Home ▸ Other ▸ WrestleMania XX: Where It All Begins Again

This is it!  WrestleMania week is kicking off in a big way today with the BWF Radio WrestleMania 28 special earlier today, and this – the first of EIGHT days of WrestleMania reviews, starting right now with WrestleMania XX, and ending a week from today with WrestleMania XXVII, just prior to our WrestleMania pregame podcast.  In 2004, WrestleMania returned to it’s roots, emanating from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.  This show sold out in a matter of seconds.  Believe me, I tried to get tickets and couldn’t.  Let’s roll!

The Boys Choir of Harlem kicks off the show with “America The Beautiful”

We get the standard hype video for WrestleMania, this one showing historic moments from WrestleMania, and ending with the show’s tagline, “where it all begins again.”  The video ends with a shot of Vince, Shane, and Shane’s baby.

And now, RAW and SmackDown present, WWE WrestleMania XX:  Where it All Begins Again.

Pyro fills the Garden to the sounds of “Step Up” by Drowning Pool as Jim Ross welcomes us to the show, along with Jerry “The King” Lawler.  Hugo Savinovich and Carlos Cabrera are our Spanish announcers.  Enjoy your table, guys!  Speaking of tables, Michael Cole and Tazz have their own for SmackDown matches.  Which is what we’re starting with.

John Cena is the first superstar out for tonight’s show, rocking a Patrick Ewing throwback and 1-Up mushroom wristbands.  And he kicks the show off with a rap:

You got the franchise playa on the Super Bowl stage
So get that gorilla Big Show outta his cage
Ain’t no way I’m-a lose to that King Kong ripoff
That’s like Gary Coleman beating Patrick Ewing in a tip-off
Big Show’s really a ape with opposable thumbs
And he stuffs his singlet, looks like he’s smugglin’ plums
Yo, everybody knows that he can’t see me
I’m itchin’ to beat him, like a penis with a STD
I’m not even wrestlin’ the Big Show, this whole thing’s a charade
My match is with the hippo from the Macy’s parade
So it’s time to get a championship to match these custom knucks.
Madison Square chant it loud, baby, Big Show sucks!

Big Show has a wristwatch over his shoulder.  What’s that?  It’s the United States Championship?  Damn this dude is big.

John Cena vs. The Big Show

A year before this, Cena was supposed to be in a battle rap with Fabulous and Jay Z, but Fabulous got arrested and Jay-Z no showed, so Cena was bumped to Sunday Night Heat, rapping about them on his own.  It didn’t even make the DVD.  Now, he’s battling for his first title in WWE at WrestleMania XX.  Big Show uses his power to prevent Cena from getting any offense in.  The fans are solidly behind Cena here.  Huge difference between then and now.  Show is dominating  in this match.  Show plays the power game so well and so often these days that I forget how athletic the guy actually was back in the day.  Every time Cena tries to fight back, Big Show shuts him down.  Show hits the Final Cut but Cena kicks out at two.  Cena manages to cinch in a sleeper, but Show escapes quickly by sandwiching Cena against the turnbuckle.  Show locks in a Cobra Clutch.  Which bugs me.  It’s Sgt. Slaughter’s move, right?  Sgt. Slaughter was one of the Joes on GI Joe, why is his move named after Cobra?  Anyways, Cena punches his way out of the Cobra Clutch.  Big Show wobbles but he don’t fall down.  Cena gets a flurry of fists in, and a boot to the face of The Big Show.  Show charges at Cena, but Cena gives him a drop toehold into the buckle, then hits the F.U., but Big Show kicks out at two, much to Cena’s surprise.  Cena grabs his chain from the corner, and tells the referee he can’t see him.  Cena finally tosses the chain, and as the referee goes to dispose of it, Cena decks Show with his custom brass knuckles, then hits another F.U. to pick up the win.

Winner and NEW United States Champion:  John Cena

 Backstage, Jonathan Coachman is walking through the arena. He walks into Eric Bischoff’s office.  Bischoff heard that The Undertaker is here.  He wants Coach to go find The Undertaker.  Coach reminds Easy E that Undertaker is on SmackDown.  Bischoff says he doesn’t want to get scooped by SmackDown.  Coach feels uncomfortable going to look for The Undertaker.  Bischoff tells him to go look for The Undertaker.

