Wrestlemania 19 vs 26

[Paralyzer Z]

Another battle of the granddaddy of them all (must be quite the player to be the granddaddy of all those WWE pay per views) Anyway bad joke aside it Wrestlemania 19 vs Wrestlemania 26!

Wrestlemania 19 was held in Seattle Washington (Safeco Field) on March 30, 2003. It featured, Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle for the WWE championship, Triple H vs Booker T for the World Heavyweight Championship, Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon, Shawn Micheals vs Chris Jericho, and The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin as well as the under-card. Personally my favorite of these would be Brock vs Kurt due to the awesome wrestling as well as spots that these two excellent amateur wrestlers gave us. I know the general favorite is HBK vs Y2J but I prefer the main event for it's shooting star press spot.

Wrestlemania 26 on the other hand was held on March 28, 2010 in Glendale, Arizona (University of Phoenix Stadium). It featured, Shawn Micheals vs The undertaker in a career vs streak match, John Cena vs Batista for the WWE championship, Edge vs Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight championship, Vince McMahon vs Bret "the hitman" Hart, The 10-man Money in the bank ladder match, and Triple H vs Sheamus as well as the under-card. MY favorite right here has to be obviously the last match in the legendary career of HBK. Thought not as epic as there first WM match that had taken place one year earlier they still stole the show. On a side note both events had GORGEOUS stage designs!

My pick here is WM XIX because for the fantastic card it had going it, it delivered with all of it without disappointment. 26 on the other hand had an equally good looking card heading into the event but just did not deliver the way I expected to. I mean I like the main event and the title matches but none of the matches other than that impressed me. Hart vs McMahon is a match that is very criticized but even though it was not meant to be a wrestling match, I still did not find it very entertaining. I also think that the 10 man is the worst of the MITB matches to date. WM19 was incessantly enjoyable all through the show.

Highlights

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Which Wrestlemania do you prefer? Why?

 

[King Patrick Star]

Let’s look at this one match at a time.

Miscellaneous match (since there wasn’t a Cruiserweight Championship match at XXVI and there wasn’t a Money In The Bank match at XIX)
19 – Matt Hardy vs. Rey Mysterio
26 – Jack Swagger vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Christian vs. Montel Vontavious Porter vs. Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Kane in a Money In The Bank Ladder match
XIX. This one goes to XIX. MITB gets less and less exciting for me every year and for this to be the last year the MITB match was at WM, I think it was a bit of a disappointment. Then again, I was rooting for Evan Bourne at the time.

Triple Threat match (I know one is a Tag Team match and the other is a singles Triple Threat match, but there were two WWE World Tag Team Title matches that night)
19 – Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) vs. Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Guerrero) vs. Chris Benoit and Rhyno
26 – Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase
XXVI. This one goes to XXVI, though by only a slim margin. XXVI was predictable and XIX was far from it.

Divas match
19 – Victoria vs. Trish Stratus vs. Jazz
26 – Michelle McCool, Vickie Guerrero, Alicia Fox, Layla and Maryse defeated Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, Gail Kim and Eve Torres
XIX. Without a doubt.

Tag Team Championship match
19 – Lance Storm and Chief Morley vs. Kane and Rob Van Dam
26 – ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth
XXVI. This one goes to XXVI. As much as I enjoyed the Dudleys run-in and subsequent turn, ShoMiz and Morrison and Truth put on a great Tag match.

Special Feature match
19 – Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
26 – Triple H vs. Sheamus
XIX. Nuff said.

Undertaker’s WM Streak match
19 – Undertaker vs. Big Show and A-Train
26 – Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
XXVI. Okay, here you have Taker vs. two large Superstars or Taker vs. one of the greatest of all time. XXVI it is, but by less of a margin than the Triple Threat battle.

Vince McMahon match
19 – Vince McMahon vs. Hulk Hogan
26 – Vince McMahon vs. Bret The Hitman Hart
XIX. It’s Hulk Hogan. I know Vince screwed Bret, but it’s Hollywood Hulk Hogan we’re talking about.

Main Attraction match (not the Main Event, but could have been on any other card)
19 – Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock
26 – Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
XIX. I don’t care how successful Mysterio and Punk end up being by the end of their careers. I’m not voting against Stone Cold and the Rock unless they are up against Jericho vs. Angle…then it would be a tie.

World Championship match
19 – Triple H vs. Booker T.
26 – Chris Jericho vs. Edge
XXVI. I want to give this to XXVI, but I’m not 100% sure.

