The slogan for wrestling twenty it was “Where it all begins…again” and it certainly was. It was the historic 20th anniversary of WrestleMania, and it was the third to take place in the hallowed halls of Madison Square Garden after WrestleMania opened and wrestling 10. The card was stacked top to bottom and there were seven championship matches on the card, with the Intercontinental Championship not being defended as champion Randy Orton was involved in a handicap match.
It was a joint production between Raw and Slap and the card featured a whopping 12 matches on the show. WrestleMania 20 did not fail to disappoint and there were plenty of shocking moments, and some facts about the show may have gone under the radar.
10 John Cena won his first singles championship in WWE
John Cena challenged Big Show for the WWE United States Championship in the opening event at WrestleMania 20. This was the first United States Championship match to take place at WrestleMania, and was the first time Big Show had defended a championship on the biggest stage of all.
Cena finished off the fans and they cheered for him throughout the match. It took a chain and a pair of FUs for Cena to drive Show away to capture the first United States Championship, which turned out to be his first singles championship in WWE.
9 Both tag team championships were defended in Fatal 4-Way Matches.
The Raw World Tag Team Championship and the SmackDown WWE Tag Team Championship were defended in fatal sudden death four-way matches. Rob Van Dam and Booker T put the World Tag Team Championship on the line against La Resistance, the Dudley Boyz, and Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
RVD and Booker T retained their titles after RVD executed the Five-Star Frog Splash on Rob Conway. SmackDown Side of Things Champions Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty managed to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship against the World’s Best Tag Team, APA and the Basham Brothers.
8 Trish Stratus betrayed Chris Jericho
Former World Tag Team Champions Christian and Chris Jericho had an excellent fight in a back-and-forth match. Jericho and Christian had plenty of time to tell a story that the match warranted. However, Trish Stratus made her way down the aisle to a standing ovation from the New York crowd.
Trish entered the ring and Christian knocked her down. Trish attacked Jericho when she was blinded and Christian rolled Jericho for the win. Trish then turned rude as she slapped Jericho across the face multiple times with Christian coming back to the ring and dropping Jericho with the Unprettier. Christian and Trish locked lips as they reached the top of the ramp.
7 Randy Orton and Batista made their WrestleMania in-ring debut
There was a highly successful handicap match with Evolution’s Ric Flair, Batista and Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton. They clashed with Mick Foley and The Rock from the Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection. This turned out to be Rock’s last match in a WWE ring for seven years.
This was Randy Orton and Batista’s first tryout of competing at WrestleMania. It was something to remember when Legend Killer connected with an RKO out of nowhere on Foley to seal the deal for Evolution.
6 First WrestleMania
WrestleMania is the biggest show of the year and fans from all over the world tune in to watch the event. WrestleMania traditionally takes place in late March or early April. However, WrestleMania 20 was the first date that WrestleMania took place, as it took place on March 14, 2004.
The last WrestleManias happened in early April and the last WrestleMania that happened in March was WrestleMania 31. It doesn’t matter if WrestleMania happens in March or April, but fans will religiously tune in to see the drama unfold.
5 Goldberg and Brock Lesnar were leaving WWE after the event
It’s funny how quickly things can change in WWE, since Goldberg was the World Heavyweight Champion and Brock Lesnar was the WWE Champion in December 2003. Three months later, both men were heading to the exit and the crowd knew.
Steve Austin was the special guest referee and not even his appearance could save this match from being catastrophic. The fans booed the match outside the building with chants of “You sold out” echoing around the arena and none of the competitors were interested. Goldberg prevailed but the result was irrelevant with Austin running the Stunner on both.
4 Molly Holly launched to get her bald head shaved
Molly Holly was incredibly selfless when she pitched to have her head shaved at WrestleMania for a WWE Women’s Championship match to take place at WrestleMania. Molly challenged Victoria for the WWE Women’s Championship and if she failed to regain the Women’s Championship, Molly would have her head shaved.
It’s a shame Molly had to go to these extremes to get a Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania. Molly lost the match and had her hair shaved off, which was one of the most iconic moments in WrestleMania history.
3 Victoria became the first woman to defend the WWE Women’s Championship at successive WrestleManias.
WWE Women’s Championship matches were sporadic in the early years of WrestleMania, and of the first 20 editions of WrestleMania, Victoria and Molly Holly’s Women’s Championship match was only the eighth Women’s Championship match to have taken place. on the biggest stage of all.
Victoria made history by becoming the first woman in WWE history to defend the WWE Women’s Championship at back-to-back WrestleManias. She dropped the women’s title to Trish Stratus in a triple threat match involving Jazz in wrestling 19but 12 months later, he made sure lightning didn’t strike twice by firing Molly.
2 Eddie Guerrero became the first Babyface to retain the WWE Championship in nine years
WWE Championship matches at WrestleMania are always one of the biggest matches on the card, and Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle’s WWE Championship win was outstanding. They brought the house down in a fantastic wrestling match, and considering Angle’s neck issues were beginning to resurface again, it was a solid performance from both men.
Angle came close to regaining the WWE Championship, but Guerrero unbuckled his boot and landed a small package to retain the WWE Title. Amazingly, Eddie became the first babyface in nine years to successfully defend the WWE Championship at WrestleMania since Diesel at WrestleMania. wrestling 11.
1 return of the dead man
One of the highlights of WrestleMania 20 was the return of The Undertaker as Deadman. Undertaker was the American Badass for three years, but that gimmick stopped at survival series 2003, when Undertaker’s brother Kane helped Mr. McMahon defeat him in a Buried Alive match.
Undertaker had a grand entrance with the Druids on his side and Paul Bearer reprized his role as his manager. This was the second WrestleMania match between Undertaker and Kane, and it was worse than their WrestleMania 14 find. However, the match centered around Undertaker’s breakthrough return as Deadman, ending with Kane with a required Tombstone to extend his WrestleMania undefeated streak to 12-0.