WWE WrestleMania XIX

WrestleMania XIX is interesting for a number of historical reasons: it’s the first promoted after the World Wrestling Federation ‘got the F out’ and became the WWE, the first under the flawed Brand Extension, and also the least commercially successful WrestleMania of the decade. It (along with WrestleMania XX the next year) also served as something of a swan song for many of the eras biggest stars – the Cena/Orton/Batista era set to begin.

This is another one I ordered purely because ‘it’s tradition!’ – not at all following the product at this point – and I remember being fairly unimpressed with it.

From Seattle, Washington; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, and Tazz. Ashanti sings ‘America the Beautiful’ to kick things off.


Opening WWE Cruiserweight Title Match: Matt Hardy v Rey Mysterio: Hardy tries to jump Mysterio on the way in, but gets backdropped to the floor, and Rey corkscrews out after him. Inside, that gets Mysterio two, and a victory roll sets up a spinheel kick. He tries to powerbomb him to the floor next, but Shannon Moore gets involved - kicking Mysterio off of pal Hardy. That allows Matt a well executed Side Effect for two, but a blind charge crotches him on the ropes, and Rey rolls him up for two. Rey tries a springboard, but Matt counters into another Side Effect, and ties him up with a bow-and-arrow. Rey starts springboarding again to come back, and a headscissors takedown sets up a tornado DDT for two. 619, but Moore trips him up, and Hardy gives him a Twist of Fate for two. He tries a powerbomb off of the top to finish him properly, but Mysterio counters into a rana on the way down, and follows with the 619. West Coast Pop, but Hardy dodges, and catches him in a victory roll for the victory at 5:42. Short, but a really fun spotfest - Mysterio looking especially good. **

Handicap Match: The Undertaker v The Big Show and A-Train: 'Taker's tag partner Nathan Jones had been kayfabe injured on Sunday Night Heat (the pre-game show), leaving the Undertaker to go it alone. He has Limp Bizkit play him out live, though, so he's not really alone - he has an army of douche bags behind him. And he's game, with a chokeslam right away on Albert to start for two, and the ropewalk forearm, draws Show in, allowing Albert a sit-down powerbomb. Show posts him for good measure, and a press slam onto the rail gets Albert two. Show tags in, but ‘Taker counters the chokeslam with an arm bar, only to get jumped by Albert. He counters him with a cross arm breaker, but Show drops a big leg to break it up. Abdominal stretch by Show, and he passes back to Albert, who then does the exact same fucking thing. Come on, now - I like blondes just fine, but sometimes I’ll fuck a redhead at the strip club. Variety, that’s all I’m saying. ‘Taker comes back with a jumping DDT, and then brings Show in, too, for the jumping clothesline. He walks right into Show’s chokeslam, however, but Nathan Jones runs in, and one tombstone on Albert finishes things at 9:45. Having two guys carry the load certainly helped pacing issues, but this was nothing special. ½*

WWE Women's Title Triple Threat Match: Victoria v Trish Stratus v Jazz: Jazz jumps them both at the bell, and ties Trish up in a vicious bridge on the mat - which also serves to nearly pop her out of her top. They spill to the outside for a three-way brawl, and Victoria brings it back in with a slingshot somersault legdrop on Trish for two. What is this, beat the hottie day? Jazz with her own legdrop for two, and she and Victoria decide to make it official by actively double-teaming Stratus. It only lasts a minute, of course, before Jazz decks her. Trish makes a comeback by going ballistic on Victoria with right hands, and a victory roll on Jazz gets two. She can't keep it going, however, as Jazz locks her in a half-crab, which she shifts into an STF when Trish gets uppity. Victoria dumps Jazz out, and tries to finish Trish with the Widow's Peak - only for Trish to counter into a roundhouse kick for the title at 7:17. Well paced, and Trish looked great - both as a worker, and in the usual way. *

