WrestleMania 20 was one of the biggest shows in WWE history as a special anniversary event for WWE’s biggest event. The show returning to Madison Square Garden one final time before expanding to bigger venues added a lot of excitement. WWE loaded the main event tier with two epic world title matches bringing the in-ring action.
Other stories like The Undertaker returning as The Deadman, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar having their big showdown and The Rock and Sock Connection reuniting to face Evolution provided a loaded card. There was an interesting build to the event with both Raw and Smackdown having huge moments. The following things about getting to WrestleMania 20 will make the show more fascinating to look back on.
10 Kurt Angle Defeated John Cena & Big Show To Win Title Shot
Chris Benoit winning the Royal Rumble match in 2004 saw him moving from Smackdown to Raw when challenging Triple H for the World Championship. Smackdown needed someone to emerge as the challenger to Eddie Guerrero’s WWE Championship at WrestleMania 20.
No Way Out 2004 featured a triple threat match between John Cena, Kurt Angle and Big Show to name the new #1 contender. Angle won a solid match to move into the title picture, while Cena and Big Show continued feuding with each other for the United States Championship.
9 Shawn Michaels Interrupting Contract Signing Added Him To Main Event
WWE pivoted from a singles match between Triple H and Chris Benoit for the World Championship when adding Shawn Michaels to make it a triple threat. Michaels and Triple H had a draw finish to their Last Man Standing match at Royal Rumble 2004 to continue the feud.
A desperate Michaels interrupted the contract signing between Triple H and Benoit. Even though they were both face characters, Michaels hit Benoit with a superkick and signed his name on the contract. The program moved forward as a triple threat with all three having issues with each other.
8 First Brand Split WrestleMania With Inter-Promotional Matches
One cool twist about WrestleMania 20 is that the brand split was still respected enough to warrant explaining Raw and Smackdown wrestlers facing each other. WWE had a few ideas in mind when adding a disclaimer that a few inter-promotional matches would take place.
Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker vs Kane and the women’s tag match all featured Raw wrestlers battling Smackdown. The wrestlers from Smackdown won two of those three matches. WWE unfortunately stopped explaining the future inter-promotional feuds as much.
7 Goldberg Vs Brock Lesnar Build Started All The Way Back At Survivor Series 2003
WWE spent months building up Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg since the seeds needed to be planted on the cross-branded PPVs. Survivor Series 2003 featured a backstage segment between Brock and Goldberg talking trash to each other as their respective brands world champs.
Royal Rumble 2004 saw the bigger advancement when Lesnar cost Goldberg the Rumble match when trying to get back into the title picture. Goldberg costing Brock the WWE Championship against Eddie Guerrero was the last step to booking their big match at WrestleMania 20.
6 Trish Stratus Was Written Out For Weeks After Christian Attack
The love triangle between Chris Jericho, Christian and Trish Stratus was one of the better storylines on the build to WrestleMania 20. Jericho turned face after developing strong feels for Stratus, but it just alienated his tag partner and best friend Christian.
A couple of attacks by Christian made the feud exciting to watch play out. Christian attacking Trish when Jericho wasn’t there was a shocking moment. Stratus sold the attack for weeks until returning for the match with a stunning heel turn aligning with Christian.
5 Vince McMahon Vs Eric Bischoff Dream Match Took Place
WWE booked one of their biggest potential dream matches between non-wrestlers during the build to WrestleMania 20. Vince McMahon challenged Eric Bischoff to a match about six years after Bischoff did the same calling out Vince in WCW.
The Raw match between the former enemies was officiated by Steve Austin with a lot of hype. Unfortunately, it was not much of a match as they brawled for a few minutes until the real segment played out. Brock Lesnar appeared to attack Austin when he was left alone in the ring.
4 The Rock Hosted "This Is Your Life, Mick Foley" Segment
The Rock wrestled his final WWE match in over seven years at WrestleMania 20. WWE booked Rock to return and help his former tag partner Mick Foley have a better chance against the Evolution faction during his bigger rivalry with Randy Orton.
The previous Rock and Sock Connection tag run between Rock and Foley featured a highly successful segment of Foley hosting “This is your life, Rock” with people from his past showing up. WWE tried to have a sequel with Rock bringing Mick’s former friends for “This is your life, Mick Foley” with less of a memorable impact.
3 Kurt Angle Aligned With Heel General Manager Paul Heyman Vs Eddie Guerrero
Kurt Angle was a face character entering his feud with fellow fan favorite Eddie Guerrero for the WWE Championship. However, it didn’t take long before Angle reverted to his heel ways by insulting Eddie’s previous addiction battles.
Paul Heyman was the heel Smackdown General Manager at the time and had his own issues with Guerrero. WWE booked a match with Eddie having one hand behind his back against Eddie, but it was a set up for Angle to brutally attack Guerrero with Heyman setting it up.
2 The Undertaker Did Not Appear Before WrestleMania 20
WWE wrote The Undertaker off at Survivor Series 2003 in a buried alive match against Vince McMahon. Even though McMahon won the match, it was Kane who delivered the attack on Undertaker and buried his brother alive to get rid of him.
Undertaker announced his desire to return vs Kane via cryptic messages whenever Kane was in the ring. WWE never bought Undertaker back when booking the match until the WrestleMania 20 night itself to add to the anticipation of the Dead Man gimmick returning after over four years.
1 WWE Referenced Brock Lesnar Leaving During Steve Austin Attack
Brock Lesnar made his decision to leave WWE during the build to WrestleMania 20 since that was the end of his contract. WWE was surprised, but the unhappiness of Brock traveling for the job and wanting to try his luck in the NFL saw him wanting out.
There was a slight reference to the status of Lesnar when Steve Austin showed up to Smackdown to get his four-wheeler back. Brock had the entire Smackdown roster at ringside to stop Austin, but they let him walk past to attack him. WWE did this to show the locker room gave up on Lesnar and slightly used the real story of him leaving for that moment.