WWE: WrestleMania XIX

Goodbye Stone Cold.

Seattle, Washington

Commentary: JR, King, Cole and Tazz

• Awesome video package as always.

Cruiserweight Championship: (C) Matt Hardy (w/Shannon Moore)v Rey Mysterio

Rey with his Daredevil gear on. I like the setup of the building but I was highly disappointed with this one. It seemed like we only got a few minutes of a longer and better match for some reason. I guess they needed more time for Fred Durst later. 0-1

Winner: Matt retained with a rope assisted countered Victory Roll.

• The Catfight Girls arrive in a limo. I think they were Miller Lite? Who cares really.

• Big Show and A-Train jumped Nathan Jones in the shower with a padded chair on Sunday Night Heat so the Undertaker is down a partner. Think about all the lousy ass people they have had stand in the corner of tag matches over the years. Now realize Jones wasn’t even up to that level. Amazing.

• WWE’s favorite band Limp Bizkit plays Undertaker out. It’s real bad. Undertaker was over though.

Handicap: A-Train/Big Show v Undertaker

This show is off to a rip roaring start. Not only was it kind of boring but Undertaker had to look like the world’s baddest human by defeating two giants essentially (other than Jones showing up to do some kicks and yell) by himself. 0-2

Winner: Undertaker after a Tombstone on Train. 11-0

• Taker waves the flag following. While Jones does nothing. Makes sense.

• Catfight Girls meet Torrie and Stacy. That’s all.

• The Dudleys attacked both teams in the Tag Team match on Heat. Neat.

WWE Women’s Championship: (C) Victoria (w/Stevie Richards) v Trish v Jazz

Really good match from the ladies here. Could have done without Jerry’s commentary for a dozen different reasons though. Trish still wasn’t at her best but was hanging in there with the other two quite well. Honestly this was the first thing on the show that exceeded my expectations. Good times. 1-3

Winner: Trish regains the title after the Chick Kick.

• Coach is with Rock. The Rock was soooooo good. He’s going to beat Stone Cold in the last chapter tonight. FINALLY.

WWE Tag Team Championships: (C) Team Angle v Rhyno/Benoit v Los Guerreros

Hell yeah I liked this. My only real complaint is that this was a little bit too short. All six of these dudes delivered and the Smackdown tag team division as a rule was awesome at this point. Plus all three teams had matching color schemes and I’m a sucker for that. Point. 2-4

Winner: Champs retain after Shelton pinned Chavo after a Gore.

• Catfight Girls again. They are still with Torrie and Stacy. An argument ensues. Not a complete waste of time at all.

• We recap the Shawn/Jericho saga.

Shawn Michaels v Chris Jericho

Great. They went out there with the intention of stealing the show and damn near succeeded. Shawn was almost back to his peak and Jericho was on a roll of his own. Just another example of how amazing both guys, especially Shawn were when the lights were at their brightest. What an awesome contest. 3-5

Winner: Shawn via roll-up.

• Jericho kicks Shawn in the dick after a hug. Shawn probably asked him to wear a mask.

• Referee Sylvan Grenier goes into Mr. Mcmahon’s dressing room. Oh, the plot is thickening.

• New attendance record 54,097.

• Limp Bizkit again. Fuck. This is why we have shortened matches?

• Oh nevermind. The WrestleMania Catfight isn’t helping. This is a thing. Stacy and Torrie join in as well. It’s attractive women in a pillow fight. Somehow Coach got pinned. Moving on.

• We review the HHH/Booker deal. They kept the racist stuff in because Peacock is real dumb.

World Heavyweight Championship: (C) HHH (w/Ric Flair) v Booker T

Ok. So taking away the ridiculous ending that made everyone involved look bad…the match was actually pretty good. HHH obviously has a bad reputation in this time frame for never wanting to lose but the dude generally brought the goods in the ring. Booker was also fabulous in this period so it shouldn’t shock me that I enjoyed this. The ending was still real dumb though. 4-6

Winner: HHH because the Pedigree works on everyone every time or something.

• Buy some stuff off WWE Shop.

• We recap both of these aging egomaniacs claiming to make Wrestling huge.

• Boooo. Bootleg Jimmy Hendrix. Stop being cheap Peacock.

Street Fight/Hogan’s Career on the line: Vince McMahon v Hulk Hogan

Say what you want about Vince but he will always take an ass whipping to make a match great. I mean. This time it only made it mediocre at best but he did try. At least both these old fuckers bled. Poor Piper showing up and looking terrible only made me sadder. They threw everything they could, every imaginable cheap booking trip to make this into a classic. But in the end? Crowd liked it but me? Big old nope brother. 4-7

Winner: Hogan after multiple legdrops.

• He poses. Of course he does. Shane McMahon arrives to check on Vince. Vince flips Hulk off one more time.

• Austin and Rock video package.

• Hollywood Rock entrance baybeeee.

The Rock v Steve Austin

If this isn’t my favorite feud of all time it’s definitely top three. These two men put on a trilogy for the ages at WrestleMania and sadly due to the health of Steve this was the last one. Now as far as that series went I would have to put this match in the dead center. A bit better than 15 but not quite as amazing as 17. That being said it was still a bonafide classic, especially since now we know the condition that Austin was in at this time. Two of the best that ever did it went out and got it done. Sadly for Stone Cold this was the last time it would happen. What a way to go though. 5-8

Winner: Rock finally gets his win with three Rock Bottoms.

• Rock shoved the ref off after the count to say something to Steve and looked near tears. Hell of a moment. Rock then gave Steve the ring and saluted him as best he could. Steve looked real bad but left to people chanting his name anyway. One final salute to take it all in and then it’s goodbye. Goosebumps.

• We recap Kurt and Brock. Also those Kurt track suits were amazing.

WWE Championship: (C) Kurt Angle v Brock Lesnar

ANOTHER great match closing this thing out and yet another reason people hold this show in such high regard. Other than Brock almost dying this was as near perfect a wrestling match as you can get. Considering who was involved that should not be a surprise. If any match on this show could follow the encounter that just happened it was maybe this one. Top notch performance from two guys that were not THAT experienced as professionals at this point. Especially considering Kurt had a broken neck again and Brock knocked himself out. Incredible. 6-9

Winner: Brock with and F5 after nearly dying. Legitimately.

• They shake hands and Brock has no idea who he is.

Final Tally? 6-9 The stuff in this show that meant to deliver did so in spades. Even the stuff I didn’t enjoy (the old guys fighting) I can definitely see where people would like it. There is a reason people love this show obviously. Mostly a thumbs up from me.

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