Welcome to the latest edition of our WrestleMania Rewind series, written by yours truly, exclusively for everyone here at SLTD Wrestling. The aim of WrestleMania Rewind is to review every WrestleMania in roughly 2,000 words. Click here to read the series so far.
We’re looking back at WrestleMania 22 today, which took place on April 2nd, 2006 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois in front of just over 17,000 fans. I think it’s also the last WrestleMania to have taken place in an arena, as opposed to a stadium. As usual, JR and The King took care of the Raw matches, leaving Michael Cole and Tazz to cover SmackDown. It’s time for me to shut up, and get to the review!
Match 1: World Tag-Team Championship Match – Carlito & Chris Masters vs Big Show & Kane (c)
Kane and Masters kick things off. Quick tag to Big Show, who wears Masters out with chops and a slam. Tag to Carlito, who is OVER in Chi-Town! Show lifts him up and crotches him on the ropes before slamming him on to Masters outside, where Kane lands a flying clothesline.
Back in the ring, Carlito dropkicks Show into the exposed turnbuckle and the heels try to double-team Show, but he lands a double suplex on Carlito and Masters and tags Kane, who takes care of bidnis. Kane flies off the top rope, straight into the MasterLock! Show breaks it, but Carlito hits the Backstabber on Kane. A miscommunication between the youngsters sees Masters nail Carlito from the top rope. Kane follows that up with a chokeslam to pick up the win.
Opinion: For what seems like the umpteenth WrestleMania in a row, the show kicked off with a really entertaining opener – this time for the World Tag-Team Championships. Despite, on paper, looking unbeatable, the champs didn’t have things all their own way, and were a little lucky to retain.
Match 2: Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Shelton Benjamin vs Ric Flair vs Finlay vs Matt Hardy vs Bobby Lashley vs RVD
Hardy’s the first one to bring the ladder in to play. RVD dropkicks the ladder into him, then lands a crossbody. Benjamin whacks Finlay with the ladder and sets it up on him. Benjamin runs up it and sentons into the other 3. Hardy suplexes Flair off a ladder. RVD misses Rolling Thunder on Benjamin on a ladder. Finlay, Hardy and Benjamin team up to, eventually, powerbomb Black Lesnar…I mean Bobby Lashley…off the ladder.
Finlay wears folk out with a ladder, then knocks Ric Flair off another with the shillelagh. Lashley knocks Benjamin and Flair off a ladder. RVD knocks Lashley off the ladder with a Van Daminator (with the aid of a chair). Hardy Side Effects Finlay off the ladder. Hardy and Benjamin crash and burn off one ladder as RVD climbs another to grab the briefcase.
Opinion: This was a decent match, but a little clunky in places. It didn’t flow like the previous years did. You could see when they were preparing for spots and although they were cool, it was easy to predict what would happen and when.
Match 3: WWE United States Championship Match – JBL (w/Jillian Hall) vs Chris Benoit (c)
JBL gets the advantage by using Jillian as a shield outside. He misses a splash in the corner and Benoit hits 3 German Suplexes. JBL crotches Benoit on the top turnbuckle and lads a Superplex for 2. He gets another from a big boot.
JBL locks in a nervehold and a chinlock at the same time. Benoit escapes with a suplex. Benoit lands the 3 Amigos, then a diving headbutt from the top rope for 2. He counters the Clothesline from Hell into the Crossface, but JBL rolls through and uses the ropes to get the 3-count.
Opinion: Given JBL’s reputation, this was a fun match. JBL used a lot of wrestling holds, which wasn’t exactly his forte, and used his smarts to outwit Benoit to walk out the champion. Good stuff!
Match 4: Hardcore Match – Edge (w/Lita) vs Mick Foley
Edge spears Foley early, but ends up getting the worst of it after Foley reveals some barbed wire under his shirt! Foley whips Edge with said barbed wire and brings out his patented barbed wire bat. Foley clotheslines Edge outside for 2 and gets another from a swinging neckbreaker.