WWE Tag Team Title Triple Threat Match: Team Angle v Los Guerreros v Chris Benoit and Rhyno: Six-way brawl to start, until they settle on Charlie Hass and Chavo Guerrero to start. Chavo dominates with a side suplex, and a dropkick, but Hass passes to Chris Benoit. Chavo gives him a side suplex, too, and Eddie Guerrero tags in with a slingshot somersault senton, so Chris bails to Rhyno. That backs Eddie off, and Rhyno powerslams him for two, so he passes to Shelton Benjamin. He blasts Rhyno with a backelbow for two, and Team Angle with stereo dropkicks for two. Tag back to Benoit to snap suplex Hass for two, and a side suplex for two. Eddie tags to try his luck with Rhyno again, and this time blasts him with a dropkick rather than lockup. Benoit saves by superplexing Eddie, and flapjacking him into the Crippler Crossface. Benjamin saves - allowing Eddie to brainbust Benoit for two. Six-way brawl breaks out from there, and Benjamin pins Chavo in the chaos at 8:46. Great pace and execution, but no real flow or psychology - just lots of 'spot, tag, spot' setups. * ½

Shawn Michaels v Chris Jericho: Shawn steals about ten of Johnny B. Badd's confetti blasters to shoot at the crowd on the way to the ring - only about half of which manage to actually fire. Had this been 1996, Shawn would have likely quit the promotion over it. Shawn with a side-headlock early on, but Jericho breaks free, and takes him to the mat with an armbar - which Shawn wrestles out of. They do a few more stalemate sequences, until they build into a big criss cross, and Jericho paintbrushes him off of it. Shawn dumps him to the floor in response, and drills him with a baseball slide before rolling him back in for a flying bodypress - only for Jericho to roll through for two. Spinheel kick, and a series of chops in the corner soften Shawn up for a cross corner whip. Bulldog, but Michaels hangs on, and tosses him into the corner. That allows Shawn a figure four, but Jericho reverses into a break. Michaels stays on him with a kneebreaker, but a second attempt at the figure four gets him shoved into the post. Jericho tries to dump him off of another criss cross, but Shawn skins the cat, and takes him to the floor with a headscissors. Michaels follows with a plancha, and they brawl up the aisle - Chris sweeping him into the Walls of Jericho out there, but breaking to beat the count back in. Count broken, Jericho heads out to post the bad back, and hits a springboard dropkick when it looks like Shawn will beat the count in. Inside, Chris with a side suplex, and a hanging vertical suplex for two. Backbreaker gets an arrogant two count, so he takes him to the mat with a chinlock. Shawn slugs out, so Jericho tries a backdrop - only for Michaels to counter into a DDT on the way down. Slugfest goes Shawn's way, but a criss cross doesn't, and Chris hits a diving forearm before springing up, and mocking Michaels' lunge pose. That triggers a kip-up from Michaels himself, and he hits his diving forearm and an inverted atomic drop. Backdrop, and a flying moonsault gets two. Sunset flip triggers a pinfall reversal sequence - ending in Jericho going for the Walls again, and Shawn countering to a vertical base. They trade go-behinds until Chris hits an overhead suplex, but Shawn bridges out into a backslide, counter by Chris with a clothesline. Bulldog works this time, as does the Lionsault - getting a series of two counts. Shawn tries a rana to take over, but Chris holds the legs, and counters into the Walls of Jericho at center ring! The crowd freaks out, but Shawn manages to make the ropes, so Jericho pulls him back to the middle of the mat - only for Michaels to cradle for two. He can't shift the momentum, however, and Chris gives him a butterfly backbreaker to set up a flying backelbow. Jericho calls for a Superkick, and nails it for a dramatic two count. Into the ropes, Shawn springboards into a flying forearm, and sweeps Jericho into his own version of the Walls, but Chris won't let him turn it, so Shawn just shifts gears with a slingshot for two. Chris fires off a shot to the back to slow him down, and a side-superplex to finish, but Michaels counters into a bodyblock in midair for two. Flying elbowdrop, but Jericho shoves the referee into the ropes to crotch Shawn up top, and follows to superplex him off - only for Shawn to counter into a forward falling superplex. Flying elbowdrop hits, but Jericho ducks the Superkick into another Walls. Shawn crawls for the ropes, and Jericho is chewing out the referee in frustration - allowing Shawn to blast him with the Superkick for a dramatic two count. He can't capitalize, however, and gets Flair Flipped into the corner, but counters Jericho's follow up suplex with a double-underhook cradle for the pin at 21:00. I remember being quite disappointed with this in 2003, and I've never bothered to watch it since, though it's actually quite the match - psychologically sound, well paced, hard hitting, and filled with fluid counter/reversal sequences that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. *** ¾   