WWE Championship match
19 – Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
26 – John Cena vs. Batista
XIX. Batista is one of my favorites, but if you think I’m picking Cena over Angle, you’re nuts. If it wasn’t for the botch Lesnar made at the end, I think it would be safe to say that it was a perfect match.

I didn’t include the Dark match from WM XXVI because if I put that up against any of the WM XIX matches, it would lose anyway. Sorry Yoshi Tatsu and Zack Ryder and the other 24 Superstars in that Battle Royal nobody saw.

Well, just by looking at the matches alone, with the score 6-4, I’m going to give it to XIX. Then again, if I didn’t look at the matches one at a time, I would still give it to XIX. The 4 (I say 5) Main Events alone is enough to make XIX the most memorable WM ever.

For a bonus point and a chance for XXVI to tie...

America The Beautiful
19 – Ashanti
26 – Fantasia
XIX. Exactly.

 

[SickJames]

WrestleMania 19

WM26 had awesome stuff with Bret's nice vengeance and HBK/Taker, Cena/Batista was good. Y2J winning was my shock moment, I was so very happy for him.

Despite all that and the cool up and down mini-tron piece over the ring


But 19 had the final chapter in the WrestleMania Trilogy of The Rock vs Stone Cold
that alone is better, add HBK vs Y2J having the best pure wrestling bout on the card (yes even over Angle/Lesnar which to me was really great as well save for the botched but still cool Shooting Star Press) and HBK's first Mania back.

not a great title bout in HHH/Booker, but it was okay. The whole Hogan/Vince thing was what like 20 years in the making, it had a nice backstory. It just had more big matches whereas HBK/Taker II carried WM26 along with Bret's return to Mania vs Vince
Batista did give the best performance of his career in character in build to this though as a heel.


But the huge edge goes to Mania 19

It was an emotional night all throughout, from HBK's bout, to Rock & Austin's bout on through

 

[yeerandee]

king patrick the botch ended up being great for the match beacuse they came up with the end to the match on the fly. the shooting star press was suppose to be the actual finish. the real end ended up being better than if they finished it with the shooting star imo

 

[King of the Words]

Yeah, Mania 19, did outshine Mania 26. Some great main Event matches on both but Mania 19`s were more enjoyable and entertaining.IMO. One featured HBK`s first Wrestlemania back and the other featured his final Mania match. As far as we know. I enjoyed both endings, but I really wanted Shawn to end the Streak on his second chance. When he didn`t it was disapointing, But when Brock won it was great. It was the Lesnar Era at it`s height, and I loved his 2 year run in the WWE. Most dominant wrestler of all time in my opinion. All his matches were great except for his last at Mania 20. Major let down. Wouldn`t mind seeing him back in WWE, even just for one more match with more than likely, the Undertaker at Mania.

 

[WunNightStan619]

I remember ordering WM26 and being so dissapointed with the show as a whole. The only match that really lived up to the hype was taker and hbk and that was an expectation. there was not wun single bad match on the 19 card...not wun...26 didnt really do it for me. Honestly no wrestlemanias since 23 have really impressed me. I think some of the best WMs are from 17-23..

With the exception of a few i feel like the WWE went thru a period where alot of the talent werent able to put on wrestlemania caliber matches. I think alot of them were thrown into the limelight before they were ready because of alot of the older guys either retired or moved on from wrestling. It couldnt be any more obvious this year when The Rock and soo many older people had to come back in order to make the main event (and wrestlemania as a whole) worth seeing. When the best match the WWE could put together for the biggest event of the year is John Cena and The Miz you know something is wrong.

Wrestlemania now to me is more about the hype than the actual event. Its more glits glamour and media hype rather than actual wrestling matches. Im not knocking it at all tho. In fact i understand why its this way. Its simply because the talent just isent what it used to be, the writing isent what is used to be so they mask it with all the extra stuff

...but hopefully this coming wrestle mania will be better. They are putting on a FANTASY match that people actually wanna see. This is what wrestlemania is about. Putting the best against each other..and i feel like with the lack of talent (both in and out of the ring) its been hard to do that

but back to the point, my vote goes to 19

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Im going 26 as I felt 19 was overrated. The only match I was looking forward to was Hulk and Vince. If Lesnar didn't botch, I wouldn't remember that match at all. Their Summerslam one was better. Both title matches at WM 26 were solid, Undertaker and HBK delivered as well as Punk and Mysterio.

