Ashanti started off the show with "America the Beautiful". Good job. Ashanti is a good singer when she doesn't have some growling moron singing with her (Ja Rule).
Our first match of the night was Rey Mysterio vs. Matt Hardy for the Cruiserweight title. They should have just kept this one on Smackdown, because with a 4 hour show, this match was just over 5 minutes long. No excuse for that, as this could have been a better bout if it had more time to develop. But hey, Vince vs. Hogan needed all of the time in the world, as did the boring Triple H vs. Booker T match. I was surprised Matt got the victory, and I'm assuming this feud isn't ending.
Limp Bizkit came out and performed "Rollin", and it eventually introduced the Undertaker. Rollin', in my opinion, has never sounded good live from Limp. Their other song, what was it, "Crack Addict", wasn't bad live, but Rollin' didn't sound right. Remember when Rollin' was popular? Over 2 years ago if you're counting.
Undertaker vs. Big Show/A-Train was the next match. They did the best thing possible for this match in eliminating Nathan Jones. Seriously, spare us from seeing him ever wrestle on television! The WWE knows this or else they wouldn't have run the angle last night to keep him out of the match. The match was actually decent, too, as the Undertaker looked pretty good in the ring last night. He seemed to bump more for Albert and Big Show, something he doesn't do for any other wrestlers not named Triple H or Austin OR anybody under 6'6". Maybe do that more and the Undertaker will be more acceptable in my book. Good evening for Undertaker, and the match exceeded my expectation since I was expecting a disaster with Jones involved with the match, at least wrestling in it. Instead, he did a run in to help the Undertaker win. Works for me.
Our third match was for the Women's title between Jazz, Victoria, and Trish Stratus. Definitely not a blowaway match, which is what the women's division badly needed. Awww, too bad. Trish Stratus, I might add, was looking her best in those tights. I mean, damn..... Victoria didn't look her best in the goofy tights, but at least we got to see some bare ass when her backside was pulled down. I thought Jazz was supposed to boost the workrate of the match? Please. I was surprised to see Trish win the title. Victoria will likely do an injury angle tonight to explain why she needs to be out for several months to repair her torn ACL in her right knee.
Very good backstage promo by the Rock. Very well said, although it wasn't a heel promo. It may have turned him face in the Seattle fans' minds, causing them to cheer for Rocky later instead of the already stale Steve Austin.
Next match was Rhyno/Benoit vs. Guerreros vs. Team Angle. I knew this match would get shortchanged on time. Just knew it! 3 tag teams need more time to develop a match because of all of the wrestlers involved. It would take more time to wear down an opponent if there are more people to tag in, right? It was good for what it was, just based on all 6 performers being able to look good in the ring. I'm glad to see the heel tag team retain the titles, as Team Angle won the match to make them stronger as a tag team in their early stages of their WWE careers. Don't know what they'll do without Angle, though.
Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels was up next. My choice for hot opener, but oh well. Very good bout between these two. Did you have any reason to think they wouldn't put on a good match? Good chemistry in the ring and nothing blown in the match. Several people are debating as to whether Shawn should have won the match or not, as many feel, myself included, that Chris Jericho deserves a big Wrestlemania win after last year's embarrassment against Triple H. But then again, I don't mind paying respect to a wrestler's final wrestling Wrestlemania (probably), although he skipped out on wrestling for Wrestlemania 13, which is hard to forgive. (Quick story: Wrestlemania 13 was to have a rematch between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for the World Title. Michaels was champion at the time, and he apparently wanted no part in dropping the title to Hart. Therefore, a knee injury suddenly occurred and it would prompt Shawn to walk away from the business for a while [the "I lost my smile speech"], only to have a miracle happen to cause his knee to be completely healthy a few months later.)
I got chills down my spine hearing Bill Goldberg's music on a WWE Pay Per View. Man, I'm getting pumped to see him make his WWE debut tonight on RAW!
TERRIBLE stuff with the Catfight between the 2 Miller Lite ladies, Torrie Wilson, and Stacy Keibler. Besides seeing some nice fake boobs during the whole segment, it was a joke and a waste of time to have. Between Limp Bizkit and this, maybe Rey vs. Hardy could have been given more time as well. The worst was seeing the Miller Lite girls barely hitting each other with those pillows, while Torrie and Stacy weren't afraid to go at each other physically.
Triple H vs. Booker T was up next. EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER knew Triple H was winning. We've seen the same patterns of bullshit before, and the Seattle crowd probably knew it as well. The match was slow and boring, the usual for Triple H main events, given how roided up he is and the workrate he lost somewhere during the time he was rehabbing his quad. What a piece of shit Triple H is. Seriously. He's taken gigantic dumps on Booker T, Kane, and Rob Van Dam, to which all 3 wrestlers will never get a shot at the spotlight ever again. Just look at Kane and RVD, who headlined Mtv Heat last night. Ridiculous. Triple H IS a big part of why the WWE is losing viewers on the RAW brand because nobody wants to see him wrestle and he's a pathetic World Champion. Fuck him. For his politics, I hope Karma strikes again and rips another quad off his leg.
Vince McMahon vs. Hulk Hogan was better than expected for me. They really went at each other with chairs and the Vince legdrop off the ladder looked pretty good. Lots of blood flowing, too. It was funny to see Roddy Piper run in. Man, he's totally out of shape now. The almighty dollar took Roddy away from his NWA-TNA crap and made him go back on his word that he'd never be in the WWE again. I just hope this is a one night deal and that we don't EVER have to witness another Hogan vs. Piper match up. Hogan wins, and I'm still convinced it's his last match ever in the WWE. Nice 3 legdrop finisher.
Rock vs. Steve Austin was up next. A total carry job by the Rock here. Steve Austin is hurt by 3 things: ring rust, injuries coming back to haunt him, and lack of crowd support. Rock had to do everything in this match, and was even winning over the crowd by the end. Good to see Rocky winning, but it took 2 People's Elbows and 3 Rock Bottoms to beat Austin. I'm wondering if that was supposed to happen, as the Rock told Austin something after the match. I wonder what he said? It was good, but only for the Rock putting on the backpack (Austin) and carrying it around. Rock is the man here in 2003. I can't WAIT for his stuff with Bill Goldberg.
And finally..... Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle was our main event. Good show of respect to both guys, instead of killing us with Hogan vs. Vince as the main. Great match between these two. Angle was very much protecting his neck throughout, but it wasn't too obvious. Lesnar just hit him with basic power moves instead of any powerful suplexes. Good mat wrestling to start, as they would do much more if Angle's neck was healthier. This match could have become a Match of the Year contender if Lesnar would have hit the shooting star press, but d'oh! Lesnar seemed to have seriously messed himself up on the error, and if he's out from injury too, that's 2 reasons, now, to make Smackdown hurt after Wrestlemania. Lesnar seemed to not get a good enough jump off the top rope, and Angle seemed too far away. But that's the beauty of it, as Lesnar can get air on his shooting star.
LAST WORD: A strong show is what the WWE needed here, and a strong show is what they delivered. Pretty good from top to bottom, with a few matches getting shortchanged on time, Triple H vs. Booker T sucking, and the Women's match being boring. But HBK vs. Jericho was strong, Rock vs. Austin was good from the Rock, Vince vs. Hogan was acceptable, and Lesnar vs. Angle was great. I'll give this show an [ A- ] (A-Minus). I hope to watch this show several more times in the future to get a better opinion, but this year's Wrestlemania rocked! If only the WWE could ride the wave of momentum........
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