Wrestlemania 19 Review

Wrestlemania 19 Review

Wrestlemania 19 was the first ever Wrestlemania I ordered on PPV. I really loved WWE around this time. Okay, Raw wasn't the greatest but Smackdown had a pretty legendary roster. Every week there would be a mix of stuff from the famed Smackdown Six of Rey Mysterio, Edge, Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. We also had the up and coming Brock Lesnar who was turning into a heck of a worker, A-Train who had good performances at times, Tajiri and Rhyno. While we did get crap like Mr. America, there was more than enough good stuff to make up for it.

The big story going into this was whether Kurt Angle would actually be able to wrestle or not. Kurt Angle has always been banged up and broke his neck coming into the show. The rumor was that Chris Benoit was going to be his replacement if he was too injured to wrestle. I was legit worried for Kurt Angle and was hoping not for a good match, but for Kurt Angle to not get injured any worse.

The other big news was that Stone Cold Steve Austin was hospitalized the night before. He was under a lot of stress and overdid it with energy drinks and almost ended up missing Wrestlemania completely. I didn't really know much about this though at the time.

Hulk Hogan vs Mr. McMahon was a heavily pushed match for this show and some would say it led to the show not doing as well as it should have.

Wrestlemania 19 is one of my favorite Wrestlemania's. I usually have it at #2 below Wrestlemania 17. The match quality was top notch and it had a great mix of stars and wrestling.

One final note is that Bill Goldberg debuted on Raw the night after this show. Why they had Goldberg not debut at Wrestlemania is beyond me, but whatever.

This is Part 1 of my Wrestlemania 19 review.
Part 2 is here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review.html
Part 3 is here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review_3.html

Pre-show Match -  WWE World Tag Team Championship -  Kane and RVD vs Sean Morley and Lance Storm
Ah, Kane makeshift tag team #1000. The Dudley Boyz were at ringside here.

The pin

Storm got the win here after Bubba Ray Dudley hit an elbow on RVD. Odd match here which I could definitely use some help in understanding. Apparently the Dudz were siding with the faces for some reason but then turned on them anyway? I dunno. I also don't know why the ref didn't DQ someone when the Dudz were in the ring. The faces looked good here with Kane busting out a dive which was cool, but the storyline was dumb.

Main Show

"It's like the Olympic Games of Wrestling, the gold medal match." - Kurt Angle on Wrestlemania

Cruiserweight Title - Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio

The pin

Matt Hardy got the win with a reverse of a roll-up from the Electric Chair position. Good match here with a fast pace. This was all action and both guys looked pretty good. There was a little too much interference from Shannon Moore but it's hard to complain about anything else here. Rating:***1/4

The Miller Light Catfight Girls argued over which match they wanted to see more.

Nathan Jones was laid out by The Big Show and A-Train. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind this was other than, it's Nathan Jones. Nathan Jones had everything you would want in a wrestler, except for the fact that he was clumsly and couldn't work to save his life. They pushed him as this deranged ex-con but after seeing him in the ring, my interest waned. He had a really cool background though being in the World's Strongest Man, PRIDE FC and being a ripped 6'10 guy.

Limp Bizkit performed "Rollin"

The performance sucked as they silenced half the song and Limp Bizkit just sounds better not live.

The Undertaker vs A-Train and The Big Show

 

"You ain't so bad. You ain't no big dog." - A-Train

Nathan Jones returned and laid out Big Show

The finish

The Undertaker got the win with a tombstone on A-Train. The match wasn't bad at all with the heels doing holds on Taker until Taker made his big comeback with some help from Jones. A-Train was in shape here and actually had abs, which you know meant this was old. Show looked fine and Taker did a fine job as a face. The crowd liked it too. Rating:**3/4

The girls talked about how much they loved each other. Stacy Keibler brought up her advertising campaign with Test with the fans of Test being called "The Testicles" and she said she had some idea for the girls.

WWE Women's Title - Jazz vs Victoria vs Trish Stratus
Jazz was one woman I never got. She wasn't good looking and she wasn't a good worker. I thought she was too small to be Chyna and if it was strictly because of her race, Jacqueline was better.

Trish Stratus beat Victoria with a kick to the stomach/ribs. Good match here surprisingly. They kept the pace high, everyone made the extra effort and they hit some nice stuff. The crowd was into it and it really wasn't bad at all. Trish wasn't bad at all here and neither was Jazz or Victoria. Rating:***

The Rock was angry that the fans were calling him a sell-out and booing him. He said he was here to fulfill his destiny and beat Steve Austin at Wrestlemania. He was 0-2 against Austin at this point at Wrestlemania.

The Rock said this was the last chapter of their feud and The Rock said he would win.

WWE Tag Titles - Team Angle vs Chris Benoit and Rhyno vs Los Guerreros

Team Angle got the win after Rhyno gored Chavo and Shelton got the pin. This was disappointing. There were too many people out there and they got under 10 minutes which wasn't close to enough time at all.

Stacy and Torrie argued over whether McMahon or Hulk created Wrestlemania, then the catfight girls argued over it as well and then argued over whether to do it in ring or in bed. You know, when you have to have other people argue your case for your own ego, you have severe ego problems.

This is the end of Part 1 of my Wrestlemania 19 review. Stay tuned for Part 2.