WrestleMania 22 - Event

Event

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, a dark match was held which was an 18-man interpromotional battle royal. Viscera won the battle royal last eliminating Snitsky. After winning the battle royal, he kissed Lilian Garcia. Michelle Williams sang the annual rendition of "America the Beautiful" before the show.

The opening match was for the World Tag Team Championship between champions Big Show and Kane and Carlito and Chris Masters. Kane hit Masters with a big boot, then chokeslammed Carlito to get the victory and to retain the World Tag Team Championship.

The second match was the Money in the Bank ladder match between Rob Van Dam (RVD), Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay, Bobby Lashley and Matt Hardy. RVD climbed the ladder, but was stopped when Benjamin springboarded onto RVD and delivered each other blows back and forth. Hardy came out with a second ladder and joined the two. RVD pushed Hardy and Benjamin's ladder over with his feet and pushed them sending them both smashing on the floor. RVD grabbed the briefcase and won the match.

Howard Finkel introduced the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2006. First of all, he announced that Bret Hart would not be coming to attend the event because he did not feel comfortable. "Mean" Gene Okerlund, "Sensational" Sherri Martel, Tony Atlas, Verne Gagne, William "The Refrigerator" Perry and The Blackjacks (Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza) attended the class while Eddie Guerrero was represented by his wife Vickie Guerrero who was supported by Eddie's nephew Chavo Guerrero.

The third match was between John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Chris Benoit for the WWE United States Championship. During JBL's entrance, the entrance ramp was raised and JBL's limousine drove out from underneath. JBL performed a Clothesline From Hell on Benoit, who avoided the move and applied in the Crippler Crossface. JBL flipped Benoit over on his back and used ropes for leverage to get the pinfall and the victory.

The fourth match was a hardcore match between Edge and Mick Foley. Near the end of the match, Foley had Edge in control and pulled out a table. Lita then hit Foley in between the legs with a barbed wire bat and lit the table which then allowed Edge to perform a spear on Foley through the ring ropes through the flaming table on the outside. He then pinned Foley for the victory. The fifth match was a handicap match where Booker T and Sharmell faced The Boogeyman. Boogeyman executed a Falling Chokebomb on Booker and pinned him to get the victory. The sixth match was a Divas match between Trish Stratus and Mickie James for the WWE Women's Championship. At the end of the match, Mickie hit a Mick Kick on Trish's head which knocked out Trish, allowing Mickie to win the match and the WWE Women's Championship.

The seventh match was a Casket match between The Undertaker and Mark Henry. Undertaker took the advantage and hit Henry with a Last Ride. While Henry was out of the ring, Undertaker hit him with a suicide dive over the top rope. Undertaker then performed a Tombstone Piledriver on Henry and pushed him into the casket to win the match and improve his WrestleMania record to 14–0.

The eighth match was a No Holds Barred match between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. Shawn was about to perform Sweet Chin Music on McMahon, but instead he got a trash can and a table. He put McMahon on a table and put a trashcan over McMahon's head. Michaels then climbed on the top of the ladder and executed a diving elbow drop. Michaels then hit McMahon with Sweet Chin Music and pinned McMahon to win the match.

The match that followed was the Triple Threat match between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. During Mysterio's entrance, P.O.D. performed Mysterio's music entrance live. At the end, Mysterio performed a 619 on Orton followed by a West Coast Pop for a successful pinfall victory. As a result, Mysterio became the new World Heavyweight Champion. After the match, Mysterio celebrated with Chavo and Vickie Guerrero. The tenth match was a Playboy pillow fight between Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle. Wilson pulled Candice's dress and pinned her with a roll-up to get the victory.

The main event was for the WWE Championship between champion John Cena and Triple H. Triple H came out to the ring on a throne dressed as a Conan the Barbarian-type king, while Cena came out with a tommy gun and was accompanied by a group of "gangsters" (one of whom was future WWE Superstar, and future WWE Champion CM Punk in a 1940s Chicago-era vehicle. The match was evenly matched with both men getting the advantage over each other. Triple H tried to perform a Pedigree, but it was countered by Cena into an FU. After Triple H kicked out of a two-count, Cena locked him into the STF. Triple H got to the ropes and went for another Pedigree, but was countered into the STF again by Cena. Triple H tapped out, and as a result, Cena retained the WWE Championship.