WWE Wrestlemania 19 Review

WWE Wrestlemania 19 Review

Welcome to my Wrestlemania 19 Review. This is Part 3 with only two matches remaining.
Part 1 is here - http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wrestlemania-19-review.html
Part 2 is here - http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review.html

The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

I wasn't really interested in this one going into it. Austin had just returned and The Rock had just returned as well. The Rock fought Hogan a little bit before this and got mad that Austin won the "Superstar of the Decade" Award. It was Rock/Austin III at Wrestlemania but we kind of already had been there and done that and the match seemed to be thrown together. There wasn't much build to it either. Starting in 2002, Steve Austin just kind of felt like old news to me in WWE and it was clear that his best days were gone.

I should also state again that Steve Austin was hospitalized the night before this. He was stressed and had too many energy drinks and ended up in the hospital from it.

One last note is that this ended up being Stone Cold Steve Austin's last match.

The pin

The Rock beat Steve Austin with 3 Rock Bottom's. Good match here with great crowd heat and Rock really stepping it up with big bumps. They mostly relied on mocking each other and stealing finishers, but it worked. They both brought their A-Game here and The Rock was on fire. I loved Rock's selling and the cameras captured all of it well. Austin mostly got dominated here en route to losing. This wasn't the WM 17 classic, but it was very good and a nice way to cap off their feud. Rating:****1/4

WWE Championship - Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar
As I stated in Part 1, Kurt Angle broke his neck a few weeks before this and I was mostly hoping he would make it out alive. I was very excited to see this one though as Lesnar and Angle just seemed like natural opponents for each other.

Take a look at the back of Kurt Angle's neck. Holy crap.

The finish

Brock Lesnar got the win with an F-5. Excellent match here. They mostly wrestled and exchanged holds and it was great. Kurt Angle was pretty awesome here with all of his submissions and represented wrestling well. Brock Lesnar's failed Shooting Star Press was really memorable and I thought he was dead after it. This was a great wrestling match with an old school feel to it. Good stuff here that is worth a look. Rating:****1/4

Overall thoughts: This is still my second favorite Wrestlemania of all-time. Great show from top to bottom. Only Triple H's match was bad and even then, it wasn't that bad. The main, Austin/Rock, HBK/Jericho and Hogan/Vince were all pretty good and it was a great effort altogether. I really loved WWE at this time and if I could go back in time and watch a few shows live, this would have been one of them. This is a must see show and it is great from top to bottom!