Randy Orton is standing in the hallway with Batista and Ric Flair.  He established himself as the new hardcore legend when he kicked Mick Foley down the stairs he’s standing near.  Mick couldn’t let it end, so he came back and walked away from an Intercontinental Championship match.  Mick came back to challenge Orton again, and Randy spit in his face.  Orton appreciates the fact that Mick doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that his time has passed.  It’s just Evolution, and they’ve proven it time and time again.  They were getting bored beating him up, so when Mick called The Rock, they beat him down too.  Tonight they’ll prove that The Rock and Sock Connection are nothing but washed up has-beens and Evolution is the future.

Holy crap, it’s La Resistance!  They did make it onto WrestleMania – as part of a fatal four way Tag Team Title match.  Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade made it onto this show too!  The Dudley Boyz are on this show.  Bubba Ray had decent calves back then too.  Booker T and RVD had music for their tag team?  I do not recall this.  I think it’s Booker T’s theme from WWE Originals with the dude from Breaking Point screaming “One of a Kind” randomly.  I could be wrong though.  *pauses to check* Yeah, that sounds about right.

Booker T & Rob Van Dam vs. Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. La Resistance:  World Tag Team Championship

Yeah.  This is going to be fun to cover.  This is one of those matches where there are two guys in the ring at once and they can tag anybody from any team at any point, though I’m sure the Outlaw rule is in effect, meaning that you can’t pin your own partner to win the titles.  Bubba Ray Dudley gets tagged in and the fans immediately want tables.  Yeah, I’m not even trying.  There’s a lot going on here.  Renee Dupree tags himself in and covers Booker T, and for some reason Garrison Cade, who was the guy that was tagged out, doesn’t try to break up the pin.  Either he wasn’t confident that whatever he did to Booker prior to the tag was going to keep Book down, or he’s stupid.  RVD gets tagged in and takes out everybody in the match aside from his own partner.  D-Von Dudley prevents the five star.  Everything breaks down, and it the Dudleyz set up for 3D on Booker, but Cade pushes Bubba out of the way.  Booker T hits the scissors kick on Rob Conway, and RVD hits the Five Star Frog Splash for the victory.

Winners and Still World Tag Team Champions:  RVD & Booker T

Backstage, Coach is looking for The Undertaker.  A stagehand tells him there’s freakish noises coming from a door.  Coach opens the door to find….  “Mean Gene” Okerlund, who explains he’s here for the Hall of Fame.  Bobby “The Brain” Heenan comes out next covered in lipstick.  Brain explains to Coach that it’s not what he thinks.  Okerlund says they were playing poker.  The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young come out and start planting kisses on Heenan and Okerlund, much to the chagrin of The Brain.

We get a video package detailing the recent history of Chris Jericho and Christian.  Christian is out first for this match, and this apparently happened sometime between his cool “At last you’re on your own” music and his Waterproof Blonde theme.  Chris Jericho heads down to the ring and we’re ready for a possible show-stealer.

Chris Jericho vs. Christian

This is less a wrestling match than it is a fight.  To think, this whole thing started over a bet for one Canadian dollar.  Somebody saw She’s All That when writing this storyline, apparently.  It’s back and forth in the early going, at least until Christian backdrops Jericho over the top rope and directly to the floor.  Christian takes over, putting the boots to Y2J.  It’s all Christian for a while, but the two bump heads violently and both go down.  Referee Tim White gets to seven before both men get to their feet.  Jericho starts to build momentum, taking Christian down with the standing enziguri.  Jericho keeps rolling but Christian gets control again, briefly.  Christian hits a reverse tornado DDT for two.  Christian goes to the top, but Jericho catches him.  Christian gets the better of the exchange, however, as he tosses Jericho back down to the canvas.  Christian locks in a Texas Clover Leaf (or is that a Toronto Maple Leaf?), but Jericho fights out if it, locking in the Walls of Jericho, but Christian gets to the ropes.  Not that it matters, Christian crawls all the way to the floor and Jericho still holds on.  Jericho hits a double arm superplex to bring Christian back in.  Trish Stratus heads down to the ring.  Christian hits the impaler DDT for a two count.  Christian sees Trish up on the apron and tosses her down, face first into the turnbuckle.  Jericho goes to check on her, and she elbows him in the face.  Christian rolls up Jericho for the pinfall victory.

