WWE WrestleMania 21 2005 Review

Rey Mysterio Vs Eddie Guerrero

A nice little exhibition-style match to start things off tonight between the WWE Tag Team champions. It's a shame they had no decent contenders to defend their titles against, but then again it's always a treat to watch these two go up against each other. As these are just the innocent beginnings to a much longer story it's not too dramatic yet, but the even structure and fast tempo make it exciting and engaging nevertheless. There are a couple of small botches from Rey, but all is forgiven after a beautiful corkscrew plancha, the kind of truly high risk move you rarely see from him in his older age. Guerrero strikes a good balance of frustration and sportsmanship, working as the heel not through cheating or aggression but by simply breaking the smooth flow of Rey's offence. Between Cole and Tazz consistently reminding us of Eddie's main-event history and the predominant stalemate until the sudden finish, Mysterio doesn't just walk out with the big win on the big stage but also further proof of his abilities at the top level.

Rating: 4 Stars

Money in the Bank – Ladder
Edge Vs Chris Benoit Vs Chris Jericho Vs Christian Vs Shelton Benjamin Vs Kane

Next up is the début of a concept that will dominate the WWE for many years to come, the Money in the Bank Ladder match. This was an elegant way to get the entire Raw upper mid-card on the show, one that not only has something important at stake but a classic stipulation to hold it all together. The assembly of names is really well balanced; Kane is a solid big guy, Benoit and Jericho are established champions, Edge and Christian are Ladder match veterans and Benjamin is a rising star of the mid-card. Between them they're able to work in numerous cool spots both in pairs and large groups with enough variety to never become dull within the fair time they have to work with. Benjamin is the stand out with both an awesome T-Bone suplex from the top of a ladder and arguably his greatest highlight – a running clothesline right up a make-shift ladder ramp. My only complaint is with the overall journey that takes place here, as the eventual winner Edge is actually absent for much of the action. He's the right choice for the prize without a doubt, but I wish we'd seen a little more from him to demonstrate why he's earned it. Another draw back is the lack of any real “jump out of your seat” moments, well, besides the finish which is both surprising and set up nicely by Benoit throughout the match. Just as he defends himself from Kane and ascends, his arm injury is exploited by an Edge chair shot that earns The Ultimate Opportunist his new nickname, some substantial heat and that all important briefcase. An enjoyable addition not only to this card, but to future WrestleManias as well.

Rating: 4 Stars

The Undertaker Vs Randy Orton

It's been a really odd year for Randy Orton. On paper it was fantastic – a five star classic against Mick Foley, winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Chris Benoit and now challenging The Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak. However in the midst of all that he was forced into a face turn and a laborious feud with Triple H that he just wasn't ready for. As a result he's now had to regress, dumping a year's worth of character development to return to his original Legend Killer heel persona. One of the best things about this situation is that finally someone has assessed Undertaker's streak from a Legend Killer's point of view and declared it a target. The quest for the accolade that Orton pursues here will go on to be a major selling point of every WrestleMania until Taker retires and has given the Phenom's character a tangible mystique. This match was a solid entry into the streak and the start of one of the biggest ongoing feuds of 2005. Orton brings fantastic urgency into the first few minutes and both men work at an unusual tempo for most of the bout. Things do drag in the middle, but by Orton standards it's pretty trimmed down and where it does slow it tends to only highlight Taker's powerful offence. Orton somewhat botches his big Chokeslam/RKO counter spot which dulls it's impact, but the Cowboy Bob run in and reversed Tombstone finish makes up for it, even if that one has become a routine Undertaker spot ever since.

Rating: 4 Stars

Kurt Angle Vs Shawn Michaels

When I started watching pro-wrestling in 2002, the two performers who really caught my attention were Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels. Their work that year was the main reason I ever invested time into this industry, and the more I put in the more they showed me why it was all worth it. Both were mirrors of each other in many ways; the talent at the heart of their respective brands. Raw at this time was defined by Michaels' feuds with Triple H, Jericho and Flair while SmackDown had Angle up against Lesnar, Benoit and Guerrero. To see my two favourite athletes collide for the very first time was a personal dream come true, a contest in my opinion worthy of nothing less than the grandest of all stages. This, to me, is what WrestleMania is all about.

This was the match that really showed me what wrestling could be. This match has a story and that story has a structure. It has three acts that are clearly defined, a rhythm that changes and cycles around building towards one of the best submission finishes in history. If there was any doubting the greatness of Angle and Michaels before this, their work here eliminated all of it.

With that in mind, I will admit it's not perfect. Now, the flaws aren't in the wrestling whatsoever, oh my no, but the staging and small-time atmosphere of WrestleMania 21 does this contest an injustice. I can only imagine how much greater this could have been had it occurred in a proper stadium, in front of 70 or 80 thousand rather than the comparatively minuscule 20 thousand who attended the Staples Centre on this night. While it doesn't damage the performance, the presentation takes away from the aura and the pageantry work of this standard should be viewed amongst.

In all the years I've continued to research and learn and enjoy the history of wrestling I've seen less matches than I can count on one hand that I prefer to this one. It's a perfect mix of action and drama told through a shifting blend of high quality mat wrestling, aerial spots and brawling across a full thirty minutes. This is the match that converted me from someone who liked wrestling to someone who loves it.

Rating: 5 Stars

Sumo
Akebono Vs The Big Show

You knew that run of great matches couldn't go on forever. To be fair, this is the only “fluff” match on the entire card tonight, which is unusual for a WrestleMania, and while it might be short and not very entertaining it is at least novel. The problem here is, as was pointed out repeatedly, Big Show has never fought a Sumo match before and his opponent is a champion and a veteran. Legit or not, I wouldn't expect a total rookie, no matter how large, to pose a threat in this situation. Show is quickly thrown out of the ring and it's all over as it should be. Moving on...

Rating: 1.5 Stars

WWE Championship
John Cena Vs JBL

To conclude a sterile feud I didn't much care for we get a sterile match I don't much care for. Who'd have guessed it? More of a formality than a fight with JBL passing the WWE Championship to Cena with the same tension and drama as if he'd asked for the salt. After almost a year of JBL barely escaping every opponent and obstacle, he manages somehow to dominate Cena for ten minutes before loosing out of nowhere to the FU. Now, neither man is known for their genuine wrestling prowess, but I expected at least a decent back and forth brawl. It'd have been nice to see more than one finisher, or to have had any genuine near-falls at all. I'm not sure why this ended up how it did, but were it not for the historic significance of John Cena's first world title win this would be completely forgettable. I'll give it an extra half star for that alone.

Rating: 2 Stars

World Heavyweight Championship
Batista Vs Triple H

Sometime earlier I imagine this meeting took place:

V: “Hey Triple H, don't forget tonight we've booked Motorhead to perform your entrance live for WrestleMania!”

H: “Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's gonna be awesome.”

V: “But just remember Lemmy is an old man now, I hear he's been drinking all afternoon and in rehearsals I found out he's forgotten about half of the lyrics.”

H: [LIES] “Oh. Okay. That's cool.” [/LIES]

V: “And Batista! Well since you've just got an instrumental production theme you'll just get to do your normal entrance, but you still get to do your silly dance!”

B: “That's all I care about.”

V: “Unfortunately we used up the rest of our pyro budget on $1 million's worth of JBL bucks in the last match, so you'll just have to do your dance without and try to not look utterly ridiculous.”

B: [LIES] “I can do that.” [/LIES]

Well, once the combined awkwardness is over, things definitely improve on the last match. The situation here on Raw is almost identical to SmackDown, with the dominant, established heel champion defending against the under-talented but popular new face. Unlike SmackDown, this feud has been brewing for a very long time, leading to a very natural turn for Batista that was the complete contrast with Randy Orton's last year. He might still be a bit green, but unlike Cena he has the serious momentum and fan support he needs to mask his limitations. Moreover, this one manages to at least work in the standard features a match like this and the last one needs to have. You've got a decent brawl, a little outside interference, lots of blood, a ref bump, some weapons, several near-falls and a finish with some build leading to it. It's lacking in drama or any real wrestling to talk about, but it's entertaining enough and does the job it was asked to do. It isn't of the same standard of main-events that we've seen in the most recent years at WrestleMania, but it's an okay end to a good evening that suddenly fell of the rails.

Rating: 3 Stars

WWE WrestleMania 21 2005 Final Score: 3.5 Stars

An evening of two distinct halves. The first three matches are all great, leading up to one of the absolute best wrestling contests you will ever see. At this point the show was an easy 5 Star classic, but suddenly things just fell apart with a throwaway sumo segment and two world title matches that just weren't of the standard we've come to expect from the Showcase of the Immortals. At least they saved the better of the two for last, and both together with the Money in the Bank match arguably marked the start of a new era. I think they could have done with moving the WWE Championship match earlier just to lessen the direct comparison that would be made between the two main-events, especially when they're both so similar. Thankfully there's none of the usual garbage that can make it onto a WrestleMania card, as even the worst matches are interesting for some reason or another. The show has an unbelievable run of quality content while it lasts, with the first couple of hours some of the best you'll ever enjoy without interruption as a wrestling fan.