Skip to main content

The Only Review of WrestleMania 19 [other than Scott's] That You'll Ever Need



WrestleMania XIX
Safeco Field, Seattle, WA
54,097 in Attendance
550,000 in PPV buys
. Pretty weak since they were expecting 880,000. Why do you guys think the buy-rate was so low?

February, 1999


Caliber: You mark my words, man. Within 5 years I'll be at WrestleMania, watching the Hulkster come down the aisle in the red and yellow.
Caliber's Friend: There's absolutely no way in hell that will ever happen.

I couldn't believe my luck that I was going to a Wrestlemania. Not only that, but the card wasn't a WM4, or WM9 type of situation. This was going to be a solid event. So, my friends and I get tickets, and they're pretty decent. When you watch the show, you see the floor, then the arena starts to go up in levels. We're right in the middle of the first level, and that's just about perfect. Plus, my seat is at the end of the aisle, which is pretty choice. Especially since my buddy on the end had to sit next to a guy who was so fat that he was literally oozing over the arm barrier. Across the aisle was a guy dressed head to toe like Roddy Piper. Obviously he did it for the chicks, but it's always cool to see peeps do that.


Rey Mysterio vs. Matt Hardy [C] - Crusierweight Title
Great opener. It's no Pillman/Liger, or Bret/Owen, but it does its job damn well. Basically a condensed version of most of Rey's matches. They were executing everything flawlessly, and it was pretty exciting for what it was. A shame it didn't last longer. 

Matt rolls up Rey and holds the ropes for the pin at 5:39 |  ***


Limp Bizkit plays Rollin' to bring out Undertaker. I actually paid to see Limp Bizkit during the Anger Management Tour, and they were great. 


The Undertaker vs. Big Show & A-Train
We find out before the match that Nathan Jones was jumped before the match, thus he won't be able to complete. No, it had nothing to do with his complete inability to wrestle. He was awesome in Tony Jaa's The Protector, though. On the way to the ring, A-Train disrespects Undertaker by tilting the rear-view mirror on his bike. Will they escalate the feud by having A-Train adjust Undertaker's car seat and change his radio presets? 
Considering I believe the American Bad Ass to be the worst main eventer of all time, I'm surprised this match isn't completely atrocious. 
It was a well done power game, with no needless sleepers and other lame big-man spots. Good stuff.
The Undertaker hits A-Train with the Tombstone for the pin at  9:45 | **3/4

Ugh, Miller Lite Cat Fight Crap. I thought it was stupid and pointless at age 19 and I still do. At least a woman worth her salt is up next...


 Trish Stratus vs. Jazz vs. Victoria - Women's Championship
I wonder why Victoria/Tara doesn't get more fanfare. She's gorgeous, and more than capable of having a good match. The PPV didn't have a Woman's Match graphic, which was fine because that meant I got to surf around Google looking at Trish pictures.
I totally forgot about her coming down to that song by the Russian pseudo-lesbians.
Also, I have no proof that Jazz is Stevie Ray, but I'm working on it. There is plenty of proof that Trish really is a talent, watching her shows just how bad the current crop of models from the Claire Lynch School of Acting truly are. This match was hard hitting, fast, botch free, and flat out exciting. One of the best women's matches I've ever seen. Wow, after seeing these lower card matches, and knowing what's coming up, this damn well could be the best WM ever. 
Trish Stratus hits Victoria with a Chick Kick for the pin & the title at  7:17 | ***

The Rock is in Hollywood Rock mode, meaning he gives actual promos, and is at his strongest. He doesn't plan on losing to Stone Cold. 


Los Guerreros vs. Benoit & Rhyno vs. Team Angle [C] - WWE Tag Team Championship
I never understood Vince's distaste for elimination matches. In any other federation, a Triple Threat is elimination, same with multiple tag-team matches. But not here. I do like the aspect where anyone can tag anyone. So if you're stuck in a corner getting worked over, you can tag whoever is there to take your place. It's an absolute shame this match didn't get more time, because if it had, we would have had a sure-fire classic.
With the time we got, we get a frantic, high impact, hard-hitting and fast paced match. It was absolutely incredible. A damn shame they weren't given more time.
Shelton Benjamin gets the pin on Chavo after Rhyno hits the Gore at  8:45 | ***1/4

Oh snaps. The Cat Fight girls argue over who started WrestleMania. You can tell they're passionate about it when one of 'em keeps insisting Hulk Hogaln started it. Indeed.

