31 Manias in 31 Days: Rewriting Wrestlemania XXI

[LODemolition]

In the next installment of my "Rewriting WrestleMania" series, we revisit the day when WrestleMania went Hollywood; WrestleMania 21 from the Staples Center in 2005. The vignettes were fantastic, with WWE superstars dressing up like characters from the movies we all know and quoting those famous lines like, "You talkin' to me?" by Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver for example. I didn't understand the decision to hold Mania in an arena for the 2nd straight year. At WMXX, it was a no-brainer to go back to MSG despite it only holding 18,000 fans, bevause tradition is more important. But WM21 should have taken place in a stadium like we've grown to take for granted. The 2005 Hall of Fame class the night before was arguably the best to ever be inducted. Hogan, Piper, Orton, Orndorff, Sheik, Volkoff, and Jimmy Hart. Piper would get his segment at Mania to host Piper's Pit with Stone Cold as his guest. Hogan would make an appearance, making the save for Eugene when he was attacked my Muhammad Hassan. I never understood why Hogan wasn't featured on the card however, since he could still go at the time. At SummerSlam the same year, he main evented against Shawn Michaels. I guess that's the biggest change I would make, but before we get to that, let's see the results.

April 3, 2005
Staples Center (Los Angeles, CA)

(Dark) 30-Man Interpromotional Battle Royal:

Booker T won by last eliminating Chris Masters

Rey Mysterio def. Eddie Guerrero

Money in the Bank Ladder Match:

Edge def. Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Christian, and Kane

The Undertaker def. Randy Orton

WWE Women's Championship:

Trish Stratus (c) def. Christy Hemme w/ Lita to retain

Kurt Angle def. Shawn Michaels by submission

Sumo Match:

Akebono def. Big Show

WWE Championship:

John Cena def. JBL (c) to win the championship

World Heavyweight Championship

Batista def. Triple H (c) w/ Ric Flair to win the championship



*Rewriting WrestleMania XXI*


1. (Dark) WWE Tag Team Championship: MNM (c) w/ Melina def. LOD (Animal and Heidenreich)

The tag team division was extremely weak at this point in time. Not only were neither set of belts defended, but one tag team champions were opponents. I'd have the new LOD challenge in the dark match, but come up short against Nitro and Mercury.

2. Intercontinental Championship: Shelton Benjamin (c) def. Rey Mysterio

It always was annoying to me to see the IC or US Champion participate in the MITB match instead of defending their title. Benjamin was entertaining in the ladder match of course, but I'd have rather seen the IC Title on the line. Mysterio would have made for a great challenger. He had a great opening match with Guerrero, but they had matches all the way up to SummerSlam (my personal favorite, when they battled in a ladder match for custody of Dominic). They didn't need to be opponents at Mania. I have something much better planned for Eddie anyway.

3. Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Edge def. JBL, Christian, Booker T, Carlito, Kane, and Big Show

This was the first MITB ladder match that became a yearly tradition at WrestleMania for the next 6 years. Edge would win the first and it was a terrific match. I wouldn't change him winning it at all, I would however change some of the participants. Benoit, Benjamin, and Jericho are out due to me giving them their own matches. Booker T, JBL, and Big Show are in. Booker T and Big Show were clearly misused, and I just plain didn't like JBL vs. Cena so I took the WWE Title off JBL.

4. Chris Jericho def. Ric Flair

Flair should have wrestled at WM21 instead of just being in Triple H's corner. There's a lot of different ways I thought about booking him, but I finally settled on Jericho because I always wanted to see them 1 on 1 on the grandest stage of all. Even though Jericho created the MITB match, I'd rather see him and The Nature Boy light it up.

5. WWE Women's Championship: Trish Stratus (c) def. Christy Hemme w/ Lita

Unfortunately, Lita had a knee injury she was recovering from or I'd have booked them in a rematch from my WM18 rewrite. Therefore I'd keep this the same with Trish retaining against an overmatched Christy.

6. Triple H def. Batista

I nearly booked this as a triple threat with Orton to see the former members of Evolution at eachother's throats. Instead, I took the World Heavyweight Title off Triple H and had him defeat Batista, since I was never much of a fan of his. I don't think that should have been the main event at all. They could have done much better than that.

