WWE Fantasy Universe S1 Ep.12: Rise of the Man-beast

Paul Heyman and Rhyno show up on Raw and they reveal that they will not be attending Smackdown this week, probably out of fear of being targeted by Brock Lesnar and RVD for what they did at Armageddon. Paul Heyman lays out what happened so it is easy for the “morons” to understand. Paul Heyman swears that he was loyal to Brock, until Brock was no longer loyal to him. He accuses Brock Lesnar of forgetting who made him the monster he is today and who is responsible for his success. Paul Heyman made Lesnar a star, but Brock has forgotten how to be appreciative for his work.

After the distance grew, Heyman knew it was only a matter of time before Brock kicked him to the curb, so he decided to strike first. He says that Rhyno was always the plan, however he wasn’t going to underestimate the power of Brock Lesnar as well as the unpredictability of a 6-man Hell in a Cell match. So, Paul Heyman also reached out to RVD, knowing that he has strong rapport with him thanks to their time in ECW together. He knew RVD would be on board and he would be too stupid to realise he was being played. Heyman reminds Brock Lesnar that he is not special, in fact, Rhyno is the first example of an unknown monster being put on the map by Paul Heyman.

Paul Heyman apologises to RVD for being a casualty in Heyman’s master plan, but it had to be done for justice to be served. He hopes RVD does not try anything that would result in him being hurt, he wouldn’t want to see that. To Brock, Paul Heyman hopes he enjoyed being world champion because that will never happen again.

Road To Royal Rumble

Eponymous Match

As expected, the main event will be the Royal Rumble match. There are a lot of moving parts, so I will lay out the featured storylines that may have an effect on the match. First, let’s talk about Team Hollywood. After dominating for large portions of 2002, it seems they have lost a lot of their aura as 2003 begins. The group is still officially together but issues have formed between The Rock, Hulk Hogan and DDP all wanting to be the world champion for the group. Hulk Hogan is carrying the World Heavyweight Championship, although WWE have said they will not recognise it as an official title, basically because Vince sees it as the WCW title.

The Rock decides to make the first move in the group and he declares for the Royal Rumble, seeking a path back to the WWE title. Hulk Hogan interrupts and says that he is also entering the Royal Rumble because he deserves to be acknowledged as a world champion by WWE. DDP also enters the Royal Rumble, reminding that he is on a quest for one more world championship before he retires from full-time wrestling. DDP is slowly transitioning back into a favourable character. For him it was always about trying to preserve his legacy, not greed.

Brock Lesnar is livid at Paul Heyman’s betrayal and he wants a title rematch, but Stephanie McMahon informs him that he can’t. Checking the contract prepared for Armageddon, Paul Heyman added a clause stating that if Brock Lesnar loses the match, the champion’s rematch clause would be null and void. Brock Lesnar plans a trip to Raw to try and confront Paul Heyman and Rhyno, but his intentions are made aware to Paul Heyman who hires security to keep Lesnar away from them. Stephanie enters Brock into the Royal Rumble and says that this is the path back to the WWE championship for him.

Notable names such as Steve Austin, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, Triple H all enter the Rumble too, looking to recapture a world title. Kurt Angle, proud of himself for crippling the Undertaker, enters the Rumble but he is greeted with the bad news that Kane will also be in the Rumble. Kane promises to be the one to eliminate Kurt from the match.

ECW Originals

Although Paul Heyman & Rhyno stick to appearing on Raw, that doesn’t stop Rob Van Dam from calling them out. RVD admits on Smackdown that he forgot Heyman’s reputation for being a liar and a snake. Heyman span him a story of their time together in ECW and how he wanted his most loyal guys to be on top and that included him. RVD went along with the plan because it meant he was going to be the WWE champion, but of course it was a double screw. RVD is cut off by Brock Lesnar who is just as pissed off with RVD as he is with Heyman, but he understands why he was convinced. Lesnar is willing to let this go, as long as RVD meets him in a match in the main event of Smackdown.

RVD and Lesnar wrestle a great match and it is a spotlight on just how good RVD can be. It looks like he even may score an upset victory over Brock, but we will never know because Rhyno reappears on Smackdown to attack them both with Gores.

