The Lapsed Fan: Dave Meltzer on WrestleMania 19

As part of The Lapsed Fan's 30-week WrestleMania journey, the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer weighed in with his recollections of each event. Here, Meltzer discusses WrestleMania 19 in 2003.
Follow The Lapsed Fan on Twitter @thelapsedfan

[@justinroark88]

11:44 Austin did have 1 final match at Wrestlemania 38 in 2022

[@CraigCairney83]

Was a die hard fan from 1988 to around this period. Was pretty much done by this period!

[@vampirascoffin870]

Yup and HHH didn't make WWE fun or must watch , I was only into smackdown and Shawn micheals

[@LeftyBassistFTW]

aw, I really wanted to hear about Michaels vs Jericho. By far the best match on the card, and Michaels's return to Wrestlemania, and it's not even mentioned.

[@cjaquilino]

They go into in on the full podcast.

[@LeftyBassistFTW]

Yeah, when I first watched this, I didn't realize how small a portion of the podcast the Dave Meltzer snippets were. Their impressions of Vince and Triple H are absolutely hilarious.

[@andertonchigoneka5243]

No Angle vs Lesnar was bar far the best match but Michaels and Jericho was second best match

[@bdot187um]

LeftyBassistFTW fuck Shawn.

[@stickypool]

Austin had OMR 'one more round' on his entrance jacket. Surely that was a sign that he felt it would be his last match.

[@QuackMamba34]

He didn't decide it was his last match until the hospital scare he had the night before.

[@bdot187um]

James Forcum that's not what I heard

[@guyincognito5706]

@@QuackMamba34 In the behind the scenes documentary Mania of WrestleMania, there’s an interview recorded not long before the hospital scare where a visibly despondent Stone Cold says, “Yeah, tomorrow’s it. It’s like my vest says ‘Bullet Proof,’ but when the adrenaline wears off and I go back to being Steve Williams, I think, ‘You’re flapping your gums about having more matches,’ I don’t have any business being in the ring.” He goes on to say that he’d originally talked to Rock about doing another match, but that won’t happen. In no uncertain terms, Stone Cold went into WM 19 with the belief that this was his final match. They kept trying to get him to come back for a match with Hogan, and he was set to return to face off against Coach with the stipulation that if Austin won, JR got his job back, and if Austin lost, JR was fired. It was implied that Austin was coming back for a match to get JR’s job as commentator back, and Austin was on board for that until late in the build where Vince told him that the plan was actually for him to come out of retirement only to lose and let his best friend down, and Austin decided to not do the match, and stayed retired. I’m sure that this stayed in the back of Austin’s mind whenever he felt the itch to come back and do one more match. I’m sure that’s what he meant when he said he would only come back if “all the starts lines up”. He knew that he couldn’t trust WWE’s creative to book a cohesive program for his return match, even if there were guys he wanted to work with. He was better off staying retired, and except for WM 32, I’m glad he did. That appearance was a little sad

[@dppatters]

@@guyincognito5706 Very well said

[@kidneystonermusic]

It's mean Oh Mell Reah

[@justanaverageperson544]

I never knew Kurt was in so much pain until now. Its my favorite the best I've ever seen. I love that match even more than the recent Okada Omega matches and i love those matches

[@JustChrisTM]

10:50 - Pedigree to Booker T ..... 23 SECONDS LATER -___- HHH covers Book for the win.

[@DJCloroxx]

Exhibit A in the case of the IWC vs HHH. Dude deserved all the shit fans gave him for a decade.

[@JackSparrow-gr2po]

HHH would not put over Booker T? Color me shocked.

[@bdot187um]

Jack Sparrow man that shit was depressing...

[@thedragonchaser]

"Color"

[@jjLeakee_]

Crazy how three dudes almost crashed out completely following Wrestlemania 19

[@freezhollywood]

best thing about 19 is the ramp lol

[@stonecoldbsr9110]

THAT FUCKING TURN

[@azapro911]

Never have understood why 19 is deemed to be on a par with 17, yes many of the matches were classics but the buildup to many of them was fairly underwhelming. The first two Austin-Rock encounters happened organically, this one was thrown together to give Dwayne a win on his way out the door having lost the previous two encounters.

[@22srs22]

I never understood why 17 is so higly rated.

[@dgenerate707]

@@22srs22 It was a climax of both periods of the Attitude era and every match made sense and had a reason to be on the card.

[@22srs22]

@@dgenerate707 Every match made sense? Sure there were some real bangers on there but the midcard also had some trash matches. And the main event goes out with a wimper.

[@dgenerate707]

@@22srs22 what matches were trash?

