Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - History Of: WrestleMania Part 19
By Sean Taylor
Mar 14, 2009 - 1:23:30 AM
"Why is it that we park in driveways and drive on parkways?"
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, welcome back to The Classroom. It hasn’t been very long since our last lesson together but there’s still more history to review. This is the sixth-to-last lesson in this series and we’re running short of time. I hope all of you are taking notes and studying hard because you never know if or when the Big Test will be. Ha ha. I’m not going to give a Big Test. That would be insane. Or would it?
Today’s lesson focuses on WrestleMania XIX and all the pomp and glamour surrounding it. Three main event matches and a surprise show stealer. Let’s get straight to it
WrestleMania XIX: Dare To Dream
Date: March 30, 2003
Venue: Safeco Field (Seattle, Washington)
Commentators: Jim Ross (Raw), Jerry “The King” Lawler (Raw), Michael Cole (SD), Tazz (SD)
Attendance: 54,097
Two weeks after WrestleMania X8, Linda McMahon announced that the WWE would be split into two brands with separate rosters – Raw led by Ric Flair as its General Manager and SmackDown under the rule of Vince McMahon. She also announced a draft where the General Managers would do a school yard pick for their first ten superstars with all other superstars, referees, and officials being divided randomly after the show. Tag teams were not considered one entity so the fear of split teams became a concern.
The “brand extension” was an attempt by the WWE to create its own competition. With the demise of WCW and ECW, there was no company large enough to challenge the WWE for the top spot in the industry. NWA-TNA was just starting their company and had not gotten far off the ground yet. The WWE thought that by splitting the two brands, fans would tune in to the fictional war between them. But it didn’t quite work out like they’d planned. Fans understood that both shows were under the same WWE umbrella so it wouldn’t matter which brand they cheered for because it was all the WWE in the end. Also, with the shows on different nights, there was no competitive atmosphere. Fans weren’t forced to make a choice between Raw and SmackDown because they could watch both.
But the brand extension did achieve unexpected results. It allowed for a faster discovery and rise of newer talent like John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista. But the most surprising to the WWE, the brand split created brand loyalty. True, fans could watch both shows but it was soon apparent that they actually chose sides. Before the split, fans would have to tune into both shows to catch all of the storyline updates. After the split, Raw fans didn’t tend to watch SmackDown and vice versa. Even on the Internet, fans argued which brand was better.
Heading into WrestleMania XIX, the fans didn’t know what to expect. They’d never seen a dual branded WrestleMania before. The General Managers had changed too. Stephanie returned to the WWE to lead the SmackDown brand. On July 15, 2002, Vince McMahon shocked the wrestling world when he named former WCW executive producer Eric Bischoff as the new Raw General Manager. Bischoff named Sean Morley (Val Venis’ real name) as his Chief of Staff.
On Heat, Chief Morley and Lance Storm successfully defended their WWE World Tag Team Championships against the odd yet compatible combination of Rob Van Dam and Kane, despite outside interference from the Dudleys.
Ben Affleck, Eat Your Heart Out
After recording artist Ashanti performed “America The Beautiful”, WrestleMania XIX’s first match started. Since being split from his brother in the draft, Matt Hardy transformed himself into Matt Hardy Version 1. He preached that he had the secrets to success and prosperity and would teach anyone who wanted to learn. Surprisingly, he did find someone that wanted to learn – Shannon Moore. Moore became the first and only Matt Follower or MF’er. In early 2003, Matt trained hard to get his down to 220 so that he could qualify for the Cruiserweight division. He finally did and defeated Billy Kidman for the title.
At WrestleMania XIX, he defended the title against recent signee Rey Mysterio Jr. Mysterio was the pride of WCW’s Cruiserweight division and really popular with the kids because of his colourful mask collection. Rey Mysterio came to the ring that night dressed in a Daredevil-inspired costume. The match was fast-paced and went back and forth with liberal amounts of interference from Moore. In the end, Hardy reversed the West Coast Pop into a roll up pinning move. Hardy put his feet on the ropes for leverage and retained the Cruiserweight Championship.
Dead Man Handicapped
The next match was supposed to be The Undertaker and newcomer Nathan Jones taking on Big Show and A-Train (aka Albert) but on Heat, Big Show and A-Train attacked Jones making him unable to compete. It was announced that the match would now be a Handicap Match. Limp Bizkit, who’s hit “Crack Addict” was the official theme for WrestleMania XIX, performed Undertaker’s theme “Rollin’” live as Undertaker rode to the ring on his motorcycle. Limp Bizkit was introduced by the ring announcer as “the WWE’s favourite band in the whole world”.