 

[Wrestling4life]

I would like to start off my saying this is my first time on wrestlezone forums.To awnser the second question about the actual arena set up even though wrestlemania 19 had more of a wrestlemania feel.Wrestlemania 26 had an amazing theme and the set up relly delivered to the desert type theme.so i would have to go with wrestlemania 26 on that one.

As for the matches wrestlemania 19 woululd win overall. but if you count the 3 main event matchs on each card at there respective eras in wrestling ,there pretty comparable. Taker/HBK > Angle/Lensar,Batista/Cena=HBK/Jericho,Rock/Austin > Jericho/Edge as of the under card wrestlemania 19 wins my a land slide. As for media prefrennce thier pretty eqaul as well ,even with wrestlemania 26 being held in Arizona.

Overall if you're intrested in the wrestling aspect of mania, 19 would win.If you're intrested in the streak or HBK or the wrestlemania feel of the event then 26 is your pick

WRESTLEMANIA 26 = WRESTLEMANIA 19

 

[DeathClutch]

Without getting into one long dicussion about it, I'll keep it short, WrestleMania 19 had the better quality matches over from top to bottom, thou WrestleMania 26 actually was a good card just a shame Bret Hart wasn't in any shape to wrestle and Shawn/Taker and Batista/Cena II, basically what I'm trying to say is WrestleMania 19 was known for it's 4 Main Events, and that didn't include Jericho/Shawn I where-as WrestleMania 26 was a two match card, Shawn/Taker II and Batista/Cena II thou Edge/Jericho was pretty hyped but I'd class that on the same level as HBK/Jericho from WrestleMania 19, over-all WrestleMania 19 was the better card and produced the better matches.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Wrestlemania 19 had a couple of great matches in Rock VS Stone Cold and Jericho VS Michaels. It was a decent card worth checking out to anyone who missed it. However it doesn't even come close to Wrestlemania 26 because it had one of the best cards in YEARS.

ShowMiz VS Truth & Morrison, Orton VS Legacy triple threat, MITB with TEN guys in it, CM Punk VS Rey, Trips VS Sheamus, Edge VS Jericho, Hart VS Vince, Cena VS Batista, Shawn Michaels' last match against Undertaker in the main event. Seriously, other than a boring divas match this card was solid from beginning to end and showcased the stars of today alongside future stars of tomorrow.

There is no contest here. 26 was the better show.

 

[Foshinzo]

WrestleMania XIX, I seriously doubt, is the best WrestleMania ever. However, do I think it's a top five show? Absolutely. Michaels v Jericho, Rock finally beating Austin, even Hulk v McMahon was a solid match; they were all solid matches. Finally, and I don't care about the botched finish, Lesnar v Angle was still about as good of a main event as you'll ever see. The only match of Angle's I like more was his WrestleMania XXI match with Michaels, but that's a top three all-timer, for me. Overall, WrestleMania XIX might be a top three all-time WrestleMania, for me, and I really enjoyed it when I watched it live.

WrestleMania XXVI was a fine show, but I only liked three matches on the card: the triple threat match, CM Punk v Rey Mysterio, and of course Michaels v Undertaker. Matches like Cena v Batista and HHH v Sheamus were fine, but I was apathetic. Everyone knew Cena would win, and I haven't really cared about HHH in about five years, especially against Sheamus, at that time. Then, at last, there is the Bret Hart v McMahon fiasco and that predictably bad Diva's match. That first one drags this event down considerably, for me. It was just so pointless and dated, it only served to remind me that I'm older and Bret got older before me.

 

[The Brain]

WrestleMania 19 is not only better than WrestleMania 26, it is better than any other WrestleMania. The first hour wasn’t anything spectacular but it was solid. Everything from HBK vs. Y2J on was fantastic. Michaels vs. Jericho was match of the decade in my opinion and is a true mania classic. Triple H vs. Booker T had a great build and was a very good match. A lot of people criticize it because of the outcome but if those critics could look past the fact that they guy they wanted to win didn’t win maybe they could appreciate what a good match it was. I’m usually skeptical when Vince gets in the ring with a wrestler but he always manages to put on a great show. WM19 was no exception. His match with Hogan was a great fight for mania highlighted by the surprise appearance by Roddy Piper. WM19 may have been the best of the Austin vs. Rock trilogy. The story away from the ring made it even more special. To this day this remains Austin’s last match. Lesnar vs. Angle was a great main event. The hype and anticipation were there and the action was really good, especially considering Angle’s condition. The matches were great and the atmosphere was perfect. The venue and the entrances were awesome. This show made WWE seem larger than life.

