I think the brand split makes this easier. Only big problem with this show is the lack of a clear cut main event. 

Pre-Show Heat

Booker T vs. Christian (Raw 7/7- IC Title Match)- Gets two heavily featured midcarders on the card. Book finally wins the title from the ice cold (at least to me) Christian.

2003 SuperCard MashUp

1. Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri vs. Team Angle (Judgment Day 5/18- Tag Title Ladder Match)
The best post-new golden age tag team gets a chance to shine against two of the company's best in ring competitors in a hot opener.

2. Rey Mysterio vs. Matt Hardy (Smackdown 6/5- Cruiserweight Title Match)
Rey wins the title back in his hometown in what is probably the best cruiserweight match in company history.

3. Randy Orton vs. Rob Van Dam (Armageddon 12/14- IC Title Match)
Orton's long IC title run begins here. Nobody took an RKO quite like RVD. He really made it look like death.

4. Undertaker vs. John Cena (Vengeance 7/27)
The days of struggling to find a decent Undertaker match worthy of inclusion are over and Cena begins the first of what is bound to be a long stretch of appearances provided I continue. 'Taker steps down to the midcard to elevate Cena who looks strong in a losing effort. 

5. Triple H vs. Ric Flair (Raw 5/19- World Title Match)
This is a pretty famous match that had me on the edge of my seat as I was desperately hoping Flair would end the Reign of Doom by winning the title one last time. Alas, it was not to be. Post-match sees the locker room empty to pay tribute to Flair. Really felt like Flair's swansong. Alas, that was also not to be.

6. Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show (Judgment Day 5/18- WWE Championship Stretcher Match)
These two had surprisingly good chemistry which lead to better matches than I expected at the time. Picked this over the broken ring match because you can't follow a broken ring and Brock vs. Big Show is just not worthy of main event status on this stacked card.

7. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 1/19- WWE Championship Match)
The best pure wrestling match in WWF history up to this point. We all know about ECW's influence on WWF. This felt like the first time ROH influence had seeped into the mainstream. Crowd is so into the display of pure wrestling that they give Benoit, the loser, a post-match standing ovation.

8. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (Wrestlemania 3/30)
Best match of Jericho's career up to this point and it marked HBK officially being back as opposed to a McMahon-style part timer. Also love the post match with Jericho being a bad sport. 

9. The Rock vs. Steve Austin (Wrestlemania 3/30)
The end of an era.

10. Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon (Wrestlemania 3/30- Street Fight)
The most logical show closer even with all those WWE/World title matches. A poster on the old PW had a signature which went something like "Hulk vs. Vince: Who made pro wrestling?" and that's basically the story of the match. Plus we get that awesome shot of a bloody Vince looking like a psycho.

*I'm going to do an alternate 1997 ECW tonight. Then it's time for a break. I've already covered....

WWF 93-03
WCW 93-96
ECW 95-99

Aka: Basically everything I wanted to cover. I may come back at some point to try my hand at earlier WWF, late 80s NWA, and the first few years of ROH. But for now it's break time.

Being the first time that the WWE brand split was in effect for an entire calendar year, and so as not to retread Baker's superb card for WWE overall, I thought I'd attempt a SuperCard MashUp for both RAW and SmackDown!

***2003 SmackDown! SuperCard MashUp***
1.) Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Title: Team Angle (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri -- Judgment Day

*Honorable mention to WWE Tag Title: The World's Greatest Tag Team (c) vs. Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman -- Vengeance... in other words, go fuck yourself, Chavo.

2.) CW Title: Matt Hardy (c) (w/ Shannon Moore & Crash Holly) vs. Rey Mysterio -- 6/5 SD!

*@Baker is totally right. This is the match that should've arguably taken place at 'Mania... except Matt Hardy V1 is so fucking awesome that he definitely deserved to retain on the grand stage!

