Against The Grain 9.14.08: Wrestlemania 19

Welcome everyone to Against The Grain. For those of you whom know me from my “Please…Don’t Hate” column and have decided to follow me here on this new path, I thank you and hope to not disappoint. For those of you who have never read my past writings here, I really hope that you enjoy this and that you stick around cause I plan on pulling out some pretty interesting topics in the next few weeks.

But before getting to this week’s topic, I would like to briefly explain why I wanted to write this column and what the point of it is. With my former column (Don’t Hate), I wanted to pick out specific wrestlers, companies, etc. whom I favored and felt that some fans were unjustly hating on and then write about the positives for each one. So with this column, I wanted to pull a 180 and instead just share with everyone my thoughts and feelings on some things in the wrestling universe that may have been swept under the radar or that I personally have fond memories of, all without particularly wanting to “defend” anything. I’ve always seen myself (and been told plenty of times) that I unintentionally have had a knack for liking things that were deemed “unconventional” by most people. Not to say that I don’t like the top picks, but when I see most “Top 10” lists out there, I’m usually the one who likes something else more that is either low on the list or just plain not on there. Now putting this out there, in case anyone may be thinking it, I am not one to just like these things just for the sake of “being different” and thus attempting to draw attention to myself (cause I’ve known a few who are this way); but instead I see myself as just a well-rounded wrestling fan who just happens to enjoy some things that others may not look at in the same way. At the end of the day, I really hope that this column (like “Don’t Hate) will help remind readers on why we’re wrestling fans in the first place and stir up some memories of your own which will hopefully equal in good conversation amongst one another. So again I hope you enjoy this first edition.

“The Lil’ Wrestlemania That Could”

Wrestlemania. The granddaddy of them all. Easily considered the biggest pay-per-view event every year in and out, it’s a rightful assumption that every single wrestling fan has seen it playing live at least once in their lifetimes. With so many different Wrestlemanias in the past, many have often picked out their own personal favorites. Amongst my friends and what I’ve seen on many “top ten” lists on the Internet, there seems to be two distinct categories of how people pick out and define their favorite Wrestlemania (WM). It is either defined by how well-stacked the card of the event is (ex. WM 17 with Angle/Benoit, Undertaker/HHH, TLC II, Austin/Rock, etc. and WM 22 with Foley/Edge, HBK/McMahon, Mysterio/Orton/Angle, Cena/HHH, etc.) OR is mainly defined by an excellent and memorable main event (WM 3 with Hogan/Andre, WM 12 with Hart/Michaels in Iron Man match, and WM 20 with HHH/Michaels/Benoit). Now I’m been debating in my head for years on what my favorite personal Wrestlemania was. For awhile it was between Wrestlemania 17 and Wrestlemania 20. On one end, I (as with A LOT of my friends and the majority of wrestling fans) favored WM 17 because of its insane amount of quality matches all on one night. On the other, I held WM 20 deep in my memory due to the beautifully well-paced Triple Threat main event with Chris Benoit finally winning the big one and then embracing his fellow friend Eddie Guerrero in the middle of the ring surrounded by confetti. But I have realized that while both of these are great and treasured Wrestlemanias, I found another that I liked even more that managed to equal out both the “quality match amount” and “great main event” elements of what makes the big one so good, while also adding on something else that I really never thought about before: a great back story. This, my friends, is what I found evident in the very much underrated Wrestlemania 19.

Held in 2003, this Wrestlemania is what I like to call “perfect imperfect”. With that, I believe that of all the Wrestlemanias that I’ve watched, this is one that doesn’t particularly have the greatest card of them all nor have the baddest and best main event ever seen; but does possess something that I’ve never seen before in other Wrestlemanias, which are the very unique back stories behind some of the matches. Now when I mean “back stories”, I don’t mean the storylines that are being played out on TV leading up to the match, but really the real life behind-the-scenes drama that we the casual viewer don’t really get to see. I first saw how this was laid out with the excellent WWE special/short film entitled “The Mania of Wrestlemania” (which I randomly and ironically found on the WM 20 DVD when I was watching it). This special, narrated by wrestling legend Jesse Ventura, goes backstage and highlights the unique stories behind selected matches/wrestlers leading up to Wrestlemania 19.

The first thing that caught me off guard with this was the fact that almost all of the wrestlers shown in the film were breaking kayfabe (character) when talking about their upcoming matches. One of the first stories they show is between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Now at the time, I’ve read plenty of reports on the Net about how Austin had to be rushed to the hospital the night before WM and how it was leading up to this probably being his last match, but I had no idea about the extend of Austin’s personal problems until I watched this. It was pretty deep when they were comparing his path of winding down his wrestling career along with the sadness of not being able to do what he loves in the ring to the Rock’s rising Hollywood career paired with his positive outlook of coming back to the ring. The part that really got me was when they discussed the end of the match, in which the Rock pins Stone Cold and then Austin admitting that at that moment the Rock whispered to him simply that he appreciated being in the ring with him all these years and that he loved him. To hear the one of the baddest S.O.B.s ever in the ring share something like that, it was definitely a nice tearjerker moment. While their bout was at WM 17 was technically better (more moves, more action), I believe that this match at WM 19 was their best because it was a bittersweet moment for both men’s careers.