Winner:  Christian

Trish checks on Jericho, and when she sees he’s ok, she slaps the taste out of his mouth, and Christian drops him with the Unprettier.  They were in cahoots the entire time.  I like that word, cahoots.  It needs to make a comeback.

Mick Foley is backstage, and Lillian Garcia asks him what’s going through his mind, since this will be his first match in four years.  He’s overcome with emotion.. but The Rock interrupts, saying that Foley should let the emotions go.  This is there night, everybody knows it, even The Hamburglar and Grimmace (The Hurricane & Rosey, respectively) know it.  Jimmy Snuka and Don Muraco know it, and of course, the people know it.  He takes us down the hall, so he can show us that the people know it.  Rock says they need to electrify like nobody else can, if ya smell what The Rock and Sock is cookin’.

Evolution are out first for the handicapped tag match.  Mick Foley enters first for the Rock ‘N Sock Connection, followed by The Rock.  Standard entrances.

Evolution (Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Batista) vs. The Rock ‘N Sock Connection

The Rock and Ric Flair start things off.  When Flair tags Orton, Foley asks for the tag, and he gets it.  Orton takes a walk outside, but Foley comes right after him, bashing his head off of the SmackDown announce table before sending him back in.  He ties Orton to the tree of woe, tags The Rock, and drops an elbow on Orton.  Rock punches Orton in the mid-section, or somewhere around there.  Rock sends Orton down with a clothesline, and Flair takes a cheap shot at Rock, who decks not only Flair, but Batista as well, which turns out to be a mistake.  Rock goes to bounce off the ropes, but Batista pulled down the top rope, sending Rock to the floor, where Batista drops Rock across the barricade before getting the tag in and taking it to the Brahma Bull.  Batista works The Rock over for a moment before tagging in Flair, who chops The Rock a couple of times.  Flair struts, but turns around into a Rock clothesline.  Flair goes to the top rope, and as usual gets slammed off of it.  Batista gets tagged back in and goes back to work on The Rock.  Rock gets a clothesline on Batista and manages to tag in Foley, who wails away on Batista, then nails a knee lift.  He goes for the double arm DDT, but Batista runs Foley into the turnbuckle. Foley turns it around, and he does the “bang bang” taunt toward the crowd before Batista takes his head off with a clothesline.  Foley winds up on the outside, where Flair and Orton work him over, including Orton whipping Foley into the steel steps.  Orton must have been tagged in at some point, because he’s the guy working over Foley in the ring before he tags out to Flair.  Flair and Foley trade blows, and Foley causes some separation, but Flair manages to stop him from getting too close to The Rock before he tags Orton back in.  Orton works over Foley some more and tags in Batista, who gets his licks in as well.  Foley manages to get the Mandible Claw on Batista, but Orton kicks Foley off of The Animal.  Flair gets back in, and Foley starts to fight back for a second, but finds himself stuck in Evolution’s corner.  Foley hits a neckbreaker out of nowhere onto Batista.  The two of them both go for a clothesline, taking each other down.  Flair gets tagged in, and Foley finally gets to The Rock.  Batista delivers a spinebuster to The Rock, and Flair goes for… a People’s elbow?!?  He takes too long to do it, and The Rock takes advantage.  He takes out Batista with a DDT, then hits a spinebuster on Flair.  Off comes the elbow pad, and Rock does Ric Flair’s strut before dropping him with the most electrifying move in sports entertainment, the People’s Elbow, which only scored a two count on Flair.  Flair gets the tag to Orton who goes for an RKO, but Rock reverses it into a Rock Bottom, but when he goes to cover Orton, Flair pulls him out of the ring.  Flair grabs a chair, and meanwhile, Batista sneaks in and drops The Rock with a Batista Bomb, but it only gets Orton a two.  Rock gets the tag in to Foley, who cleans house of Evolution.  He drops Orton with the double arm DDT and pulls out Mr. Socko!  Orton drops Foley with an RKO out of nowhere, and Evolution wins it!

Winners:  Evolution

Foley is stunned after the match, he apparently thought it was only a two count.  Rock looks frustrated, but then applauds Mick, and the duo shake hands and hug.

WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony highlights package is next.  “Mean Gene” Okerlund came out to bring the 2004 Hall of Famers out to the stage.  They are, in order of introduction, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Tito Santana, Big John Studd (represented by his son John Minton, Jr.), Harley Race, celebrity inductee Pete Rose, Don “The Magnificent” Muraco, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, The Junkyard Dog (represented by his daughter, Latoya Ritter), “Superstar” Billy Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, and finally, Jesse “The Body” Ventura.

