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WWE WrestleMania 22; “Big Time”.
Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child fame opens up the event with an amazing rendition of “America The Beautiful” (editors note: much rather prefer to hear Lillian Garcia sing this…) which as usual in the U.S. gets the crowd on it’s feet!
World Tag Team Championship Match
*Big Show & *Kane vs. Carlito & “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters
Carlito and “The Masterpiece” seemed on their way to their first World Tag Title reign after a run of good performances in the weeks leading into WrestleMania, however Kane and Show had other plans… Masters locked his patented Master Lock onto Kane at the midway point of the match, but Big Show was there to break it up, moments later Kane had Carlito goozled and as Masters came off the top rope to break it up, Kane rotated Carlito by the throat and Masters came down blasting his own partner! Masters then received a big boot to the face as Kane gave Carlito a chokeslam and picked up the pin fall victory!
Carlito and Masters then had a heated exchange of words following the match, as their alliance once again looked on the brink of destruction.
Winners and still World Tag Team Champions; Big Show & Kane
- Jonathan “The Coach” Coachman interviews “The Heart Break Kid” Shawn Michaels; HBK gives an amazing promo prior to his match in which he states that it should be Vince McMahon who drops to his knees and looks towards God, as HBK is unleashing a side of himself that has been dormant in recent years.
Money In The Bank Inter-promotional Ladder Match
RAW: Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin vs. SD!: Matt Hardy vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Fit Finlay
The match started off with every competitor taking shots at Bobby Lashley, with Lashley coming out on top, but then the real action took place… Ric Flair was ladderplexed off the top of the ladder by Matt Hardy which ended with Flair being helped to the back with a leg injury, also Lashley was three-man spike powerbombed from a sunset-flip position off a ladder by Shelton, Finlay and Hardy! Flair then made his way back out to the action. Another high spot of mention saw Shelton Benjamin run up a ladder, much like last year, which was propped against Finlay and hit a somersault plancha to the outside which took out the rest of the competitors. Hardy once again showed his Ladder match veteran status, this time reversing a Finlay attack by hitting a Side Effect from the ladder to the Irish brawler. Shortly after this, Matt Hardy hit a Leg Drop from atop a ladder and RVD hit a modified Five Star Frog Splash from the very top of a ladder! The match came to a climax as Van Dam was about to reach for the briefcase which prompted Shelton to springboard from the top rope to his ladder to stop him. Hardy then set up another ladder to grab the briefcase as Shelton and Van Dam were busy, but Van Dam shoved both Shelton and Hardy from the ladder to the outside of the ring and then tugged the briefcase down for the victory!
Rob Van Dam can now force a World Title Match at any point within the next 12 months as he becomes “Mr. Money In The Bank”.
Winner: Rob Van Dam
- Josh Matthews interviews Hall of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund… But before the interview can get underway, Randy Orton steps into the shot and ridicules “Mean” Gene about being in the Hall of Fame for announcing… Which leads to Batista entering the shot and cutting Orton off! Batista says that if Orton wins tonight, Batista will be back and will take back the title he gave up.
WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2006 Inductee Roll Call
Howard Finkel lets us know that Bret “The Hitman” Hart will not be here tonight as he felt uncomfortable with being here. “The Fink” then introduces the 2006 Inductees, with the late, great Eddie Guererro’s widow Vickie led out by Eddies nephew Chavo Guererro, last. Needless to say, Vickie and Chavo were greeted by a heartfelt welcome and obligatory “Eddie! Eddie!” chant.
WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2006 Inductees:
- “Sensational” Sherri
- Verne Gagne
- Tony Atlas
- The Blackjacks
- Celebrity Inductee William “The Refrigerator” Perry
- “Mean” Gene Okerlund
- Eddie Guererro
- Bret “Hitman” Hart
WWE United States Championship Match
*Chris Benoit vs. ”Self Proclaimed Wrestling God” John Bradshaw Layfield
In one of the hardest hitting pure wrestling matches of the night, JBL and Chris Benoit put on an amazing show… Both JBL and Benoit went to hit Eddie Guererro’s patented “Three Amigos” vertical suplexes at various times during the match, however it was Benoit who got in the majority of the offence managing to hit German suplexes and a diving head butt as well as the “Three Amigos”. JBL used his manager Jillian Hall as a distraction also during the match and managed to push Benoit harder as he looked a definite threat to Benoit’s U.S. Title. The finish came when JBL tried to hit the Clothesline from Hell, but Benoit reversed the offence and locked in the Crippler Crossface! …JBL then showed us his ring sense by rolling through the Crossface and turning Benoit’s hold into his own pin fall attempt, as the referee started to count JBL then applied some additional leverage by grabbing hold of the ring ropes for the three-count pin fall victory over a shocked Chris Benoit.
Winner and NEW United States Champion: John Bradshaw Layfield
J.R. and Jerry “The King” Lawler were joined at ringside by ECW Announcing Legend, and RAW Lead Announcer Joey “Oh My God!” Styles!
Hardcore Match
Edge w/ Lita vs. Mick Foley
Both Foley and Edge came out to the ring as intense as anyone has ever saw the two, and we the people knew we’d be in for a treat in this match… With barbed wire and baseball shots galore, this match will go down in both Edge and Foleys minds as one of the most hard-fought matches of their careers! Foley ripped and tore at Edges flesh throughout this match, even throwing in some wrestling moves in his flurry of offence. On top of the match, Edge went to the outside and threw the steel steps over to reveal a hidden set of weapons, most notably a bad of tacks, which he brought into the ring! Edge walked Foley over to the pile of tacks spread in the corner of the ring, however, it was Edge not Foley that ended up being dropped onto them as Foley, with possibly the fastest reversal in his career, back dropped Edge onto the tacks!
Foley then pulled out Mr. Socko, which he wrapped in barbwire and delivered a Mandible Claw to both Edge and Lita! Foley then doused a table on the outside of the ring in lighter fluid, but before he could continue his line of thought, Lita drove a barbwire bat into Foleys genital area and proceeded to light the table on fire… Edge then hit an amazing spear through the middle of the ropes, driving Foley and himself through the burning table. A three count later and once again, Foleys dreams of gaining that one pivotal WrestleMania moment were dashed, this time, by Edge.
Winner: Edge.
- Booker T and his wife Sharmell were shown backstage prior to their match against the undefeated and unorthodox Boogeyman. As they walked through the back, they bumped into “Pirate” Paul Burchill, Mae Young and Moolah (with Snitsky licking Mae’s foot…), Ted Dibiase (who seemed to have bet Eugene that he couldn’t bounce a ball 100 times to win $10,000…) and finally his old tag team partner Goldust; Goldust told Booker that if he wanted to beat the Boogeyman, he had to think like the Boogeyman, and shove the Boogeyman’s worms up Bookers own… Well, where exactly, nobody knows, but it couldn’t have been in his pocket as Bookers reaction was an angry “Tell me you didn’t just say that!”!
2-on-1 Handicap Match
Booker T & Sharmell vs. The Boogeyman
Booker and Sharmell started up the match with some offence, with Booker hitting a slew of kicks on The Boogeyman and some hard right and left hands, Booker even managed to hit his trademark “Bookend” on Boogeyman… But it wasn’t long until The Boogeyman took control of the match and ate some worms! As The Boogeyman was chewing on the worms, Sharmell saw an opportunity to try a sneak attack on him, but that thought died quickly as The Boogeyman grabbed Sharmell and planted a wet, wormy kiss on to her lips! Sharmell promptly ran up the entrance ramp screaming, leaving her husband to fall victim to a choke bomb from The Boogeyman.
Winner: The undefeated Boogeyman
WWE Women’s Title Match
*Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James
Trish and Mickie put on another of the best performances of the night and definitely one of the best RAW superstar performances. Both Trish and Mickie hit some high impact moves, with Trish hitting Mickie with a huge power bomb. Mickie took control of the match after reversing a turnbuckle hurricanrana from Trish and unleashing a flurry of offence on the Women’s Champion. Mickie reversed the Stratusfaction rather unorthodoxly and after Trish reversed Mickie’s version later in the match, Mickie hit her Mick Kick and covered Trish for the pin fall victory!
