WrestleMania XIX

Production

Background

WrestleMania is considered World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985. It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs with the addition of King of the Ring in 1993 until it was discontinued as an annual PPV after its June 2002 event. WrestleMania XIX was held on March 30, 2003, at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington. It was the first and so far only WrestleMania held in the U.S. state of Washington.

WrestleMania XIX was the first WrestleMania promoted under the WWE name, following the company being renamed from World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to WWE in May 2002 following a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund over the "WWF" initials. It was also the first WrestleMania to be held under the company's original brand extension that began in March 2002, which split the roster between the Raw and SmackDown! brands, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform on their respective shows; WrestleMania XIX featured wrestlers from both brands. It was also the first WrestleMania to feature the World Heavyweight Championship that was introduced for Raw in September 2002 after the WWE Undisputed Championship became exclusive to SmackDown! and truncated to WWE Championship.

A documentary entitled The Mania of WrestleMania was filmed live during the event and released the following year. It was the first sole production from WWE Films. WrestleMania XIX also marked the first time that production equipment was suspended from the underside of Safeco Field's roof (while in the closed position) with WWE suspending their lighting truss system from it.

Storylines

The main feud heading into WrestleMania on the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. Angle won the title three months prior at Armageddon by defeating then-champion Big Show with Lesnar's help; Lesnar had lost the title at Survivor Series in November 2002 after his agent, Paul Heyman, betrayed him and assisted Big Show in winning the match. On the episode of SmackDown! immediately following Armageddon, Angle revealed that he too had taken on Heyman as his agent, and together they would ensure Lesnar never received an opportunity to regain the WWE Championship. Lesnar responded by brutally attacking Angle at the end of the show, injuring Angle's knee.

At the Royal Rumble, Angle faced Chris Benoit for his championship, while Lesnar was forced to wrestle Big Show for a spot in the Royal Rumble match, which guaranteed the winner a shot at his brand's championship at WrestleMania. Angle defeated Benoit by submission to retain his title. Lesnar defeated Big Show, despite interference from Heyman, to win his way into the Royal Rumble, which he entered at number 29 and won after last eliminating The Undertaker. The following month at No Way Out, Lesnar and Benoit defeated Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, and Charlie Haas) in a handicap match. During No Way Out, Edge was supposed to team up with Lesnar and Benoit to wrestle Team Angle in the scheduled six man tag team match, but Edge was attacked backstage and it was announced he could not participate in the match. In reality, Edge had suffered a severe neck injury prior to the event, and needed time off for surgery. On the March 6 episode of SmackDown!, Lesnar defeated Heyman in a steel cage match to earn a WWE Championship match against Angle. On the March 13 episode of SmackDown!, Angle defeated Lesnar to retain the WWE Championship. Before the match began, Kurt, who was "praying" in the corner, switched places with his brother Eric. Lesnar then came out and the match began. Shortly after the match began, Lesnar nailed the imposter with an F-5 and attempted a pinfall. Lesnar then broke his own pinfall attempt after quickly realizing that his opponent in the ring was not Kurt Angle. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas then came to the ring and distracted Lesnar, which gave Eric time to switch back with Kurt. As Lesnar regained his focus, Kurt was able to pin him with a small package for the win. The following week on the March 20 episode of SmackDown!, SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon told Angle that, at WrestleMania, if he tried to get himself disqualified, counted out or if Benjamin, Haas, Heyman, Eric or anyone tried to interfere in their match on Angle's behalf, he would lose the title.

Event

Sunday Night Heat

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Kane and Rob Van Dam faced Chief Morley and Lance Storm (with The Dudley Boyz, (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley)) for the World Tag Team Championship on Sunday Night Heat. At the end, while the referee was distracted, the Dudleyz performed the 3D (Dudley Death Drop) on Storm. After which, Bubba dropped an elbow on Van Dam, allowing Storm to pin Van Dam, thus Storm and Morley retained the titles.

Preliminary matches

As the event began, Ashanti sang a rendition of "America the Beautiful", which has since been omitted from DVD and streaming releases.

