It tends to be the case that WrestleMania is always one of the most important events in a calendar year for WWE. WrestleMania has more eyes on it than any other annual event and has played host to major title changes, classic matches, torches being passed--successfully or not, and increasingly “WrestleMania moments” that live on through time. Few events have ever had nearly the historical importance of WrestleMania 21. Particularly in the last two decades, it’s difficult to argue any show had more influence or did more to set the tone for years to come.
John Cena And Batista Won Their First World Titles At WrestleMania 21
The list of talents who won their first world titles at WrestleMania is pretty elite, featuring Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, Yokozuna, Shawn Michaels, and Stone Cold Steve Austin among others. WWE understandably saves that specific milestone happening at the biggest show of the year for talents they have the utmost confidence in, or who have earned the chance through sustained excellence over time. WrestleMania 21 was a rare instance of not one, but two such champions being crowned.
When John Cena and Batista each won their first world titles at WrestleMania, it marked a true changing of the guard. JBL had in some sense been a placeholder champ—good at what he did, but the beneficiary when Eddie Guerrero told WWE management he couldn’t handle the pressure of being champ. In a sense, he was keeping the belt warm until Cena was ready to realize his potential. Meanwhile, Triple H passed a more conventional torch—a bona fide top guy, dropping the title to anoint another top guy in Batista.
It's telling that WrestleMania 21 was the first in a run of seven out of ten consecutive WrestleManias with Cena or Batista in the main event match. That’s a testament to them truly being franchise players with longevity in top spots.
Edge Won The First Money In The Bank Ladder Match At WrestleMania 21
It’s difficult to imagine the WWE landscape nowadays without Money in the Bank in the mix. Indeed, since 2005, at least one and often two (and on one occasion three) briefcases have been in the mix each year. It has been a device to push new main eventers, a way to work around injury issues, or a source of an electric surprise moment when WWE unexpectedly shakes up the world title picture.
Edge won the very first Money in the Bank Ladder Match. Not only did this mark a strong start for a defining gimmick of the decade-plus to follow. It also marked The Rated R Superstar’s first big step toward finally breaking through the main event glass ceiling after over three years of banging his head against it in the upper mid-card. Edge is one of the most iconic world champions and main eventers of his generation, and WrestleMania 21 positioned him to make exactly that leap.
Randy Orton Found Himself Again In The Build To And At WrestleMania 21
After a lukewarm initial run in WWE, Randy Orton got over to the highest degree as part of the Evolution faction. He was a new breed cool heel for his generation, and the RKO became one of the hottest finishers in recent memory. However, immediately after winning his first world title, he got kicked out of Evolution and made an ill-conceived face turn. The months to follow saw him play a generic babyface, devoid of so much of what had made him appealing to fans in the first place.
Orton floundered, not only losing his title and failing to recapture it in multiple attempts, but falling distantly behind former Evolution partner Batista in the race to become the top young babyface on Raw. WWE told a different story, however, on the road to WrestleMania. Orton challenged The Undertaker to a match. Initially, the story was all about him making a name for himself and essentially going hunting to end The Dead Man’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania out of sport. Things took a darker turn, though when Orton started playing mind games and opted to demonstrate how serious he was by RKOing his kayfabe girlfriend, the popular Stacy Keibler.
Orton, then, not only turned back to his more natural heel orientation, but laid the foundation for the darker Viper persona that would come to define his career as a main level villain for years to come.
It’s difficult to call WrestleMania 21 an all-time great WrestleMania. Though it did feature a standout match between Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle, and the first Money in the Bank Ladder match was arguably the best edition of the match to date, there are nonetheless other WrestleMania events with a greater number of exceptional matches, or more consistent quality across the board. However, when WWE put its creativity forward with its movie parody advertising campaign for WrestleMania 21, it seemed to have a great deal of intentionality. The marketing choice was memorable and invited casual and lapsed fans to take a look when WWE in many ways hit the reset button to launch a new era of top stars.