World Heavyweight Title Match: Triple H v Booker T: Big power-stalemate out of the initial lockup, until Booker dodges a cheap shot, and they start trading chops in the corner. Booker with a backdrop, and an armdrag has HHH bailing to the outside. Booker follows to post him, and a short-clothesline gets two back in the ring. Mounted punches, but a roundhouse kick misses, and HHH backdrops him to the outside - returning the posting favor in the process. He adds one into the steps for good measure, and a spinebuster gets two on the way back in. Cross corner clothesline gets two, so HHH turns to choking the challenger on the mat. Slugfest goes Booker's way with a DDT, and another slugfest ends with Booker spinheel kicking him. Sidewalk slam, and a diving backelbow gets two. Axe kick, but HHH counters into a sleeper, so Booker dives into the turnbuckles to break. Dazed, he still walks into a high knee from the champion for two, and a kneelift follows. HHH tries a lariat, but Booker counters into a spinebuster of his own for two. Dropkick gets two, but the axe kick misses again, and Hunter dumps him for Ric Flair to abuse on the floor with a kneebreaker onto the steps. Booker beats the count, so HHH hooks a leglock to teach him to try and compete. Kneebreaker, but another gets him pulled into a sunset flip for two. Schoolboy for two, and a diving backelbow finally allows him to hit the elusive axe kick for two. To the top, but the knee slows his climb, and HHH meets him up there for a superplex - only to get shoved off, and caught with a flying somersault legdrop from Booker for two. The knee keeps him from capitalizing, however, and Hunter Pedigree's him to retain at 18:47. This lacked a lot of the intensity it needed (this was the blowoff to Triple H's infamous 'you people' promo), but was a decent power match (with great selling from Booker T) otherwise. *

Street Fight: Hulk Hogan v Vince McMahon: McMahon makes the mistake of slapping Hogan in the face during the staredown (as we've learned, those aren't the cheeks he likes smacked), and Hulk spears him to unload mounted punches. Hulk stomps a mud hole, but Vince fires off an elbowsmash, and a lariat. McMahon takes him to the mat to work the arm, and posts it to get his point across. No! How will he flex?! That's the gravy train! Hogan must be thinking the same, as he collapses at Vince's feet for mercy, but gets hooked into a test-of-strength - McMahon firing off cheap shot after cheap shot to keep the Hulkster down. It spills to the outside when Hulk won't take a hint and stay down, and Vince keeps after the arm with another shot into the ringpost. Chair shot misses, however, and Hogan posts Vince before showing him how to properly use the chair - busting the boss open. A few more chair shots end over at the announce position - Hogan wildly swinging a chair to accidentally take out one of the disposable Spanish announcers. McMahon finds a ladder under the ring, and lays Hogan out on the Spanish announce table for a flying legdrop through it. Both men are busted open now (even the chaired announcer gets color), but Hogan keeps kicking out of Vince's pinfall attempts, so McMahon gets a brilliantly fiendish look on his face as he grabs a lead pipe. Hogan blows him low before he can use it, however, and Roddy Piper (in his first WWE appearance since 1996) randomly pops out of the crowd to bash Hogan with the pipe. Old habits die hard, I guess. That gets Vince two, and he goes for the pipe again (too many guys hitting the pipe here), and he takes out the referee so he can have another bought off one run in - though, you'd think they're all technically in Vince's pocket since he signs their checks. Evil referees and pipes are no match for Hulkamania, however (only video cameras are), as a McMahon legdrop triggers the HULK UP!! Three Legdrops! 20:49! Both guys worked hard, and this was fine for the overbooked mess it was - but quite long, and doesn't hold up on a re-watch over ten years later. Thankfully Hogan’s arm healed, and he continues to pose to this day. *

