him up for a 619, but Nowinski decided to intercept Rey's momentum before Rey's former tag team partner Edge enters at number 5. Edge hits a double clotheslines on Nowinski and Jericho and hit both of them with spears, and he sent Jericho through the steel ring post and to the outside of the ring-which of course didn't eliminate him. Edge and Rey decide to face off by shaking hands and then kicking each other in the mid-section. Rey sets Edge up for a 619 but misses and then Edge attempts to push Rey over the top rope while he's seated on it, but that momentum swings Edge over the top rope but neither him nor Mysterio are eliminated. Rey then goes for a West Coast Pop but Edge counters with a sit-out powerbomb.

Next in at number 6 is Christian... yes the real Christian entrance this time! Oh, and seeing long-haired Christian in 2003 doesn't seem right when you consider the fresh haircut he unveiled in the summer. Anyway, Christian comes in and hugs it out with his kayfabe brother Edge and requests they team up against Rey Mysterio, but Christian is instead met with a spear from Edge. Rey requests an electric chair maneuver, so Edge hoists him up, but Nowinski enters back into the ring and tries to eliminate them both but fails, even though he thinks he eliminated them both at first. As Nowinski mindlessly celebrates, Edge and Mysterio perch themselves on the top turnbuckle for insterio dropkicks, but while Rey connected clean, Edge's timing was late and he landed on Nowinski's face-yeah it's quite gnarly to watch! Edge works on Christian and Mysterio on Nowinski as we away the next entrant.

Chavo Guerrero gently runs down the ramp and forward-rolls between the ropes. Chavo lands a spinebuster but Rey holds onto him and sets him up for a 619 that connects, along with a seated senton. Afterwards Mysterio hits Christian with a 619 and then sends Nowinski over the top rope with a hurricanrana. Jericho then sneaks in and clotheslines Mysterio over the top rope to eliminate him.

Entry 8 enters and it's Tajiri with a freaky smile on his face. Tajiri lights Jericho and Christian up with kicks but gets shut down momentarily by Chavo until he slaps on a modified airplane spin. All the combatants beat on each other as we await the 9th participant. Bill DeMott comes in and slaps and smacks everyone, charges into Chavo in the corner, and continues punishing until number 10 arrives. And it's ECW extreme icon Tommy Dreamer and he's not alone because he's brought his hardware. Dreamer welcomed DeMott with a bin lid to the skull, hurls a bin and another lid into the ring, and takes his kendo sticks and whacks everyone around him and catches Jericho right in the face! Edge eliminates DeMott with a kendo stick shot and Dreamer receives a bin-lid version of a Con-chair-to from Jericho and Christian. Jericho then picks up a kendo stick and appears to give a receipt to Dreamer as it was a relentless shot to the back, and him and Christian dump him over the top rope for another elimination. Tajiri delivers double back spring elbows to Christian and Chavo and he tries to Tarantula Jericho but Jericho's having none of it and he dumps Tajiri over for an elimination just before the next entrant arrives.

A furious and shoulder-grabbing B-2 enters the ring and beats down everyone in his way for a little bit until pushes him over the top turnbuckle to eliminate him. Chavo then pummels Edge for a bit until Edge send him over the ropes. Chavo momentarily holds on until Edge Spears him off the apron, eliminating him in the process. Edge tries to eliminate Jericho too but Jericho skims the cat and back rolls over the ropes and back into the ring. Meanwhile Edge and Christian were squabbling by the ropes, and Jericho took this opportunity to eliminate them both at once. Jericho recovers in the ring whilst sporting a big bloody knot on his head from Tommy Dreamer's kendo stick attack, and the next participant is on his way.

And it's the whole damn show Rob Van Dam! Rob enters the ring and immediately flurries Jericho with lethal punches and kicks, pressuring him constantly and aggressively. RVD tries hurling Jericho over the top rope but Jericho hangs on. Next up Matt Hardy enters the match while his graphic tells us that Matt strongly dislikes mustard, so he must be best buds with Rake Yohn from the Jackass films due to their shared dislike of that strong yellow stuff. Matt overwhelms RVD and delivers a big Side Effect before allying himself with Jericho to double-team him. At first the double-team assault works, but RVD fights it off with his signature kicks. RVD executes his Five Star Frog Splash on Jericho but is left in a vulnerable position for Matt Hardy to attempt throwing him over the top rope, but Matt fails to eliminate him.

