WrestleMania 21 Review

Sunday, April 3rd, 2005
Staples Center
Los Angeles, California

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Lillian Garcia is here to sing "America The Beautiful". They splice in some footage from Tribute to the Troops. The red curtains lift up on the big screen to unveil clips from the movie spoofs they did. Now we get a Gladiator spoof featuring Steve Austin. That was kind of a whole lot of nothing there, but we are now with the pyro.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Eddie comes out in a sweet low rider. You know that you have a strong card when this is your opening match. Eddie hits an awesome arm drag and these two are already off to a great start. There's chemistry and then there's Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero chemistry. Rey hits a nice corkscrew plancha and is building momentum until Eddie hits him with an elbow. Eddie goes for the Three Amigos, but Rey counters into a pinfall for a 2 count. Eddie goes for Three Amigos again and Rey hurricanranas out of the third one. Eddie avoids a 619 and then hits a titl a whirl backbreaker. Eddie goes up top, but Rey moves out of the way at the very last second. Nicely done there by Rey. Eddie counters a West Coast Pop into a powerbomb, but only gets a 2 count. The crowd is chanting for Eddie now. Rey hits an elbow and then a hurricanrana into a pinfall and gets the surprise 3 count for the victory. For my money, that is one of their most underrated matches. They told a really good story and had one of the best WrestleMania opening matches ever. They shake hands after the match, but Eddie is definitely peeved. Great start to the show.

Match Rating: **** (out of 5)

JBL and the Cabinet are walking backstage and run into Ric Flair and Triple H. Triple H mocks JBL for calling himself a wrestling god. They share words.

Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider are in the front row.

Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Edge vs. Kane

This is the one that started it all. Huge bonus points for Howard Finkel doing ring announcing. There has never been anyone better. Everyone comes down to Kane before he can make it to the ring, but Kane prevails and goes for a ladder. Everyone then attacks him and now we are underway. Jericho hits a springboard dropkick onto Edge right into Benoit, knocking them both off the apron. Christian takes a top rope dive followed by a beautiful Shelton leaping somersault over the top rope. Not to be outdone, Kane hits a flying clothesline. Benoit puts Kane and then Edge into the Crippler Crossface, but then eats a ladder to the face from Kane. Edge hits a spear on Kane. Edge and Christian hit a con-ladder-o onto Kane. Edge goes for the spear on Shelton, but Shelton drops him right onto the ladder. Shelton gets the first legit chance of winning, but Jericho interrupts. Christian joins them followed by Benoit and then Edge. All five men are at the tops of ladders brawling. Edge and Shelton are the last two standing until Shelton hits a T-bone suplex off the ladder. Jericho is climbing up the ladder again after fighting off Christian, but then here comes Shelton climbing up the ladder and clotheslining Jericho off the top in one of my favorite ladder match moments ever. Kane tries to chokeslam Shelton over the the top rope and his foot gets caught in the top rope in a scary moment. Tomko comes in and takes out Kane and carries Christian up the ladder until Kane retaliates. Kane then pushes Christian off the ladder over the top rope onto Tomko. Benoit, selling the arm brilliantly, hits a headbutt off the top of the ladder onto Kane and as a result busts open his stitches. Benoit is going for the briefcase and out of nowhere Edge comes and nails Benoits injured arm with a chair and he is up and grabs the briefcase to begin what would be a great run. This is still the best Money In The Bank match of all time in my opinion. This was just bell to bell action and it made Edge a true star. Shelton also stole the show here and proved that he truly was one of the best athletes in WWE history.

Match Rating: ****3/4

Out comes Eugene, who was injured at New Year's Revolution. Eugene is excited to be at WrestleMania and talks about WrestleMania 3. Out comes Muhammad Hassan and Daivari. Hassan is still upset that he's not wrestling tonight. He then attacks Eugene. Everyone in the building knows what is going to happen next and of course it's Hulk Hogan. Hassan and Daivari double team him, but that lasts all of 5 seconds before Hogan destroys them. I've never been a Hulk Hogan fan, so this did nothing for me but the live crowd loved it.