7. Undertaker def. Chris Benoit

There was nothing wrong with Taker vs Orton at all, but I will have those 2 meet at a future WM. Instead of putting Benoit in the MITB match, I'd have him meet Taker to be the next on his long list of victims in The Streak. Benoit dropped the World Title to Orton at SummerSlam the previous year. I think he should have held on to it longer and lost to Shawn Michaels in the fall/winter.

8. WWE Championship: John Cena def. Kurt Angle (c)

I had no problem with Cena going over as WWE Champion, but his match with JBL fell flat. JBL had been champion for far too long and I was just never much of a fan of his tycoon gimmick. I'd have preferred Angle to go in as WWE Champ. Yes, his match with Shawn Michaels at WM21 was a classic, but I already had them as opponents 2 years earlier.

9. Hulk Hogan def. Randy Orton w/ "Cowboy" Bob Orton and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

As I said in the intro, it confused me that they didn't make room on the card for Hogan when he could still compete. Orton was "the legend killer" back then, so what bigger legend for him to try and destroy? For a bit of WrestleMania nostalgia, his father and Piper are in his corner. Hogan got a great ovation when he appeared that night. Imagine the pops if he had an actual match.

10. World Heavyweight Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) def. Eddie Guerrero

This was the last chance we would have had to see this one happen, since Eddie passed away far too young later on in this year. I would have had Eddie play the heel (he turned heel again this year anyway) and win the '05 Rumble instead of Batista. Michaels/Angle was an excellent match, but as I said I already had them face off at WM19, and Michaels/Guerrero could have been every bit as good, if not better. Shawn retains in a 5 star classic. There are all kinds of ways I could have gone in booking this one, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I think they dropped the ball on a lot of this card.


Feel free to comment and/or post your rewritten WM21.

 

[Double S]

I totally disagree with all the changes, and the only change Id make is get rid of akebono and have big show vs Booker

Batista was the hot guy (not cena) so him beating h was perfect,

Cena was just behind him and right to launch to the top of smack down, Jbl was a great heel champion and beat everyone but cena, great way to ascend even if it's not a great match

Angle vs shawn is a show stealer, never change this!!

Randy made the streak feel bigger than it ever did before with the legend killer gimmick, and I really thought he'd break it,

Money in the bank as a concept I dislike, but these 6 were perfect to launch the new match

Eddie vs rey was the start of a slow heel turn, was in theory a good opener despite Reys annoying mask issues

Shame lita was hurt but they did ok with the fill in

 

[Judah's Lion]

Mania 21 is absolutely historic and deserves all the praise it gets. this event is responsible for the main event pushes of Cena, Batista, Edge and Orton. sure, they had all accomplished a lot prior to this event, but this stage quite literally set the stage for the rest of their careers. it was a pretty big gamble but clearly worth the risk.

still, true to this series, some quick changes...

Eddie vs. Rey was an incredible opener and i've long liked the storyline of them being current Tag Team Champs here. however, i've changed my mind in that regard. i'd keep the match as is, but the build would be a bit different. i'd have the Basham Brothers defeat Eddie and Rey for the Tag Team Titles for two reasons. first, it gives JBL's Cabinet all the gold (World Title, US Title and Tag Titles) and it gives Eddie and Rey a reason to fight on this stage. they can blame each other for the loss of the gold and settle it on this stage. so that works for me.

Tag Team Titles: i mentioned (in my Mania 20 response) that i would have unifed the two sets of Tag Team Titles at that event since the division was lacking from previous years and two sets seemed a bit excessive. that said, i'd have the Basham Brothers defend the only Tag Team Titles at this event against the newly debuting MNM. it would have been a perfect debut for "WrestleMania Goes Hollywood" given their gimmick and a strong debut to win the Tag Team Titles on the biggest stage in their first match. so that's the match i'd have added.

US Title: i'd have Orlando Jordan defend his title against Booker T. it would be a pretty logical build and decent match. give Booker the US Title. yes, it'd be a bad night for JBL's Cabinet, but it happens.

