14. WrestleMania 22
WrestleMania returned to Chicago for the first time since 1997, which meant two things: the card was stacked and the crowd was hot.
The night opened with a forgettable tag team title match, but quickly saved itself with the second annual Money in the Bank ladder match. Rob Van Dam won the briefcase in a 12-minute brawl that wasn’t quite as good as the inaugural match at WrestleMania 21, but still lived up to the hype and remains one of the best in the gimmick’s history. Fans may recall, this was the catalyst that sparked the return of ECW and led to one of my favorite moments in wrestling – RVD pinning John Cena to become the WWE Champion.
JBL and Chris Benoit fought for the US title in a match that was just OK, but again the show was immediately elevated by an excellent hardcore match between Edge and Mick Foley. At this point Edge had come into his own as a potential main event star, and this program established him in that role, and as a hardcore legend in his own right. While far from a technical masterpiece, Edge and Foley at WrestleMania 22 will always have a place in my heart.
Skipping ahead about an hour – man, that casket match was disappointing – Mr. McMahon stepped into the ring for a rare performance, putting his body through a respectable amount of hell at the hands of Shawn Michaels. The triple threat World Championship match wasn’t given enough time to really get off the ground, but Rey Mysterio got his moment. It’s too bad Vince never really believed in him past the moment, which was ultimately Eddie Guerrero’s moment, which was ultimately just a way for the boss to cash-in briefly on people’s emotions. Are we shocked?
The main event featured a fairly underrated match between John Cena and Triple H for the WWE Championship. You knew the minute they announced WrestleMania for Chicago that Cena was dead in the water for this show. I actually feel bad for him here, because of how badly they messed up bringing the most over guy in pro wrestling to the Raw brand. They put him in matches with stars like Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho, which ultimately further exposed the fact that he wasn’t a stellar wrestler. And in one of the biggest mark-towns on the planet, they booked him to submit Triple H, a heel that was never going to be a heel in that building.
Ultimately this show doesn’t have the five-star moment they were probably hoping for out of WrestleMania in Chicago, but there are so many four-star matches and moments that add up to a memorable event from top to bottom.