Winner and NEW Women’s Champion: Mickie James
- Vince, Linda, Shane and Stephanie McMahon are shown backstage. Vince says that they are going to perform their first ever McMahon Family Prayer; Vince starts by saying that he doesn’t like God, and God doesn’t like him, and Vince has broken every law God has made and still became successful. Vince finishes off the prayer by adding that he is a 60 year old successful businessman with a “Herculean like” figure. Funny points go to Shane and Steph for echoing the thoughts of the people with a rather amused stare at each other after this comment!
Casket Match
The Undertaker vs. ”The Worlds Strongest Man” Mark Henry
The Undertaker stands at an impressive 13-0 victory streak at WrestleMania, and that was more than enough incentive for Henry to try and pull out all the stops against The Phenom in this match. Henry took control early hitting a volley of impressive power slams on The Deadman, at one point going for a pin attempt on ‘Taker! The crowd laughed however, as Henry wasted time pinning The Undertaker when he should have slid him into the casket! The Undertaker took control soon after, hitting his “old school” arm bar on Henry, but the high spot of the match was Undertaker diving over the top rope, over the Casket and straight onto Henry! A tombstone piledriver later and Henry found himself in the casket. Undertaker takes his WrestleMania winning streak to 14-0… Can anybody stop The Deadman?
Winner: The Undertaker
No Holds Barred Match
”The Chairman of WWE” Vince McMahon vs. ”The Heart Break Kid” Shawn Michaels
Shawn made his way down to the ring in his usual manner, which in many peoples opinion was slightly strange, given his earlier promo, however, during the match the transformation from new school Shawn Michaels to old school Shawn Michaels was very clear; Shawn Michaels was not a mad man, no, he was the old, crotch choppin’ showstopper’ Shawn Michaels.
Vince asked for the “old HBK” before he sent him on his way to hell, however now using hindsight Vince may wish he hadn’t gone this far. HBK started off the match with a few power slams here and there, however after interference by the Spirit Squad and Shane McMahon, Michaels had had enough… Mr. McMahon had unleashed the beast, the old DX Attitude HBK was back, to the delight of the fans in the arena and at home all over the world! HBK passed up opportunities to pin McMahon and instead chose to inflict more pain on him; Michaels teased Sweet Chin Music but stopped short and grabbed a ladder, which he promptly smashed into the face of McMahon. Michaels teased Sweet Chin Music once again, but stopped short this time to grab a table and a trash can. HBK was about to his a flying elbow but AGAIN stopped, went to the outside and pulled out a huge ladder, shoved a trash can over McMahon’s head and led him on the table. He then climbed the ladder and hit a huge flying elbow through the table! The referees, shocked at the destruction in front of them, called for EMT’s through fear that the trash can may have been stuck into McMahon’s face. HBK stopped the EMTs, trash talked McMahon and then hit an awesome Sweet Chin Music Super Kick, covered and picked up the pin fall.
Throughout this destruction, Mr. McMahon’s son Shane was forced to watch helplessly as he was handcuffed to the ring ropes.
Winner: “The Heart Break Kid” Shawn Michaels
**WWE WrestleMania 23, live from Detroit, Michigan April 1st 2007**
- P.O.D. started up the SmackDown! Main Event by performing Rey Mysterio’s theme tune “Booyaka! 619”.
Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship Match
Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton vs. *Kurt Angle
The start of this match was amazing, as Mysterio went for a reverse bulldog face plant on Orton, only to be German suplexed across the ring by Orton, who was suplexed by Angle! From this point on, the fans knew they were in for an amazing match, which saw many pin fall attempts and also saw Angle make both Orton and Mysterio tap out! However, as Mysterio tapped, Orton distracted the referee and as Angle made Orton tap, Mysterio distracted the referee. Angle was put through a series of pin fall attempts as Orton hit an RKO and scored a 2-count and as Mysterio hit a seated senton for a 2-count also.
