Wrestlemania Count-Up – Wrestlemania XIX (2015): Really Hunter? Really?
IMG Credit: WWE
Wrestlemania XIX
Date: March 30, 2003
Location: Safeco Field, Seattle, Washington
Attendance: 54,097
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross
Sunday Night Heat: Raw Tag Team Titles: Kane/Rob Van Dam vs. Lance Storm/Chief Morely
Ashanti sings America the Beautiful.
JR and Lawler are at a table away from ringside as they were every week on Raw.
The aisle is crooked again this year.
Cruiserweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Matt Hardy
The Miller Lite catfight girls are here. These are your celebrities for the show as they were good looking women who would argue over various things and then fight over them.
Undertaker vs. A-Train/Big Show
Rating: C. Another not bad match here with Jones doing the only thing he should have been doing. The guy was big and had a great look but at the end of the day you have to be able to do more than stare at someone and throw an awesome spin kick. Undertaker works well against monsters like Show and A-Train as can move better than both of them and the offense is fast enough to work.
Undertaker waves the American flag.
We look back at the tag match on Heat.
Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Chris Benoit/Rhyno vs. Los Guerreros vs. Team Angle
Rating: C+. Another fun match but for a different reason. As was the case on Smackdown at this point, this was all about the action and a fast pace which worked very well, especially given the wrestlers the roster had. This was a nice change from the earlier matches and entertained throughout.
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
With nothing else working, Jericho puts on the Walls of Jericho but Shawn is quickly in the ropes. Jericho keeps up the psychology with a backbreaker and keeps up the story of the match with his own Sweet Chin Music for a very close two. With almost nothing else working, Jericho loads up a belly to back superplex but gets countered into a cross body for two of his own.
They shake hands post match but Jericho kicks him low like a real villain.
Crooked referee Sylvan Grenier (who screwed Hogan out of his rematch with Rock the previous month) goes in to see Vince.
The new attendance record is announced.
Wrestlemania XX is in New York.
Raw World Title: Booker T. vs. HHH
Vince McMahon vs. Hulk Hogan
Shane McMahon comes out to check on his dad. Ever the evil loser, Vince flips Hogan off.
The Rock vs. Steve Austin
We recap Angle vs. Lesnar. Brock had lost the title due to Paul Heyman turning on him late last year and Angle took the title from new champion Big Show. Lesnar won the Royal Rumble to get another shot, but Angle is in horrible shape coming into this due to his neck flaring up as well. This is being set up as a major showdown between the most real wrestlers in the company and the intensity is all there.
Smackdown World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
The show is still great though and could have been better if they had swapped the card a bit. The five major matches in a row needed to be broken up a little bit, maybe with the Undertaker match moved in between Vince vs. Hogan and Rock vs. Austin, which probably should have gone last. All of the problems (which are minor) aside though, this is still a great show and one of the best Wrestlemanias of all time.
Ratings Comparison
Matt Hardy vs. Rey Mysterio
Original: C-
2013 Redo: C+
2015 Redo: C+
Undertaker vs. A-Train/Big Show
Original: D
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: C
Trish Stratus vs. Victoria vs. Jazz
Original: D+
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: C+
Los Guerreros vs. Team Angle vs. Chris Benoit/Rhyno
Original: C+
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: C+
Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
Original: A-
2013 Redo: A-
2015 Redo: A
HHH vs. Booker T
Original: C+
2013 Redo: C+
2015 Redo: D+
Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon
Original: B
2013 Redo: D+
2015 Redo: D+
The Rock vs. Steve Austin
Original: B+
2013 Redo: B+
2015 Redo: B+
Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
Original: A-
2013 Redo: B+
2015 Redo: B+
Overall Rating
Original: B
2013 Redo: A-
2015 Redo: A-
Everything seems about the same here, though that women’s match keeps growing on me.
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/03/26/history-of-wrestlemania-with-kb-wrestlemania-19-overrated/
And the 2013 Redo:
http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/03/28/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-xix/
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