WWE Wrestlemania 19 3/30/2003

WWE Wrestlemania 19 3/30/2003

Note: I originally reviewed this in 3 parts and wanted to put this into one post. My original reviews are here:

Part 1 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wrestlemania-19-review.html

Part 2 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review.html

Part 3 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review_3.html

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.

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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.

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 Dudleys 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 Duds 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

We are in Seattle, WA. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are on commentary for some matches and Tazz/Michael Cole are on commentary for the others.

WWE Cruiserweight Title - Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio

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 clumsy 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.

Handicap Match - The Undertaker vs A-Train and The Big Show

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 I thought 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.

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho

I remember being really excited for this one and hoping for Jericho to get the big win that he could have used.

Shawn Michaels got the win with a reverse on a backdrop. Excellent old-school match. There were lots of submissions with Jericho launching a nice gameplan of working on HBK's back and HBK trying to fight through it. Jericho got cocky and mocked HBK's mannerisms and just couldn't put him away en route to losing. Good heat here and a very good performance and smart match from both guys. Rating:****1/2

I do think the wrong person won here though. HBK had little to gain and a loss to Jericho would have done him little harm. Jericho losing showed WWE's lack of faith in him and the fact that while they did try to push him before, he was always a secondary guy. 

Jericho hugged HBK after the match then kicked him in the nuts.

Sylvan Grenier was in referee attire and looking for Vince.

They did a commercial for Goldberg, saying he would come to Backlash.

Limp Bizkit performed and they did a catfight thing with Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, The Coach and The Catfight Girls. The less said the better.

World Heavyweight Championship - Triple H vs Booker T

Ah, the infamous long crawl match. This was during Triple H's never ending title reign of terror. I was hoping Booker T would win this going into it, but I would have cheered Nathan Jones if he had a title match at that point.

There was some really awful commentary during the early portions with both JR and King agreeing that WCW was a joke.

Triple H beat Booker T with a pedigree. The pin to get there wasn't as long as its made out to be but it was kind of silly. The match just wasn't that great. They didn't click and Triple H wasn't that interesting. The commentary was really bad though. King made Booker seem like such a loser that he telegraphed the finish. He really buried him.

Street Fight - If Hulk Hogan loses, he retires - Mr. McMahon vs Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan got the win with the legdrop. This was a long brawl but it wasn't too bad. Both men bled a lot and you have to give them credit for going all out at their old ages. Roddy Piper came down to get some shots on Hogan and McMahon and Sylvan Grenier came down to help Vince out too. IT wasn't enough though. Vince made some great evil faces and with his blood, it made for good shots. His legdrop off the ladder was also pretty cool. Good match, surprisingly. Rating:***1/2

Shane McMahon came down to check on his dad after.

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 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, 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.

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!