Stephanie McMahon isn’t happy about this. Although Brock cannot have a rematch for the title, RVD can and she books Rhyno vs RVD for the Royal Rumble.

All The Gold

Edge & Goldust travel over to Raw to defend their tag titles against the number 1 contenders, Tazz & Spike Dudley. Edge & Goldust retain, but they are attacked by the Un-Americans who see this rare opportunity to send a message of intent to the tag champions. Christian says that the Un-Americans have had a pretty decent year, he is not the US champion and finally Chris Jericho has reached his potential as a valuable member of the group. He wants their success to continue and tasks Jericho & Storm to capture the tag championships for the team. Jericho & Storm defeat Too Cool thanks to Christian blasting Rikishi with his US title. A post-match beat down is saved from another rare Raw appearance from Booker T, Edge and Goldust.

Edge & Goldust accept a match for the tag titles at Royal Rumble, as long as they face them in a 6-man tag on Raw first. Booker T, Edge & Goldust win the match when Christian tries to use his US title as a weapon but he is stopped by Rikishi.

This also sets up Rikishi challenging Christian for the US title at Royal Rumble too. The Un-Americans could leave the PPV with all the gold, or also none of it.

Proving Ground

Jazz wants more competition and she is confronted by Torrie Wilson who would like an opportunity. Jazz laughs this off, not seeing her as a real threat. She calls Torrie a model, not a wrestler. Torrie slaps her and demands an opportunity to prove she is more than a pretty face. Jazz offers her a non-title match, if Torrie wins she can have a proper title match. In this match, Torrie has some moments to shine but she is ultimately defeated by Jazz. After the match, Jazz continues the onslaught until she is physically pulled off by officials.

Stacy Kiebler was not a fan of seeing this and she confronts Jazz, calling her a bully and she wants an opportunity to avenge Torrie. Jazz insults Stacy the same way she insulted Torrie, but does give her the same offer. Stacy showcases her skills and scores a huge upset victory over Jazz thanks to an assist from Torrie Wilson. Stacy gets her match against Jazz at the Rumble.

Royal Rumble

The first PPV of 2003 opens with a United States championship match, Christian defending against Rikishi. The Samoan overpowers Christian early and teases a stinkface but the champ escapes. Christian’s Un-American allies try to come down and run interference but Scotty 2 Hotty, Edge & Goldust run down to stop it from happening. Rikishi does manage to stinkface Christian, but the champion counters the Rikishi Driver with an Unprettier and retains the title.

Christian retains in 4:28.

Next up we have Jazz defending her women’s championship against Stacy Kiebler. Although Jazz dominates, Stacy has an impressive showing getting some nice moves in and some near falls of her own. However, the result was never in doubt, as Jazz hits the double underhook DDT to retain. After her win, Jazz strips down Stacy and continues to beat her up until Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson rush in to make the save.

Jazz retains in 5:22.

Edge & Goldust defends their tag titles against Chris Jericho & Lance Storm. Christian tries to do a run-in, but he is run off by Rikishi to keep the match fair. This is a highly competitive match with a lot of heat, fighting in and outside of the ring, this is equal parts brawl equal parts wrestling. Eventually, Edge drops Jericho with the impaler DDT and gets the pin.

Edge & Goldust retain in 6:03.

Next, Rhyno defends his WWE championship against RVD. Paul Heyman is by Rhyno’s side of course and whispers to him the game plan. Rhyno showcases his ferocity but RVD’s quickness is working in his favour and he is able to stagger the more powerful opponent. He has the upperhand towards the end of the match, but Paul Heyman gets up with the WWE title and offers it to RVD to use as a weapon, clearly mocking him for the screwjob at Armageddon. RVD blasts Heyman with a kick, but he turns around into a Gore.

Rhyno retains in 3:16.

It is time for the Royal Rumble match. We start off in stacked fashion with the returning Undertaker and Hulk Hogan. These two legendary rivals have a brawl, Hogan takes control after a low blow as number 3 enters, Ric Flair. Hogan and Flair stare down and run back their historic feud, as Undertaker gets back up and drops them both. Christian enters at number 4, selling pain from his match at the start of the night. He tries to eliminate Taker quickly, but Taker counters and drops him. Coming out at number 5 is The Rock. Rock and Hogan staredown but they hug and begin to work as a team over the rest of the field.