Edge has the best of a ringside brawl before dousing Foley in lighter fluid. They exchange 2-counts before Edge wipes Foley out with the barbed wire bat, busting him open. Edge breaks out the thumbtacks, but Foley back suplexes him into them!
Foley puts Hardcore Socko (Socko with barbed wire) on both Lita and Edge, then drills Edge with the barbed wire bat. Foley sprays a table in lighter fluid. Lita then hits Foley below the belt with the bat, then sets the table on fire! Edge spears Foley from the apron through the flaming table to get the win!
Opinion: I could sum this match up in three words – violent as fuck. I’d genuinely forgotten how violent this was. You wanna talk extreme? THIS was extreme. Barbed wire, other various weapons, thumbtacks, flaming tables. Jesus man. In terms of a spectacle, this was awesome. And Mick Foley FINALLY got his WrestleMania moment.
Match 5: Handicap Match – Booker T & Sharmell vs The Boogeyman
Booker gets the early advantage from a sneak attack and gets a 2-count from a thrust kick. He counters a clothesline with a Book End for another 2. Boogey makes his comeback and picks up the win with a Chokebomb.
Opinion: Comedy filler and not a lot to write home about. I suppose it served its purpose, but it wasn’t WrestleMania worthy.
Match 6: WWE Women’s Championship Match – Mickie James vs Trish Stratus (c)
Trish is all over Mickie at the start with a series of forearms, chops and kicks, and sends Mickie outside. Mickie gets in control after ducking a Chick Kick and Trish connects with the ringpost. Mickie works Trish’s leg as we hear LOUD “Let’s go Mickie” chants. Mickie puts Trish in a half-Boston Crab and dominates most of the rest of the match, continuing to focus on Trish’s leg.
Trish makes a comeback, landing a couple of clotheslines and a spinebuster for 2. She lands another nearfall from a roll-up and counters a hurricanrana with a running powerbomb for her third 2-count in as many minutes. Mickie goes for Stratusfaction, but there’s a fuck up, so she picks up the win with a Chick Kick.
Opinion: This…this is what women’s wrestling CAN be. Two sexy women who can wrestle. Two women who DON’T have pointy faces and vacuous personalities. A feud between two hot women who were credible workers, and trusted with TV time to develop a story that had a tremendous pay-off. Oh what I’d give for a feud like this today. Best women’s match in WWE history. Easily.
Match 7: Casket Match – Mark Henry vs The Undertaker
Henry’s on the attack early and rocks Taker with a clothesline. Taker counters a splash in the corner with a big boot and delivers Old School to Henry. They brawl from the casket to the ring, where Henry lands a slam. Taker hangs Henry up on the second rope.
Henry comes back and mounts Taker in the corner, landing some punches. Taker counters with a Last Ride. Then, he soars over the top rope and knocks Henry down with a clothesline. Back in the ring, Taker manages to Tombstone Henry and rolls him in the casket to pick up the win.
Opinion: Not Taker’s worst match, but I’ve seen better. The story that they tried to tell was that Taker couldn’t knock Henry down. Eventually, Taker was able to get his revenge for Henry costing him the World Championship.
Match 8: No Holds Barred Match – Shawn Michaels vs Mr McMahon
Michaels is all over McMahon from the start and smashes a picture frame (with Vince’s Muscle & Fitness cover) over his head. The Spirit Squad (pop!) try to interfere on Vince’s behalf, but Michaels wipes them all out. Vince gets a flurry of offense in, but Michaels gets back into it with a flying forearm.
Shane comes out and tries to interfere on McMahon’s behalf, but aside from a couple of shots with a kendo stick, he doesn’t play a massive part in it. Michaels shoves Shane’s face into his dad’s bare ass before cuffing him to the ropes. Shane can only watch on as Michaels decimates his old man. Michaels climbs a giant ladder and nails him with an elbow that sends him crashing through the table. He drags McMahon to his feet and delivers Sweet Chin music for the win.