Undertaker vs. Randy Orton

Taker gets a druid entrance, so this should take about 15 minutes. I'm not a big fan of either performer, but this was a well built feud and they made it feel special instead of just another match on the card. They start off a million times quicker than you've seen either of these two start probably since this match. Taker dumps Orton to the outside and then hits a leg drop on the apron. Taker then hits one of the more awkward Old School's I can remember. It looked like Orton was thinking maybe he was countering it. Orton makes a short lived comeback until he is hit with a DDT. Taker hits Snake Eyes, but Orton hits Taker with a big elbow. Both men trade blows and then they hit an awkward almost double clothesline, but Taker no sells it and Orton was knocked down despite looking like he hit Taker harder. Taker puts Orton in the Dragon Sleeper, which I have to say I don't remember him using. Orton counters it into a DDT and gets a 2 count. Orton goes for the Last Ride, but Orton counters it and goes for an RKO, but he gets out of that and now Earl Hebner is knocked out. They do another awkward spot where they both fall down during a Last Ride attempt and in comes Cowboy Bob Orton interfering. Orton goes for a pin, but only gets a 2 count. Taker sits up and gets sent off the ropes, but gives Bob a big boot. Taker goes for the chokeslam on Randy, but he gets hit with an RKO instead. Orton goes for the pin and Taker kicks out at the last possible second. The crowd is really into this. Orton picks Taker up for the Tombstone, but Taker reverses it and hits it for the victory. This was a tough one to rate. This was way more entertaining than I would hope for, but there were also a lot of awkward spots. Good undercard match and I do think they had the crowd believing that Orton might be the guy to end the streak.

Match Rating: ***1/2

WWE Women's Championship Match
Christy Hemme vs. Trish Stratus

There's a reason they don't ever mention Christy when it comes to pioneers of the women's revolution. They're trying their best to use their personalities to make this passable, but the crowd isn't buying it. Christy hits a Twist of Fate, but Trish kicks out. Trish rolls her up, but Christy reverses it and almost gets the victory. Trish hits a Chick Kick and that is all. Well, at least it was short and it honestly could have been a lot worse.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle

Michaels slaps Angle, so Angle goes nuts on him showing off his takedown skills. Michaels then takes to the mat to show Angle what he can do. Michaels clotheslines Angle over the top rope. Michaels is thinking of using a table, but Angle has other plans and hits an Angle Slam into the steel post. Angle is working on the back using suplexes, but Michaels is trying to fight back. He goes up top, but misses with the elbow drop. However, he is able to back body drop Angle over the top rope and then hits a flying cross body to Angle on the floor that looked like he lost his balance and fell more than he leaped. They are both trying to get back in the ring, but Angle grabs Michaels and attempts to suplex him to the floor. Michaels hangs on and when the ref is trying to break it up, he hits a low blow on Angle. He pushes Angle to the table and then hits a springboard reverse dive onto the table. That one looked like it hurt, as the table did not break and Michaels appeared to land about his whole body right on top of Angle. They're both back in the ring and trading blows. Michaels hits a flying forearm and then nips up. Michaels hits the flying elbow drop this time and is now setting up for Sweet Chin Music. Angle catches it and puts him right into the Ankle Lock. After a lengthy stay, Michaels is finally able to grab the bottom rope. Angle Slam is reversed into a pin, which is reversed into an Ankle Lock and then a pinfall for Michaels, but he gets a long 2. Angle bounces up and hits an Angle Slam for a 2 count. Angle puts his straps back up and then pulls him back down. He goes up top and attempts a moonsault and misses. Has Angle ever hit a moonsault? Michaels goes up top, but Angle runs up the turnbuckles and hits an Angle Slam, but only gets a 2. The crowd is 110% into this match and rightfully so. Angle is talking trash, so Michaels hits him with Sweet Chin Music and both men are down. Angle puts him back in the Ankle Lock. Michaels is desperately trying to get to the ropes. After what had to have been over a minute in the hold, Michaels finally taps to cap off an amazing match. Two guys who were in third gear from bell to bell for a hard hitting, evenly contested wrestling match. I haven't seen too many that I would put above that one.