Sumo Match: Akebono vs. Rikishi. if you absolutely must have this match, put Rikishi in it instead of Big Show. we saw Rikishi in a thong for years. a diaper isn't much worse. and if Akebono gives this event some celebrity status and some bigger buys in Japan and Hawaii, then so be it. to be clear, i'm not recommending this match stays. but if it absolutely has to for financial reasons, then i'd make this switch.

Taker vs. Orton stays as is. it was a pretty perfect match and the first time the Streak became the primary story for Taker's match.

Angle vs. HBK was match of the night and stays as is also. the build up was amazing and the match was phenomenal. i always prefer HBK winning at Mania, but Angle was the right call.

Women's Title: i think this should have been Trish vs. Victoria since Lita was injured. maybe make Christy Hemme the special referee and screw Trish out of the title.

MITB: Jericho vs. Benoit vs. Edge vs. Benjamin vs. Kane vs. Christian. i would prefer that Benjamin defend his IC Title at Mania instead, but he was on such a roll going into Mania 21. i legit thought he had a chance to win the briefcase here and go on to the main event scene long term. so he belonged in this match in my opinion. and i like having the powerhouse Kane in there too to mix up some of the fighting styles. great ladder match and awesome ending with Edge becoming the Ultimate Opportunist.

i think Big Show belonged on this card and i thought the Piper's Pit segment was a bit flat. plus, another thing i mentioned in my Mania 20 response was to have Piper's Pit at MSG with Rock and Austin and i think that would have been better then and there. so for Mania 21, how about having Hogan/Big Show vs. Piper/Muhammed Hassan? i think that'd be a decent-ish tag match, it's got some history with Hogan and Piper and it gets all four still on this card.

then if you want to do an interview segment, have Carlito do Carlito's Cabana, have his guest be Eugene (who was very popular at the time) and script in a confrontation/beat down that leads to a feud between the two later on down the line. so again, that gets all the guys that were on the actual show on my fantasy show, just switched around a little bit.

Flair is such a legend and deserves to be in a match on the grand stage. maybe take the IC Title off of Shelton Benjamin and put it on the line between Flair and Regal. both guys are old-school, hard-hitting, technical geniuses. they feuded around this time with Triple H and Eugene both involved, though my timeline might be off a bit. still, give two of my all-time favorite veterans a Submission Match for the IC Title on the Granddaddy of them All.

World Title #1: Batista vs. Triple H. i thought this was a decent match and told a logical story. their rematches were also good and this set up Batista well for his future in the WWE. leave this match mostly as is.

World Title #2: JBL vs. Cena. this match was way too short and didn't make a ton of sense given JBL's tendency to cheat to win in every match. i think i've got some of that taken care of in my fantasy card by having all the members of his Cabinet booked in matches and losing their respective titles. so having suffered defeat, they wouldn't be in any physical or emotional condition to help out their leader here. and then i'd make this match a Street Fight. JBL would then get to legally cheat, as he often did in his title defenses anyway, and Cena a chance to overcome even greater odds. hit JBL with a chair and then hit an FU on the chair. it might have made for a better story inside the ropes.

still, between some of the great matches we saw (MITB, Angle/HBK, Taker/Orton) and for the careers it launched (Cena, Batista, Orton, Edge) this was an impressive Mania that did its job well on this night.

 

[MC_Live]

While WrestleMania XX had a slightly above average undercard with fantastic main events, WrestleMania 21 was the opposite, with a fantastic undercard and slightly above average main events. And even though the main events weren't amazing, they did launch two of the most successful main eventers in WWE history. So with that in mind, there's not much I would change on this show either. But I have a few minor differences to make.

Booker T wins Pre-Show Battle Royal
It's only a DVD extra, so it doesn't even matter enough to change.

1) Rey Mysterio def. Eddie Guerrero
This is a great match, and one of the best WrestleMania openers ever. I loved this match and loved how it set up the rest of their rivalry. If there is anyone to face Eddie Guerrero in his last Mania match, it's Rey Mysterio.

2) Edge def. Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Kane, Christian, and Shelton Benjamin- Money in the Bank Ladder Match
The first MiTB match may be the best one. Given that this launched Edge to become one of the greatest heels ever, there is nothing to change here.