The Rock v Steve Austin: Big staredown leads to a big slugfest, and Austin goes for the Stunner early - Rocky slipping to the outside. Steve wastes no time jumping him in the aisle, and he whips the Rock into the steps before rolling him in. Steve with a side suplex for two, and he unleashes more chokeholds than the Undertaker in all of 1991. The referee finally pulls him off, so Rock clips the bad knee, and dumps him to the outside to fight in the rubble McMahon and Hogan left at the Spanish announce position during the last bout. Inside, Rock keeps hammering the knee, and locks the Sharpshooter - Austin fighting for the ropes. Annoyed, Rocky starts posting the knee, but makes the mistake of stealing Austin's vest from the timekeeper, and gets blasted with a hangman's clothesline. Thesz Press allows Steve to unload closed fists, and the FU elbowdrop gets two. Mud hole in the corner, but Rock catches him with a jumping clothesline out of the ropes - only to walk into a Rock Bottom from Stone Cold for two. Stunner, but Rock reverses into his own for two. Rock with a series of right hands, but a wild haymaker misses, and Austin Stuns him for two. He goes for the vest, but Rock would rather blow him low than lose such a fine article of cow hide. People's Elbow, but Austin rolls out for the way for a Stunner - only to get countered into a spinebuster. Austin now properly set up, Rock manages the Elbow for two, and the Rock Bottom gets a dramatic two count. Rock Bottom 2 (Rock Harder!) gets another dramatic two count, so Rocky goes Hollywood on him - Rock Bottoming Hard with a Vengeance to finish Austin at 17:56. Luckily, this was still 2003, so we didn't get Rock Free or Bottom Hard and A Good Day to Rock Hard, too. This served as Austin's retirement match (he hasn't laced up the boots since), and was the perfect swan song - not his best match, but a fun Attitude Era highlight reel on the grandest stage, against a good friend and frequent opponent. *

Main Event: WWE Title Match: Kurt Angle v Brock Lesnar: Man, I hated that title belt back in the early 2000s, but after a decade of blinged out spinner belts, it looks like a masterpiece today. Brock goes with power early - forcing Angle around the ring in lockups - but Kurt gets him in a front-facelock to slow him down. Lesnar tries to counter into an armbar, but he gets reversed, and both men end up in neutral corners to regroup. They trade go-behinds out of the next lockup, and Angle ends up getting him in a side-headlock on the mat. Brock powers out again, so Kurt goes for a single-leg takedown - only to get armdragged into an armbar. Angle decides to start firing forearms to get Brock into a brawl he isn't expecting, but that just serves to wave the flag in front of the bull, and he powerslams the champion for two. Angle then switches gears right back into technical wrestling, and after take the advantage, German suplexes the challenger - only to get press slammed. Kurt with a brilliant release German suplex into the turnbuckles, and a ram into the rail outside nearly breaks it! Side suplex on the way back in gets two, and a snap suplex for two. Kurt ties the challenger up on the mat, but Lesnar powers into the corner - needing three hard rams to get Angle off of his back. Kurt responds with an immediate belly-to-belly suplex, and he kicks Brock in the lower back until he falls out of the ring. Kurt rolls him in to finish, but charges his way right into getting spinebustered - leaving both men on their backs. Slugfest goes Angle's way, but Brock blasts him with a series of clotheslines, and a pair of overhead suplexes for two. He goes back to the well, but Kurt counters into the Rolling German suplexes, only to have the Angle-Slam countered into the F5 - which he in turn counters into the Anklelock! Brock fights and fights, so Kurt shifts into a half-crab rather than break the hold, and Lesnar reaches for the bottom rope. Angle doesn't even blink before going back after him, but Brock blocks a blind charge by backdropping him over the top. Lesnar starts to mount a comeback, but Kurt dodges a charge into the corner, and sends Brock flying with a release German suplex - sold with back flip, landing right on his face! That only gets two, so he hits the Angle-Slam for a dramatic two count. Frustrated, Angle makes the mistake of trying the hold again, but Brock counters into a cradle for two, and catches him with the F5 as the undeterred Angle charges him again. That gets a dramatic two count, and Brock doesn't know what to do, so Kurt helps him by hooking another Anklelock. Brock makes the ropes to break, and tries another F5 - this time getting cradled by Angle for two. Angle-Slam, but Lesnar counters again into another F5, and heads to the top rope for a shooting star press - only to botch it, and nearly legitimately break his neck on the way down. Kurt saves it nicely by covering for a two count off of it, but gets caught with a third F5, and we have a new (albeit very dazed) champion at 21:08. Ironically, Lesnar was fine after nearly crippling himself, while Angle ended up getting neck surgery a few weeks later. Match was a great blend of chain-wrestling, and hard hitting, well executed power moves – though it relied a bit too much on the ‘finisher-kickout-finisher-counter’ stuff towards the end, something that became a WrestleMania staple in the late-90s. This is another one I didn't care for live, but was significantly better than I remembered it. *** ¾

BUExperience: Overall, I’d classify this as ‘better than I remembered it,’ with nothing bad, and a really great Michaels/Jericho match, a historically significant finale to the Austin/Rock saga, and a great (if somewhat forgettable) main event – all part of a fun, stadium show atmosphere. **