[@22srs22]

@@dgenerate707 Jericho and Regal was too short, that six man was trash, Eddie's match with Test was disappointing, and that Chyna squash match was trash. This card wasn't exactly banger after banger.

[@johnselwitz5362]

I do disagree with Austin’s decision to keep quiet about Wrestlemania 19 being his last match. If they had built it up and possibly had The Rock demand that Austin put his career on the line, it could’ve gotten a lot more PPV buys

[@vampirascoffin870]

Doesnt matter what you think it still would have had the same outcome

[@AshleySmith19912]

@@vampirascoffin870Tell me you don’t understand wrestling without telling me you don’t understand wrestling.

[@vampirascoffin870]

​​@@AshleySmith19912 yes way better than your dumbass it will still have the same outcome get over it loser bye white Karen

[@vampirascoffin870]

​@@AshleySmith19912 I been watching wrestling longer than you , You C#nT

[@shawnmoney8055]

You can tell HHH was like that Superviser everybody hates at work.

[@philllewis9081]

HHH the bag carrying juicer. Have you ever noticed that every faction that he was in, he was either the weakest or second weakest member??? overrated is an understatement.....Terra Ryzing oh dear

[@bdot187um]

Phill Lewis hahaha

[@fredo4070]

He was a 1 with evolution. He was probably a 1 with DX in that 2000s run. Overrated yes, but great in his own right

[@ronniebobbyedition993]

Wrestlemania 19 was great. It would've been better had Booker T beat HHH.

[@jerransperarman9411]

good review

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

They should have built the show around Brock and Angle. They should have been billed as the future of the company and built up like a Rock/Austin level match. It's not, of course, but it could have been HUGE. I really think with the right build it would have been amazing.

[@acphenom]

I think the money was in Lesnar vs. Big Show, not Angle; with Brock walking-in as the undefeated champion. It would've been the 'Unstoppable Force vs. The Immovable Object'. No idea why they hotshotted it for Survivor Series with 3 weeks of build, what a waste that was. There was never any money in Kurt, as good a performer as he was - in fact, WWE business began its decline with his first main-event run back in 2000. It's a pity they couldn't have done Austin/Hogan. They both came back at the same time, so it was all set-up for them to make good on the previous year - that's what people wanted to see, not Austin/Rock III or Hogan/McMahon. Rock was also on-fire as a heel at this time. If HHH was so reluctant to put Book over, they should've had Rock do it.

[@jamesb1988]

You lost me as soon as you said Big Show would have been a better option than Angle. The ONLY thing appealing about that match up was if Brock could F5 Show....where as with Angle, the amount of legitimacy made it very entertaining. The most naturally gifted athlete in NCAA history vs. one of the best amateur wrestlers this world has ever seen. You know what's ironic about that match? Brock hitting the Shooting Star Press would have been memorable, but the botch is still discussed to this day. A 280 Lb guy landing directly on his head and neck is such a monster that he is still able to hit another F5 and finish the match despite the SEVERE concussion.

[@vampirascoffin870]

​@@jamesb1988 that dude said big show loll ignore the kid lol

[@andrewisjesus]

Triple H being a "big star" despite the fact Him being on top coincided with the drastic fall WWE had that meltzer talks about. Lol wtf

[@johnselwitz5362]

Despite what he thinks about himself, HHH was never a draw. Like Cornette once said, he was never THE GUY. He was the guy who worked with THE GUY.

[@LeoWhalen1933]

Shouldve been called BrokenNeckamania😂😂😂

[@alexmelendez6732]

Booker t was super over and getting loud pops. He should have beaten hhh.

[@MattSingh1]

*The other host of this was utterly clueless and added nothing whatsoever. His first question for Dave, for example, is mindlessly stupid.*

[@KobaAM]

I like listening to Dave, but Jesus Christ. Having to listen to "WELL HE COULD HAVE BUT HE MIGHT NOT HAVE BUT HE COULD HAVE BUT HE ALSO MAY HAVE COULDNT BUT IT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED BUT IT MAY HAVE HAPPENED BUT MAYBE NOT BUT ITS POSSIBLE BUT IT PROBABLY WOULDNT HAVE HAPPENED BUT IT MIGHT HAVE" gets bit old. Quit trying to ride the fence on everthing, dude...

[@1sportsfan]

you may be right but I'm not sure

[@TrueJaguarPaw]

I thought booker t was overrated so was hhh

[@bdot187um]

TrueJaguarPaw nah man Tha book man was never overrated

[@412StepUp]

I always thought Booker T was boring. And Triple H was annoying with his promos.