One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY WWE WrestleMania
23. WrestleMania 19 | The Show Was Almost Even More Loaded
WrestleMania 19 was a weird show.
On paper, it was star-studded, totally loaded - and yet, in actuality, it was a bit depressing. Not unlike Royal Rumble 1992, the list of legendary names on the line-up obscures that barely any of them were actually operating at the peak of their powers at the time.
Steve Austin was checked out; the Rock had to be in career-best form to carry their resumed rivalry. Triple H was slower and more overpowered than ever. Kurt Angle was thrashed to a life-threatening extent; his opponent, Brock Lesnar, was still a bit green. Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho stole the show without having to do a great deal.
It was as if WWE was holding on, trying to claw back into relevance. Fans either sensed the desperation, or weren’t impressed by Hulk Hogan’s bumbling promo work ahead of his match against Mr. McMahon (which actually ended up being a black comedy masterclass); the show generated an alarmingly bad 560,000 buys. One name was very close to appearing on and potentially increasing the revenue of the show: Sting.
Sting had publicly criticised WWE’s sordid tone and cited his religious beliefs as the reason why he never made the jump - until he started doing shots for World Wrestling All-Stars in late 2002, which reenergised him.
Promoting a February pay-per-view, Sting revealed that he was very close to debuting for WWE at WrestleMania 19, but was unable to negotiate the deal in time. (Sting was also adamant that he didn’t want to work a full-time schedule). Meltzer opined that it wasn’t the time - if it were up to him, he’d have waited until business was down - but then, the WrestleMania 19 number shocked everybody. Would this alternate timeline have resulted in the fabled match against the Undertaker?
‘Taker was the odd man out, having been lumbered with Big Show and A-Train when Nathan Jones was exposed for being so hopeless.