WrestleMania 21

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This article is about the professional wrestling pay-per-view event. For the Xbox video game named after this event, see WWE WrestleMania 21.
WrestleMania 21
File:Wrestlemania300x250.jpg
PromotionWorld Wrestling Entertainment
DateApril 3 2005
CityLos Angeles, California
VenueStaples Center
Attendance20,193
Buy rate1,000,000 buys
Pay-per-view chronology
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Backlash 2005

WrestleMania 21 was the twenty-first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event from World Wrestling Entertainment. This event took place on April 3 2005 in Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center. This was the first WrestleMania at the Staples Center, but the fifth in the Los Angeles/Anaheim metropolitan area (following 2, VII, XII and 2000).

The theme song to this WrestleMania was "Big Time" by The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. The finishing recap video was played to "Behind Those Eyes" by Three Doors Down.

WWE claimed that tickets were sold out in less than one minute for this event, which would be a record for the fastest selling WrestleMania ever. The subtitle for this WrestleMania was "WrestleMania Goes Hollywood." The commentators for RAW were Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. The commentators for SmackDown! were Michael Cole and Tazz.

Match results

DVD Release: 30-Man Interpromotional Battle Royal

From the brand RAW brand: Simon Dean, William Regal, Tajiri, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Gene Snitsky, The Hurricane, Rosey, Chris Masters, Viscera, Rhyno, Val Venis, Tyson Tomko and Maven

From the SmackDown! brand: Booker T, Paul London, Heidenreich, Spike Dudley, Nunzio, Funaki, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Orlando Jordan, Mark Jindrak, Luther Reigns, Scotty 2 Hotty, Hardcore Holly, Charlie Haas and Akio

Held prior to the live pay-per-view broadcast, this Battle Royal was filmed exclusively for the show's DVD release, and for the paying crowd. Booker T won the 30-man interpromotional battle royal. Also a note from this match is Booker T became the first person to "break" the Master Lock. Unfortunately, seeing how this wasn't shown on screen, and the actual WrestleMania 21 DVD had to be purchased to view this specific match, the Master Lock has yet to be broken.

WWE Tag Team Champion Eddie Guerrero vs. WWE Tag Team Champion Rey Mysterio

Both men were one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions at the time of this match. This was the first time in the history of WrestleMania that members of the tag team championship fought each other. Mysterio defeated Guerrero with a Huricannrana pin.

"Money in the Bank" Six-Man Ladder match: Chris Jericho vs. Edge vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian (w/Tyson Tomko) vs. Kane

The victor of the match earned himself a contract to wrestle for the World Heavyweight Championship anytime within the next twelve months, up to and including WrestleMania 22 (however, due to the switching of brand champions at the 2005 Draft Lottery the contract was changed to a WWE Championship match). Edge gained the victory by knocking Benoit off the ladder with a steel chair shot to the left arm and shoulder, and climbing up to grab the briefcase.

File:CenaWWETitle.jpg
John Cena winning the WWE Championship
  • Eugene entered the ring to talk about his memories of WrestleMania. Muhammad Hassan entered afterward and complained about how he was excluded from WrestleMania 21. He attacked Eugene and gave him the camel clutch to create his own "WrestleMania moment". Hulk Hogan entered and interrupted their attack, clearing the ring. He then posed for the crowd.

Interpromotional match: The Undertaker (SmackDown!) vs. Randy Orton (RAW)

The Undertaker defeated Orton with a Tombstone Piledriver, even after the interference of "Cowboy" Bob Orton, earning him his thirteenth consecutive WrestleMania victory and increasing his undefeated streak to 13-0.

For the WWE Women's Championship: Trish Stratus (c) vs. Christy Hemme (w/Lita)

Trish Stratus retained her championship against Christy Hemme after a Chick Kick.

Interpromotional match: Shawn Michaels (RAW) vs. Kurt Angle (SmackDown!)

Kurt Angle defeated Shawn Michaels by submission with the Ankle Lock.

Piper's Pit, with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper: Stone Cold Steve Austin

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper interviewed Stone Cold Steve Austin in his infamous Piper's Pit segment. They slapped each other at the beginning of the interview, and Piper had fun with the audience's "What?!" chants. Later, Carlito Caribbean Cool interrupted and insulted them, resulting in Piper eating Carlito's apple and spitting it in his face, and Austin attacking Carlito with a Stone Cold Stunner, and throwing him out of the ring. Austin and Piper celebrated with Austin's trademark beer party, then Austin gave Piper the Stone Cold Stunner.

Sumo Match: The Big Show vs. Akebono

Akebono defeated The Big Show by ringout.

File:Batista World Heavyweight Champion.jpg
Batista winning the World Heavyweight Championship

For the WWE Championship: John "Bradshaw" Layfield (c) vs. John Cena

Cena defeated JBL with an F-U to become the new WWE Champion.

WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2005

WWE honored the 2005 inductees of the WWE Hall of Fame: Jimmy Hart, Paul Orndorff, The Iron Sheik, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Nikolai Volkoff, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, and Hulk Hogan.

For the World Heavyweight Championship: Triple H (w/Ric Flair) (c) vs. Batista

Triple H came out to a live performance of his theme tune by Motörhead. 2005 Royal Rumble winner Batista defeated Triple H with a Batista Bomb to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. This was Triple H's second straight Wrestlemania main event. He has lost both matches.

Promotion

In line with the event's Los Angeles location, WrestleMania 21 was promoted on television with a series of trailers parodying famous modern movies, but with wrestlers playing the starring roles. Movies parodied included:

Trivia

  • This is the first Piper's Pit segment at a WrestleMania since WrestleMania V.
  • WrestleMania 21 marked the first time the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship both changed hands on the same night in standard singles matches and at a WrestleMania.
  • During the Money in the Bank match, Tyson Tomko carried Christian up the ladder on his shoulders in the electric chair position. Ultimately, Kane attacked Tomko, leaving Christian on the ladder. At WrestleMania X-Seven during the TLC II Match, Rhyno helped Christian up the ladder in a similar manner.
  • John Cena won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 21 after winning the WWE United States Championship in the opening match at WrestleMania XX a year earlier. Conversely, Eddie Guerrero participated in the opening match at WrestleMania 21 after defending the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XX. Also, Chris Benoit participated in the second match of WrestleMania 21 after winning the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX.
  • This was the first time that WWE Tag Team Champions would face each other in a single's match at a Wrestlemania event.
  • Roddy Piper claims that he had never met Steve Austin prior to this event. While, in terms of reality, this is likely untrue, even in terms of kayfabe this is also unlikely as Piper was serving as acting president of the WWF in 1996 when Austin wrestled at WrestleMania XII.
  • This was the third consecutive year that the Intercontinental Championship was not defended. In fact, the Intercontinental Championship, the United States Championship, the Cruiserweight Championship, nor either the World or WWE Tag Team Championships were defended.
  • This was the first WrestleMania to feature a match involving ladders since WrestleMania X-Seven, when a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match was held.
  • WrestleMania 21 was the first WrestleMania event not to feature a tag-team match and the first since WrestleMania III to not feature a tag team title match.
  • This event marked the second time in a row that Triple H lost the World Heavyweight Championship at a WrestleMania event.
  • This event marked the fifth time that Triple H was played to the ring by a live band. He was played to the ring live at WrestleMania XIV and SummerSlam 1998 by Chris Warren and The DX Band. Motörhead performed at WrestleMania X-Seven, and Drowning Pool the following year at WrestleMania X8. Triple H lost both matches in which Motörhead played his music.
  • Edge would go on to use his Money-in-the-Bank title shot at New Year's Revolution 2006, where he defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship.
  • This was the first time that two former Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE's Kentucky-based developmental territory) champions were in the main event and both won their brands heavyweight championship belts. The Prototype (John Cena) defeated Leviathan (Batista) on February 20, 2002 for the OVW title. Cena would hold the WWE Championship for 280 days before losing it to Edge. Batista would hold the World Heavyweight Championship for 282 days before being forced to forfeit the title due to an injury.
  • The official logo for WrestleMania 21 appears to be the last logo using the font Bodega Sans (used from X-Seven to 21) as the new logo for WrestleMania 22 features the classic font used in past WrestleManias (1 - XV).
  • This is the third WrestleMania to use Arabic numerals instead of Roman numerals (the previous two being WrestleMania 2 and WrestleMania 13).
