WrestleMania 21 - Event

Event

Before the event went live on pay-per-view, a dark match was held. A 30-man interpromotional Battle Royal, which featured: Booker T, Paul London, Heidenreich, Spike Dudley, Nunzio, Funaki, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Orlando Jordan, Mark Jindrak, Luther Reigns, Scotty 2 Hotty, Hardcore Holly, Charlie Haas, Billy Kidman, and Akio from SmackDown and Simon Dean, William Regal, Tajiri, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Snitsky, The Hurricane, Rosey, Chris Masters, Viscera, Rhyno, Val Venis, Tyson Tomko, and Maven from Raw. Booker T eliminated Chris Masters to win the Battle Royal.

Lilian Garcia performed "America the Beautiful" at the beginning of the event. The first televised match of the night was between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. In the beginning of the match, Mysterio jumped over the top rope, knocking Guerrero down. Mysterio also attempted another aerial attack but was countered by Guerrero into a Powerbomb. Guerrero placed Mysterio into the Three Amigos and attempted a Frog splash but was unsuccessful. Following a Hurricanrana by Mysterio on Guerrero, Mysterio pinned Guerrero to win. After the match, both men shook hands in the ring.

John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Orlando Jordan were then shown backstage discussing Layfield's match against John Cena. Triple H and Ric Flair walked by as Triple H mocked Layfield. Layfield retaliated by advising Triple H to worry about losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Batista and assured him that John Cena would be unsuccessful at defeating Layfield for the WWE Championship. Triple H responded that only the end of the night would reveal who would still be champion.

The match that followed was the first Money in the Bank ladder match which featured Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin, Edge, Kane, and Christian with Tyson Tomko at ringside. The match contained many notable moments, including points where Jericho, Christian, Benjamin and Kane all jumped over the top rope to the outside of the ring to knock down multiple opponents. Another moment included Benjamin executing a T-Bone Suplex on Edge off the top of a ladder and later using an inclined ladder as a ramp to run up a standing and hit Jericho with a Clothesline maneuver. Benoit also executed a Diving headbutt from the top of a ladder onto Kane. In the conclusion of the match, Benoit climbed a ladder to attempt to retrieve the Money in the Bank briefcase hanging above the ring but was stopped by Kane who had also climbed the ladder. Benoit used repeated headbutts to knock Kane to the floor and attempted to retrieve the briefcase once more but was knocked down by Edge who hit him with a steel chair. Edge then climbed the ladder and successfully obtained possession of the briefcase to win the match.

In an interlude, Eugene entered the ring and shared his excitement about being at his first WrestleMania with the crowd in attendance. While attempting to recall his favorite WrestleMania moments, Muhammad Hassan and Daivari interrupted him with Hassan expressing his outrage for not being included in a match for the event. Hassan concluded that since he wasn't scheduled to compete at the event and was therefore denied the opportunity to experience his own WrestleMania "moment", he would have to create a "moment" of his own. Following this remark, Hassan and Daivari began to assault Eugene. With Eugene placed into a Camel clutch hold while Daivari verbally attacked him, Hulk Hogan came down to the ring to save Eugene from the assault, knocking Hassan and Daivari out of the ring. Hogan celebrated posing in the ring for the crowd.

The third match featured The Undertaker and Randy Orton. Bob Orton, Randy's father and ringside manager, interfered and attacked Undertaker with his arm cast resulting in Orton gaining control of the match. Undertaker attempted to chokeslam Orton, but Orton countered the maneuver with an RKO that led to a two-count. Orton then attempted to use Undertaker's own finishing maneuver against him with the Tombstone piledriver, however, it was reversed by Undertaker into a Tombstone piledriver of his own which led to the definitive pin fall. The Undertaker won the match and continued his undefeated streak at WrestleMania with a 13–0 record.

The next match was for the WWE Women's Championship, an encounter between Trish Stratus and Christy Hemme with Lita at ringside. Stratus controlled most of the match though Hemme attempted many pinning maneuvers that were unsuccessful. Hemme then executed a Twist of Fate on Stratus and attempted another pin, which was also unsuccessful. After a roll-up attempt by both Stratus and Hemme, Stratus hit Hemme with a Chick kick and followed it with the decisive pin, thus winning the match and retaining the WWE Women's Championship.

The fifth match was the encounter of Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle. Back and forth match between the two wrestlers in the beginning of the match. Mid-way in the match, Michaels hit Angle with low blow, after he countered a suplex attack from Angle. Following the low blow, which was not seen by the referee, Michaels leapfrogged from the ring and laid out Angle onto the announce table. Angle would then gain control of the match, as he would apply the Ankle Lock on Michaels, forcing him to submit, thus Angle won the match.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper confronted "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in Piper's Pit until Carlito interrupted and began to insult them. This resulted in Carlito receiving a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin and Piper throwing him out of the ring. Both ended the segment celebrating with beer until Austin gave Piper a Stone Cold Stunner as well.

The next match was between Akebono and The Big Show in a Sumo Match. The match was a little over a minute and Akebono won the match after he threw The Big Show out of the ring, thus winning the Sumo Match.

The next match was John Cena versus John "Bradshaw" Layfield for the WWE Championship. JBL controlled most of the bout. In the end, Cena would win the match after ducking a Clothesline from Hell attempt from JBL, using an FU and pinning JBL to become the WWE Champion.

The eighth and final match of the night was Triple H defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Batista. Triple H entered to "The Game" performed live by Motörhead. The action was back and forth, with neither man in control for very long periods. In both the match's and the event's climax, Batista would pin Triple H after a Batista Bomb to win the World Heavyweight Championship.