Brock Lesnar engaged in a feud against Big Show over the WWE Championship. The feud began on the May 1, 2003 episode of "SmackDown!", where Lesnar cut an in-ring promo against Big Show, stating that he was a coward for defeating Rey Mysterio at Backlash. Big Show later appeared on the stage, where he challenged Lesnar into a WWE Championship match.&lt;ref name="SD5/1a"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref name="SD5/1b"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; The following week on "SmackDown!", it was announced that Big Show would face Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Judgment Day in a Stretcher match. Later that night, the feud escalated during a Handicap match between Chris Benoit and the team of Big Show and A-Train. Benoit lost via pinfall; after the match, Benoit was double-teamed by Big Show and A-Train. The double-team caused Lesnar to come and assist Benoit to no avail, as Big Show performed a chokeslam on Lesnar.&lt;ref name="SD5/8a"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref name="SD5/8b"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; At Judgment Day, Lesnar defeated Big Show in the Stretcher match to retain the WWE Championship.