Next we got Eddie Guerrero briskly making his way to the ring. Eddie slides in and decides to beat down Rob Van Dam some and Matt tries to join in, but Eddie beats on him some as well. RVD monkey flips Eddie and tries to take him out of the Rumble, but Matt puts a stop to it and oddly still wants to work with Eddie, deciding to scoop slam RVD so that Eddie could hit his own version of the Frog Splash. Matt then shows his true colours by giving Eddie a Twist of Fate and he celebrates it before the next man enters the picture.

The Hardy Boyz Went At It During The 2003 Royal Rumble Match

Number 15 draws and it's Matt's brother Jeff Hardy! Matt wants them to team up but Jeff makes a talking gesture with his hand and proceeds to attack Matt. Jeff hits his patented jawbreaker and leg drop to the groin. Jeff throws Matt over but Shannon Moore lies on the floor and puts both of his feet up on Matt's back to protect him from elimination. Be that as it may, Jeff decides to give Matt a Twist of Fate and attempts a Swanton but Shannon Moore gets in the ring and tells Jeff to wait as he gets on top of Matt to shield him from impact. Jeff crushes Moore and Matt with the Swanton Bomb then Jeff eats a dropkick on Eddie and attacks Jericho before the next entrant arrives.

Turns out we didn't get 3 minutes but rather 1 minute for this warning as Rosey accompanied by Rico enters the match-up. Rosey immediately punishes Rob Van Dam and delivers a mean savant kick after recovering from some minor offence from RVD. The action is minimal and somewhat stagnant besides Jeff attempting to eliminate Matt as we roll on to the next entrant. And it's Test accompanied by Stacy Kiebler! Test's fans the Testicles are on their feet as Test walks to the ring with purpose. Test receives a good-luck kiss from Stacy, then enters the ring and blasts Jericho and Rosey with clotheslines, a tilt-a-whirl slam to Eddie and a massive pumphandle slam to Matt. Test tries to get rid of Jericho but Jericho hangs on yet again. Also, RVD lands a spinning wheel kick on Eddie. Everyone is punishing each other before entry number 18.

A Young John Cena Rapped On His Way To The 2003 Royal Rumble Match

YO YO YO THUGANOMICS STYLE! It's John Cena dressed like a McDonald's employee! John spits some rhymes and takes his leisurely time approaching the ring. After finishing his rap and taking his cap off, RVD slips out of the ring, kicks Cena in the mid-section and throws him inside the ring. Jericho then goes on to attack Cena and just like that the next superstar arrives on the scene! And it's one-third of Team Angle Charlie Haas! Haas enters and overwhelms Matt Hardy and tries to get him over the top rope but fails to exit him from the ring and the match. Haas then decides to slug it out with Rosey but finds himself on the receiving end of chops. Meanwhile, Jeff and RVD tussle with Jeff reversing an irish whip and jumping up for an attempted Whisper In The Wind, but RVD quickly pushes Jeff off the top turnbuckle and out of the match! RVD is visibly pleased by what he did as Eddie connects with a hurricanrana on Jericho before the 20th man arrives into the Royal Rumble.

And it's Rikishi! He combos up Cena with punches, then deliver savant kicks to Haas, Jericho, Matt Hardy and Cena. Rikishi and Rosey then staredown and Shannon Moore tries to appeal with Rosey but is backed up and stacked in the corner with Matt Hardy as Rosey calls for Rikishi to charge into the corner with a hip attack-which he does. Hardy and Moore drop down to the bottom turnbuckle and as Rikishi was preparing for a Stink Face, Rosey wallops him with a clothesline that sends Rikishi inside out. Test then blasts Rosey and Cena works on Rikishi as we await entry number 21.

Jamal is here! And Rico accompanies him! Jamal gets in and savant kicks Rikishi, then Rikishi savant kicks him. Jamal is then crushed by a hip attack by Rikishi and Rikishi successfully gives him the Stink Face. Eventually Jamal recovers and furiously pummels and assault Rikishi, choking him as his head hangs over the ring apron. Jericho almost sends RVD out but RVD survives, cue up the 22nd entrant!