 
Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
The match starts off with some of the 'evenly matched chain-wrestling' that some have grown to hate. I don't watch indy wrestling, so it's still cool to me. Great spot that soon follows is Jericho going for the bulldog, and Shawn launching him crotch first into a turnbuckle. Later, Jericho works the back by applying The Walls outside the ring, then smashing Shawn's back into the ringpost twice before discarding him like so much trash. Awesome. I absolutely love it when Jericho kips up and does the Shawn-Flex, great taunt. There's a million great spots to mention here, but honestly I was just all sorts of sucked in to the match. It's incredible. Easily one of the best 'new guy vs established star' matches ever. And Jericho kicking him in the junk afterwards is GOLD. 
Shawn gets the roll up and the pin at  22:33 | ****3/4

We get the promo for Goldberg's arrival. I remember seeing that and screaming "NO! NO! Please God, NO!" However, my pleas fell on deaf ears. 

Catfight girls come out to waste everybody's time. 

Promo for Triple H vs Booker T. I completely forgot this match was even on here, and it's pissing me off all over again. What the HELL was the point of Triple H winning here? Can ANYONE explain it?


 Triple H [C] vs. Booker T - World Heavyweight Championship
Not too much to talk about in the beginning, it's a pretty basic Triple H match. He hits a sweet spinebuster, and then soon follows it up with a clothesline to Booker while he's in the corner that's easily the hardest one I've ever seen Triple H give. I mean, Booker explodes forward with how hard Triple H hit him. That's soon followed by a great moment with Triple H leaping off the second rope, only to meet Booker's kick mid-air. Jerry and JR are in prime form during this match, showing just how much of a bore The King is when he's a face announcer. Booker T is doing a Bret Hart style job of selling the knee, kudos. WHAT THE HELL? I knew the ending was bullshit, but that was it? C'mon, that was an EASY 'he's down, but OH! He's up at the last second' sorta thing. Booker couldn't get pinned right after the Pedigree? He had to wait for Triple H to hit the Pedigree, go paint a house, order a pizza, decide he didn't like the color he painted the house so he paints it again, then comes and pins Booker? Horseshit.
The real bummer is this could have been a classic, because as it is, it's a damn fine match. 
Triple H hits the Pedigree and scores the pin at  18:50 | ***3/4

I really enjoyed the promo video for Vince vs Hogan. Plus the whole ordeal with Vince signing Hogan's name in blood was fantastic.


 Hulk Hogan vs. Vince McMahon - Street Fight
Finally. This was ALL I cared about since it was announced for the card. I didn't dream of sitting during this match either. I was finally going to see Hogan live. The guy across from me, Roddy, was giving a mighty boo to both. They start off in the ring, obviously, with Vince working the shoulder. Eventually it leads outside, as each gets their own time with a chair. There's a spot where Hogan swings on Vince, but hits Hugo Savinovich instead, and he even blades. What a trooper. Few bleed as well as Vince, as it just works so well with his face. Point exactly when they get that awesome shot of him looking over the ring once he gets the pipe. Now of course this is the moment where Roddy Piper comes into the ring and the dude near me EXPLODES. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was gonna go home with Piper or something. It was a cool thing to see though, and one of the things that make wrestling so much fun. I was losing my mind during the Hulk-Up as was everyone around me. Loved every minute of it. You know, you'd think after seeing Hogan Hulk-Up about 30,000 times that Vince would know he couldn't hurt him. 
Hulkster drops three legs on Vince for the win at  20:48 | ***

We get the recap vid for Rock vs Austin. Basically, Austin returns after his whole ordeal with not laying down for Brock, and The Rock challenges him for a third and final showdown at WM19. One guy wants to get what he's never had, the other wants to protect his legacy.
I know it's not two single people who are supposedly dating as the GM tries to make a scandal out of it, but it's the way to a match that I prefer. 


