WrestleMania 21: Голливудқа қадам басу (WrestleMania 21: Gollivudqa qadam basu)

the professional wrestling pay per view event
2005 World Wrestling Entertainment pay per view event

WrestleMania 21 (marketed as WrestleMania Goes Hollywood) was the 21st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay per view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event took place on April 3, 2005, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main event of the show, which was the main match from the Raw brand, saw Batista challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Batista won by pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb. The main match on the SmackDown! brand, which was the event's penultimate match, saw John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defend the WWE Championship against John Cena, which Cena won by pinfall after performing an FU marking Cena's first world title reign of his world record sixteen. Another primary match was an inter promotional match between The Undertaker and Randy Orton, which Undertaker won by pinfall after performing a Tombstone Piledriver. The featured matches on the undercard were Kurt Angle versus Shawn Michaels and the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match. The event also featured the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin who then started his part time appearances with WWE and also the final WrestleMania event that Eddie Guerrero competed in, going against his tag team partner Rey Mysterio. Guerrero succumbed to heart failure in November that same year. WrestleMania 21 was the first WrestleMania held at Staples Center, but the fifth to take place in the Los Angeles metropolitan area (after 2, VII, XII, and 2000). Tickets sold out in less than one minute for the event, making it the fastest ticket sell out in the company's history as well as the fastest ticket sell out at Staples Center. The event drew a Staples Center record attendance of 20,193 people from 37 countries and 50 states and grossed more than $7.1 million in ticket sales, making it the highest grossing WWE event ever at Staples Center. In addition to those in attendance, the event was seen by millions of fans in more than 190 countries.

Before the event went live on pay per view, a dark match was held. It was exclusive on DVD releases, not on Sunday Night Heat. A 30 man interpromotional Battle Royal, which featured: Booker T, Paul London, Heidenreich, Spike Dudley, Nunzio, Funaki, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Orlando Jordan, Mark Jindrak, Luther Reigns, Scotty 2 Hotty, Hardcore Holly, Charlie Haas, Billy Kidman, and Akio from SmackDown and Simon Dean, William Regal, Tajiri, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Snitsky, The Hurricane, Rosey, Chris Masters, Viscera, Rhyno, Val Venis, Tyson Tomko, and Maven from Raw. Booker T last eliminated Chris Masters to win the Battle Royal. Lilian Garcia performed "America the Beautiful" at the beginning of the event.

The first televised match was between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. At the beginning of the match, Mysterio jumped over the top rope, knocking Guerrero down. Mysterio also attempted another aerial attack but was countered by Guerrero into a Powerbomb. Guerrero performed the Three Amigos on Mysterio and attempted a Frog splash but was unsuccessful. Following a Hurricanrana on Guerrero, Mysterio pinned Guerrero to win. After the match, both men shook hands in the ring.

The main event was Triple H defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Batista. Triple H entered to "The Game" performed live by Motörhead. Robert Leighty Jr of 411mania gave the event an overall score of 7.0 out of 10.0 noted that "If the two Title matches would have delivered this would have gone down as one of the greatest WrestleMania's ever, but they didn't and that left a flat ending to the show. Everything up to Shawn/Angle is fantastic and things kind of close with a whimper. Still, this is a historic show as it cemented the rise of Batista/Cena/Orton as Main Event players. It also has two great matches with Shawn/Angle and Money in the Bank. Definitely a good WrestleMania, but it could have been much more." J. D. Dunn of 411mania response towards WrestleMania 21 was also positive. He stated that "this was on its way to being every bit as good as last year's Mania" but like most of the other critics who thought the main events were disappointing also said that "then it hit a wall in the last 90 minutes." He later stated that "If this were a regular PPV with the Michaels vs. Angle match being the main event, this would be one of the greatest PPV's ever. Unfortunately, it drags on after that and limps to a finish." Although he praised the booking of the event saying that, "they made all the right moves booking wise, so while the matches weren't great, they still have a certain historic value." The match between Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels would go on to win the 2005 Pro Wrestling Illustrated match of the year award. In 2019 WWE named it the fifth best WrestleMania match of all time. Dave Meltzer gave the match 4 and 3/4 stars out of 5. Angle himself has called it "the greatest match of all time." The Sumo match between the Big Show and Akebono was universally panned with Dave Meltzer giving it no stars, and it has frequently topped lists for worst WrestleMania matches and worst matches in overall. Reflecting on the match in 2018, Big Show said that he believed it was the "most embarrassing moment in wrestling." For the Staples Center's 10th anniversary in 2009, WrestleMania 21 was ranked number 7 on the list of greatest moments in the venue's history as voted by fans.

Batista and Triple H's feud would continue to Backlash where Batista and Triple H had a rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship. Batista won the match after a Batista Bomb. Following that, the two concluded their storyline at Vengeance where Batista scored the third and final win over his former mentor inside Hell in a Cell. Shortly thereafter, Batista was drafted to the SmackDown! brand, ending their feud and taking the title with him to his new brand, while Triple H went on hiatus. 14 years later, at WrestleMania 35, Triple H (as a face) would defeat Batista (as a heel) in a No Holds Barred match with Triple H's career on the line, which also was's Batista's last match as an in ring competitor as he would retire shortly after. John Cena and JBL continued to feud until Judgment Day, where they faced off in an "I Quit" match for the WWE Championship, which Cena won. Shortly after, Cena was drafted to Raw, ending their feud and taking the title with him. Edge would hold on to his Money in the Bank briefcase until the following year at New Year's Revolution, where he cashed in the briefcase on John Cena after Cena just competed in an Elimination Chamber match, to retain his WWE Championship. Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle would continue their feud and face off again at Vengeance with Michaels picking up the win.

The tournament to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 21 was held between February 1 and February 20, 2005. At WrestleMania 21, John Cena defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield to become the new champion. The tournament brackets were: