10 Fascinating WWE WrestleMania 20 Facts
An ending that tugged at heartstrings in the moment, and eventually for different reasons.
Perhaps no WrestleMania was better at encompassing several eras of WWE folklore in a single night. For one, it was the first 'Mania to be appended with a Hall of Fame ceremony, one of WWE's earliest attempts to overtly meld throwback thrills within their contemporary product. Adding to the charm, WrestleMania 20 took place in Madison Square Garden, WWE's hallowed home venue. With the exception of Hulk Hogan, every WWE Champion dating back to Bret Hart's 1997 exit, as well as a few prior to then, appeared at WrestleMania 20 in some capacity, lending an all-star quality that future WrestleManias made a point to try and duplicate.
It was a "greatest hits" show, with emphasis on great. You had Rock at his most electrifying, Foley at his most resolute, and Austin at his most defiant. Michaels helped steal the show, while Undertaker returned both from and to the "dark side". If those stars typified the past, then Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit locked down the present, sharing the stage as dual World Champions, celebrating their collective triumph in a manner that was feel-good in 2004.
The future was also represented well when Randy Orton, at age 23, RKOed Foley and pinned him in a high-profile handicap match. An hour earlier, Orton, the Intercontinental Champion, was paralleled by new United States Champion John Cena, both men staring down brighter days approaching quickly.
10. Lance Cade And Rene Dupree Became The First Eighties-Born Wrestlers To Perform At WrestleMania
The second match of the evening pitted four teams in a scrum for the World Tag Team gold, mixing established names like Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and The Dudley Boyz with some fresher-faced OVW call-ups. Among those blue-chippers were Lance Cade (then known as Garrison Cade) and Rene Dupree. Cade was born in March 1981, while Dupree was born in December 1983, making them the first eighties-born wrestlers to take part in a 'Mania match.
Dupree actually gets the official honor, having started out the match with Van Dam, thus he's the Neil Armstrong to Cade's Buzz Aldrin. Two matches later, Randy Orton became the third eighties-born talent to compete at WrestleMania, with Jackie Gayda and Jimmy "Akio" Yang becoming the fourth and fifth subsequently as the night progressed.