The match itself was slow-paced and forgettable overall. Undertaker started off with the advantage but was quickly overcome by his opponents’ two on one attacks. At the end of the match, Nathan Jones came running out to the ring and took out the Big Show. This allowed Undertaker to Tombstone A-Train and win the match. The Undertaker waved a big American flag in support of his nephew, to whom he dedicated the match to, who was fighting in Iraq at the time.
Definitely Not A Love Triangle
The following match was the Triple Threat Women’s Championship Match pitting champion Victoria (with Steven Richards) against Jazz and Trish Stratus. While there was no intricate storyline going into this match, each woman played a specific role in the match itself. Victoria was the heel champion with a set plan. Jazz was the powerful monster and Trish Stratus played the cute, underdog face that everyone was cheering for. In the beginning, Jazz and Victoria teamed up against Trish before turning on each other. In the end, Trish escaped Victoria’s Widow’s Peak finisher and hit the yet-unnamed Chick Kick to pick up the pinfall and the title.
The Good, The Bad, and The Man Beast
The next match was also a triple threat match. This match, though, was for the WWE Tag Team Championships, which had been created in mid-late 2002 and were exclusive to the SmackDown brand. Los Guerreros (Eddie/Chavo Jr.) and Chris Benoit & Rhyno challenged Team Angle (Charlie Haas/Shelton Benjamin) for the belts. The match was all action right off the bat with all six men getting very involved thanks to frequent tags. This match was a great combination of tag team wrestling and a triple threat rules environment. In the latter stages of the match, Rhyno Gored Haas and then Gored Chavo. Then Shelton snuck in as the legal man and covered Chavo for the pinfall. Team Angle won the match and would soon later change their name to The World’s Greatest Tag Team.
The Real Mr. WrestleMania
When Shawn Michaels made his long awaited return to the WWE in the summer of 2002, the fans welcomed him back with open arms. But there was one man who wasn’t happy to see him come back. Chris Jericho called Michaels to the ring and said that Michaels was the reason that he became a wrestler in the first place. Jericho claimed that, as a young child, wanted to be just like Michaels but as he continued though his career, critics and fans started calling him the “next Shawn Michaels”. But Jericho claimed that he didn’t want to be “next Shawn Michaels”, he wanted to be the first Chris Jericho. Jericho felt like he couldn’t be the main event superstar until he had stepped out of Shawn Michaels’ shadow and proved that he was better than the “Heartbreak Kid”.
Jericho wanted the number one spot in the 2003 Royal Rumble so that he could outshine Michaels’ coast-to-coast achievement in 1995 but Michaels had already claimed that spot. So after winning a four man battle royal on Raw, Jericho earned the right to pick his entrance number and chose number two. Jericho quickly eliminated Michaels but Michaels returned later in the night and causing Jericho to be eliminated by Test. After a series of attacks by both men on television, Michaels caught Jericho with a Superkick as he was about to leave for the back. Michaels stood over Jericho and made it official when he said, “I’ll see you at WrestleMania, boy!”
At WrestleMania XIX, Jericho came out first posing for and badmouthing the crowd. Michaels came out second and fired off confetti guns along the way (although only three of them worked properly). But the real showcase was the twenty-two minute classic wrestling match that followed. Both men proved not only to be masters of their craft but also two of the most authoritative minds in wrestling psychology. Both men wanted to win the match because they something to prove and it showed with every punch, kick, hold, and flying maneuver. It was a textbook lesson in what a true wrestling match should be. So much so that Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler made reference to being surprised that, in that day in age, a wrestling match started with actual wrestling moves. Jericho taunted the crowd by imitating Michaels’ classic in-ring spots – the nip-up, Skinning the Cat, kneeling pose, etc – followed by Michaels following him as if to say “THIS is how it’s really done”. It was like watching a game of one-upsmanship behind the façade of a professional wrestling match. At the end, Michaels rolled up Jericho with his legs for the pinfall victory but by then, the story of the match didn’t matter. The crowd stood on their feet and applauded both and their combined accomplishments in what would later be ranked among the best matches in WrestleMania history.
But it wasn’t quite over yet. After the match, Jericho faked a change of heart and hugged Michaels in the middle of the ring. But quickly, Jericho stepped back and low blowed Michaels with a kick before leaving the ring.
Meow!