 The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Match starts off in Stone Cold's favor, before The Rock shifts the tide by zeroing in on Austin's knees. Man alive, is there any wrestler anywhere who does a move shittier than The Rock's Sharpshooter? It's TERRIBLE. It looks more like a suggestion that a submission "gee, would you mind tapping out? Are you too uncomfortable? My bad!" The Rock puts on Austin's vest, and he looks like when your younger brother would edit the wrestlers
in No Mercy, giving them odd clothes and such. There's a great spot where Rock goes for the People's Elbow, and Austin moves out of the way just as Rock brings the elbow down. Austin pops up, goes for the Stunner, only for The Rock to push Austin into the ropes and hit him with a spinebuster. It's moments like that, that make Austin and The Rock so fantastic. A great match with an awesome ending when you see it in retrospect. Austin knew it was his last, but just wouldn't die, and even though he knew The Rock had him, he still kept trying. Great match.
The Rock hits a third & final Rock Bottom for the pin & Stone Cold's career at 17:53 | ****1/2

Recap vid for Angle vs. Lesnar. We see Brock win the 2003 Royal Rumble, then Team Angle beat the hell out of Brock on Smackdown. Followed up by Angle pulling a switch on Lesnar during a Smackdown match and getting the pin. If I recall, Angle was needing time off for surgery, so they wanted to keep him fresh and avoid all chance of injury. I've actually never seen the match, so I'm really looking forward to it. 

 
Kurt Angle [C] vs Brock Lesnar - WWE Championship Match
They of course start the match with traditional wrestling, with no complaints from anyone. Angle does a sweet suplex on Lesnar that launches him back first into the turnbuckles, an awesome move that reminds me of the powerbomb into the turnbuckles from No Mercy.
Honestly, not too much memorable happens until Brock just about kills himself. What a disappointing match. Some wrestling, a REALLY long wrest hold,
nothing else too interesting or exciting, and then the Shooting Star. 
Brock hits the F5 on Kurt Angle and grabs the pin & the title at 21:04 | ***1/2

Showcase Showdown: My friends and I left in the middle of the Title Match because we just didn't care. As we were almost out of our exit we hear the crowd give a collective "OOOOH!". As we walk back into the arena we hear someone say "Brock snapped his neck! He's dead!" If there's anyone you can trust for reliable info, it's a wrestling fan. We saw everything was fine, and once again headed for the exit. My friend glances over this rail down to the floor and sees Arn Anderson. He's a life-long wrestling fan and yells out "Arn, you're a legend!", to which Arn turns around and waves. 
My other friend, who absolutely hated The Horsemen at a young age and would never forgive himself for not telling The Enforcer off, yells to him "Arn, you're fucking fat!". He felt vengeance was his. All in all, it's a great WM. I still don't feel it's the best, as WM24 holds that title for me, but 19 is fantastic and my favorite live show. The fact I got to see Hulk Hogan, in the red and yellow, is one of my favorite memories. I find it funny the DVD included both Limp Bizkit performances, and the Cat Fight Girls, but left out when John Cena came out to battle rap a card board cut out of both Jay-Z & Fabolous. 
I still have my Hulk Still Rules bandana that I got at the show, and wear it on occasion. Mostly at black tie events. 

Since you've all been so kind, I figure I'll reward with a recap of the following Backlash's main event. A match I've never seen, and a decision I'm sure I’ll regret immediately.

The Rock vs. Goldberg - Backlash 2003, April 27, 2003
Rock basically makes the match after Goldberg shoves him down following a tie-up by saying "Oh, you are in trouble now!". However, he then ends up making this match far more boring that I could imagine. Honest to God, in TEN MINUTES we've seen two lock-ups, a slap, a shoulder block, and a clothesline. He's stalling beyond belief. On the plus side, I will say that Goldberg delivers a far more impressive Rock Bottom than the Rock ever has. Following that, Rock slaps Goldberg in The Polite Suggestion [Which is what I've dubbed his Sharpshooter. Because it's far from a submission, it's more like he's politely suggesting that said person give up]. Rock hits Goldberg with a spear, and pops right up for a pose, yet when Goldberg speared The Rock he was down for just about as long as Rocky. I mean, how on Earth is this supposed to make Goldberg look powerful? This whole match The Rock has made him look like a GD chump, and it's as if Goldberg is barely able to escape with his life. Which leaves me with no surprise as the arena fills with "Goldberg Sucks" chants. I will say when The Rock gets speared, he gets speared. Certainly not a good debut, and it wasn't going to get any better as the montHHHs rolled along. 
Goldberg snags the pin after hitting The Rock with the Jackhammer at 13:03 | **

Hope you guys dug it. I appreciate the requests for good shows, you've all been kind. What would you guys like to see next? 