3.) The Undertaker vs. John Cena -- Vengeance

I'm gonna sound like a broken record if I keep tagging Baker and echoing how right he was with his picks. It's hard to find something better for both Cena and 'Taker that doesn't fuck up the structure of the rest of the card.

4.) Mr. America (w/ Zach Gowen) vs. Roddy Piper (w/ Sean O'Haire) -- Judgment Day

*If part of the idea of SuperCard MashUps is to represent the times, good/bad/ugly... then Mr. America needs his due spot in the limelight! Hogan(!?) vs. Piper finally get their one-on-one match on a WWE PPV... like 17 years too late.

5.) I Quit Match: Vince McMahon (w/ Sable) vs. Stephanie McMahon (w/ Linda McMahon) -- No Mercy

*Swerve, BRO! The excuse I'm citing is that Hogan/Vince is "too big" for a brand exclusive PPV... the real reason I'm going with this is so that the card doesn't end up too thin. I underestimated how many main card-worthy matches I could squeeze out.

6.) WWE Title: Kurt Angle (c) vs. Chris Benoit -- Royal Rumble

*I hate to feature multiple WWE title matches on a single SuperCard MashUp, but this match was too great and too influential not to include. Let's use some creative voiceover commentary and pretend that this is for the super prestigious U.S. title or something.

7.) WWE Title: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Big Show -- 6/12 SD!
*Fuck it, I'm breaking the ring and feel OK about closing the show with this because 1) I'm a HUGE Lesnar mark and always have been, 2) I'm not running Hogan/Vince on my SmackDown! SuperCard MashUp, and 3) this might've been the greatest thing I've ever seen in real time viewing... ECW's ring breaks and even WWF's ring breaks before this were all amateur garbage compared to this.

**Special SuperCard MashUp VELOCITY**
1.) Ultimo Dragon vs. Shannon Moore
*Sure, Ultimo's WWE debut can kick off Velocity.  Why not?

2.) Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia) & Billy Gunn (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs. The Bashams (w/ Shaniqua) -- 8/21 SD!
*As much as I wanted to honor the memory of Al Wilson, I just couldn't bring myself to do Torrie vs. Dawn Marie from the Royal Rumble.

3.) The APA vs. The FBI (w/ Nunzio) -- 7/24 SD!
*APA squash the FBI in half a minute, proving they've still got some gas left in the tank.

4.) Rikishi vs. Sean O'Haire (w/ Roddy Piper) -- Backlash

*As continuity/additional buildup for the Mr. America/Piper match on the main card. Plus, O'Haire was proving himself to be quite the physical beast around this time... a little mark in me has to get him somewhat of a spotlight, and being in the "main event" of Velocity will do just fine.


...

***2003 RAW SuperCard MashUp***

1.) Handicap Tables Match for the World Tag Title: The Dudley Boyz vs. La Résistance (Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, & René Duprée) (c) -- Unforgiven
*RAW's tag scene became an utter mess in 2003.  This is probably the best that anyone could ask for... features a still-over-but-popularity-waning legendary face tag team finally fucking up La Résistance, I think as retribution for them legit fucking up Spike.

2.) IC Title: Christian (c) vs. Booker T -- Bad Blood

*Gets two deserving guys on the card in a decent little match.

3.) Women's Title: Trish Stratus (c) vs. Jazz (w/ Theodore Long) -- Backash
*There might've been better Women's title matches out there, but this one was on PPV, featured Teddy Long in his Thuggin' 'N Buggin' Enterprises days, which I had a soft spot for then and still do now... and Trish played a fucking GREAT ragdoll for Jazz.

4.) Scott Steiner vs. Batista (w/ Ric Flair) -- 1/20 RAW

*The debut of Evolution! Steiner was a big enough name at the start of the year that he deserves to be on the card, but this is the way to do it... a squash-like match that's less than 2 minutes long, ends in the formation of a legendary WWE stable, and a beatdown that leaves Big Poppa Pump a bloody mess. Serves to further establish the storylines at play in the main event where HHH will be relying on his Evolution cohorts to hang onto his coveted title. SPOILERS! [Really debated going with Steiner vs. Test for Stacy Keibler's "Managerial Services" from Unforgiven as a way to get Stacy on the card, and as a way to get Test on the card in consideration of the recent Test thread.]