Tony Chimel announces that this is the first ever Playboy evening gown match.  Which means it’s a worthless piece of crap.  As if I needed confirmation of that, Sable is the first Diva out for this match.  Her partner is Torrie Wilson.  They’re facing Stacy Keibler & Miss Jackie Gayda.

Playboy Evening Gown Match

“I’m the bigger skank!”  “No, I’m the bigger skank!”  That’s essentially what they’re fighting over.  I simply don’t care.  FFW!

Winners:  Sable & Torrie Wilson

Backstage, Eddie Guerrero is walking with his WWE Championship, and he runs into Chris Benoit.  Eddie’s excited.  Benoit doesn’t want to hear about it.  Eddie tells him that no matter what happens tonight, he’ll always be proud of him.  Eddie tells him nobody expects him to win.  Benoit says he believes in himself, and that’s all that matters.  He says tonight is his night, because he believes.  He’s proud of Eddie for winning the WWE title, and tonight is his night.  Eddie says he’s been trying to get this fire out of Benoit, because that’s the Chris Benoit he believes in.

Alright, so this is the first ever Cruiserweight Open.  The rules:  2 Superstars start in the ring.  A Superstar is eliminated by pinfall, submission, countout, or disqualification.  The Order of appearance was determined through a random drawing.  The last Superstar remaining will be the WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

Chavo Guerrero makes his way to the ring with Chavo Guerrero, Sr., and as the WWE Cruiserweight Champion, he’s the last person entering in this match.  The remaining participants, in order of entry are:  Nunzio, Jamie Noble, Akio and Tajiri, Funaki, Shannon Moore, Ultimo Dragon (who slipped on the stage during his entrance, but on the DVD they cut to a far away shot so you can’t really tell if you’re not looking for it), Billy Kidman, and finally, Rey Mysterio, who is dressed like The Flash – which is such an awesome costume that two different toy companies have released it as an action figure.  I own the Jakks Pacific one, autographed by the man himself.

10 Man Cruiserweight Open

Ultimo Dragon and Shannon Moore start things off.  A lot of near falls early on for each man.  Moore misses a corkscrew move from the top rope, Dragon drops him with the Asai DDT and pins him.  The next man in is Jamie Noble, who jumps him from behind.  Dragon makes a comeback.  Noble moves out of the way of a moonsault and locks in a submission hold, and Dragon taps, Funaki comes in and gets eliminated almost immediately.  Nunzio is the new opponent for Noble. Nunzio nails Noble with a sick dropkick from the top rope, but Noble gets his foot on the rope.  Noble sends Nunzio to the outside and nails a huge move from the top rope to the floor.  The two of them fight on the outside, trying to prevent each other from getting back in.  Noble gets in at 7 but Nunzio can’t make it.  Billy Kidman comes in, and Nunzio brings Noble to the outside, where Kidman nails both of them with the Shooting Star Press from the top rope.  Back in the ring, Kidman only gets a two on Noble. Noble gets his submission on Kidman, but Kidman gets out of it.  He hits a running enziguri, then sets him up for another SSP, but Noble catches him, and Kidman hits a BK bomb from the top rope to pin Noble.  Mysterio is the next man in, and Chavo Guerrero distracts the ref as Akio attacks Mysterio from the outside.  Kidman sets Mysterio up on the top rope and goes for a gutwrench, but Mysterio turns it into a pinning combination.  Tajiri is in next, and Mysterio finds himself in the Tarantula.  Tajiri gets dropkicked out of the hamstring elbow, and Mysterio hits a 619.  Tajiri avoids the West Coast Pop, Akio tries to interfere, but Tajiri’s mist winds up getting him when Mysterio ducks.  Mysterio pins Tajiri, and Akio is unable to compete, so we’re down to Mysterio & Guerrero.  Mysterio takes out Chavo Classic.  Chavo sits down on a sunset flip attempt, and grabs his Dad’s hands on the outside for leverage, leaving Guerrero the victor.

Winner and Still Cruiserweight Champion:  Chavo Guerrero

Tazz and Cole shoot it over to JR and The King, who will be calling our next interpromotional match.  We get our standard video package showcasing the history between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg.  This is one of my favorite WrestleMania matches for all the wrong reasons.  I love it.  I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this since I first decided to do this.  Let’s go!

