Wrestlemania

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 Held in: LOS ANGELES SPORTS ARENA
Location: CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
          on March 2005 at 7:30pm

[Wrestlemania Battle Royal]: 20-Man Battle Royal:
Goldust won a 20-man Battle Royal:
         x S. Austin threw out Big Show in 0:06:09
         x Rey Rey threw out Tajiri in 0:08:21
         x Rico threw out Kane after a kneelift in 0:21:20
         x R. Dupree threw out Batista after a backdrop in 0:25:40
         x Hurricane threw out Angle after the Eye of the Hurricane in 0:27:58
         x Hurricane threw out RVD after a vertical suplex in 0:28:29
         x T. Funk threw out R. Dupree after a short clothesline in 0:28:37
         x Y2J threw out T. Funk in 0:29:32
         x U. Dragon threw out Hurricane after a backbreaker in 0:31:06
         x Goldust threw out Rico after an atomic drop in 0:31:42
         x Test threw out U. Dragon in 0:39:09
         x Test threw out A-Train in 0:39:15
         x Test threw out X-Pac in 0:40:15
         x S. Austin threw out Test in 0:42:27
         x S. Austin threw out Rey Rey in 0:43:10
         x Christian threw out Spike in 0:44:32
         x Y2J threw out S. Austin after a kick to the midsection in 0:59:06
         x Y2J threw out Christian in 1:03:28
         x Goldust threw out Y2J after a small package in 1:04:11
Rating: **** 1/4
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Goldust proved to be the surprise winner of the Battle Royal, as Wrestlemania
gets underway.


Triangle Match:
Jeff Hardy defeated Matt Hardy and Brian Kendrick:
         x J. Hardy beat M. Hardy via a rana in 0:15:43
         x J. Hardy beat B. Kendrick via a flying sunset flip in 0:16:34
Rating: *** 1/2
(Jeff Hardy retained the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

Defeating both opponents, Jeff Hardy was able to retain the Cruiserweight
Championship.


Val Venis pinned Lance Storm with the Money Shot in 0:06:14.
Rating: *** 1/4
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The Big Valbowski made relatively short work of his former tag partner.


Four Corners Match:
The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) defeated
The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin),
The Basham Brothers (Doug Basham and Danny Basham) and
Kaientai (Taka Michinoku and Funaki):
         x D-Von beat Funaki after the Dudley Death Drop in 0:10:10
         x D-Von beat Haas via a flying headbutt in 0:27:40
         x D-Von beat Doug via a powerslam in 0:28:56
Rating: *** 1/2
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The Dudleys prevailed and staked their claim as contenders to the tag titles.


Interview:
The mystery opponent...
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Goldberg's opponent is revealed as Vader!


Vader pinned Goldberg with the Vader Bomb in 0:19:35.
Rating: *** 1/2
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Goldberg met his match in the monsterous Vader.


Shawn Michaels and Cactus Jack defeated William Regal and Steven Richards when
Michaels pinned Regal after a flying bodypress in 0:08:24.
Rating: *** 3/4
(Shawn Michaels and Cactus Jack won the WWE Tag Team Championship.)
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HBK and Cactus Jack defied the critics to become tag team champions.


No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Brock Lesnar pinned Shane McMahon with the F-5 in 0:13:12.
Rating: ** 3/4
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A brutal match saw Lesnar take the victory, and earn some of the respect that
he has been demanding.


Rhyno pinned Edge after a sunset flip in 0:06:10.
Rating: ***
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Short but sweet.  A big, and well-earned win for Rhyno.


Thug Life (John Cena and Tazz) defeated
The Outsiders (Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) when Tazz defeated Nash when Nash
 passed out in the Tazzmission in 0:17:46.
Rating: *** 1/2
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Big time win for Cena and Tazz, as the Tazzmission was enough to put Kevin 
Nash's lights out.


Bret Hart defeated Ted DiBiase by disqualification in 0:05:38.
Rating: **
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DiBiase's own frustrations cost him the match, and caused the death of the nWo.


Interview:
It's all over!
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Bret and the crowd sing goodbye to the nWo.


Booker T pinned Triple H with the Harlem Side Kick in 0:14:20.
Rating: ****
(Booker T won the WWE Intercontinental Championship.)
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Booker T survived crashing through three tables, and a couple of sledgehammer
shots to regain the Intercontinental Championship.


Interview:
Benoit's moment...
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Chris Benoit has some last words for Randy Orton before the main event.


No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Chris Benoit pinned Randy Orton after a power bomb in 0:05:34.
Rating: ****
(Chris Benoit retained the WWE Championship.)
Click here to see highlights.

A surprisingly quick main event, as Chris Benoit managed to retain the title.
But why did Triple H come to ringside?



Card rating: *** 1/4


Match observations: 

And that was Wrestlemania.  Four titles went on the line, two were retained,
those being the WWE Title and the Cruiserweight title, while two changed hands,
as we saw new Tag and Intercontinental Champions.

Chris Benoit made a successful defence of the WWE title, after completely 
destroying Randy Orton.  After the effort Orton put in to becoming Number 1
contender, it was shocking to see just how quickly Benoit was able to tear
him apart.  Props must go to Orton though, after he was twice able to survive
the Crippler Crossface.

Booker T managed to regain the IC title from Triple H, but that match wasn't
the last we saw of the Game.  He was clearly scouting during the main event,
and may well be in line for a crack at Benoit's gold, seeing as he did pin the
champ in a controversial match a few weeks back.

Shawn Michaels and Cactus Jack are the new tag team champions, but there are a
lot of teams gunning for them.  The Bashams have already defeated them, Thug
Life and the Dudleys both picked up big wins tonight, and you can never count
out the World's Greatest Tag Team.

Of course, the biggest story of the evening, bigger than the arrival of Vader,
bigger than Goldust's upset win in the battle royal, and bigger than Brock
Lesnar's win over Shane McMahon, is the death of the nWo.  After managing to
get himself disqualified against Bret Hart, Ted DiBiase caused the group to 
have to split up forever, after 9 years of mayhem.  What will happen to the 
former members of the group is anyone's guess, but it'll be intriguing to see
who blames who, and how Hollywood Hogan will react when he eventually returns
from injury.

Tomorrow should be the beginning of a new era in WWE, and Shane McMahon will
be the man to oversee it.  I hope you're there to see it too!

Next Show: Raw