5.) No Holds Barred: Rob Van Dam vs. Kane -- SummerSlam
*Unmasked Kane was a semi-big thing in 2003.  This match and feud was fucking terrible, but it gets two guys on the card who arguably should've been bigger and better used throughout this year.

6.) Redneck Triathlon: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Eric Bischoff -- Bad Blood
*Swerve again, BRO!  The Third Installment of the Austin/Rock Trilogy, like Hogan/Vince, is just too big for any brand-exclusive card.  Plus, like Vince's issues with his daughter and Mr. America on SmackDown!'s side, this match helps to represent the cringey sports entertainment stuff on RAW's side.  At least on RAW's side it was just fun shenanigans between co-GMs and not adultery and incest, etc.

7.) No DQ Match: The Rock vs. The Hurricane -- 3/10 RAW
*Because fuck it, why not!?  This was an awesome mini-program, and I fucking loved it in real time.  No idea if it holds up, but again... fuck it, it's better than Rock/Billy Gunn!

8.) Elimination Chamber for the WHC: Triple H (c) (w/ Ric Flair) vs. Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Kevin Nash -- SummerSlam
*As much as I hate to lose Shawn/Jericho from 'Mania, this match helps me get a lot of important names featured in a great way in the second-ever Elimination Chamber.  Despite HHH's bicycle shorts, he's made to look like a cunning and conniving evil genius here.  And Goldberg's performance in this match is easily better than either of his one-on-one PPV clashes with HHH later on.  The only other real consideration for a Goldberg match would've been his debut against The Rock, but that was kinda weird with Goldberg seemingly being undermined a bit by the departing People's Champ.

**Special SuperCard MashUp HeAT**

1.) No DQ Match: Test & Stacy Keibler vs. Steven Richards & Victoria -- 9/1 RAW
*Test boots the fuck outta Victoria, and then drags Stacy away... kinda setting up a double turn where psycho Stevie goes into a babyface rage over his beau getting wrecked, and possessive and abusive Test really starts to earn the ire of the ladies and lay afficianados like Big Poppa Pump.

2.) Tough Enough 3 Showcase: Matt Cappotelli vs. John Hennigan; feat. Al Snow watching from ringside, and outside interference from Christopher Nowinski and Tommy Dreamer -- 1/27 RAW
*This was the final time that Tough Enough was its own standalone thing (i.e., before becoming just a segment on an existing WWE TV show), so I thought it would be nice and different to give this a spotlight.

3.) 5-Minute White Boy Challenge: Rodney Mack (w/ Teddy Long) vs. Spike Dudley -- 5/19 RAW

*Neither D'Lo nor Mark Henry fit this role and captivated me as much as my man Rodney Mack! Looking back through the white boy victims, Spike seems like the perfect combination of name value and ragdoll.


4.) Tough Enough 1 Showcase: Maven vs. Christopher Nowinski -- 6/23 RAW
*Fuck it, while we're at it... let's job the soon-to-be-blackballed Nowinski out to Maven in half a minute!

5.) Lance Storm vs. Garrison Cade; feat. Stone Cold Steve Austin mocking Lance for being boring -- 6/9 RAW

*Because fuck Lance Storm.


6.) Hardcore Match: Mark Henry (w/ Teddy Long & Rodney Mack) vs. Tommy Dreamer -- 9/22 RAW
*A month after Mark's surprise return, and he's on a path of destruction since joining up with Teddy's Thuggin' 'N Buggin' Enterprises.  Mark literally and figuratively squashes Tommy in less than a minute.  I'm squeezing six matches onto this HeAT and justifying it because they're all pretty much insta-squashes.  Fuck off!