I really liked WrestleMania 26 too and going into it I thought it had a chance to challenge 19 as the best. While it was a great show it came up a little short of expectations. I said WM19 was no exception for Vince putting on a great show. WM26 was the exception. I now realize I expected too much from Bret but that match was a disappointment. HBK vs. Taker was good but it wasn’t as good as WM25 and it’s really hard not to compare the two. Cena vs. Batista had a great build but they needed more time to deliver a better match. Edge vs. Jericho was ok but I thought those two could have done better. Overall WM26 was very enjoyable to me. It just fell a little short of expectations and can’t be compared to the awesomness of WM19.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

I can't believe anyone would pick Wrestlemania 26. After that event people totally ripped it apart and blasted it for being mediocre and not good.

The money in the bank was a clusterfuck, the opening tag match was a waste of time and only 5 minutes, Punk/Mysterio was average, the triple threat was nothing, Bret/Vince went too long, Cena/Batista was OK, etc. etc.

Wrestlemania XIX had all around better matches, and I consider it the best WM ever top to bottom.

It even had a GOOD DIVAS MATCH.

Seriously, Hogan vs Vince, Austin vs Rock, Angle vs Lesnar, Y2J vs HBK....

 

[rokuma]

I watched both Wrestlemania's live...and I can tell you it's not even close. When Wrestlemania 19 came out on DVD, I got it. Wrestlemania 26? I would not have enjoyed the show had I not watched it with friends. There were only 3 matches that entertained me that night: HBK vs Taker II, Jericho vs Edge, and Orton/Rhodes/Dibiase...that's it. Sheamus/Triple H? Decent. Batista/Cena? Zzzz....Hart/McMahon? Hilarious. We kept joking that Bret couldn't remember how to do a sharpshooter after stomping McMahon's abs like 3 times and hitting him with a chair roughly 20 times. But that's it....

WM XIX you had Jericho and Michaels...easily the best match of the decade and a true classic. (I've watched that match so many times and NEVER get sick of it). Hogan/Vince - I've said it before...HIGHLY underrated. Quite possibly the second or third best match on the card and who would've believed that? Austin/Rock always a classic...not as good as WM 17, but still great. This is how good WM XIX was...when Brock vs Angle came about, the crowd seemed and I know I was a PPV viewer, exhausted from all of the great matches before. Hands down, WM XIX was better than 26...by a landslide.

 

[Chicago1989]

Wrestlemania 19 had a couple of great matches in Rock VS Stone Cold and Jericho VS Michaels. It was a decent card worth checking out to anyone who missed it. However it doesn't even come close to Wrestlemania 26 because it had one of the best cards in YEARS.

ShowMiz VS Truth & Morrison, Orton VS Legacy triple threat, MITB with TEN guys in it, CM Punk VS Rey, Trips VS Sheamus, Edge VS Jericho, Hart VS Vince, Cena VS Batista, Shawn Michaels' last match against Undertaker in the main event. Seriously, other than a boring divas match this card was solid from beginning to end and showcased the stars of today alongside future stars of tomorrow.

There is no contest here. 26 was the better show.

While it may be a matter of opinion on which show was better, let's be honest, WrestleMania XIX had a better hyped and stacked card than WrestleMania 26. Hardly anyone on here talked about how good 26's matches were, except for the Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels' match. That's the only match that got more attention. Everything else was forgettable.

WrestleMania XIX had a great card. You have the first ever match with Chris Jericho Vs. Shawn Michaels, with the storyline that Jericho idolized HBK and wanted to surpass his legacy by beating him.

You had a great triple threat tag team match that featured some of the greatest technical wrestlers ever, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and WGTT.

You had a World Title match that had Booker T competing in his first WM main event for the World Title against Triple H.

You had Hogan Vs. McMahon in an intense, memorable street fight. This also had to have been one of Hogan's greatest matches in his career, since both Hogan and McMahon delivered a great match that was decades in the making. The build-up was awesome and you also had the surprising return of Roddy Piper in this match!