Reason number one this is one of my favorite ‘Mania matches – “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as the guest referee.  This is probably the only time in professional wrestling history that the referee was more over than the two participants.  Reason number two – it leaked that Lesnar was planning on leaving to try out for the Minnesota Vikings, and the crowd knew it and were all over it.  Reason number three – it was a well known fact by this point that this was the last date on Goldberg’s contract, and again, the fans knew it.  There is such a unique atmosphere to this match that it stands out more than any other that I can remember.

Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg – Special Guest Referee “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

MSG chants “you sold out” to Lesnar.  Austin tells them to wrestle.  They decide to circle the ring as the fans sing “Na na na na, na na na  na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.”  The fans chant for Austin, both competitors look at him, and he just smirks.  They finally lock up.  The crowd is crapping all over this.  They lock up again.  Neither one of them can really gain an advantage.  A “This match sucks” chant breaks out as Lesnar slaps on a headlock.  They charge at each other and knock each other down.  There is a huge chunk of this match where nothing is happening.  Lesnar finally starts putting the boots to Lesnar, but Goldberg winds up military pressing Lesnar into a spinebuster.  Lesnar sidesteps a spear, and Goldberg crashes into the turnbuckle.  Lesnar sends him into the steel post on the outside as the crowd chants “Goldberg sucks.”  Back in the ring, Lesnar suplexes Goldberg and only gets a two count.  Lesnar locks in a chinlock of sorts.  Goldberg gets out of it after like an hour, only for Lesnar to lock it right back on.  Goldberg gets out of it again.  JR calls this a “very pedestrian” contest, which is JR speak for boring.  Goldberg builds momentum with a couple of clotheslines and a swinging neckbreaker.  He hits a spear for a two count, and Goldberg argues with Austin about it.  Lesnar hits the F5, but Goldberg kicks out a two.  Lesnar argues with Austin about it.  Goldberg ducks out of the way of a Lesnar spear and hits one of is own.  He signals for the Jackhammer, and nails it.  Austin makes the count, and Goldberg picks up the win.

Winner:  Goldberg

After the match, Lesnar gets up and stares down Austin, and flips off the crowd for singing the “Na na na na” song, before turning his gesture toward Austin, who stuns Lesnar straight out of the WWE.  Goldberg gets back in the ring while Austin is drinking, and Austin gives him a couple beers.  They toast, and like every toast Steve Austin does, he stuns Goldberg out of the WWE as well!

WrestleMania 21 will be in Los Angeles, at the Staples Center.  You can read about it tomorrow.

The Fink welcomes the Chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon.  Mr. McMahon comes out and says that quite frankly, without the fans WrestleMania may have never began.  He’s out here tonight to say thank you on behalf of the entire WWE and the McMahon family.

Oh great, it’s another 4 way sudden death tag team match.  This one for the WWE Tag Team titles.  The World’s Greatest Tag Team is out first, followed by the APA, then the Bashams, and finally, the WWE Tag Team Champions, Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty.

Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty vs. The APA vs. The Bashams vs. The World’s Greatest Tag Team: WWE Tag Team Championship

I think WWE just threw these tag matches together to screw with wrestling writers.  I’m not trying to keep up with this, I’m too tired.  Charlie Haas takes the stinkface in this one.  Doug Basham gets thrown over the top rope on top of the WGTT by Bradshaw, who also drops Danny Basham with a Clothesline from Hell.  Poor Danny gets sat on by Rikishi, who gets the pinfall victory for his team.

Winners and still WWE Tag Team Champions:  Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty

After the match, Rikishi & Scotty dance, and I have to put in disc 2 of this DVD.

There’s a promo video that tells me Edge is coming.  This must be as he was getting ready to come back from his neck injury.

Jessse “The Body” Ventura comes out, and he wonders what WrestleMania would be without him coming out and interviewing somebody.  He finds somebody to interview.  The star of the number one rated show on NBC, The Apprentice, the host of WrestleManias 4 and 5, Donald Trump!  Jesse says his hair looks great.  What does WrestleMania mean to him?  He says it means a lot, he and his son are having a great time.  Jesse asks if he could expect Donald’s moral and financial support if he got back into politics.  Trump says 100%.  Jesse says we should have a wrestler in the White House in 2008.  The fans think that’s a good idea.  I would’ve voted for him.

