5 best opening matches in WrestleMania history

#4 Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Wrestlemania 23)

The pinnacle of Mr. Kennedy's WWE Career.

There have been 20 Money in the Bank Ladder Matches in WWE ever since its inception in 2005, but none of these 20 matches was more star-studded than the one that took place at WrestleMania 23. In front of a record crowd in Detroit, 8 men- Booker T, CM Punk, Edge, Finley, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy, Matt Hardy and Randy Orton- were expected to put all they have on the line in order to earn a World Title opportunity. Given the chance to open the biggest show of the year, they treated the fans with a brutal, yet exceptional, bout that set the tone for the rest of the pay per view.

Ladders were introduced into the mix from the word go, with each participant trying to get hold of the briefcase that ended with Finlay hitting a dive on the group of Superstars. A shot to the head with a small ladder busted CM Punk open. Kennedy missed a Kenton Bomb and landed on the ladder. With Matt and Jeff fighting on the top of a ladder, Finlay pushed the ladder to knock them down. Edge hit everyone, but CM Punk, with a spear, who took control with a ladder strikes on everyone but a spear from Edge knocked down Punk and two others. In the moment of the match, Jeff hit a seated senton from the top of the ladder on Edge who was placed on another ladder outside the ring. This ended their stint in the match.

Orton's RKO marathon was stopped by Punk. Randy recovered to hit an RKO from the top of the ladder but was hit by a Book End by Booker T. With Sharmell in the Twist of Fate position, Booker gave up the briefcase but ended up eating a Twist of Fate himself. A bloodied Finlay hit a Celtic Cross on Hardy who was on a ladder. In a fun moment, Hornswoggle entered the ring and started climbing the ladder but Kennedy hit him with the Green Bay Plunge from the top of the ladder. In the closing moments, Punk knocked Kennedy from the top of the ladder but before he could unhook the briefcase, Kennedy knocked him out with a Ladder. With only him left standing, Kennedy unhooked the briefcase to win the match and register the biggest win of his WWE career.

Unfortunately for Kennedy, an injury saw him drop the MITB briefcase to Edge a little over a month later. He lost his push and was fired the following year after reportedly being too aggressive in the ring.