Bad Blood 2003: Three Good Matches Cannot Rescue Raw's First Solo PPV

Nowinski and Mack against the Dudleys opens the pay-per-view with a familiar Raw television formula rather than the kind of match that immediately establishes a major-event atmosphere. Bubba Ray and D-Von provide the crowd connection, while Nowinski and Mack spend most of the bout surviving and waiting for Theodore Long to create an opening from ringside. The finish depends on distraction and a foreign object, with Nowinski using his protective face mask before stealing the pin on Bubba Ray. That result gives the heels momentum and fits the storyline, but the seven-minute match never builds enough competitive depth to feel important. It is competent television-style wrestling in an underwhelming pay-per-view opening slot.

Steiner and Test continue a rivalry built far more around Stacy Keibler and personality conflict than around strong in-ring chemistry. The match stays short enough to avoid becoming exhausting, but the power offense is repetitive and there is little sense that either wrestler is building toward a meaningful competitive breakthrough. Test's attempted chair use backfires before Steiner lands the Flatliner and wins Keibler's managerial services. The result advances the story clearly and at least avoids another disputed finish. As wrestling, however, it is one of the weakest parts of the card and reinforces how thin Raw's undercard looked when asked to carry its own pay-per-view.

Christian and Booker T have enough chemistry and championship stakes to create one of the more promising undercard matches, but the finish keeps the bout from reaching the level their previous work suggested. Booker wrestles with the stronger momentum and repeatedly forces Christian into defensive shortcuts, while the champion leans into opportunism instead of trying to win a clean exchange. The decisive moment comes when Christian uses the title belt and is disqualified, allowing Booker to win the match without winning the championship. That protects the champion and extends the rivalry, but it also leaves the pay-per-view audience without a satisfying title result. The wrestling is solid; the booking ceiling is the problem.

Kane and Rob Van Dam against La Résistance is important for the title change and what follows for Kane, but the actual match is too short and mechanically structured to become a memorable championship bout. Van Dam supplies the pace, Kane creates the power spots and René Duprée with Sylvain Grenier work around the champions until one mistake creates the decisive opening. Van Dam dives toward ringside, La Résistance move, and he crashes into Kane before the challengers finish him with a double spinebuster. The championship change is clean enough to matter and immediately destabilizes the Kane-RVD partnership. The match itself remains a brief transitional piece rather than a major tag-team performance.

Goldberg and Jericho provide the first match that feels clearly above the event's undercard level because the rivalry has enough history and personal hostility to support a competitive eleven-minute fight. Jericho attacks the shoulder after Goldberg crashes through the barricade on a missed Spear, giving the match a coherent strategy and allowing Goldberg to sell vulnerability instead of simply running through another opponent. Jericho's control creates real doubt before Goldberg powers out of the Walls of Jericho and regains momentum. The Jackhammer finishes the match cleanly and keeps Goldberg's WWE push moving forward. It is not an all-time match for either wrestler, but it is comfortably one of the best pieces on the show.

Flair and Michaels deliver the night's best traditional wrestling match by leaning into the simple question of which generation's great performer can impose his style on the other. Michaels brings speed and athleticism, Flair uses timing and control, and the Houston crowd treats the matchup like a genuine attraction rather than another Raw feud. The match gains extra drama when Randy Orton interferes, absorbs Sweet Chin Music and then returns to strike Michaels with a chair while the referee is down. Flair takes the pin after the interference, which weakens the competitive purity of the result but fits Evolution's presentation. The match is still strong enough to stand as the clearest wrestling highlight on the card.

Triple H and Kevin Nash finally receive a stipulation that removes the disqualification escape which damaged their Judgment Day match, and the Hell in a Cell environment allows the rivalry to lean fully into violence. Mick Foley's presence as guest referee adds credibility to the structure, while chairs, the cell, steel steps, a barbed-wire bat and the sledgehammer give the bout a more dangerous texture than the previous chapter. The pace is still methodical and the pairing never produces the athletic urgency of the strongest Cell matches, but the match at least escalates logically and reaches a decisive finish. Triple H survives the brawl and pins Nash after the Pedigree to retain the title. It is a respectable main event and a clear improvement over Judgment Day without approaching classic Hell in a Cell territory.