Thanks to Steven Ferrari for taking the time to check this article and allow me to look professional. 

Str8 Gangster, No Chaser - Wrestling, horror, Top 4's, movie reviews, Man Movie Encyclopedia, and The Saved By The Bell Archives. The only website that senses danger when things are TOO quiet.
WCW In 2000 - I'm going to be so upset in 10 years when I look back and saw this is how I spent some of my 20's. Damn you Russo, damn you. 
The Man Movie Encyclopedia Vol.1 - My book. Average rating of 5 stars on amazon, endorsed by Scott Keith & Maddox. Not to mention a few of the BoD'ers have themselves a copy, enriching their lives with the knowledge of how many guys Arnold kills in Commando, among many other crucial facts.

Any requests or mailbag questions can be sent to faucetofslfame@hotmail.com. Or simply hit me up in the comments. 

- Caliber Winfield 

Comments

  1. Wow overrate the Booker T match much? It was a technically sound match, but just so boring to watch and the ending is so utterly depressing, which doesn't help matters. And love the Trish pic instead of putting a WM19 screen cap there.

    And main reason why this show did disappointing numbers was because Vince/Hogan was written as the real main event of the show.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You left Wrestlemania before the show ended? That's horrible. And really, Wrestlemania 24 as the best Mania? It's a fine show, and a good Mania, but I certainly wouldn't call it the best.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eh? I've always considered that main event to be 4 1/2 stars at LEAST. I remember really loving it, even with the superb botch in the end. I'm not sure if you aren't seeing what I'm seeing or that the fact that kurt's neck was in absolute shambles during the match (to the point where people were actually convinced that angle would have to bow out of the match) and that i was just thrilled that Kurt was able to do what he could do.

    Anyway...it needs a rewatch.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I missed it. In the SummerSlam 2011 "Only Review You'll Ever Need" thread, was the joke that you completely left out the Kevin Nash walk-in and the Alberto San Rio title win?

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's weird, and maybe I'm wrong, but I don't remember the Austin/Rock match getting almost any build up at all. It felt thrown together, and I really don't remember it being a great match.

    ReplyDelete
  6. IIRC the main event is a 4.5 star classic. Haven't seen this show in a few years though but I know my opinion wouldn't change that much. HHH v Booker sucked and the ending is awful, and frankly, a tad bit unprofessional of HUNTOR to take 10 minutes to pin booker after the pedigree. 2.5 stars at best, with a weird finish. But at least HHH got to go over so that's whats most important to hhh.


    God the booking of HHH to go over still pisses me off 10 years later. I totally get that HHH could justify an argument that Booker wasn't over enough to win huntors vanity belt, and since huntor put on a clinic on how to bury guys heat there was no one else even ready for the main event. But seriously couldn't HHH job here to build Booker? What would it have hurt? He had to be kept strong to put Benoit over? Except then HHH puts Benoit over in triple threat match (couldn't/wouldn't job one on one), then if you think the Cena booked higher on the card than punk thing is bad flash back to 2004 and see how HHH booked himself after the lost that belt. Then he can't wait to undercut orton. But it's okay because he put Batista over 2 years later??? Seriously fuck hhh.


    And seriously if HHH had to win, do they really need to do a racism angle???


    Caliber nice review. What are doing next?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jizzing over yourself for Hogan and then WALKING OUT during Brock/Angle pretty much encapsulates why no one pays any attention to reviewers not named Scott Keith.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I read every article posted, i'm certain other people do too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Def. a top-3 WMer, which puts it among one of the best shows ever. Even the fucking Miller Lite girls couldn't ruin that shit.


    Rock/Goldberg was just an embarrassment as Brock/Goldberg the next year. Fitting bookends, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I didn't get round to responding to you before in a previous thread, so I'll pick up where we left off.


    In discussing how 'original' you are, you stated that your 'stream of consciousness style' is original.


    I'd dispute that. It's pretty easy to just spunk out what's in your head without considering any form or structure to what you are saying. You can argue that it's original because it is what you think and no-one else thinks exactly like you. I would say that it ends up being rambling and arguably lazy.


    However, I think this is a much better piece than what I've seen before.


    One could argue that your lack of match description fails to give the reader a sense of what happened. At the same time, I often skim read over play by play - so I'd be a hypocrite to criticise that.