Opinion: This was just a way for Michaels to exact revenge on McMahon for what he’d done to Shawn over the last 3-4 months. As was the norm with Vince, he might not have been a great athlete, but he sells the match extremely well with his promos and other subtle nuances. Harmless fun.
Match 9: Triple-Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship – Rey Mysterio vs Randy Orton vs Kurt Angle (c)
Orton blasts Angle with the belt before the bell, then gets the first 2-count of the match by countering a crossbody from Mysterio with a dropkick. Angle’s back in and lands a double German suplex on both Mysterio and Orton. There’s a cool spot where Angle elevates Mysterio on to Orton on the top rope, and Mysterio lands a hurricanrana. Angle’s essentially a suplex machine and he’s on fire! Orton and Mysterio try to battle back, but can’t really get any real momentum going.
Angle sends Mysterio into the ringpost shoulder first. Orton counters the Angle Slam with an RKO for 2. Orton sends Angle outside and gets a 2 on Mysterio from a reverse neckbreaker. Angle’s back in and Angle Slams Orton for 2. Mysterio counters the Angle Slam with an armdrag that sends Angle outside. He drop toe-holds Orton, hits the 619 and the West Coast Pop to win the title.
Opinion: This was a very entertaining triple-threat with three of the best workers to ever grace the game. Angle dominated most of the match to be fair, getting the better of Orton and Mysterio on several occasions. But for a great counter by Mysterio, he could well have retained, but it wasn’t to be.
Match 10: Playboy Pillow Fight – Candice Michelle vs Torrie Wilson
Torrie wins the “match” with a roll-up.
Opinion: Any time you see two hot women who – for the second time on the card – have personalities (and don’t have pointy faces) wrestling in next to nothing, it’s a good time!
Match 11: WWE Championship Match – Triple H vs John Cena (c)
H outwrestles Cena at the start. Cena teases the F-U, but H drops him with a right hand. H sends Cena outside with a high knee and sends him crashing into the steps. He rolls Cena back in and gets a series of nearfalls as he dictates the pace. H puts Cena in a neck vice. Cena tries to fight up, only for H to put him in a Sleeper.
The turning point comes when Cena lands a HUGE clothesline. Although H counters Cena’s first attempt at the Five Knuckle Shuffle with a spinebuster, he hits the second and follows up by putting H in the STF-U, but H gets to the ropes. H slips out of the F-U and rams H into the ref in the corner. He low-blows Cena, but catches the ref too.
With the ref down, H blasts Cena with a sledgehammer, then disposes of the evidence before he gets a 2. Cena powers out of the Pedigree with a back body drop, then hits the F-U for 2. Cena misses a top rope crossbody, but avoids the Pedigree and locks the STF-U in again. H has no choice but to tap.
Opinion: I’ll say this, and regular readers will know that I’m not a fan of Cena. Or Haitch-Ah for that matter. However, this was a really good main-event, so I’ll give credit where it’s due. The fans were mostly behind H and although he dictated the pace for most of the match, Cena stuck to his credo. He rose above it and found a way to pick up the win.
Summary: Aside from a couple of matches, this show was tremendously entertaining. I still get chills watching Mysterio win the title. I’m about to give you another shock and give Michael Cole credit for the way he called that match. He was able to capture the emotion of Rey’s win for everyone watching on PPV, and it added something to it.
Most of WM22 was great, and the quality of the matches was extremely high, with the JBL/Benoit encounter being the sleeper on the card. In my eyes, the match between Mickie and Trish was proof positive that, with the right investment (both $ and TV time), women can deliver great feuds, matches and stories.
It might have been another long PPV, but for the most part, it was pretty good.
Hopefully, you enjoyed that quick look back at WrestleMania 22. Leave your comments/feedback via the usual channels, and join me again tomorrow to revisit WrestleMania 23!
SLTD Wrestling's resident Scottish Nightmare. Some of my content may not be suitable for younger readers or those who are easily offended!
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