The other major story that was discussed was the battle between two former amateur wrestling champions in the form of Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle. It was a great story of how two wrestlers came up in the pro wrestling business with similar backgrounds (one college champion/one Olympic champion), but on different paths to finally meet face to face for the first time. The craziest thing that was covered in this was the infamous end to the match that saw Lesnar go up to the top rope and miscalculated a huge and very, VERY dangerous and sick looking Shooting Star Press (if you haven’t seen it, then please YouTube it right now). Despite the big mess-up, the two surprisingly managed to finish off the match with Lesnar winning the WWE Title. At the moment, in my mind (and in the minds of everyone else I’m assuming), I seriously thought that Lesnar had paralyzed or severely injured himself, but was then taken aback when he “recovered” and stood tall with his hand raised in the air next to Angle. So when the film crew went backstage and showed Brock flipping out, it was realized that he had suffered a series of serious concussions while Angle was wheeled off with a neck injury. It was things like this that I saw when I look back at the match afterwards makes me feel every single move, hit, and grapple even more knowing how much pain the two competitors were in at the time.

And the funny thing is that these are only two of the many stories that can be found when watching this Wrestlemania. Between the rest of “The Mania of Wrestlemania” film, other WWE DVDs, and some background reading, I discovered a lot more interesting things everytime I watch the event. You have: the Undertaker who considered retiring around the time but still went out on his bike to a roaring live version of his “Rollin” theme song to the ring and further established why he’s one of the best in the industry; the match between Rey Mysterio Jr. and Matt Hardy, in which it was Mysterio’s first ever WM match (not knowing that he would win the World Title 3 years later at the same event) and an unknowingly memorable moment for wrestler Shannon Moore whom accompanied Hardy to the ring and shared on the recent “Twist of Fate” Hardy Boyz DVD that it was great when he walked down with his close childhood friend during the biggest wrestling event in the world; Booker T’s main event WM match that he longed for his whole career; a display of the best pure tag team (with Eddie and Chavo Guerrero) and women’s wrestling (with Trish Stratus) seen on a major show in a very long time; the battle between the man who represented ‘Hulkamania’, Hulk Hogan and the man who “created” it, Vince McMahon, which wasn’t the greatest match in the world, but was memorable because of the real-life undertones of the long storied tension between the two (i.e. Hogan quitting WWE and signing with WCW, the steroid trial); and lastly the pitch-perfect match of Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels. This is the fight that a lot of fans called not only one of the best Wrestlemania matches, but also one of the best overall wrestling matches that they’ve EVER seen. To describe this match would probably be repetitive to those who have probably read about it on every other “top ten” list written, but it’s even more unique because it fits into the great real life “back story” feel that this event has: Jericho, who has been modeling himself after Michaels his whole career, versus Michaels, the man who was in his first WM since fighting off a career-threatening back injury.

Hell…even the “Pillowfight” between the Miller Light girls and the WWE Divas was forgivable (and forgettable) because it served its perfect purpose of breaking up the back to back action and gave people a good reason to either laugh, stare at the ladies, or take a well-deserved bathroom break.

When I watch Wrestlemania 17, while I love watching the non-stop back to back action found in each and every single match, it sometimes proves to be a bit much for me if I’m not in the mood for all of the big-time matches. When I watch Wrestlemania 20, while I love watching the main event over and over again with its intense drama and emotional ending, it sometimes proves to be a bit underwhelming if I don’t feel like viewing the rest of the PPV along with it. But with Wrestlemania 19, it feels just right to me. As of now, at least until the next Wrestlemania, this specific event holds a special place in my heart because of its perfect balance of a great main event, a very diverse plate of good to great matches throughout, and the knowledge of some great stories that are going on with the wrestlers behind the scenes. Sure the case can be made that other Wrestlemanias have also similarly interesting backstage stories (i.e. Shawn Michaels’ “last” match against Stone Cold, Ric Flair’s retirement), but WM 19 is the only one I personally feel that weaves a whole slew of them together without really trying too hard.

For Your Viewing Pleasure
Wrestlemania 19 Highlights

The Card
Cruiserweight Championship
Matt Hardy vs. Rey Mysterio

Handicap Match
Undertaker vs Big Show and A-Train

Triple Threat Women’s Championship Match
Trish Stratus vs. Jazz vs. Victoria

Triple Threat WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Team Angle vs. Los Guerreros vs. Chris Benoit & Rhyno

Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho

Cat Fight
Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson vs. the Miller Light Cat Fight girls

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Triple H w/ Ric Flair vs. Booker T

Street Fight
Hollywood Hogan vs. Mr. McMahon

The Rock vs. Stone Cold

WWE Championship Match
Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle

Next Time On….Against The Grain
I want to take a look at one of my favorite wrestlers in the form of DDP, “Diamond” Dallas Page. I talk about my thoughts on some of his in-ring career highlights and share why I think, even while popular at the time, that he’s one of the most underrated wrestlers that I’ve ever seen.