Entering at 6 is Randy Orton, but his ally Ric Flair is eliminated by Hogan & Rock as he is about to enter. Flair whispers in his ear, and Orton decides to hang around the outside of the ring. Entrant 7 is Edge who immediately fights his former partner Christian, eliminating him. Number 8 is Big Show who beats everyone up. Orton sees an opportunity to eliminate Edge, but his attempt is countered and Edge throws Orton out instead. Flair is disappointed by this. Show eliminates Edge. Number 9 is Eddie Guerrero. He tries to fight Hogan & Rock but he is beaten down. Team Hollywood beat down everyone and stand tall on their own. They start trash talking everyone before entrant 10 arrives.

Glass shatters, here comes Austin. He stares down Rock before dropping him with a stunner, then he goes face to face with Hulk Hogan, the dream match everyone is talking about. They trade punches, Hogan gets the upper hand and tries to boot Austin over the top, but he dodges and Hogan hits Rock instead, eliminating him. Whilst Hogan is in shock at his actions, Austin throws Hogan over the top too. Number 11 is Test and number 12 is Chris Benoit as the ring starts the fill up a little. 13 is Chris Jericho, 14 is Goldust and 15 is Tazz. Undertaker goes on a run of dominance, but from behind he is attacked by Kurt Angle who is not in the match yet. Angle mocks him by doing a throat slit taunt. Test eliminates Taker thanks to Kurt.

Entrant 16 is Booker T and 17 is Faarooq. Guerrero & Benoit are forming a team to fight their foes, but Guerrero betrays his friend and throws him out of the ring. Guerrero looks serious when he did that, like he enjoyed doing it. Entrant 18 is Brock Lesnar. Lesnar goes on a tear eliminating Show, Goldust, Test, Tazz & Faarooq. Guerrero, Jericho and Booker mix it up whilst Lesnar and Austin have a mini rematch between themselves. Entering at 19 is DDP, 20 is Kane. Lesnar eliminates Austin from the match. Billy Kidman enters at 21 and works with DDP to try and beat down Lesnar. Triple H enters at 22 and he eliminates Chris Jericho. Lesnar eliminates DDP, but he is attacked from behind by WWE champion Rhyno. Rhyno nails him with 2 Gores before throwing him at Triple H’s feet. HHH eliminates Brock Lesnar.

Matt Hardy enters at 23, X-Pac is next at 24. Pac eliminates Kidman before being eliminated by Kane. Kane eliminates Guerrero. William Regal is number 25 and is immediately eliminated by Kane. 26 is Kevin Nash and 27 is Shawn Michaels. HBK and HHH work together to eliminate Kane and Nash. They do a suck it taunt, before HBK eliminates HHH! Michaels shrugs and apologises to HHH. Triple H looks livid on the outside. Entrant 28 is Jeff Hardy who eliminates his brother Matt. Mark Henry enters at number 29. Kurt Angle comes out number 30, but he is attacked during his entrance by Undertaker. Taker rolls Angle into the ring to be eliminated by Booker T. HBK and Jeff Hardy work together to eliminate Henry.

Our final three is Booker T, Shawn Michaels and Jeff hardy. We get a triple threat here at the end for a few minutes. We get a triple down when Booker T hits HBK with a scissor kick, he goes for the Book End but HBK pulls out a sweet chin music out of nowhere. Hardy hits a swanton on both men but he is too fatigued to capitalize. HBK knocks Jeff over the top thinking he is eliminated him, but Jeff takes a page out of HBK’s book by skinning the cat back into the ring and scoring an upset elimination over him. Hardy and Booker T are left, they take the fight to each other until Booker T backdrops Jeff out of the ring to win the Royal Rumble

Booker T wins in 26:29.

Booker T celebrates his Royal Rumble win as he earns a WWE title match at Wrestlemania XIX.

Booker T’s great 2002 continues into 2003 with a Royal Rumble victory. Booker T has a date with the WWE championship at Wrestlemania, but I doubt that will deter Brock Lesnar from chasing Rhyno and a title rematch. Tune in next week for episode 13.