This Day in Wrestling History: Da Man in WWE

In the Spring of 2001 when the WWE purchased WCW from Turner Broadcasting it took a long time for all former stars to show up in WWE due to the long and hefty contracts being in place for top stars. Though names like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Scott Steiner, and Kevin Nash would show up in WWE by the fall of 2002 there were still some wholes needed to be filled. Following WrestleMania 19 and the departure of Steve Austin one of the WCW's biggest stars would finally debut for the company. During the Monday Night Wars the WCW missed the boat with a number of stars, but did hit it huge with former NFL player Bill Goldberg. 

​Many fans were both surprised and excited to see "Da Man" arrive in the WWE after such a gap of seeing him on television. The only unfortunate side effect of his arrival was that Steve Austin had just retired and missed the opportunity to work with Goldberg in a feud. Though I will point out that his second run with the company was a lot better than his first it is hard to ignore the fact that this is his first match with the WWE. At this point The Rock was leaving for Hollywood and did the honors for Bill upon his arrival in the company, being honest though this match wasn't that good it was the start of a new era. 

​Looking at the card overall though it was a sign of the "Ruthless Aggression" era with some lackluster matches within the card but other average match there as well. This show also sticks out due to the fact that this was the second to last PPV ahead of the company making events brand exclusive starting with Bad Blood in June. It is also funny to see Brock Lesnar facing John Cena who was still very early on in his main roster run at this point especially if you look ahead to the futures both men will have. 

WWE Backlash 2003

​Charlie Haas (c) & Shelton Benjamin (c) def. (pin) Chavo Guerrero & Eddie Guerrero WWE Tag Team Championship
Scott Steiner def. (pin) Rico 
Sean O'Haire def. (pin) Rikishi
Kane (c) & Rob Van Dam (c) def. (pin) Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley World Tag Team Titles (WWE)
Jazz def. (pin) Trish Stratus (c) WWE Women's Championship (original) (title change)
The Big Show def. (pin) Rey Mysterio
Brock Lesnar (c) def. (pin) John Cena WWE Championship
Chris Jericho & Ric Flair & Triple H def. (pin) Booker T. & Kevin Nash & Shawn Michaels 6-person tag
Goldberg def. (pin) The Rock