  • WWE claimed that tickets for WrestleMania 21 sold out in less than one minute. However, this claim remains to be proven factual since fans that were waiting in line outside the Staples Center on September 25, 2004 say that tickets for WrestleMania 21 had actually sold out in a little less than one hour. Similarly WWE also claimed that tickets for WrestleMania 22 sold out in less than two minutes. WWE is known to make claims like these and others such as high PPV buy rates, sellouts, and attendance records set by WrestleMania since the event's inception in 1985(WrestleMania III's disputed world indoor attendance record and WrestleMania VII's reason for venue change to name a few}.
  • The front of Akebono's sumo wrestling thong tore during his match with the Big Show.
  • Big Show improves his "perfect" WrestleMania streak to 0-6. He has never won a match at WrestleMania.
  • The Undertaker improves his perfect win-streak to 13-0. Most fans look past that another active roster member has an accumulated win streak at WrestleMania. Edge also improved his WrestleMania record to 4-0
  • Hulk Hogan's appearance marked his first since WrestleMania XIX in 2003, and his 12th overall appearance at the annual event.
  • The original plan for the main event was for Randy Orton to regain the World Heavyweight Title, but due to his falling popularity as a face (good guy), and to Batista's unexplicable rising popularity, WWE decided to push Batista to the top.
  • This would be Eddie Guerrero's final Wrestlemania appearance before he untimely passed away on November 13, 2005.
  • This would be the final WrestleMania appearance for long-time WWE referee Earl Hebner, who was fired on July 18, 2005. Hebner had previously refereed the main events at WrestleMania IV, WrestleMania VI, WrestleMania VII, WrestleMania VIII, WrestleMania IX, WrestleMania XII, WrestleMania 13, WrestleMania 2000, WrestleMania X-Seven, WrestleMania X8, and WrestleMania XX. He also appeared in countless other WrestleMania matches.
  • Christy Hemme is the only superstar to make her televised WrestleMania in-ring debut.
  • During the 30-man battle royal exclusive for DVD, the following made their non-televised WrestleMania debut: Simon Dean, Gene Snitsky, Sylvan Grenier, Rosey, Chris Masters, Paul London, Heidenreich, Orlando Jordan, Luther Reigns and Akio (who was going to participate in the Cruiserweight Open at WrestleMania XX, but was incapacitated before doing so).
  • The following made their WrestleMania debuts in non-wrestling segents: Eugene, Tyson Tomko, Carlito, Muhammad Hassan and Daivari.
  • Paul London was rumored to originally win the Cruiserweight Title from Chavo Guerrero at WrestleMania 21, but Chavo had injured his eye socket, so London was re-booked to win the title on the episode of SmackDown! prior to WrestleMania in an over-the-top battle royal, where Chavo was eliminated in the first few seconds of the match due to the injury.
  • Marked the first time Kurt Angle won a WrestleMania match via submission
  • This WrestleMania's buyrate reached 1,000,000 buys and is considered by wrestling fans to have planted the seed for what could grow to be a new Attitude Era for WWE.
  • The lead-up to Hulk Hogan's induction to the WWE Hall of Fame and segment with Eugene, Hassan and Daivari was featured in an episode of Hogan Knows Best titled WrestleMania.
  • Celebrity guests for WrestleMania 21 included former WCW Champion David Arquette, Motörhead, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, The Black Eyed Peas, Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins, Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube, Carmen Electra, Sylvester Stallone, Marg Helgenberger from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and former MADtv cast member Will Sasso.
  • Ironically, the last two people in the 2005 Royal Rumble would go on to win their brand's top championship. Batista beat Triple H to win RAW's World Heavyweight Championship. John Cena defeated JBL to win SmackDown's WWE Championship.
  • WrestleMania 21 marked the first WrestleMania to not feature The Rock since WrestleMania XII in 1996. He made his debut during WrestleMania 13 and appeared every year consecutively until WrestleMania XX, currently his last WrestleMania appearance.
  • The 100 dollar bills that were dropped during JBL's enterance had a picture of Bradshaw on both sides with the title "In John Bradshaw Layfield We Trust" & "For promotional use only, not real tender.
  • The Michaels vs. Angle and Mysterio vs. Guerrero matches are widely regarded as modern-day classics.

External links

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