3) The Undertaker def. Randy Orton
Very underrated match. One of the better Streak matches. Randy Orton made the streak feel really important, and I remember how dastardly of a villian he came off as when he RKO'd his then on screen girlfriend Stacy Keibler because he was obsessed with showing Undertaker what he could do. Leave it as is.

4) Trish Stratus def. Victoria w/ Special Guest Ref Lita- Woman's Championship
I get that Christy Hemme was getting the big push after winning the Diva search. But this was too soon for her. Victoria would have made a much better opponent. And throw Lita in as ref to create a little extra drama between three of the best women wrestlers ever.

5) Kurt Angle def. Shawn Michaels
A true wrestling clinic. A WrestleMania classic. Don't change a thing.

6) Big Show w/Akebono def. Orlando Jordan (c) w/ The Basham Brothers- United States Champion
Does anybody even really remember Orlando Jordan was US champ? First of all, the world never needed to see Big Show in a sumo thong. Secondly, the sumo match sucked. Third, there was no US or IC title match on this Mania. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Jordan defends against Show, who has Akebono back him up to counteract the Bashams. Big Show wins, and afterwards Akebono can crush all three cabinet members to give a reason as to why they wouldn't help JBL in his match.

7) Hurricane and Rosey def. La Rèsistance (c)- World Tag Team Championship
While there was not a great tag division in 2005, might as well get the titles on the card. So I added in a match. Just not have William Regal and Tajiri win the titles, and move Hurrican and Rosey's win up a month. All works out.

8) John Cena def. JBL (c) WWE Championship
While it may not be the greatest technical match, this was Cena's first World Title, launching the most decorated WWE Champion ever. So with that, leave this one as is.

9) Batista def. Triple H (c) w/Ric Flair- World Heavyweight Championship
Much like Cena, this launched Batista. Ironically, Batista was supposed to be in the spot that Cena eventually got, but I think Drax turned out alright. So keep this the same. But maybe don't have Motörhead perform live. I love Motörhead, but it doesn't make a lot of sense for a heel to get a live band.

 

[MMK]

WRESTLEMANIA 21

World Heavyweight Championship: Triple Threat
Batista def. Randy Orton and Triple H(c) w/ Ric Flair
Seemed odd to leave Orton out of this storyline. Orton's face turn in the fall of 04 was unnecesary. I dont mind a jealous Triple H kicking him out of the group but he could have remained a heel. Then a face Batista, tired of being overlooked, steps in to take both egomaniacs down. Ignoring Orton altogether really set him back for quite some time. This was the year to have a triple threat main event Mania. Not the year prior.

WWE Championship:
John Cena def. Chris Jericho
(In my timeline Jericho was the inaugural MITB winner at WMXX and cashed in on Eddie Guerrero sometime in 04, meaning we never have to be subjected to JBL in the main event of every ppv for a year. Always felt Jericho brought out the best in Cena during these years.)

Kurt Angle def. Shawn Michaels
(No changes here.)

The Undertaker def. Eddie Guerrero
Eddie was on top of the world in 2004, but by 2005 he was back to the midcard unfortunately. I thought Eddie's heel turn was the most asinine heel turn since Austin in 2001. Why turn a guy heel who fans naturally love? So he could start a feud with Rey Mysterio? A feud we saw a hundred times in WCW already? Rey was beneath Eddie at this point. Eddie should have remained a face and stayed in the main event. He proved everyone wrong a year earlier in beating Brock and winning at Mania. Now he would prove everyone wrong again and do what no one else could do and end Undertakers streak.
These are two of the most intense believable performers in WWE history. Shame they never hooked up in the ring. Didn't mind the "legend killer" trying to end the streak, but like the OP I'd have held off on that at least for one more year when Orton was a little more ready. Little too young at this point to be being fed to Taker. I mean really, where do you go after that? Which basically became Ortons problem. He did too much too soon and burned out.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
Edge def. Christian, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Booker T, Shelton Benjamin
As I said I had Chris Jericho winning the inaugural MITB at WMXX so I've taken him out of this match, as well as Kane, and replaced them with Rey Mysterio and Booker T.

