by WWE WrestleMania went Hollywood in 2005 with their 21rst edition of the Show of Shows. The card was highlighted by a double main event that saw a pair of new champions crowned that many believed would lead the WWE for the next decade. One did, and one couldn’t shake the injury bug.
The first of which was John Cena who took on and defeated JBL in his part of the main event. Cena would hoist WWE World Championship Gold as it took him just 11:25 to put away the “Wrestling God”. This was seen as a major upset at the time because JBL had been unstoppable since defeating Eddie Guerrero the past July to win the belt. Cena was the pesky underdog that had a large fan swell behind him. Cena, much like Hulk Hogan did before him, time and time again, used the crowd and ran through the champ.
JBL would eventually get several rematches against Cena, but could never get the win. After the brand draft a few months later, JBL would get a few cracks at the World Champion Batista who came over from RAW to Smackdown, but it was not to be for the Texan.
As for Cena, WrestleMania 21 was just the first of 16 World Championship reigns with either the WWE Heavyweight Championship, or the World Championship. Cena would go on to become one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, and even larger flag bearer for the company then the pre-mentioned Hulk Hogan before him. As stated earlier, between 2005 – 2017, Cena would win 16 World Championships and become the face of WWE for over a decade.
Years after The Rock, Austin and Foley were done, and while Shawn Michaels would work a part time schedule along guys like Chris Jericho, it was Cena, Randy Orton and HHH carrying the ball for the WWE night in and night out.
Speaking of HHH, he took part in the final main event of the night as he defended his World Championship against former Evolution running mate Batista. Like Cena, no one had expected much out of him, but good looks, big muscles and a giant fan swell, led him to a run at the gold as well. He would eventually turn on Evolution running mate HHH after winning the 2005 Royal Rumble to challenge him for the championship. It was a turn many saw coming eventually, but still received a massive crowd pop when it occurred.
At New Year’s Revolution on January 9, Triple H won an Elimination Chamber match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship by last eliminating Randy Orton following outside interference from Evolution members Batista and Ric Flair. Three weeks later at the Royal Rumble, Triple H successfully defended the title against Orton while Batista won the 2005 Royal Rumble match, earning the right to compete in the main event of WrestleMania 21 against the champion of his choice.
In an attempt to persuade Batista to challenge WWE Champion John “Bradshaw” Layfield (JBL) rather than him at WrestleMania, Triple H concocted a scheme to have Batista run over by a limousine resembling the one used by JBL
Initially, Batista did not want help from Evolution and wanted to confront JBL by himself. Triple H insisted that Evolution accompany Batista anyway, saving him from the oncoming limousine. Batista became aware of the plot while eavesdropping on his fellow Evolution members and signed a contract guaranteeing him a match with Triple H at WrestleMania, thus leaving Evolution and officially turning him face.
Batista pretended to sign with the SmackDown! brand, giving Triple H and Flair the “thumbs up”, but turned it into a “thumbs down” (alluding to the way Randy Orton was kicked out of Evolution after becoming World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam 2004) before attacking the pair. This led to Batista’s departure from the stable.
At WrestleMania 21, Batista took every big blow that HHH could deliver, and just kept coming. HHH was shocked afterwards and simply said that Batista had, “one great night” as he dropped his belt to the Animal in 21:33 as their match was given nearly twice the amount of time allotted to Cena and JBL. A sore subject for many afterwards. Batista looked invincible in the win and was emotional as the showed went off air with him celebrating.
As HHH and Batista officially put an end to Evolution, former member Randy Orton challenged history of a different kind as he attempted to end the streak of The Undertaker. Orton even employed the help of his father Cowboy Orton Jr who was inducted into the Hall of Fame the night before. It was not to be for Orton however as The Undertaker put him away and extended the streak after only 14 minutes.
This was also interesting that a match of that caliber was only given 14 minutes, and slotted at the mediocre third spot on the main PPV card. It seemed like an odd choice for this match to go on so early, but in the WWE’s defense with the exception of The Big Show vs Akebono match, the card was absolutely loaded.
Not only was the card stacked, but they had a ton of extra segments that soaked up valuable time. One of which was Eugene being attacked by Muhammad Hassan and Daivari until American Hero Hulk Hogan arrived to save Eugene. He ran off the villains and then posed with Eugene as the fans went ballistic for Hogan who also had been inducted into the Hall of Fame the night before.
The other was a clunky and somewhat awkward appearance of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Carlito appearing on Pipers Pit. Austin and Piper would eventually team up to beat up Carlito, but overall, it wasn’t entertaining and proved that Pipers microphone skill days were lightyears behind him. Carlito would go on to do nothing with the company of note.
The other thing that soaked up time was the attention given to the several parody’s the WWE had filmed coming into the show. Because of the show’s location and tagline, WrestleMania 21 was promoted on television with a series of parody movie trailers with WWE talent playing the starring roles from famous movies.
The parody movie trailers included:
Forrest Gump featuring Eugene playing the role of Tom Hanks, with William Regal making a cameo appearance.
Braveheart featuring Triple H playing the role of Mel Gibson, with Ric Flair making a cameo appearance.