In 2002, the Miller Lite beer company released television commercials featuring two attractive women (Kitana Baker and Tanya Ballinger) arguing over what was the best part of Miller Lite beer – the great taste or that it was less filling than other beers. In the commercials, the women’s arguments got so heated that the two would get into a catfight wherever they were. Baker and Ballinger became famous as the Miller Lite Catfight Girls. They appeared at WrestleMania XIX in a Pillow Fight with Stacey Keibler and the new Playboy cover girl, Torrie Wilson. The “match” ended when the girls turned on Johnathan “The Coach” Coachman who was on the scene with a mic. The girls pulled down his pants and pushed him over ending the segment.
What’s WrestleMania Without Underlying Racism
When Brock Lesnar took the WWE Undisputed Championship exclusively to SmackDown after SummerSlam 2002, the Raw brand was left without a main singles title. So on September 2, 2002, Eric Bischoff awarded the newly created WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H (the Undisputed Championship then became the WWE Championship). The World Heavyweight title belt was modeled after the “Big Gold Belt” that was made famous by the NWA and WCW prior to WCW’s buyout by the WWE in 2001. Triple H lost the belt to Shawn Michaels briefly in late 2002 before winning it back. He retained the title in matches against Scott Steiner at the 2003 Royal Rumble and No Way Out making him the champion going into WrestleMania XIX.
On the February 2nd edition of Raw, Booker T won a twenty man battle royal to determine the number contender to Triple H’s championship. The WWE then started to tell the story of Booker T’s hard knock life. Booker’s real life hardships – his mother’s passing, his arrest for robbery, climbing the long ladder to the top of the wrestling business – as a way to get Booker T over as a sympathetic underdog. Triple H commented that “people like Booker T” don’t win championships. In the realm of the storyline, he meant former criminals as opposed to Triple H’s silver spoon upbringing. But the obvious underlying theme was that Triple H claimed an African-American had no business challenging a white man for a World calibre title. This unmentioned race-related tone to the storyline helped Triple H become even more of a hated heel and also helped Booker T gain support from the fans.
At WrestleMania XIX, the two men played their parts perfectly. Triple H was cornered by his mentor/manager Ric Flair who frequently attempted to interfere on behalf of his charge. Booker T fought like a warrior trying to attain the impossible. He didn’t bother with a Spinarooie or any form of showmanship. He was there solely to finally win the World title and nothing else. But it wouldn’t be Booker’s day as, after a near twenty hard-fought minutes, Triple H mustered a desperate Pedigree and both men fell to the mat. Booker and Triple H rolled over allowing Triple H to throw a single arm over Booker’s chest. The referee counted three and Triple H had successfully retained the title.
Who Is The Father of Hulkamania?
To the average fan, Hulk Hogan changed the face of wrestling in the 1980s with Hulkamania. Real fans know, however, that a debate continues to this day surrounding that statement. Was it really Hulk Hogan who made the WWE so popular in the 1980s and set off a chain events that led to McMahon’s wrestling monopoly in 2001? Or was it McMahon’s promotional and business expertise that made Hulkamania the driving force behind wrestling’s popularity? A random group of wrestling fans could argue for a thousand years and still not come to unanimous decision but it was this argument that was the basis for Vince McMahon versus Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania XIX.
After the fans’ reaction to Hogan at WrestleMania X8 and the standing ovation the next night in Montreal, it was clear that they were ready to except the red and yellow Hulkster back into their hearts. So Hogan turned babyface and went back to the posing hero of the 1980s. But on March 6th, McMahon confronted Hogan saying that he hated him. McMahon said he hated Hogan for building a friendship in 1980s and then turning his back on him in 1993. He hated Hogan for testifying against him when the United States government tried to indict him for steroid use in his company. So McMahon challenged Hogan to a Street Fight at WrestleMania XIX where if Hogan lost, he’d have to retire forever. Later that night, Hogan accepted. Two weeks later, a contract signing was set up on SmackDown and McMahon attacked Hogan with a chair making Hogan bleed from the forehead. McMahon drew Hogan’s blood into a fountain pen and signed the contract for Hogan with his own blood.
While both Hogan and McMahon were never considered two of the greatest athletes in the business, the Street Fight stipulation allowed them to have a physically intense match filled more with violence than wrestling holds. Using a steel chair, McMahon was “busted open” making his face covered in blood. McMahon gained the upper hand on the outside of the ring and set Hogan up on the Spanish announce table. McMahon then scaled a ladder, leapt off, and dropped a leg drop on Hogan breaking the table. Back in the ring, McMahon went to attack Hogan with a lead pipe but Hogan low blowed him. With both men laid out in the ring, a mystery man entered the ring. The mystery man took off his black coat to reveal himself as “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. Piper picked up the lead pipe, made like he was going to hit McMahon, but turned and hit Hogan instead. McMahon slowly crawled across the ring and covered Hogan but Hogan kicked out at two.