Through all the talk from Orton of how it was his destiny to walk away from tonight the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time in his career, it was beginning to seem as though the talk became truth for the most part. Orton scored some great offence on both Angle and Mysterio throughout the match, only to end up being Angle Slammed by the Champion. Angle then went for an Angle Slam on Mysterio, only to see the move reversed into an amazing arm drag which sent him flying to the outside of the ring.
Rey dialled up the 619 to the face of Orton, spring boarded to the top rope and hit his trademark West Coast Pop Hurricanrana Pin for the victory, as an exhausted Angle tried desperately to crawl across to break up the pin.
Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion: Rey Mysterio
Shortly after celebrating in the ring, Mysterio was joined on top of the ramp by Guererro family members Chavo and Vickie where the celebrations continued. Undoubtedly, Eddie Guererro was looking down from the ring up top on his best friend Mysterio and smiling.
- Video footage of both John Cena and Triple H gearing up for their WWE Title Match later tonight was shown.
Playboy Pillow Fight Match
Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle
(Editors note: How this ended up so far up the card and so near to Main Event status is beyond me…)
Contrary to what everyone was thinking, this match actually had some wrestling moves pulled off during it; with Torrie hitting Candice with a suplex. The “match” came to an end after Torrie Wilson rolled up Candice to pick up the pin fall victory.
Winner: Torrie Wilson
**WWE Backlash, Sunday April 30th**
Motorhead are heard blaring through the P.A. system, however it’s not the usual “Time To Play The Game” theme, but is instead “Behold the King, The King of Kings” as HHH is shown on a throne in what can only be described as “Conan The Barbarian” dress.
Shortly after Triple H made his way to the ring, to an amazing ovation, a video package showcasing the changes in America over the years as the rich fell to the poor. The ramp then lifted to reveal an old mob car, as old school gangsters stepped out and surrounded the ring. “The Time Is Now” then blared through the arena as the WWE Champion made his way to the stage, also in mob dress, and fired off a gun into the rafters.
WWE Championship Match
*John Cena vs. Triple H
Following a heated press conference prior to the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony in which Triple H hailed this match as the easiest of his career, Cena was out with a point to prove to not only Triple H but also to the crowd, who have once again turned on him.
Triple H played the mind games brilliantly against Cena, as he played up to the crowd who today decided to cheer him on against The Champ. Back and forth action between the two competitors turned into back and forth chanting between the highly vocal crowd as each of Cena’s moves were greeted by boo’s and every Triple H move was greeted by cheers. The match seemed to take a turn for the better for Cena, as he kicked out of many pin fall attempts and also a sledgehammer shot. Triple H went to hit the Pedigree on The Champ, but Cena reversed through and connected with the F.U.! Cena covered… 1… 2… KICK OUT!
Triple H refused to stay down and instead pounced again into Pedigree position, which Cena reversed into the S.T.F.U. submission hold! Triple H fought towards the ropes, but instead began to lose consciousness. The referee lifted his limp arm once, twice, and a third time but HHH kept it up to stay in the match. Cena then grabbed HHH’s other arm into the hold to keep him from the ropes, which in turn made the hold that much more intense!
Another 30 seconds or so later, Triple H finally gave in to the pain and tapped out to end the match! Triple H was beaten by John Cena! Triple H tapped out! A fairly annoyed crowd continues to jeer Cena, whilst the rest cheered him for his effort. Cena then raised the title in the air, with his head still hanging in dismay. Cena must be wondering where he has gone wrong here, but nevertheless, The Champ remains The Champion, and has dethroned The King of Kings, Triple H here on the grandest stage of ‘em all, WrestleMania!
Winner and still WWE Champion: John Cena
Thankyou for reading! If you liked reading these results, you'll enjoy watching the event for yourself for sure! Head on over to Sky Digital Channel 755 and order the WrestleMania 22 repeats!
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