It's getting awful hot and fire-fueled in here as Kane makes his way into the Royal Rumble! Kane punches several participants, big boots Test, delivers a mighty sidewalk slam to Jericho, clotheslines Rosey and chokeslams Rico from the apron into the ring. Kane gets blindsided by Rosey, but quickly recovers and hucks Rosey over the top rope to eliminate him. Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore get double chokeslammed and Kane attempts to eliminate Jericho and Jericho precariously teeters to a very uncomfortable degree, but manages to hang on and re-enter the match.

Next up is the second Team Angle member to enter the Royal Rumble Shelton Benjamin! Shelton immediately gets to work by leaping over Hass for a tag-team move on a hanging John Cena. Shelton then works over Matt Hardy as Eddie gets on Rikishi's back for a sleeperhold attempt. RVD almosts eliminates Matt but Matt is able to retain himself inside the match. Kane chokes Shelton over the turnbuckle but doesn't get rid of him. Hardy and Jericho trade blows and Jericho goes down before the 24th man turns up.

Can you dig it sucka! It's Booker T! Booker hops in the ring and is met with Kane's hand around his throat, but Book fights it off, kicks Kane in the mid-section and nails a Scissors Kick to the back of his head. Booker flapjacks Matt then gives us a Royal Rumble-sized Spin-A-Roonie! Eddie runs at Booker but is sent over and out of the Rumble, landing hard in his knee. Booker then works on Rikishi and RVD performs a springboard dropkick on Matt as we await the next participant.

A locomotive has entered the Rumble! A-Train is here! He immediately hits the A-Train Bomb on Cena, a Derailer on Benjamin, another A-Train Bomb on RVD. A-Train's momentum comes to a screeching halt thanks to a savant kick from Rikishi, as the big man himself tries to eliminate Jericho like various other participants have tried and failed to do thus far. Jericho does fight back and gets on the turnbuckle to attack Rikishi on the back. However, things are about to go very badly for Jericho as Shawn returns exact revenge! Shawn goes right after Jericho whilst fending off Hardy and Cena. Jericho blindsides Michaels but is immediately thrown over the top rope by Test and exited from the Rumble! Shawn then flies over the top rope himself with a crossbody onto Jericho and continues assaulting him until he and Jericho are separated by a gaggle of referees.

Next we have the 2001 Tough Enough winner and 2002 Royal Rumble Undertaker eliminator (and future YouTube sensation) Maven! Maven comes in and punches up Cena, and then Kane, but Kane turns the tables and punches up Maven as well. Jamal hangs Matt over the top rope and Test has Cena in a precarious position. A-Train splats Haas with a splash. Everybody fights among themselves and weakly attempt eliminations until entry number 27 shows up.

It's about to get bizarre up in here, it's Goldust! Goldust clotheslines the Team Angle member and powerslams Shelton before turning his attention to Maven, giving him some Shattered Dreams. Goldust turns his attention back onto Haas and Benjamin, and as Goldust goes to attack Benjamin on the apron, Haas clotheslines Goldust over and out! Booker then gets mad that Team Angle eliminated his buddy, and proceeds to chop up Haas in the corner. Team Angle overwhelm Booker however, and they eliminate the Book Man as well!

Business picks up as The Animal Batista enters the Rumble! Batista clotheslines Cena and Rosey, shoulder tackles Benjamin, beats on RVD, then runs into a full nelson slam from Test. Test tries to eliminate Batista over the top with a big boot but misses and his momentum sends him over instead! Batista delivers a huge spinebuster on Rikishi, spears Benjamin, then turns his attention back onto Rikishi and clotheslines him over the top rope to get the big man out of here.

