Kane vs. Shane McMahon (Ambulance Match) - Survivor Series 2003

This week's match review was not randomly selected. I have the WWE Survivor Series 2003 Pay-Per-View event on DVD and one of the matches from that PPV was Kane vs. Shane McMahon in an Ambulance Match. The next Ambulance Match will be Kane vs. John Cena at this Sunday's Elimination Chamber PPV. I thought this was a great opportunity to review the Survivor Series Ambulance Match which was the last time there was an Ambulance Match in the WWE.

Kane vs. Shane McMahon [Ambulance Match] (Survivor Series- November 16, 2003)

The Facts:

• The announcers for this match were Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler.
• This match happened at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The attendance at the event was 13,487.
• Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon both competed in matches at Survivor Series 2003. Vince McMahon faced Undertaker in a Buried Alive Match.
• This match had a 13:34 time length. 
• This was the first Ambulance Match in WWE history.

The Match:

I love Shane McMahon matches. Vince and Shane McMahon weren't great wrestlers, but they were amazing performers. The ambulance for this match was right by the entrance area. Rick "Sign Guy" Achberger was sitting ringside during this match. The sign he was holding when Kane entered the ring before the match was "Mirrors Fear Kane". When Shane entered the ring, he didn't wait for the bell to ring. Shane immediately ran at Kane and his momentum knocked both him and Kane out of the ring. The bell rang and Shane started attacking Kane outside the ring. Kane got up and started beating the crap out of Shane. He grabbed Shane and shoved him into the ring steps. Kane picked up the ring steps and was going to hit Shane with them, but Shane grabbed a chair and whacked the ring steps which were up by Kane's head. Kane was on the ground with the ring steps over his head and Shane started whacking the ring steps with the chair. I can clearly see that Kane's head was not touching the ring steps so why was Shane whacking the steps? I guess the sound of the chair hitting the steps was very loud with Kane's head under the steps. Shane was probably trying to give Kane a massive headache. After Shane was done using the chair, he went to the Spanish Announce Table and grabbed a television monitor and hit Kane's head with it. This match is looking like a hardcore match so far. Shane hit Kane with the monitor again, placed Kane onto the Spanish Announce Table, and hit Kane with the monitor one more time. Shane then climbed into the ring, climbed onto the top turnbuckle, and did a flying elbow drop onto Kane!! The Spanish Announce Table got destroyed!! HOLY SHIT! Great spot by Shane!

Both Shane and Kane got up and Shane climbed over the security guardrail. Shane motioned for Kane to follow him through the crowd. Kane decided to follow Shane because there were no count-outs in this match. Shane ran backstage and Kane tried to follow Shane, but then Kane didn't see where Shane went. Then Shane came out of nowhere and hit Kane from behind with a kendo stick. Jim Ross said, "Where the hell did Shane come from?" Good question JR. Shane was hitting Kane with the kendo stick very hard. It looked painful and it was making a sickening sound. Shane then got into a SUV and reversed it into Kane and Kane went flying through a security booth! Wow...you don't see this stuff like this on today's PG WWE. Shane talked into a radio and said, "Send it." Jim Ross said, "Send what?" and King said, "I don't know what he's talking about." An ambulance entered the area and Shane opened the ambulance door. He pulled out a stretcher and put Kane on it. Shane tried to push the stretcher to the ambulance but Kane got up and grabbed Shane by the neck. Kane then threw Shane into the walls and started attacking Shane backstage. It looked like Shane was in a good position to win but now Kane is in control of this match. Kane brought Shane back to the entrance area near where the other ambulance was. Kane threw Shane onto the ambulance a couple times. The second time, Shane's head cracked the windshield. Kane tried to ram Shane into the ambulance for a third time, but Shane reversed it and pushed Kane into the ambulance a few times. Shane opened the ambulance door and used it to hit Kane's head a couple times. The second time looked very sick and stiff. Somehow Kane recovered and started attacking Shane again. Kane threw Shane into the ambulance and it looks like this match is over. Kane shuts one door and now he's shutting the second door and...Shane stops the second door from closing. The match is not over yet.

Shane got out of the ambulance and landed a few punches to Kane's face. Kane fought back with a kick to the gut and tried to shove Shane into the ambulance. Shane climbed up the back of the ambulance with his feet and pushed off the ambulance and away from Kane. WOW...nice maneuver. Kane tried to clothsline Shane, but Shane ducked and hit a DDT on Kane. Jim Ross said it was a tornado DDT. Shane grabbed a trash can and used it to hit Kane's head. Shane hit Kane again with the trash can and left the trash can by Kane's head. Shane climbed to the top of the ambulance and did a flying drop kick into the trash can which smashed into Kane's face!! HOLY SHIT!!! WOW!!! Dallas started a Holy Shit chant. Shane got Kane in the ambulance, but Kane stopped him from shutting both doors. Then Kane kicked Shane away from the ambulance. Kane once again took control of the match despite all of Shane's attacks on Kane in this match. King said, "What's scary is the fact that...we've seen the abuse that has been heaped on Kane, but...it looks like he's gotten a second wind now. He's re-energized somehow." Kane picked up Shane and rammed him head first into the side of the ambulance. Kane picked up Shane and this time he tossed him back first into the ambulance. Kane then hit a tombstone on the floor! Ouch! Kane threw Shane into the ambulance, closed the doors, and won the match.

Winner: Kane

Rating: ****1/4

This was an enjoyable and violent fight. This wasn't a wrestling match...it was an unofficial street fight. I don't think this match was a classic, but I have to give it a high rating. There isn't much that I don't love about this match. Shane had at least two very good spots. The violent spots in this match were great and they looked more real than fake. This is the kind of match that WWE's TV-PG rating would never allow and it makes me wonder how Kane and Cena can have an Ambulance Match that is as violent as this match. This was a very violent match and they didn't even need to use blood. Kane was bleeding from his lip a little bit, but that was it. I loved how Kane and Shane used the ambulance as a weapon in this match. I can't call this a wrestling match because there wasn't really any wrestling moves in this match. Shane did an elbow drop and a drop kick if those count, but they were both high risk moves that a technical wrestling superstar like Bret Hart or Ric Flair would never do. I'm okay with the lack of wrestling in this match. I enjoy a good brawl more than a good wrestling match and this was a great brawl. This wasn't one of the greatest fights I have ever seen in the WWE, but I loved that there was non-stop entertainment in this match. There were no boring moments and any match that can keep me interested non-stop from the beginning to the end is a great match in my opinion. This match is worth watching if you have never seen it.