10 Fun Facts About My Trip To WWE WrestleMania 21
9. A New Day
One of my favourite aspects of WrestleMania 21 is that it might be the best example of WWE featuring new stars and legends on the same show while having them all seem like big stars. This is something that today's WWE would do well to take notes from.
For years, Edge had been a mid card act in the company, never really threatening to rise about IC Title level, but at WrestleMania 21 he was part of the inaugural Money In The Bank ladder match with Shelton Benjamin, Kane, Chris Benoit, Christian and Chris Jericho. A guaranteed WWE Title shot was on the line.
On the night Edge put in a great performance and won the briefcase. I distinctly remember him kneeling on the ramp, maniacally laughing and hugging the briefcase after this triumph. In the crowd, we felt like we were seeing the beginnings of a new main event star. He was fresh, he was exciting and he was a heel we all wanted to hate (especially after the whole Lita affair thing).
Meanwhile, Randy Orton had turned babyface in the autumn of 2004 and it was a disaster. Luckily he RKOed Stacy Keibler and targeted The Undertaker for WrestleMania, quickly turning him heel once more. While The Phenom was victorious, the story of the match was that Randy Orton had taken Undertaker to his limit. Kenneth and I were into every near fall and thought The Legend Killer might beat The Dead Man and end the streak.
At WrestleMania 21, both Edge and Randy Orton were presented as main event level talent and it was obvious coming out of the show that they were only going to get bigger.