In the first match that aired, Rey Mysterio faced Matt Hardy for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. The match began with back and forth action between the two, until Hardy performed a Twist of Fate for a near-fall. Mysterio retaliated by delivering a 619 on Hardy. But as Mysterio delivered a West Coast Pop, Hardy ducked into a roll-up that saw Hardy use the ring ropes for leverage and successfully pin Mysterio, thus Hardy retained the Cruiserweight Championship.

In the next match, The Undertaker and Nathan Jones faced Big Show and A-Train in a tag team match. Earlier in the night on Sunday Night Heat, Jones was attacked and beaten down by the FBI. It was then announced that The Undertaker would have to face both Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match. Both Big Show and A-Train had the advantage over The Undertaker at the start of the match; however, late into the match, Jones appeared and attacked Big Show, allowing The Undertaker to deliver a Tombstone Piledriver on A-Train for a successful pinfall, thus The Undertaker won the match and remained undefeated at WrestleMania.

In the third match, Victoria, Jazz and Trish Stratus fought in a triple threat match for the WWE Women's Championship. Throughout the match, Jazz and Victoria would double-team Stratus and Steven Richards, who was at ringside in Victoria's corner, would frequently intervene in the match. As Jazz was thrown over the top rope onto ringside, however, Richards came in the ring with a steel chair and tried to hit Stratus with it, but missed, causing the chair to bounce off the ropes into his face, allowing Stratus to perform the Stratusfaction on him. Victoria went for the Widow's Peak on Stratus, who countered with a Chick Kick to Victoria to win the match and the women's title, tying The Fabulous Moolah's record of four title reigns.

The next match was a triple threat WWE Tag Team Championship match between the teams of Rhyno and Chris Benoit, Los Guerreros (Chavo and Eddie Guerrero), and the champions, Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas). Rhyno delivered a Gore on Chavo, but Benjamin tagged himself into the match and pinned Chavo, to win the match and retain the Tag Team Championship.

Main event matches

The next match was a World Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T and Triple H. The match began with Booker T in control of Triple H, however, Ric Flair, who was at ringside in Triple H's corner, threw Booker T's knee into the steel steps. The attack allowed Triple H to work over Booker T's leg, as he applied various submission holds onto Booker T's leg, including the Indian deathlock. Booker T retaliated and took control of the match; after he delivered a Harlem Hangover leg drop, Booker T grasped his knee in pain, which allowed Triple H to recover and perform a Pedigree to win the match and retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

The seventh match was a street fight between Hulk Hogan and the WWE Chairman, Mr. McMahon. Both Hogan and McMahon tested each other's strength in the beginning of the match, until McMahon threw Hogan out to ringside. Hogan then countered a chairshot by McMahon into several of his own, that caused McMahon to bleed profusely from the head. Late into the match, Roddy Piper made a shocking appearance as he interfered in the match and hit Hogan with a pipe. Hogan however, recovered and delivered a big boot and three running leg drops to McMahon to successfully pin him and win the match.

The next and final match on the undercard, was the encounter of The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The match began with Austin and The Rock brawling in the ring, which ended up at ringside. Throughout the match, The Rock worked over Austin's leg, which included applying a Sharpshooter on Austin. The Rock then began to constantly taunt Austin, as he put on his vest and imitated his taunts and mannerisms, which led both to use their finishers with unsuccessful pin attempts. Austin performed the Stone Cold Stunner on The Rock for a near-fall, much to Austin's dismay. After he failed to win with the People's Elbow, The Rock then performed two Rock Bottoms on Austin for two near-falls. The Rock performed a third Rock Bottom on Austin, winning the match. After the match in the ring, Rock privately thanked Austin for helping him in his career. This was Austin's last match until WrestleMania 38 in 2022. Many consider this match as the epilogue to the Attitude Era as not only Austin, but The Rock would become a part time performer after his loss the following month to Goldberg at Backlash.

In the main event, Brock Lesnar faced Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship, where if Angle was disqualified or counted out or if anyone interferes on his behalf, he would lose the title. The match began with Lesnar and Angle chain-wrestling back and forth, until Angle countered a shoulder block into a German suplex. Lesnar would then attempt an F-5 on Angle, but Angle countered it into an Ankle Lock that Lesnar was able to escape out of. As Lesnar escaped, Angle would hit an Angle Slam for a near fall. As he attempted another Angle Slam, however, Lesnar countered into an F-5 for a near-fall. Lesnar performed another F-5, and instead of covering Angle, Lesnar climbed to the top rope and massively botched a Shooting Star Press on Angle, which Angle covered for by pinning Lesnar for a near-fall. After Lesnar kicked out, Angle picked up Lesnar only to be hit with a third F-5. Lesnar then successfully pinned Angle, winning the match and the WWE Championship. After the match, Angle and Lesnar shook hands and embraced as the show came to a close.