    What I do really like is your opening paragraph. It creates a great sense of place and I have an understanding of who you were at the time, and where you were. That is good.


    You also have some good one-liners. I like the stuff about 'Taker's bike being adjusted, I like the gag about Rock's terrible Sharpshooter.


    I also think it's good that you've had someone proof your work. It shows. There's a few typos but you get those in national newspapers where you have professional sub-editors. It happens.


    If you keep heading down this route, I look forward to more posts.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Agreed on the greatness of Angle/Lesnar. Definitely 4+. Angle was on a fucking tear back then. Too bad his neck self-disintegrated.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Caliber has a tendency to really inflate his ratings for certain matches. Still, this was a fantastic event. I remember reading at the time the War in Iraq starting was part of the reason for the low buys, but take that with a grain of salt.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm a huge proponent of leaving sporting events early to beat what is usually tons of traffic, both on foot and by car, but I don't get how you wouldn't stick around for the main event of a wrestling show? When ever I go to chargers games I'm out the door when the third quarter hits 0:00 because post football traffic is fucked up. And I rarely even stay at padres games until the last out, even though I walk to the games from my apartment because really I don't give a shit. If SD had a NBA team I would stay for the entire game (and probably get there early for shoot arounds) but they don't so I can't.
    But leaving a wrestling show early seems fucking crazy to me. I went to Summerslam this year and the main event was HHH/Brock. I thought for sure HHH was going over, and I had no interest in seeing it, but I still stayed because it was the main event. And then it turned out I was wrong, HHH lost, and then he tried to get a "job well done" from the crowd and we all chanted "you tapped out"
    If I had left early I would have missed getting to shit all over HHH with 10,000 other smarks. The people who left wm19 early fucked up because they missed an all time classic match.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The original Rock concert helped build up this match. The Rock being on a huge ego trip and looking to take down the only guy he really hadn't up this point was a solid build. The match was about 4-4.25 stars, but that rating is helped by the enormity of the situation, star power, and the way they worked the crowd.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yup. I definitely read every single wrestling related article posted here. I don't really know much about comics/not especially interested in them so I never read those.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I can see leaving early at a house show, because you damn well know nothing important is gonna happen anyway, but fucking Wrestlemania? That's just silly.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm the exact same way.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Didn't enjoy Brock/Angle. Compared to what was on the rest of the show it felt like a letdown.

    ReplyDelete
  19. "He had to wait for Triple H to hit the Pedigree, go paint a house, order a pizza, decide he didn't like the color he painted the house so he paints it again, then comes and pins Booker? Horseshit."


    I don't care how many times this joke gets used in regards to the ending of the match, it's completely fitting.


    Also, considering how WWE places matches these days, it's funny seeing Angle/Brock close the show, especially when you consider the two matches before it.

    ReplyDelete
  20. It really annoys me when the title isn't in the last match.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love Caliber's stuff. His opinions generally skew a lot closer to my own than Scott's do.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I've always attributed the low buy-rate to how bad "Raw" was in the six months leading up to it - remember, that's when Trips was at his egotistical worst, and a lot of people didn't get "Smackdown".

    I'm sure there were other variables, but that had to be a large chunk of why the show did so badly. It surely wasn't because the card looked bad on paper.

    ReplyDelete
  23. HowmuchdoesthisguyweighNovember 27, 2012 at 6:03 PM

    They didnt show the Cena rap battle because it ended up on Heat after all the actual rappers declined to show

    ReplyDelete
  24. More like majority of the buildup focusing around two senior citizens fighting over stuff the common fan stopped giving a fuck about LONG AGO.

    ReplyDelete
  25. You are quite generous with the star ratings, IMO

    ReplyDelete
  26. I read every wrestling- and comic book-related thread here. In fact, I kind of wish there were more DC Comics-related posts, as I'm not much of a Marvel guy.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This PPV is right up there with 3 and 17 as my favorite Wrestlemanias ever. Watching the main event live was really emotional, knowing Kurt had to have major neck surgery right after the match was over. Of course, Brock was the one who almost ended up killing himself. Some of the matches were disappointing (HHH/Booker, Rock/Austin to some degree from what I can remember), but looking at it in retrospect, this looks like one of the greatest, most star-filled cards of all time.