Being in a Ring of Honor mood.....

2003 ROH SuperCard MashUp

1. Low Ki vs. Deranged- Death Before Dishonor 7/19

Low Ki spent most of 2003 Low Ki'ing, hence a lack of big time matches. This epic squash makes the cut over Low Ki concussing Maff in an abbreviated match.

2. Matt Stryker vs. Tom Carter- Do or Die 5/31

ROH midcards drifted away from bad spotfests to boring 'technical' matches in 2003. This one did generate pretty good buzz at the time though.
*This is Matt "Unibrow" Stryker, not the future WWE commentator, and Tom Carter is Reckless Youth.

3. Colt Cabana vs. BJ Whitmer- Tradition Continues 10/16

This was a pretty fun comedy match live that gets both guys on the card.

4. John Walters vs. Xavier- Final Battle 12/27- Fight Without Honor

Xavier fell off the map after losing the ROH Title. Walters was a failed Gabe project. He had more of those than you might thing. Walters was another in that Stryker/Carter/Chad Collyer boring 'technical' wrestler vein. No idea why this was a Fight Without Honor as I don't even remember these two feuding, but it wasn't bad even if Ladder Matches (which it became) were terribly played out in 2003.

5. Backseat Boys vs. Carnage Crew vs. SAT vs. Teddy Hart & Jack Evans vs. Special K (Hydro & Angeldust)- Main Event Spectacles 11/1- Scramble Cage

This was nuts. One of the wildest actionfests ever. It's also the infamous Teddy Hart match that simultaneous made him a hot commodity while getting him blackballed from a lot of places. Chose this is over the equally awesome Carnage Crew vs. Texas Wrestling Academy brawl from Death Before Dishonor for structural reasons. Pretty crazy that two of my favorite 2003 ROH matches were basically filled with scrubs.

6. AJ Styles & Amazing Red vs. Briscoes- Night of Champions 3/22- Tag Title Match

They had a few matches. All were good. I actually haven't seen this one but it got the best reviews of their series. 

7. CM Punk vs. Raven- Death Before Dishonor 7/19- Dog Collar Match

This ruled. Good match. Great angle. It's the peak of the feud that put Punk on the map. Probably the best sports entertainment ROH had done up to this point.

8. Paul London vs. American Dragon- Epic Encounter 4/12- 2 out of 3 Falls Match

The match for which this show was named. Got a ton of hype at the time but dragged a little for me on tape as Dragon matches tended to do. The odd thing is I tended to love his matches live. Weird. This is also famous for making dueling chants a thing. I mean they had obviously been done before but it became a regular occurrence after this one.

*My 2003 ROH Match of the Year is actually London vs. AJ from Night of Grudges which I had to cut for structural reasons. It's worth going out of your way to see though.

9. Steve Corino vs. Homicide- Better Friends, Stiffer Enemies 8/16- No Holds Barred Match

ROH MOTY runner up. Corino/Homicide is behind only Raven/Punk when it comes to 2003 ROH feuds. This was a bloody brawl that would have been at home in ECW or an 80s Southern territory.

10. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels- Glory By Honor II 9/20- ROH Title Match

Not the best match in 2003 ROH (although it's certainly no slouch), but the one that felt the biggest. This is where Joe officially became The Man. 

*Joe had already been champ for 6 months but I always felt like he was just keeping the belt warm for Daniels. I didn't really buy into him as THE guy yet. I thought for sure Daniels was taking the title here. This show also had a Punk vs. Terry f'n Funk match AND Teddy Hart's ROH debut. I obviously wanted to go. Yet I had to miss this show because of reasons. Probably had to work, or something. If Daniels had won the belt and Funk piledrove that good fer nothin' jerk CM Punk through a table I'd still be regretting it. But none of that stuff happened, so I have no regrets.