McMahon recovered the lead pipe and waited for Hogan to stand up. On the outside of the ring, two SmackDown referees ran to ringside to replace the original referee, who had been knocked out. One of the two refs was Sylvan Grenier, a bogus referee who had screwed Hogan at No Way Out the previous month in a match against The Rock. The other was a real referee Mike Sparks, who tried to stop Gernier but got knocked down for his efforts. In the ring McMahon hit Hogan with the pipe and dropped his version of the Leg Drop. Grenier counted but Hogan kicked out and began to “Hulk Up”. Grenier tried to help McMahon but got tossed out of the ring by Hogan. Hogan hit McMahon with a Big Boot/Triple Leg Drop finisher combo and the recovered first referee made the three count.
After the match, while Hogan posed in his traditional way, Shane McMahon walked to the ring. Shane calmly motioned that he wasn’t there to fight but rather to check on his father. Hogan was cautious but held open the ropes for Shane to step through before leaving the ring area.
Austin/Rock Trilogy Part 3
In mid-2002, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin became frustrated with the way he was being used in WWE storylines. He was bored and physically wore down after almost twenty years in the ring. One day, Austin walked off the job and went home. Many fans felt slighted, as they still wanted to see Austin on television and at house shows. WWE fans didn’t know if Austin would ever return. But he did. At No Way Out in 2003 defeating Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff.
Austin wasn’t the only one who took off from the WWE in 2002. The Rock also took a hiatus from in-ring competition to advance his budding movie career. Rock’s performance in “The Scorpion King” was highly praised and other movie roles were offered to The Great One. But when Rock returned in January of 2003, he berated the fans for turning on him at WrestleMania X8 in his match against Hogan. Rock played a cocky, movie star heel and challenged Hogan to a rematch at No Way Out. The Rock won the match in a bogus finish involving Vince McMahon and a paid off referee (later named Sylvan Grenier).
After No Way Out, The Rock claimed he had done everything there was to do in the wrestling business aside from one thing – beat Austin at WrestleMania. Austin accepted Rock’s challenge and the build up happened all over again. One night on Raw, The Rock performed a concert with just him and a guitar supposedly given to him by Willie Nelson. Austin sat in the parking lot in his truck. The Rock sang songs and continually insulted the live crowd before calling Austin to the ring. Suddenly, Austin’s truck appeared in the arena and drove to the ring but it was the Hurricane driving the truck. Austin attacked Rock from behind resulting in a brawl where Austin destroyed Rock’s “valuable” guitar.
At WrestleMania XIX, the two men faced off for the third time on the biggest stage in wrestling. The match quickly went to the outside and up the aisle with Austin controlling the action. Back in the ring, Austin continued his dominance until The Rock chop-blocked Austin’s often-injured left knee. The Rock focused his attack on Austin’s knee using the Sharpshooter on one than one occasion. The match went back and forth until Austin caught Rock in his version of the Rock Bottom. Austin covered but Rock kicked out. Rock then blocked Austin’s Stunner and hit Austin with Stunner of his own. Austin kicked out. Rock laid into Austin with a furious series of rights before Austin countered and Stunnered The Rock. The Rock kicked out again and a People’s Elbow on Austin but was unsuccessful with a pin attempt. The Rock had to drop Austin with three straight Rock Bottoms before he finally defeated Austin at WrestleMania.
Both men would soon leave the WWE as full-time wrestlers but both continue to make periodic appearances to this day. Backstage that night, it is said that Rock and Austin met alone in a private room, thanked each other, shared an emotional hug, and cried together knowing that their careers were over and proud knowing that their last big match was against each other; between two friends brought together by their love for the sport of professional wrestling.
Here Comes The Pain. Oh It’s True!
Brock Lesnar was a collegiate wrestling champion turned professional who debuted the night after WrestleMania X8. At the time, he was brought in and managed by Paul Heyman who touted Lesnar as the “Next Big Thing”. Lesnar was quickly pushed up the card winning the King of the Ring tournament and becoming the youngest ever WWE Champion at SummerSlam by defeating The Rock. Lesnar ignored Heyman’s warnings that he couldn’t beat the Big Show at Survivor Series, which led to Heyman’s turn on Lesnar, costing him the title that night. Heyman announced that Lesnar wouldn’t get a rematch because he had a snuck a no-rematch clause into the contract. Lesnar’s only chance to get back the title was the Royal Rumble.