    Nice review. Your style is pretty out there, but that's what makes it fun to read.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I was at SafeCo that night too, the idea of walking out during that is fucking unfathomable. We all knew that match was happening like six months out and it ruled. Seattle traffic is lol.

    You're not wrong though, I'll leave other sports early. Other sports are real and don't have the luxury to plan *all* the best shit of the night for the very end. That's what makes live wrestling such a great night out, it's a show.

    I get remembering Hogan the most, I remember seeing a beat-up Stone Cold more than Angle/Brock. But...to walk out during the main event of a Wrestlemania, the two best legit wrestlers the sport's ever seen...wtf man...

    That shit's nuts.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I read most of them. Sometimes even the comics and movies ones and I haven't read a comic in 15 years (and even when I did collect I never understood why DC existed) or watched a movie in 3 or 4.


    I actually like most of Caliber's stuff now, he's come a long way from raging boners, and he's taken plenty of criticism and not run away, so he's got that going for him.


    Angle/Lesnar was awesome though, he's batshit crazy on that.

    ReplyDelete
  30. If you walk out of the MAIN EVENT OF WRESTLEMANIA, you should be banned from ever writing a wrestling column.

    ReplyDelete
  31. You walked out of Angle/Brock.. the main event... what kind of wrestling fan are you!

    ReplyDelete
  32. yay another i asked for , thanks man . And it's nice to see someone with a favourite Wrestlemania that isn't 17 . 19 is my favourite . how about a review of 24 ?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:08 AM

    I don't know, the Booker v HHH match was really hard-hitting I felt. Perhaps I was expecting crap because of how absolutely terrible Triple H was while he had the World HHHeaviweight Title, and this wasn't terrible.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:10 AM

    I've got some explaining to do, I know.

    But I had a buddy with me who was going to college at the time, about 5 hours away. He had to be back that night, so leaving early was important. Plus, I had a friend with us who wasn't really a wrestling fan, and he tipped the scales. But honestly, we only missed about 3 minutes.

    24 is my favorite because...
    JBL vs Finaly - ***1/2
    MiTB - ****1/4
    Shawn v Ric - *****
    HHH vs Orton vs Cena - ****1/4
    Edge vs Taker - ****3/4

    ReplyDelete
  35. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:11 AM

    You know, I think I may rewatch it. There have been times where I saw a match, had it pegged at **1/2, a couple more viewings and it's now in my Top 5 of all time.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:11 AM

    Yeah. I did it on purpose because people knew about it. I addressed Kevin Nash and the whole ordeal in the Showcase Showdown

    ReplyDelete
  37. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:16 AM

    Perhaps I need to watch Angle/Lesnar again. But from what I recall, it was chain-wrestling, really long choke hold, a few suplexes, and the Shooting Star. That was it.

    As for what's up next, I'm thinking I might do this show called Night of Legends that's on netflix.

    And yeah, man, I knew how mad I was with Triple H winning, but I had NO IDEA about that Pedigree bullshit.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:18 AM

    I appreciate you taking a downvote to admit you dig my work. Thanks for the kind words.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:21 AM

    I really appreciate the respect, Paul. You didn't have to admit any of that. Most people who get on disliking something usually won't change their tune, even if they do like it.

    Yeah, I've never read a play-by-play in my life. I try to talk about the beginning, middle, and end, and how I felt about the whole ordeal. I feel most people do play-by-play because it looks like you've written a lot. That's the only reason I can think of.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:22 AM

    Was it on Heat? Ahh, makes sense. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:24 AM

    I can be, yeah. It's weird how I rate, I'll start watching a match, and then something as great as a few quick false finishes, or someone going through a table can bump up a match a full star.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 5:25 AM

    Thanks, I appreciate the kind words.

    I was reading about Metzler a little big ago, and if you do the 'average amount of stars per match' dealy, WM19 is at the top of the list with an average rating of 3.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 6:30 AM

    Dammit, I had a whole explination typed out, shit happened, now it's all gone. So I'll give the in and out version.



    I wasn't watching wrestling at this point. I knew the main players, but that was it.



    WrestleMania comes along, you go.



    I went with three friends. One was a major wrestling fan, in college 5 hours away, and he HAD to be back at a certain time that night. He was there to see Hogan, The Rock, and Jericho. My other two, one was a wrestling fan, he was there to see Stone Cold, the other was just along for the ride.