There’s a barber’s chair set up on the stage.  The barber has a mullet.  I wouldn’t let that dude touch my hair.  This is a Hair vs. Title match.  The challenger, putting her hair on the line, is Molly Holly.  The Champion, putting her title on the line, is Victoria.  I’m not sure if this was after she stopped using the TaTu song, or if they just replaced it on the DVD with a generic version.

Molly Holly vs. Victoria:  Hair vs. WWE Women’s Championship

Unlike the earlier Diva’s match, this is a match between two talented women, wrestling for a title.  I’m actually watching this match and opining on it, because these women aren’t fighting over who the bigger skank is.  Of course, the commentary is all about panties and underwear.  Seriously.  It’s actually detracting from the match.  They might as well have Michael Cole standing up and saying “nobody cares about this.”  JR finally gets out of the panties conversation, and Victoria gets Molly Holly in a backslide and pins her.  Somebody’s getting a haircut.

Winner and still Women’s Champion:  Victoria

Molly hightails it out of there, and catches Victoria trying to come after her.  She knocks Victoria into the barbers chair and tries to shave her head, but the clippers weren’t plugged in.  Victoria turns the tide and straps Molly into the barber chair, then shaves her head.  The barber looks like he’s shocked.  Molly comes to and realizes what’s happening, but she can’t do anything about it, since she’s strapped down.  The fans chant “mullet.”

Tazz says that that hairstyle works for Annie Lennox.  Cole tells him 1988 wants their band back, and they toss it to the video package for the WWE Championship match.

The challenger is out first, as it should be.  The crew comes to take away the barber chair as Eddie rolls into MSG in a lowrider pickup truck.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle

Kurt starts things off on the offense with a ground based attack.  Guerrero tries to play the ground game as well, and he holds his own.  Guerrero starts to pick up the pace, and Angle takes off for the outside of the ring to regroup.  When he gets back in, he slows the match right back down, trying to wear Eddie down with submission holds.  Guerrero reverses an abdominal stretch, going for Three Amigos, but Angle reverses the second one into a German suplex, trying for the three, but Guerrero escapes, sending Angle to the outside.  Eddie dropkicks Angle off of the apron, then misses a high risk maneuver from the top rope to the floor.  Back in the ring, Angle starts to work over Guerrero’s ribs, which may have been hurt on the missed high flying move.  Angle starts to gain confidence after a belly to belly suplex.  He hits a second and goes for a cover, but only gets two.  Eddie uses thumbs to the eyes of Angle to break a bearhug, but Angle hits another huge belly to belly for two.  He sets Eddie up on the top rope, but Guerrero throws Angle down, but misses the frog splash.  Angle starts to work over Guerrero in the corner.  Kurt keeps drilling Eddie with right hands, but it only serves to wake up and anger the WWE Champion.  Guerrero gets fired up, and the tide turns in his favor.  Eddie goes for Three Amigos again, but only hits two before Angle reverses it into the ankle lock.  Eddie escapes quickly and hits a quick dropkick,  Guerrero climbs back to the top, but Angle springs to his feet and tosses Eddie down.  The straps come down, and Kurt locks in the ankle lock, but again Eddie quickly escapes, rolling Angle up for two.  Angle hits Guerrero with another German suplex, then stalks the champion, going for an Angle Slam, but Guerrero reverses it into a DDT.  Guerrero back to the top rope, hits the frog splash, but Angle kicks out at two!  Eddie, along with everybody else in the arena, is shocked.  He takes too long to get back to work on Angle, who takes him right down with an ankle lock out of nowhere.  Guerrero considers tapping, but instead rolls out of the hold again, sending Angle crashing to the floor.  Eddie unties his boot and clutches at his ankle.  Angle sees that Eddie is hurt, and he grabs him in the ankle lock again, but this time, his boot comes off, and he rolls Angle up in a small package and gets the three count!  Eddie wins!

Winner and still WWE Champion:  Eddie Guerrero

After the match, Guerrero swaggers up the ramp, his ankle not hurt at all.  Eddie lied, cheated, and stole his way to victory at WrestleMania XX!