United States Championship
Hulk Hogan def JBL
IMO, JBL was not world champion/main event material. The highest I'd place him on the card would be a as a cocky condescending U.S. champion. Honkytonk man level. After several months of dominating as U.S. Champion, JBL sets out an open challenge. Says he's beaten every challenger theyve put in front of him and he's the only real american in this company and no one can take the U.S. championship from him. Cue that Rick Derringer music. Hulk enters, catches JBL off guard, and wins in relatively short fashion. Next night on Raw, or Smackdown, JBL weasels out of it saying the title was never on the line and he is still champion.)

WWE Women's Championship:
Trish Stratus (c) def. Lita
(Christy who? She was stunning to look at it but she could't wrestle. Just let Trish and Lita go at it instead, this time with Lita as the heel.)

WWE Tag Team Championship Battle Royal:
Kane & Big Show, Masters & Carlito, La Resistance, Hurricane & Rosey, Basham Brothers, London & Kendrick, Snitsky & Heidenreich, Gangrel & Viscera, Regal & Eugene

 

[jrush1978]

Ive enjoyed most of these and would have loved to have seen some of the proposed matches. To me though this is the first one that's just really off. Batista absolutely was the hottest thing at that moment and him main eventing for the WHC against the top heel at the time was the right thing to do.

The JBL-Cena match was a little flat but as a previous poster stated HBK-Angle absolutely was the match of the night and you can't break that up without weakening the card. And also as at least one other poster has mentioned Randy Orton really made 'the streak' a household term, and while I caught you saying you were going to have Taker-Orton at a later WM if you're booking in real time you cant plan that far in advance. Long term booking yes, but if you were booking WM 21 at the time you weren't going to not have Taker-Orton telling yourself that you're going to have it 3 or 4 years later.

And lastly, i'm more of a Hogan mark than I care to admit but as much as most of us (myself included) complain about part timers and old guys I couldn't in good conscious put a 56yo Ric Flair and 51yo Hulk Hogan on this card in separate matches.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This was an excellent Wrestlemania event and one I look back fondly on. There are two things I would change about it though. The Big Show VS Akebono match was complete garbage and should never have happened. I'd have had Big Show face someone else instead in a regular match, like Muhammad Hassan. He should have had a match instead of attacking Eugene (who would not even appear at my version of the event). Hassan wins. I would also change the Kurt Angle VS Shawn Michaels match, but ONLY the result. That match was great, however I always thought Michaels should have won it. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing about this Wrestlemania.

 

[MMA Mark]

Batista > HHH(c) - WHC title
Cena > JBL(c) - WWE title
MITB Ladder match - Edge wins
Orton > Hogan
Angle > HBK
Hassan > Benoit(c) - US title
Taker > Jericho
MNM > Rey & Eddie(c) - Tag titles
Trish(c) > Hemme - Women's title
30-Man Battle Royal

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I really liked this Wrestlemania if the only real change I would do is change Big Show vs. Akebono to Big Show and Booker T vs. JBL's Cabinet. It's amazing how Booker T was left out of the card.

I would also change how Batista vs. Triple H was booked. Batsita needed to come in as "the animal" it would have been better if they had a 15 min match with Triple H being dominated in the last min of the bout establishing Batista as the "beast" he was advertised.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

This Wrestlemania was near perfect. The only things that sucked was the Cena vs JBL match and Triple H vs Batista match.

How come JBL got no help from the Cabinet? Heel interferences are always enjoyable, so I'd had Cena overcome all odds, by beating JBL and also avoiding his Cabinet during the match, just to increase the spark of the match.

Then, why didn't Hogan wrestle? I mean he wrestled at Summerslam, why not here? I'd completely erase Big Show vs Akebono, and have Hogan vs Big Show instead, with Hogan slaming Big Show, just like Andre, just for the Wrestlemania moment. Akebono and Big Show could have a segment post-match.

Final change, I'd make Batista vs Triple a Street Fight? Why? The reason this Wrestlemania failed to reach the heights of WM 17, 19 and 3, was because the main-events did not deliver wrestling wise. So, by making this match a Street Fight, you can hide Batista's shortcomings in the ring and also make the match more entertaining.