Brock Lesnar Was Number 29 At WWE Royal Rumble 2003

Number 29 is here and it's The Next Big Thing Brock Lesnar! Brock clotheslines various superstars but eventually gets ganged up on by Team Angle. Team Angle attempt to throw Lesnar over the top together, but the momentum hurls the two of them over instead! Matt attacks Lesnar briefly, but Brock picks up Matt in an F5 position and dumps him over Team Angle and onto the floor for a phenomenal elimination! A-Train and Batista double-team Cena and A-Train splats Lenar in the corner, but A-Train severs his temporary alliance with Batista by blindsiding him with a bicycle kick. A-Train attempts to pick Batista up for an elimination but Batista's knee firmly plants itself to the canvas, so A-Train couldn't pick him up.

The final participant is here and it's The Undertaker! Taker rides his way to the ring, gets in, and punches up anyone that moves. He clotheslines Cena over the top rope to eliminate him, and follows up by doing the same thing to Jamal whose head hits Cena's builder's bum. Maven tries to make lightening strike twice two years running by dropkicking The Undertaker out of the Royal Rumble Match, but even though Maven is jubilant thinking he had eliminated The Undertaker again, the reality then stares him straight in the face before he is chokeslammed and subsequently eliminated too. A-Train stalks Taker and hits his A-Train Bomb on him. Kane delivers a chokeslam to Brock Lesnar to take him out of the action for a bit. RVD connects with a enziguri heel kick, and Kane irish whips him to execute a spinning wheel kick on Batista. A-Train clotheslines Kane and then clotheslines RVD in the corner. A-Train tries setting up Kane for what might've been a Derailer, but RVD quickly surprises him with a spinning wheel kick and both Kane and RVD join up to clothesline A-Train up and out of the Rumble! RVD and Kane then set up what was going to be a gorilla press splash on Batista, but Kane decides he'd turn RVD around and dumps him out and onto A-Train to eliminate him.

Batista, Kane, Brock Lesnar & The Undertaker Were The Final Four Wrestlers In The 2003 Royal Rumble Match

Now it's the final 4. Batista takes advantage of a distracted Kane and irish whips him, and the two collide into one another by clotheslining each other and they're down for now. The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar both emerge into the center of the ring and stare each other down, teasing a showdown, but before they can trade blows Kane and Batista intercept them, with Batista working over The Undertaker and Kane on Brock Lesnar. The Undertaker unloads shots into Batista but Batista lands a big spinebuster. Kane and Batista work on Brock in the corner but Brock fights out and takes out Kane with a clothesline and Batista with a belly-to-belly overhead suplex. Lesnar F5s Kane in the center of the ring, then Brock and The Undertaker re-emerge in the center of the ring to throw down-to which they successfully do this time!

Brock Lesnar Last Eliminated The Undertaker To Win The 2003 Royal Rumble Match

The Undertaker and Lesnar go blow for blow and the sequence ends when Taker hits Brock with a big boot. Taker charges Brock and Brock catches and almost dumps Taker over but ensures Taker's leg is planted to the canvas. Lesnar tries an F5 on Taker but Taker reverses and hits his Tombstone Piledriver. Undertaker then immediately clotheslines Batista out of the Rumble match. Taker then pats his brother Kane on the back and offers his hand to pick him up. The two of them look to take Lesnar out, but Taker dupes Kane and send him over the top rope, and instantly afterwards Brock dumps Lesnar over and the winner of the 2003 Royal Rumble is BROCK LESNAR!!! Afterwards Undertaker gets in the ring and shakes Lesnar's hand and says that when Lesnar wins the WWE Undisputed Championship he wants a shot at it.

Final Thoughts On The 2003 Royal Rumble Match

So what did yours truly think of this Royal Rumble? It was good, carried mainly by the feud between Jericho and Michaels. There was some great drama and some awesome eliminations. Of course it's far from the best Royal Rumble, but it wasn't a barn stinker either. It would've been nice to have some surprise entrants, but 2003's Royal Rumble stuck to current talent over the surprise factor. This Royal Rumble was designed to make Brock Lesnar immortal and undeniable, and that was certainly achieved. Yes you may say Royal Rumble 2003 is one of the more obscure Royal Rumbles in the PPVs history, but it is a curiosity worth checking out just to see all those tasty dramatic moments.

WWE has uploaded the full 2003 Royal Rumble Match on their "WWE Vault" YouTube channel. You can check it out here:

Make sure you sound off in the comments about your opinions of Royal Rumble 2003!