After having to beat Big Show before the Rumble match, Lesnar entered at number twenty-nine and won the event and the WrestleMania title shot. Kurt Angle, the current champion, knew that if he had to face Lesnar at WrestleMania XIX, his title was in definite danger. So after Lesnar defeated Paul Heyman in a cage match to earn a title match the following week on SmackDown, Angle changed the rules. He said Lesnar had to beat Haas and Benjamin before getting a shot at Angle. Lesnar took out Team Angle and waited for Angle to get into the ring but was attacked from behind by Heyman with a chair.
Lesnar was still owed a title match so a rematch was scheduled for the following week with Team Angle and Heyman barred from ringside. When Angle came to the ring, he immediately went to the corner and knelt down in a praying pose. During Lesnar’s entrance, when the lights were turned down, Angle rolled out of the ring and switched places with his brother Eric, who has hiding under the ring. Lesnar hit the ring, attacked “Kurt”, and dropped him in his F5 finisher. Lesnar went for the cover but saw that it wasn’t Kurt. Then Team Angle started walking to ringside and Lesnar went out to meet them. With Lesnar and the referee distracted, Kurt rolled Eric out of the ring and replaced him on the mat. Lesnar then returned and went to pick up Kurt but Kurt rolled Lesnar into a pin and won the match. SmackDown General Manager Stephanie McMahon then announced that at WrestleMania XIX, if Angle was disqualified, counted out, or had anyone interfere on his behalf, he would forfeit the title to Lesnar.
With a level playing field, the match at WrestleMania XIX promised to be an athletic contest. Both were trained in amateur style wrestling and decorated in that field. Lesnar was a NCAA wrestling champion and Angle, of course, had the gold medals from the 1996 Summer Olympics. So it was no surprise when the match started and continued with a series of submission holds, quick counters, and suplexes. Soon, Lesnar went for the F5 but Angle reversed it into an Anklelock. Brock reached the ropes and Angle turned the Anklelock into a half Boston Crab. Brock reached the ropes again and then dumped Angle to the outside. Back inside the ring, the two countered each other until Angle flipped Brock in a face-planting German suplex and an Angle Slam with an unsuccessful pin attempt after each. Brock recovered and quickly caught Angle in an F5 but Angle kicked out.
Angle put Brock in an Anklelock/grapevine combination hold but Brock powered to the ropes. Brock hit Angle with another F5 but instead of going for the pin, Brock went to the top rope. Fan in the know, had heard about Brock using a Shooting Star Press as a finisher in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) but he’d never done it since coming to the WWE. That night, Brock went to show off his top rope skills but the move wasn’t done 100% properly and Brock nearly landed directly on his head as Angle rolled out of the way. Angle picked up Brock and Brock exploded with a third F5. Brock reached out one arm and covered Angle for the three count. After the match, Angle and Lesnar, battled and bruised, met in the center of the ring where they shook hands and hugged out of mutual respect. Fireworks went off in the background as WrestleMania XIX went off the air.
In the last three years, the WWE set indoor attendance records in Houston, Toronto, and Seattle. The next year wouldn’t be about big crowds and setting records. WrestleMania XX would be all about going . . .
. . . back where it all began.
That wraps up another one. Before writing this column, my memory of WrestleMania XIX was that I didn’t enjoy it too much overall. After re-watching, I have to admit, it was much better than I originally thought (except for the Catfight girls stuff). I think I need to rework my WrestleMania rankings a bit. Anyways, if you liked this column or even if you didn’t you can email me here or if you’re a member of the Columns Forum, you can drop me a line here. Other than that, I’ll let everyone know that I’ll be working on my first CSI Finals column over the next couple of days and that will be up before the Monday deadline. The next part of this series should be up Monday night or shortly after.
Pop Quiz
Congratulations to my Star Pupils – Bizzy316, Michael Reed, Hhh2scu, Sasha Hall, Patrick Giguere, Matt Snyder, Gumby, and Joe M. from NYU – for knowing that Booker T’s high school thesis was on Einstein’s Theory of Relatives and that the WWE superstars appeared on The Weakest Link. Did you just miss this one? There were a lot of close calls. Try your hand at these questions: 1) Nathan Jones appeared in what movie starring Orlando Bloom?
2) Kurt Angle’s music had been used by numerous WWE superstars before him. Name as many as you can.