Basic Instinct featuring Stacy Keibler playing the role of Sharon Stone, along with Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Christian playing the roles of the interrogators, with The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young making a cameo appearance.
Pulp Fiction featuring Eddie Guerrero and Booker T playing the roles of John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson.
A Few Good Men featuring John Cena and John “Bradshaw” Layfield playing the roles of Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, with Jonathan Coachman making a cameo appearance.
Dirty Harry featuring The Undertaker playing the role of Clint Eastwood.
When Harry Met Sally… featuring Kurt Angle and Christy Hemme playing the roles of Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, with Linda McMahon making a cameo appearance.
Taxi Driver featuring Heidenreich, Batista, Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio Jr., Shelton Benjamin, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Big Show, Candice Michelle, Carlito, Tajiri, Orlando Jordan, Joy Giovanni, Gene Snitsky, Paul London, Tazz, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Hardcore Holly, Molly Holly, and Michael Cole, performing their unique versions of Robert De Niro’s “You talkin’ to me?” line.
Gladiator with Stone Cold Steve Austin playing the role of Russell Crowe, airing as part of the opening video for the event.
All of this was just part of the heavy Hollywood overtones throughout the night. They didn’t shy away from showing every single celebrity they could in the crowd as well. Notables included David Arquette, Motörhead, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, The Black Eyed Peas, Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins, Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube, Carmen Electra, Sylvester Stallone, Marg Helgenberger, Matt Groening, Rick Rubin, Will Sasso, and Macaulay Culkin.
The stars would see one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history as Kurt Angle clashed against Shawn Michaels in a five-star classic. Shawn Michaels reminded everyone why he was Mr. WrestleMania while Kurt Angle proved he was the best pound for pound performer in the world as he made Shawn Michaels tap out to his ankle lock. It was 28 minutes of pure wrestling brillance!
With the exception of the celebrity pandering and The Big Show in a Sumo Thong, the card continued to deliver throughout the night. It featured two big firsts. The first of which was the first time ever the classic rivalry of Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio was featured in a match in WWE as the two men tore down the house to open the show. Much like he did in their WCW Halloween Havoc 97 classic, Mysterio came away with the victory.
Mysterio and Guerrero were just getting started as their friendship and tag team would further splinter that summer after losing the Tag Championships. They split and began one of the most heated and memorable feuds of all time. Eddie would even go as far to claim that Rey’s young son Dominik was his own.
As great as the feud was, it is sad to think back and realize that was the last great one Eddie was ever a part of before passing away in November of that year. He took a ridiculous storyline about custody and made it his own, in that, making it must watch! Between his ability to story tell in and out of the ring, Eddie was truly one of the greats!
The night was also the first time we ever saw, “The Money In The Bank Ladder Match”. We learned quickly that this was going to be much more than a one night gimmick and turned out to be commonplace in modern wrestling culture. So much so, that it would become a Pay Per View five years later. The inaugural match consisted of Chris Jericho, Christian, Chris Benoit, Edge, Kane, and Shelton Benjamin. The idea for the Money in the Bank match was introduced by Jericho who proposed the winner would receive a contract for a World title match at the place and time of his choosing.
This was the first big singles exposure for Shelton Benjamin, and he was bound and determined to make the most of it. He executed a T-Bone Suplex on Edge off a ladder and later using an inclined ladder as a ramp to run up and perform a Clothesline on Jericho.
The match screamed violence and that was right up the lane of Chris Benoit. He executed a Diving headbutt off a ladder onto Kane. Benoit however, took one of the most brutal chair shots you have ever seen from Edge as he went crashing down to the mat moments after, allowing Edge to scale the ladder and win the briefcase.
This was much more than just one win for Edge as this literally skyrocketed his career as a mega singles star. He would go on to win countless World Championships after cashing in his briefcase 9 months later at the first Pay Per View of 2006, New Years Revolution over John Cena. Edge, also began a real-life heated affair with Lita that made him one of the most hated men in the company, both in reality, and storyline. This gave him the “Rated R” gimmick, in which he kept for the remainder of his career.
Speaking of Lita, she was scripted to eventually take on and defeat Trish Stratus for the Women’s World Championship that night. This would have been the capper on a long bitter feud between the two, which in many ways, revitalized women’s wrestling in WWE. Sadly, for Lita, she tore her ACL in early 2005, and had to bow out.
Lita tore her left ACL after executing a Thesz press off the ring apron against Trish Stratus at New Years Revolution 2005. This left her unable to properly continue the match and led to a rushed finish, in which Stratus reclaimed the title. The two would feud again towards the end of both of their respective careers, but it was never the same.
Because Lita was out, she decided to mentor original Diva Search Winner and Playboy Playmate Christy Hemme. While fans enjoyed “gawking” at Hemme, her in ring career never took off and Stratus put her away with ease, in 4 minutes flat.
All in all, it was a great WrestleMania with plenty of highlights that stood the test of time. Also, it would be criminal not to mention that the bulk of the WWE Hall Of Fame Class was responsible for the success of the original WrestleMania and the Rock “n” Wrestling craze. Such names included Hulk Hogan, The Iron Sheik, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Cowboy Bob Orton, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff, Jimmy Mouth of the South Hart and Nikolai Volkoff.