Jerry Lawler is upset about this on the RAW side of commentary, and JR and the King send us to the video package detailing the recent history of The Undertaker and Kane.  FWIW, the reason for this feud, according to Kane, is because The Undertaker was no longer a monster, but a fraud.  Sounds a lot like Kane’s reason for coming after Orton for this year’s show, huh?

Kane is the first one out, and the NYC facade that is the WrestleMania XX stage set appears to be on fire.  Which is why I love Kane’s entrances at WrestleMania.  Kane doesn’t seem to believe that The Undertaker is back (he buried him at Survivor Series).  The arena goes black and Paul Bearer leads druids up the ramp.  The Undertaker emerges from the entrance, looking for all the world like a cowboy.  At least, that’s what I said in 2004 when I was watching this at my friend Turtle’s house.  What’s up, Turtle!  Here’s a shout-out to you on BoredWrestlingFan!   After about an hour, The Undertaker makes it to the ring.

The Undertaker vs. Kane

Kane insists that The Undertaker isn’t real.  He closes his eyes and tries to touch his brother to find out if he’s real or not, but The Undertaker starts assaulting Kane.  It’s all Undertaker early on.  Kane finally manages to hit a side slam, and a big boot to the face, and suddenly it’s the Big Red Monster in control.  Kane heads to the top rope and nails his flying clothesline.  Undertaker ducks a charging Kane then hits him with a big boot and a legdrop, brother.  Undertaker wrenches Kane’s arm and goes for Old School, but Kane caught him by the throat on his way down.  Undertaker grabs Kane’s throat as well, but neither man can get off the chokeslam before they break away from each other.  Kane catches Undertaker coming back in with a chokeslam, but by time Kane is done gloating about it, Undertaker sits up.  He starts throwing rights and hits a flying clothesline.  Undertaker hits a chokeslam of his own, but there is no sitting up for Kane.  He pulls himself up by the ropes, and The Undertaker drops him with a tombstone.  He covers, and he gets the three count.  He is now 12-0 at WrestleMania!

Winner:  The Undertaker (12-0 at WrestleMania)

Undertaker does his pose and we start talking about the final match on the card.  This one:

I don’t think I’ve mentioned Chris Benoit much around here before.  There’s almost like an unofficial moratorium on speaking the name around here, but not a ban.  The guy was a hell of a wrestler, but he couldn’t escape his demons, and it’s unfortunate that the last two days of his life have nearly completely eradicated his legacy.

Anywho, Shawn Michaels makes his way out first for this match.  Nothing really special about his entrance, aside from streamers falling from the ceiling, which gets reused in the next couple ‘Manias as well.  Benoit, the rumble winner, is not the “cool entrance” type, so he just walks to the ring and stares down HBK.  Triple H also does his standard “walk to the ring and spit” entrance.

Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit:  World Heavyweight Championship