Reception

The event received highly positive reviews from various websites and wrestling publications. John Powell of Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section rated the event a perfect score of 10 out of 10 stars, which was a higher rating than the previous year's event. The main event between Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship was rated the highest with a score of 9 out of 10 stars, the match between The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was rated 8 out of 10 stars, the match between Booker T and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship was rated 7.5 out of 10 stars (although the finish was generally frowned upon), the match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho was also rated 7.5 out of 10 stars and the Street Fight between Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan receiving the lowest rating of 4 out of 10 stars. He also noted that "it was the WWE slugging homeruns last night at WrestleMania XIX. Criticized for not making the most of the talent it has, the WWE had all the bases covered and proved that if the entire organization puts forth the effort, they can deliver a superior sports entertainment product" and further claimed that "WrestleMania XIX was not only a outstanding show but it will surely go down as one of the best WrestleManias ever". In 2019, Troy L. Smith of cleveland.com released a list of the "50 Greatest Wrestling Pay-Per-Views of All Time" from every professional wrestling promotion in the world, with WrestleMania XIX ranked at number eight.

Most of the critics rated Jericho vs. Michaels as the match of the night. Kazuchika Okada stated that he "learned so much from that match." Jericho reported that Michaels viewed it as the best match of the night and a "five-star match". Jericho himself called it "one of the best matches in Mania history."

Aftermath

Raw

On the Raw after WrestleMania, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was fired from WWE in storyline by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff due to "medical reasons". Austin was later re-hired a few weeks later by WWE CEO, Linda McMahon, however, as Raw's Co-General Manager, along with Bischoff. Later that night, The Rock hosted "Rock Appreciation Night", where he taunted Austin for getting fired and proclaimed he was leaving WWE, as he had nothing left to accomplish, and because the fans did not appreciate him anymore. Goldberg would officially make his WWE debut by interrupting The Rock, telling him "You're next!", which led to Goldberg spearing The Rock. On the April 14 episode of Raw, The Rock would accept the challenge made by Goldberg, which he had previously rejected a week earlier, meaning the two would wrestle each other at Backlash. At Backlash, Goldberg successfully pinned The Rock. After the match, once the show was off the air, The Rock gave a farewell speech in which he stated that he was officially taking a sabbatical from professional wrestling.

SmackDown

On the SmackDown! after WrestleMania, SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon announced that Kurt Angle suffered a pulled hamstring and a neck injury, while Lesnar suffered multiple concussions. She later announced that a tournament would take place to determine the number one contender to Lesnar's WWE Championship at Backlash. On the April 17 episode of SmackDown!, John Cena would become the number one contender after he defeated Chris Benoit in the tournament's final match. At Backlash, Lesnar defeated Cena to retain the WWE Championship. Lesnar would then feud with Big Show, as he defeated him at Judgment Day to retain the WWE Championship in a stretcher match. Lesnar would, however, lose the WWE Championship to a returning Angle (as a face) at Vengeance in a triple threat match that also involved Big Show. Lesnar (as a heel) then regained the WWE Championship from Angle on the September 18 episode of SmackDown!, in an Iron Man match winning the match 5 falls to 4.

On the April 3 episode of SmackDown!, enraged by his loss at WrestleMania, Mr. McMahon indefinitely suspended Hulk Hogan with pay and forced him to sit out the remainder of his WWE contract as a part of their storyline. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown!, "Mr. America" (Hogan under a mask) made his debut on Piper's Pit, where McMahon promised to prove Mr. America was actually Hogan. Also involved in the feud was Zach Gowen, a one legged wrestler who was brought into the feud by Mr. America. After multiple failed attempts to prove Mr. America was Hogan, however, McMahon finally succeeded on the July 3 episode of SmackDown!, after he aired footage of Mr. America unmasking after the televised broadcast and revealing himself to be Hogan. He then announced that Hogan was fired from WWE.