Match Rating: *****

Out comes Rowdy Roddy Piper, who then introduces Steve Austin. So I guess this would be a good way to follow one of the greatest matches in company history. Piper welcomes him to Piper's Pit with a slap to the face. Austin naturally slaps him back. They go back and forth and then Carlito's music hits. Carlito asks both of them to walk on out of the ring. Piper steals Carlito's apple and scarfs it down and naturally spits it in Carlito's face. Carlito attacks Piper and Austin sits back and laughs. Austin then attacks and stomps a mud hole in Carlito. Piper hits a thumb to the eye and then eats a Stunner for good measure. Austin and Piper drink a few cold ones. Austin then hits a Stunner on Piper as he's chugging and Austin celebrates some more. Not the best segment, but the live crowd loved it and Austin seemed to be having fun.

Sumo Match
Akebono vs. Big Show

The poor ring crew had to pretty much disassemble the ring for this classic. Akebono is a huge man. After a lengthy pre-match routine, they finally go at it. Big Show lifts Akebono off his feet, but Akebono takes him and throws him out of the circle for the victory. I'm not sure what made them think that anyone really wanted to see this, but at least it was short. They shake hands after the match and that's it. I can't rate this since it was definitely not a wrestling match.

Match Rating: No Rating

WWE Championship Match
JBL vs. John Cena

JBL has a police escort on his way to the ring. JBL gets the early advantage and is off to a more intense start than normal. "Guys, this is vintage JBL." Great. Thank you, Michael Cole. I have to say that the crowd is not as into this match as much as they were the big matches earlier on. Just as a small minority was starting to chant "Boring", JBL puts Cena into a sleeper hold. Cena finally fights back, but JBL dumps him through the ropes to the floor. Cena catches JBL in the air and hits a body slam. Cena hits some right hands and a clothesline. There were some boos sprinkled in before his You Can't See Me. Cena ducks a Clothesline From Hell and hits the FU and wins his first ever WWE Championship. This was barely a SmackDown main event type match, which is a shame. I think it would turn out okay for Mr. Cena though, so I won't feel too bad for him.

Match Rating: *1/2

They show highlights from the Hall of Fame and then introduce all of the new inductees.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Triple H vs. Batista

Motorhead is here to perform Triple H's entrance music live. This is the match I've wanted to re-watch the most on this show, just for the simple fact that I liked it a little bit less than the majority. This would be a theme for the entire feud. Based on the pace for the start of this match, it's pretty obvious we're getting a 20+ minute Hunter special. Batista gains an early advantage until Batista is distracted by Ric Flair, allowing Triple H to throw him into the steps. Flair continues to play a factor in the match by choking Batista. The crowd is definitely more into this math than the previous match, which to me says more about JBL than it does Cena. I am doing everything I can to not doze off here. Triple H pulls out the steps and goes for a Pedigree but Batista hits a catapult into the steel post. Triple H is now busted open. Batista is clubbing away on Triple H's forehead and then hits a big boot to the face. Batista blocks an attempt from Flair and the referee stops Triple H before he can hit Batista with a chair. The ref is distracted by Flair and Triple H hits Batista with the belt and almost steals the victory. Batista hits a huge spinebuster and sets him up for the Batista Bomb, but Triple H hits the big low blow. Triple H goes for the Pedigree, but Batista blocks it and then slams Triple H behind his back. Batista hits the Batista Bomb and gets the victory. Disappointingly, I did not like that any more than I remembered. Even the ending was pretty anti-climatic.

Match Rating: **

This is a really hard show to rate. It features two of my favorite matches in WWE history and also another great match in Eddie/Rey and a fun match with Orton/Taker. However, I didn't really care for the other 4 matches. But still, one ****3/4 and on ***** match easily makes this one of the best shows WWE ever put on. I just wish the last hour or so would have been stronger. Plus, from a historical perspective, this is one of the most important nights in modern WWE history as we saw the crowning of the two guys that would carry the company on top of the first ever Money In The Bank match, which would obviously go on to spawn it's own show. Definite thumbs up for any wrestling fan.

Overall Rating: 92%