    Main event time came. We stayed for 90% of it. All we missed was Lesnar falling on his head. I wanted to stay, but I was out-voted. However, when we came back to see what happened, we stayed for the rest of the match. All 10 seconds of it.



    So that's why I left.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I agree and I used to review doing PBP. I've always found it to be incredibly lazy and reviewers use it as a cop-out because they don't know how to properly review. Why do I need to know every move of every match? How does that help me as a reader. I used to get on Charlie Reneke's case about that, but then he flipped out.

    ReplyDelete
  45. What's the point of going to a sporting event if you're just going to leave early?

    ReplyDelete
  46. You seem to hate Brock v. Angle a lot, which is fine. But then you give it ***1/2. If the match is so unmemorable, then why did you give it such a high rating. It sounds like a match not worth checking out, but then the rating says otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  47. ***** for HBK v. Flair is insane. I know a lot of people look at it through rose coloured glasses because the internet was having a contest that weekend to see who can they cried about Flair the hardest, but the match isn't that great. It's good, and the ending is cool, yet sad, but the rest of the match just isn't up to the ***** level.

    JBL v. Finlay is a fun garbage brawl, though I didn't like JBL going over. I really liked Edge v. Taker too, and I don't know if the 3-way is that great, though the ending rules.

    The MITB all blur together, but I liked Punk getting his first big win.

    ReplyDelete
  48. It's Wrestlemania! No excuse. That's really really bad.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Same here, 19 is my favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Nice to see somebody else refer to Victoria as "gorgeous" - maybe not in the most conventional way, but I always thought she was really hot and sexy.

    ReplyDelete
  51. I like the style for this forum because most of us have seen these shows and don't need the blow by blow. I also like the pics, as I cracked up at seeing A-Train with definable abs as compared to now, with his huge gut and tats.

    ReplyDelete
  52. You have fun and skip traffic

    ReplyDelete
  53. Review hereos of wrestling

    ReplyDelete
  54. But you don't see who wins, and you miss out on most of the exciting moments of the game.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Rock was upset that Stone Cold won Superstar of the Decade and that he had never beaten him in a Wrestlemania match.

    ReplyDelete
  56. If it's a blowout, I'll leave. If it's close, not so much.

    If I'm at a pro sports event I'm out of town anyway, so it's not like there's something I need to hurry back for. I live in Champaign, IL so I'm equidistant (more or less) from Chicago, St. Louis and Indianapolis.



    I go to a lot of Illini football and basketball games and lord knows I've left a ton of horrible Illini football games at halftime to go tailgate and drink myself stupid to forget it. Basketball, not so much. I'll park close enough that I don't freeze to death but far enough away that I don't get stuck in traffic.

    ReplyDelete
  57. I know you're overly generous with your ratings and that's kind of your schtick or whatever, but this is just insanity. Especially when juxtaposed to giving the Brock/Angle near-classic less than 4 stars.

    24 is a solid WM. Edge/Taker is a legit 4 stars....but that's your main event? Show lacked that extra special something. Nothing was bad, but I can't see putting it on par with 3, 10, 17, 19 or 20, and I'd personally say 26 and 28 also.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Caliber_Winfield_69420BoobiesNovember 28, 2012 at 3:04 PM

    Well, I didn't hate it. But honestly, I was expecting a 5 star match, ****1/2 minimum. But then I didn't get that. It's still a good match, one of the better of the night, it just wasn't nearly what I was expecting. Perhaps I need to see it again though.

    ReplyDelete
  59. I'm shocked to see Brock/Angle only get ***1/2 Personally I've always thought it was up near the ****1/2 range. This is my personal favorite WM. Trips-Booker is a good ***1/4 match, Hogan-Vince is ***HBK-Y2J is a ****3/4 match, Rock-Austin is ****1/4 Brock-Angle is ****1/2. And the undercard is solid too. One of my go to shows when I'm in the mood to watch some good wrestling.

    ReplyDelete
  60. I tend to think of WrestleMania 24 as the divider between the good WrestleMania's and the great ones. It's got the big classic match in Shawn vs. Ric(even depending on your opinion it still delivers a moment) it's got a good triple threat with the three top names in the company, a solid undercard, good atmosphere, and a legit ****+ main event with The Undertaker. But for me it's missing something that keeps it out of that upper echelon. Another example would be 22; which has a multitude of good-great matches but none that reach the level of classic.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment