Well this was a forgettable card that shouldn't have been with Cena and Batista getting elevated. Unfortunately the wrong people were assisting with the elevating.
Surprisingly good undercard with a ***** HBK-Angle match but some poorly executed stuff at the top of the card.
Enjoy.
Wrestlemania XXI: Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood
From The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on April 3, 2005
Hosted by Jim Ross, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Michael Cole and Tazz
WWE Championship: John “Bradshaw” Layfield vs. John Cena
This is my first brush with JBL as a sorta kinda main eventer. I wasn’t watching the product at this point. This was also one of the final incarnations of this particular design of the WWE title and one of the more underrated versions. But Cena had to have his spinner design so whatever. This was JBL’s ninth month as champion, which all but gave away the result of the match.
They start off with a headlock sequence and JBL knocks Cena down with a shoulder but Cena rallies with one of his own. Cena gets caught on a blind charge with a boot, however, and is knocked down again. JBL connects with fists, forearms and a decent chop. He corners Cena and kicks him square in the face. Always an effective move. JBL adds a swinging neckbreaker and a second one for two. JBL with a fairly creative rope choke and then a more traditional rope assisted camel clutch. The hangman catapult by JBL continues the assault on the throat but Cena fights back and catches JBL on a blind charge. Cena goes to the ropes but JBL catches him with a spinebuster. Reverse neckbreaker by JBL gets another two count. Another straight kick to the face and JBL lays in the boots and a big right that staggers Cena. JBL adds a big corner clothesline and a short-armed clothesline gets two at Cena gets to the ropes. Snapmare by JBL and a shoulderblock to the back by the champion. Sleeper is applied but it’s not a real good one. Still it manages to do the trick for a minute or so until Cena gets the counter with a back suplex. JBL misses another clothesline and they both get the knockout with the double clothesline. Cena tries to rally again but JBL uses leverage to sends Cena out of the ring. Swinging neckbreaker on the floor and JBL brings the action back in the ring and gets a two count. JBL sets Cena up on the ropes, almost knocks him off twice but follows up and gets the superplex. JBL rolls over and gets two. JBL scales the ropes, surely a regular part of his offense, and of course it backfires as Cena catches him with a powerslam. Crowd is sort of indifferent. Cena with another rally, a headbutt and a couple of clotheslines to get rocking. Back body drop and a flying shoulder knocks down the champion. A hip toss slam (!!) and the side slam sets up the five knuckle shuffle. He pumps up the sneakers but meets boot on a blind charge. JBL goes for the Clothesline from Goldman Sachs but misses and Cena hits the FU for the pin and the expected championship.
(Cena def. JBL, pinfall, *1/2, nothing like elevating the new star by giving him 10% of the offense.)
World Championship: Triple H vs. Batista
This match should have gotten Batista over as the next huge star in the wrestling world. But unfortunately for big Dave, The Rock was already in retirement and he had to rely on HHH to give him the rub. Motorhead brings HHH in live and I’m wondering if they even rehearsed the song ahead of time. Needless to say this all but drowns out anything Batista could do outside of entering the ring with druids (sadly that had already been done this night). Doesn’t help that Ross and Lawler are putting over HHH’s entrance to no end. They do the stare down and the people are definitely into Batista. They do a collar and elbow tie up and it’s a total stalemate. Now right away there’s the problem. Batista is supposed to be the animal. He is supposed to shove HHH right on his ass to establish his power dominance. HHH gets a side headlock but Batista knocks him down with the shoulder and HHH takes a step back. Another side headlock for HHH and Batista misses a clothesline so HHH drops him with a shoulder. HHH goes for the pedigree early but Batista shoves him off and almost gets the press slam. HHH tries to use the ref as a shield but big Dave is too quick for that and hammers away. He meets an elbow on a blind charge but HHH runs into Dave’s hand and gets beat up on some more. Big back body drop by Batista but HHH hits the Harley knee that sends Batista to the floor. Flair provides a diversion on the floor and HHH sneaks up from behind and rams Batista’s head into the steps. As Batista enters the ring HHH hits the middle rope elbow. HHH goes to the right hands and the choke. With HHH and the referee engaged in conversion Flair chokes Batista out with his sport coat. Back to the floor and HHH goes to the work on the lower back by ramming him into the ring barricade and into the side of the ring. Back in the ring and HHH drops two elbows on the back of Batista and goes to the knee drop. Crowd is solidly behind big Dave but HHH lands a forearm in the back and goes to another choke. Vertical suplex is beautifully done and HHH gets the two count. Back to the repeated knees in the back and a side backbreaker which allows Flair to cheat some more. Batista fights his way back into the ring but HHH with a hangman to send Batista back to the floor again. Back in the ring, HHH corners Batista and hammers away. Batista tries to rally but HHH hits the spinebuster for two. Second pin gets two. Third pin gets two. Reverse neckbreaker gets two for HHH as frustration begins to set in. Batista tries another rally but HHH foils that and goes for the pedigree that Batista counters with a back drop. A second back drop attempt is caught with a kneesmasher for two. HHH climbs to the top rope but gets met with a clothesline. Batista with another rally and he gets a sidewalk slam for two but a charge gets big Dave nothing but a boot. HHH goes for a corner whip but Batista reverses it and sends HHH over and out of the ring. Once out of the ring HHH turns the tide by sending Big Dave into the steps again. HHH goes for the pedigree on the steps but Batista counters and slingshots HHH into the ring post. We’ve got blood. HHH staggers around the ring and Batista catches up with him and sends him into the steps a few times. Back in the ring Batista starts hammering away with the violence and connects on a running boot to the head. Hard corner clothesline for Batista and a second one finds the mark. HHH blocks a third one but he can’t block Batista with the power moves and finally a third corner clothesline knocks HHH silly. Batista with an over-the-shoulder powerslam for two. Back out of the ring and Batista beats up Flair while HHH gets a chair. Referee stops the champion from using the chair but takes himself out of the match temporarily. Flair tries to interfere with the belt but Batista gives him a spinebuster. HHH grabs the belt, however, and wallops Batista for a near fall. HHH charges again and Batista gives him the super spinebuster. He goes for the animal bomb but HHH goes low. It’s Pedigree time but Batista just straight up blocks the hold and gives HHH a back drop slam. Batista bomb breaks HHH in half and the three count is academic. Match was saved by an excellent closing sequence.
(Batista def. HHH, pinfall, **1/2, it should have been Batista completely destroying HHH and HHH only getting advantages through all out cheating and still eventually getting his ass kicked because the point was to make Batista the big star. Instead it was 12 minutes of HHH beating the crap out of him until they remembered the original reason for having the match.)
BONUS MATCH~!
The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton
Randy Orton was deep into his “legends killer” gimmick although I don’t consider Rob Van Dam a legend. The Undertaker had another super overblown entrance.
Orton slaps Undertaker and plays a little cat and mouse game but the Undertaker gets him in a headlock but Orton fights back with a dropkick and gets a cover for a one count. Back body drop from Orton and but Undertaker drops Orton after a leapfrog. Orton reacted as if it might have been stiff. Undertaker corners Orton and punishes him but Orton avoids a blind charge and rolls Undertaker up for two. Orton goes for the RKO and the Undertaker casually shoves him outside the ring. Undertaker follows out and hangs Orton’s head off the apron to hit the legdrop. Ouch. Back in the ring the Undertaker takes it back to the old school but misses the charging boot. Orton with a dropkick that sends Undertaker off the apron and crashing into the ring barricade. Orton follows him out and lays in the blows before sending him back into the ring. Uppercut by Orton but the Undertaker fights back with three punches before Orton drops him with a clothesline and gets two. Orton sets too early off the ropes, however, and Undertaker delivers a big DDT for two. Sidewalk slam by the deadman gets another two count. Undertaker whips Orton into the corner and hits two charging corner clotheslines. Undertaker gets snake eyes but Orton catches him with a back elbow off the springboard. Nice. Orton with a chinlock and punches while in the hold. Orton is a much better personality these days but his wrestling skills were far superior in his younger days. Orton pounds away as the crowd tells him he sucks. Orton goes for a sleeper but their timing was off so Undertaker just hits him with an ugly clothesline for two. Dragon sleeper by the Undertaker. Man I didn’t know he used this move. Shows you how little I watched during this period. Orton doesn’t submit and counters the move into a DDT for two and it’s chinlock time and it becomes a rear naked facelock. Undertaker punches his way out of it but now Orton gets the sleeper but Undertaker fights out with a back suplex. Both guys are a little groggy and Orton makes a charge but eats boot. Undertaker tries to follow up but Orton gets the beautiful powerslam for two. Orton corners Undertaker and does nine of the 10-punch count but postures himself into the last ride. Orton hops over and goes for the RKO but Undertaker shoves him into the official. Ref totally oversold that bump. Another last ride attempt but Orton goes with the momentum and mounts Undertaker. Cowboy Bob Orton enters the ring and nails the deadman with the cast. Wow his arm hasn’t healed yet? He should probably get that thing checked out. It’s been about 20 years. Orton revives the ref and Undertaker kicks out of the slow count at two. Undertaker sits up and gets papa Orton a boot to the face. He goes for the chokeslam but Orton counters it into the RKO and gets a huge face pop! Undertaker kicks out at two. Oooo some fans don’t like that. Orton goes for the tombstone but that gets reverses and Orton is planted. You could count to a million. Nifty match.
(Undertaker def. Randy Orton, ***1/4, very well done on both sides. No complaints from this Princess. Oddly enough, the Undertaker should get props for giving the younger guy a legit chance to show his stuff and with that kept the crowd vastly entertained. Of course Mean Mark is going to go over because that’s what he does.)
Related Posts:
- Wrestlemania Main Events: Wrestlemania 23
- Wrestlemania Main Events: Wrestlemania XXIV
- Wrestlemania Main Events: The 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania
- Wrestlemania Main Events: Wrestlemania 22
- Wrestlemania Main Events: Wrestlemania XX
Tags: Batista, HHH, JBL, John Cena, Legends, Michael Cole, Randy Orton, Rob Van Dam, Sting, The Rock, Undertaker, Wrestlemania, WWE
I think it’s funny that the guy who got the best rub out of these three matches…was the guy that LOST.
I have to admit I wasn’t watching regularly at the time but it seems to me that Batista got a pretty damn good rub from this. Say what you want about Triple H but for three straight Wrestlemanias, he put three guys over huge to close the show. Granted, Cena was already a megastar but it was Benoit and Batista’s first world titles and each went on to pretty strong championship runs. Hell, didn’t Triple H spend like the next four PPVs getting the shit kicked out of him by Batista?
Also, I’ve not watched that match in awhile but I distinctly remember HHH/Batista being better than most people gave it credit for. I’d have to watch it again but I could’ve sworn I thought it was a ***1/2, ***3/4-caliber match or so.
My opinion isn’t based on their whole body of work, which I didn’t see much of. It’s based on this match.
Wrestlemania is the ultimate “go home” card, it’s not a set up for other events. I could careless that Big Dave got to kick the shit out of him in Backlash or Judgment Day because those cards had 25% of the buy rate Wrestlemania did.
HHH needed to put the guy over strong. Over like a beast and in the first minute of the match he’s not even willing to give the kid an advantage in a test of strength. C’mon. That’s awful.
Well, if you’re just judging it off this show, than I suppose so. Again, I haven’t watched this match in a long time so I’m just going off memory (and I don’t currently have enough time to read a lengthy review….I’ll either read it or just watch the match later because I’ve been wanting to rewatch that one, actually), but while I don’t remember what happened at the beginning of the match, I remember Batista beating the holy hell out of a bloody HHH for the last several minutes to end it.
Like I said, not watching at the time I don’t remember how much this PPV specifically gave him the rub, but whether it was at Wrestlemania or not Triple H made Batista a massive star during their feud.
I always got the feeling that the 2 main events were purposely “held back” a bit, to save the *REAL* good matches for the next few PPVs, like the Cena/JBL I quit match, and the HHH/Batista Cell match. I guess they felt that with MITB, Taker/Orton, HBK/Angle, and the 2 title changes, that WM had already delivered, and they wanted to stretch things out a bit?
Especially the Cena/JBL match since it wasn’t even going on last. They just need to get the belts onto Cena & Batista ASAP, its almost didn’t matter how.
Exactly. All that really mattered were the title change visuals… although Cena didn’t even get THAT, as jumping into the stands is a pretty shitty way to celebrate winning the big one.
But for full effect, replace Cena / JBL with the awesome I Quit match and HHH / Batista with the HIAC.
Forgettable card? This was one of the best WrestleManias EVER~!
Err…I wouldn’t go that far. It wasn’t bad, though.
Wrong, the 2 title matches were so hit it can’t be held up that high. If the main events had cracked *** at aleast each I’d agree. If Triple H/Batista was the great HITC they had at Vengeance I’d hold it in that regard. As a 3 hour show though, it’s one of the best, just kill that last hour
*were so bad
I’ve got it at 2 or 3, depending on the mood. Totally agree.
I have it firmly in the middle, along with the rest of them post-XIX.
I grew up a huge WWF fan but everything from 21 to now is blurred together. Don’t care about Cena/Batista/Orton at all. I also wonder if the writing staff drinks from big people glasses or still use the sippy cup.
I agree. Wrestlemania 21-25 is one big blur, and I haven’t had a desire to pick up my DVD-R I recorded and rewatch any of them.
I still consider, however, Mickey James vs. Trish Stratus to be one of my favorite matches from Wrestlemania 22 just because of the Hogan-god like pop Mickie gets doing her heel lesbian stalker act. She got such a face pop, they had her start dressing like Trish, trying to parlay the angle into she just wanted to be Trish, not have a relationship with her. Which led to Trish dressing up like Mickey James and doing jumping jacks. I think a legit Trish injury kept the belt on Mickey and she ended up staying tweener after dropping both the stalker and the wannabe gimmick. Then she lost the belt to somebody, and turned 100% babyface that she’ll probably stay until she finally leaves or is fired later this year.
Though Tista/HHH WM21 was very average… HHH put him over like a million bucks throughout their feud.. mere months earlier Batista was nothing more than a musclehead then once Orton was out the way he became the biggest star in the company. HHH/Batista was built beautifully but by WM the volcanic heat had been lost a little, if WM had happened a month earlier the place would of exploded for Batista no matter what.
It is amazing to think that these two main events were the two most significant passing of the torch Mania moments this century when you think about it long-term. This set Cena/Batista on the path to being the most dominant guys in the WWE and carrying the company for the next 5 years.
The undercard for WM21 was the best ever… the main event matches were some of the dullest ever… WM21 is so close to greatness but just doesn’t make the cut.
Completely agree. If both main events had delivered then this would easily give WM17 a run for it’s money (especially given its historical significance in pushing Batista and especially Cena to the top).
Guerrero-Mysterio was great (bit unfair for fans to compare it to Halloween Havoc and say it wasn’t as good; and the problem with Rey’s mask wasn’t as much of a distraction as some have made it out to be).
MITB was innovative and superb. Undertaker-Randy was great and of course Angle-HBK was one of the best matches ever. If the title matches had been strong then it would definitely have been top 5 of all time.
Oh, and the Hollywood videos were AWESOME as well, especially Christian in Basic Instinct.
I loved all the hollywood videos. Best idea for promoting a show ever.
This was one of the only times that the Money in the Bank match was full of credible stars.
This year it seems like a bunch of jobbers and Christian. Gee, does anyone else think Evan Bourne is gonna get that case!!!!
CM Punk was the biggest geek in the match the first year he won it – well, aside from Shelton and Carlito – and look what happened. The point is what you do with the case, although this year it’ll probably be angle fodder ahead of the MITB PPV.
Actually, 23 had a credible group of stars in it as well. You had Booker, Finlay, the Hardys, Edge, Orton, Punk, and Kennedy.
I don’t think Evan Bourne will win, but I’d sure rather see what he can do in the match than William Regal.
And I like Regal too, but come on. Dude isn’t climbing any ladders.
“This match should have gotten Batista over as the next huge star in the wrestling world. But unfortunately for big Dave, The Rock was already in retirement and he had to rely on HHH to give him the rub. ”
Wow, that is TOTALLY unfair. Triple H went out of his way to put Batista over in 2005, and really couldn’t have done a better job.
Backlash was a piece of shit of a match that made Batista look bad, but HHH made up for that a hundredfold at HIAC.
That first Batista title run really was turning into something special before he got hurt.
By reading that you’d think WrestleMania 21 was a pile of shit. Orton/Taker was good with great crowd heat, the 2 title matches were terrible, Angle/Michaels and MITB saved this one big time
Hell I blanked out of Wrestlemania 21 after Hogan showed up. Kind of killed the event when the god of wrestling is there and not wrestling.
Flash forward to TNA last night, watching Hogan wrestle was actually painful. More painful that he was selling injures and actually playing that he was in fact too old, instead of being superman anymore.
You do realize that the real main event was Akebono/Big Show, right?
…right?
Thankfully, unlike so many main events over the years, that one really was One Night Only.
My buddy and I watched this at a sports bar. We hate HBK (His goes way back… for throwing Marty through a window. Me for the Midget Bret thing which showed a lack of class yes they’re both kayfabe reasons but he’s always the heel to us) so when he tapped out to the ankle lock we jumped up and screamed our heads off and were so pumped up we couldn’t even High-5 properly.
That said LET’S GO TAKER!
I was totally marking for Taker last year. This year though…I don’t know.
For one thing, even though I never liked Shawn personally, I always always always respected his body of work. So for his career to end like this, even in kayfabe, doesn’t seem right to me.
And the other thing…Taker is fucking done. He looks like he can barely walk anymore, a lot like Hogan last night. He’s getting all talky all of a sudden, with these long ass rambling promos that make no sense whatsoever (when was that EVER part of his gimmick?). And he buried CM Punk six feet beneath the earth and gave him a one-way ticket back to the midcard. So personally, all that good will he built up over the last 4 or 5 years is gone if you ask me.
Perhaps a Jannety/Kane tag team will run in and wipe them both out? Just Kidding. I don’t know…I really have to agree with the CM Punk statement but at the same time DX really has been annoying these past years what with all the reforming and then disbanding only to reform again…maybe I’m not kidding Kannety is the team of future’s past!
I actually liked the JBL title reign. It was reminiscent of the Honkeytonk Man IC run, but it demeaned the belt less because JBL was actually a tough enough guy that it wasn’t that far fetched that he could go over his challengers. He worked cheaply out of cowardice rather than necessity. It was different and it was nice to see a guy actually hold the title long enough that there was some anticipation built for his defeat.
Unfortunately, neither he nor Cena could carry an opponent (and both needed carrying to put on a compelling match) so their Wrestlemania encounter was pretty lackluster. It didn’t help that this match just didn’t build to the whole “big match feel” effect. If I remember it right: Cena won a tournament, JBL cost Cena his US title against Orlando Jordan (pretty humiliating), Cena probably accused JBL of being gay, JBL called Cena a punk, and that was our build–not really Hogan v Warrior quality stuff. JBL was mainly a brawler and Cena really had no match formula at this point. It was just guys doing moves till the 5 Knuckle Shuffle, FU combo, were either used as a combo or hit in close proximity of each other. I remember looking forward to his Booker T series and being disappointed when I realized that his matches just didn’t have climaxes. Some will claim this is still all there is to him, but I think he’s improved quite a bit (believe it or not he’s added quite a few moves to his set since WM XXI).
They should have booked this as a No-DQ match and just had them just go all out, but instead they kept it underbooked, in the ring, and produced a flat TV quality match. The fact that they saved the stips for backlash highlights everything that wrong with the packed ppv schedule. They sell Wrestlemania on it’s name value and need to leave something desired in the matches to sell Backlash or (now) Extreme Rules.