5. WRESTLEMANIA XX
“Where it all begins…again.”
WWE pushed this event as a sort of “rebirth” for the company, and brought tons of hype and spectacle back to Madison Square Garden for their 20th Anniversary. Many expected dozens of celebrities and an overdose of nostalgia; what they got was a straight-up pro wrestling card.
It’s rare when the main event of WrestleMania actually lives up to all the hype and steals the show (is it “stealing” if the show is booked around your match?), but that’s what happened here. Fans got everything they wanted in one, from the bloody confrontation of Triple H and Shawn Michaels, to the crowning of Royal Rumble winner, Chris Benoit. This was the first ever triple threat in the main event of WrestleMania, which was a much bigger deal at the time than it sounds now.
Eddie Guerrero retained the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle in another match for the ages. Two of the best in-ring performers of all time, proving why Smackdown was worth watching in 2004. The final moment of the show – Benoit and Guerrero raising their world titles under a sea of confetti – will never be forgotten.
For all the good on this PPV, there was also quite possibly the worst match in WrestleMania history: Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as the special guest referee. The Undertaker and Kane also had a lousy match, but it was worth it to see the return of the Deadman after several years of the “American Badass” biker gimmick.
The rest of the card was decent. The Rock made a surprise return to reunite the Rock & Sock Connection, putting over Evolution in a fun 17-minute match. The former best friends and tag partners Christian and Chris Jericho had a good showing, though you may remember it more for the moment Trish Stratus turned on Y2J. The cruiserweight division also got a chance to show off; the match wasn’t great, but the “cruiserweight open” was a unique one-time gimmick.
