WrestleMania 21 was the twenty-first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event was presented by Snickers and took place on 3 April 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
The event comprised 9 matches and the show kicked off with a 30 man Interpromotional Battle Royal featuring superstars from both RAW and SmackDown. Booker T won the first ever match held in this style and successfully overcame 14 RAW superstars and 15 SmackDown superstars that participated in the match.
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John Cena climbed to the top of the WWE ladder just a year after his WrestleMania debut at WM 20. This time, he defended his WWE title against the legendary JBL. With all this said, let us have a look at some of the best moments from WrestleMania 21 –
Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Big lover of the Money in the Bank ladder match? You are at the right place. The first ever Money in the Bank ladder match took place at WrestleMania 21 with Chris Jericho, Christian, Edge, Kane, Shelton Benjamin and Chris Benoit taking part in the match.
This match had many unbelievable physical manoeuvres and at one point, it looked like Benoit could walk out the winner. Kane interrupted Benoit and tried to take the briefcase but Benoit delivered several head butts and sent Kane down. Edge came and hit Benoit with a steel chair and grabbed the ladder for the win.
The Undertaker vs Randy Orton
In the weeks heading into this match, The Undertaker played several mind games on Randy Orton and Orton came into this match with his father’s backing. In the match, Bob Orton, Randy’s father came and hit Taker with the arm cast. Randy capitalized on this and attacked Taker.
Undertaker then tried to deliver a Chokeslam on Randy but the Apex Predator countered it with an RKO out of nowhere. Randy tried to cover the phenom but only got a two-count. Randy tried to follow it up with a Tombstone and Taker countered and hit his own version of the Piledriver. The phenom got a three-count and won the match and made it 13-0 at WrestleMania.
Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels
The longest match of the night was between Angle and Michaels and it lasted for more than 27 minutes. The momentum kept changing to and fro and it was Angle who won at the end.
During the match, Michaels delivered a low-blow to Angle and assaulted him outside the ring and on the announcers’ table. But, the resilience of Angle won that night as he applied an Angle Lock on Michaels and forced him to tap out. You don’t see Michaels tapping often, do you?
John Cena vs JBL
John Cena made his WrestleMania debut just a year back and here he is at WrestleMania 21, fighting for the WWE Championship. JBL, the defending champion, dominated Cena throughout the match and it was only during the last few good minutes that Cena really changed the game.
This match lasted for just 11 minutes and both superstars produced an interesting bout. JBL attempted a Clothesline from Hell to finish the game and grab a victory but Cena countered the move by ducking underneath and delivered an FU for the win. Cena became the new WWE Champion. The rest you know, as they say, is history!
Batista vs Triple H
The Batista-Triple H relationship inside the WWE ring is something to be talked about as these two wrestlers were extremely impressive both as a team and as individuals. As part of ‘Evolution’, they systematically debilitated their opponents and as rivals, they produced memorable storylines in the WWE.
It was the Animal who had the last laugh in that match as he beat the champion, Triple H after delivering a Batista Bomb for the win. With this, Batista became the brand new World Heavyweight Champion. I would go ahead and say that this period (Batista’s era as Champion) was the best for SmackDown as the show lured large crowds.