You had the final match of the Austin-Rock rivalry with Stone Cold Vs. The Rock, in Austin's last match. This match was fantastic. It had a great story, intensity, back and forth action that saw them kick out of their own finishers, and it had that "big match feel". It was also special for having The Rock finally beat Stone Cold at WM for the first time. It was a classic match.

And you also got the main event that went for the WWE Title (which was more prestigious than today's WWE title at the time). Brock Lesnar, in his first WM main event, going against his arch nemesis, Kurt Angle. Both delivered a classic wrestling match, considering how hurt both guys were before and after the match. WrestleMania XIX was closed by 2 of the greatest pure athletes in WWE history.

Overall, WMXIX had a more memorable and special card than XXVI. It had the build-up, the "big time feel", every wrestler was in their prime, and better matches and feuds. On top of that, you also had the announcement of Goldberg making his WWE debut, which was big surprise.

WrestleMania XIX wins. Nobody really talked about XXVI...

 

[Larry]

WrestleMania 19 is my favorite WrestleMania of all time, and in my eyes is the best WrestleMania of all time. I don't need to run down the card, but it was the best card of any WrestleMania to date, and every match was good, great, or legendary. It was also at one of my favorite parks: Safeco Field, and that gave the whole thing an atmosphere that no WrestleMania before ever had, not even 9 at Caesars Palace. You can also thank the success of that outdoor event for the WWE choosing to have WM 24, 26, 27, and now 28 outdoors too.

This one was so big I got permission from my parents to throw a GIANT WrestleMania party at our house. This wasn't just a PPV it was a historical event. I had a so many people at my party we could barely fit everyone in the family room around the television. I hooked up this giant home entertainment system we had to maximize the sound, we had a big screen tv, and the party started early in the afternoon with music, barbecuing, some of US wrestling, the works. Everyone had their wrestling shirts and got dressed up for it. One of my friends was dressed as Hogan, another one was McMahon, another one was HBK, another one was SCSA, one was The Rock, it was just a great time. It was a great day and an great WresleMania that I'll never forget.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Good matchup ...

Wrestlemania XIX is my favoriate Wrestlemania of all time. It was a card that got everything right. Even the fillers looked like it belonged to a WM. But the card ... was a supercard in the truest form.
Hogan/McMahon - I was not a fan of this match but it served its purpose. Though It should just have been a 10 min match.

Jericho/HBK - Amazing bout, so many moves and counters and a lot of taunting. Its a great combination of pure work ethic and telling a story.

Booker T/Triple H - A lot of people wrote Booker T off. Well ok he lost but this was a nice competitive bout. Especially when you consider Triple H's challenger a few months before

Rock/Austin - probably the most agressive Rock has been. It was great to see The Rock finally win. And I love his heel entrance theme.

Lesnar/Angle - Even with the botched Shooting Star this match was still great! So many mat wrestling, sumbission and reversals, it just flowed smoothly. Shows a lot how good Angle is considering he headlined WM injured.

Wrestlemania 26 also deserves a lot of credit. In fact it was my favoraite WM after XIX and currently ranks 5th in my fav WM's. While it was by no means a supercard, WM26 did have a string of good matches to close off a larger than life Taker vs. Shawn Michaels. I found this better than WM25 only because I actually felt Undertaker could loose this match since, at the time, I did not believe that HBK would retire. I was wrong ... and HBK got the send off he deserves.

 

[djthriller1207]

WM XIX was great for a lot of reasons. Rock and Austin had a great match and I think it is better than their WM X-7 match, which is also great. HBK/Jericho was amazing and will always be remembered as an instant classic. Lesnar/Angle was also a good match even though Lesnar's botched Shooting Star Press hurt the ending of the match a little bit. Even Hogan/McMahon was pretty good, which surprised me. As for the rest of the card, it was good. The Divas match was good, the 3-way Tag match was decent, Hardy/Mysterio was a good opener, & HHH/Booker was a good match. That is rare nowadays for a Wrestlemania.

WM XXVI was a good to great show that had some good matches on the card.
ShoMiz/Truth & Morrison was a decent opener that could have been better. The MITB Ladder match was good, Orton/Rhodes/Dibiase was decent, The Divas match was horrible, Rey/Punk was decent but it could have gone longer. The last 3 matches were good to great. Edge/Jericho was good, Cena/Batista was a good match surpisingly good.
Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker was an amazing match that is arguably one of the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history as well as one of the greatest matches of all time.

WM XIX was great and WM XXVI was pretty good but I would have to say that WM XIX was better.