The referee actually checks all three for weapons before the bell rings.  HBK and Benoit go for Triple H, but when they argue over who’s going to beat him down, they start to fight.  Benoit even tries for a crossface on Michaels early on, but he can’t get it in.  Benoit whips HBK into Triple H, who spills to the floor, leaving both challengers to battle in the ring.  It’s back and forth, counter for counter between the two of them.  Triple H comes in and clotheslines HBK’s head off and goes after Benoit.  He tries to toss HBK out of the ring, but Michaels skins the cat.  HBK sends Benoit to the floor, and HBK and HHH are left in the ring to battle.  Hunter gets a high knee in for a two count.  Benoit tries to get back into the ring, but Triple H won’t allow it, even going as far as to head back to the outside to ram Benoit’s spine into the ring apron.  HBK baseball slides into Benoit’s back and sends him tumbling onto Triple H.  HBK then hits a moonsault on both of them from the top turnbuckle.  Back in the ring, HBK and Triple H do battle again.  The Game hits a facebuster, but Benoit prevents the Pedigree.  He tosses HBK shoulder first into the steel post before turning his attention back to Triple H.  The Game turns the tide, setting Benoit on the top rope, and eventually tying him to the tree of woe.  He whips Michaels into Benoit, then scores a two count.  He tries to do it again, but Michaels reverses, and Benoit gets a boot out into Triple H’s face, and HBK manages to score a two count.  Flying forearm and a nip up, but The Wolverine clotheslines him out of the ring before he can do anything else.  Benoit hits Triple H with a hat-trick of German suplexes.  Benoit signals that he’s going to go for the flying headbutt, but HBK knocks him down from the top rope.  He goes for sweet chin music, but Triple H ducks and DDTs Michaels.  The Game goes after Benoit, who is still sitting on the top rope.  The two brawl, and The Game hits the superplex, scoring a two count, three times.  Benoit starts to mount a comeback, The Game tries for a Pedigree, but Benoit reverses it and manages to get the crossface locked in, but HBK breaks it up.  Benoit tries to clothesline Michaels, who ducks and tries for triple German suplexes of his own, but Benoit reverses it and hits three Germans of his own.  Benoit heads back to the top rope, and nails the flying headbutt on Shawn Michaels, and gets a couple of two counts.  HBK hits Benoit with the flying forearm, sending Benoit to the outside as Triple H starts to stir.  Michaels nips up, and hits an inverted atomic drop on Triple H, then a bodyslam, and a flying elbow from the top rope.  The fans come alive, and Michaels tunes up the band, and he nails Triple H with Sweet Chin Music, but Benoit manages to pull Triple H right out of the ring.  Michaels and Benoit are back in the ring, and HBK hits the Nature Boy style chops in the corner, but Benoit turns the tide, and catapults Michaels into the ringpost, busting him wide open.  Benoit goes for the crossface, and gets it locked in, but Triple H prevents HBK from tapping, then fights Benoit off of him.  The Game pulls Benoit out of the ring and tries to drive him head first into the steel steps, but Benoit reverses it.  Benoit tries to whip Triple H into the other set of steel steps, but this time Triple H reverses.  The Game starts dismantling the SmackDown announce table.  Benoit bounces Triple H’s head off of the Spanish announce table, then goes for a German suplex on the top of it, but Triple H escapes.  He sets up for a Pedigree on the Spanish announce table, but Benoit fights out of it.  Michaels gets involved in the battle on the table as well, and the former DX members hit a double suplex on Benoit through the SmackDown announce table!  Michaels and Triple H return to the ring, and it looks like we’re down to a singles match here.   HBK with the knife edge chops, and he sends Triple H over the top rope and onto a cameraman.  Benoit hasn’t moved, and HBK sends Triple H skull first into the ringpost.  Michaels is a bloody mess, and Triple H is now busted open as the match gets back into the ring.  HBK throws a few right hands to the face of Triple H, but a fourth attempt leads directly to him walking into a Pedigree.  The Game crawls over and gets an arm draped over Michaels, but Benoit breaks up the pin attempt!  All three men are down in the middle of the ring, Michaels and Helmsly bleeding profusely and Benoit clutching at his back.  The Game tries to pick Benoit up, but Benoit throws a few knife edge chops of his own.  Triple H goes for the Pedigree, but Benoit turns it into a Sharpshooter!  Triple H screams in pain as he tries to crawl to the ropes, but as he gets a fingertip on it, Benoit drags him back to the middle of the ring.  HBK comes in and breaks it up with Sweet Chin Music on Benoit!  Michaels crawls over to Benoit and drapes an arm over him, but only manages to get a two!  He stands back up, goes to the corner, and starts tuning up the band.  Benoit ducks and dumps HBK to the floor.  Triple H gets back up and goes for a Pedigree again, but Benoit reverses it again into a crossface, and this time, Triple H doesn’t have the energy to make it to the ropes.  He tries to roll through to get out of it, but he only gets himself further away from the ropes as Benoit holds on, leaving him no choice but to tap out.  We’ve got a new champion!

Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion:  Chris Benoit

Benoit is near tears when he takes the World Heavyweight Championship from the referee.  He climbs the ropes to show off his belt, and he turns around to find Eddie Guerrero waiting for him.  The WWE Champion applauds the new World Heavyweight Champion, and the two embrace.  Eddie raises Chris’s hand, and as confetti falls from the ceiling, the WWE and World Heavyweight Champions celebrate!

We get our closing video package, and bid you adieu!

My Thoughts:  An unwanted side effect of Benoit’s murder-suicide thing was that Benoit’s biggest WrestleMania moment was one of Eddie Guerrero’s biggest as well.  They still manage to find a clip of Eddie celebrating with his title after his match, but the iconic moment of this show was the end, with Eddie and Chris celebrating having proof that they were the two best wrestlers of the era.  To this day, Goldberg and Lesnar have never set foot in a WWE ring again.  And that’s it for me, look for my WrestleMania 21 review tomorrow!

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