411 Ranks The WrestleManias: #14 – WrestleMania 22

“On April 2, 2006 WWE presented WrestleMania 22. The superstars of World Wrestling Entertainment descended on Chicago (or more appropriately Rosemont) and celebrated in the way only the masters of sports-entertainment could. Many people have had the privilege of being part of WWE’s biggest show, and this year I was one of them. I had attended WrestleMania XX two years prior so I had the intricacies of time management down, but that didn’t mean I was prepared for what was to come. The atmosphere was entirely different from New York and it would show during the event. There was a buzz in the air all weekend, there was something special brewing. In the months leading up to WrestleMania many Internet pundits had questioned how this show would turn out. Those wrestling fans that made the trek to Chicago (or merely represented their hometown) didn’t seem to have many worries. Maybe the excitement was generated by the return of Bret Hart to the WWE as a member of the Hall of Fame. Maybe it was to see Rey Mysterio finally win the big one. Maybe it was just the fact that Chicago is a traditionally great wrestling city. Or maybe it was just WrestleMania. One thing is for sure, there was one man that had Chicago in a fever: WWE Champion John Cena. Whether you loved him or hated him, and the majority of the crowd went with the latter, you had a vested interest in this year’s WrestleMania. After three days in Chicago a match that many people didn’t want to see happen in the first place became the reason to watch, to participate and to enjoy. But don’t think this was a one match show; it’s WrestleMania after all! WrestleMania 22 definitely had its shining moments, and it also had its fair share of ups and downs. There was a bit of everything on that night in Chicago and I am pleased to relive that with my fellow panelists now. Welcome to WrestleMania 22…”

– Former 411 Writer Andy Clark

* World Tag Title Match: Big Show and Kane © defeated Carlito and Masters @ 6:45 via pin
* RVD won the Money in the Bank match @ 12:31
* WWE US Title Match: JBL defeated Chris Benoit © to become the NEW US CHAMPION @ 10:00
* Hardcore Match: Edge defeated Mick Foley @ 14:36 via pin
* The Boogeyman defeated Booker T and Sharmell T @ 3:56 via pin
* WWE Women’s Title Match: Mickie James defeated Trish Stratus © to become the NEW WOMEN’S CHAMPION @ 9:00 via pin
* Casket Match: The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry @ 9:32
* No Holds Barred Match: Shawn Michaels defeated Vinnie Mac @ 18:25 via pin
* WWE Title Match: Rey Mysterio defeated Randy Orton and Kurt Angle © to become the NEW WORLD CHAMPION @ 9:25 via pin
* Pillow Fight: Torrie defeated Candace @ 4:00 via pin
* World Title Match: John Cena © defeated HHH @ 22:11 via Submission

Steve Cook
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: John Cena vs. Triple H [****] I had a three-way tie for the best match of this show, as I rate Edge vs. Mick Foley & Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon at the same level. Why did I go with Cena vs. Triple H as the best? The other two matches had a ton of help with booking, foreign objects, outside interference and general craziness. This match was just John Cena & Triple H, and the Chicago crowd went absolutely crazy for it. This match started the Yay/Boo thing that many other crowds have ripped off since, and the reaction for John Cena in particular was captivating television. The ridiculous entrances with Triple H dressed like Conan the Barbarian, CM Punk & others acting like Chicago gangsters & John Cena walking out wearing a trench coat and having his hands in his pants only added to the spectacle of the match. It was a well-worked match too, as Cena did a lot to disprove the storyline leading into the match that he couldn’t wrestle. Not that the fans recognized this.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Boogey Man vs. Booker T & Sharmell [DUD] I just didn’t get the point to this at all, and it didn’t make any sense when it actually happened either. You’ve got a guy who was a five-time WCW champion, was over with the crowd, and would in fact become the World Champion later in the year, and at the biggest show of the year he’s teaming with his non-wrestler wife in a handicap match against a dude that…well…I still don’t know how to describe the Boogey Man’s act. The dude ate freaking worms and danced around like he was having seizures. This thing was just a flat out mess and made Booker T look like a buffoon.

Show MVP And Why: Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon was 60 years old when this show took place. Despite what people like Ric Flair would tell you, this is long past the point when people should be performing in a wrestling ring, especially people who haven’t been wrestling for their whole lives. Vince always wanted to be a wrestler, and any time he stepped into the ring he did whatever he could to entertain the fans. He went far and beyond the call of duty in his WrestleMania 22 match with Shawn Michaels, taking several bumps that WWE Superstars wouldn’t be allowed to take a few years later. It wasn’t a typical Shawn Michaels WrestleMania classic, but it was still a tremendously entertaining match that Vince was the star of, and his middle finger towards HBK after the match while he was being carried away on a stretcher was certainly a WrestleMania Moment.

Your Thoughts on The Show: This was a pretty great show from top to bottom. Like I said in the Best Match portion, I had Edge vs. Foley & HBK vs. Vince being just as good as HHH vs. Cena. MITB was pretty great, the World Title Triple Threat was great in the limited time it got, Trish Stratus & Mickie James had a great match until the ending…pretty much everything on the show was worthwhile except for that stuff with Booker T & the Boogey Man. The Chicago crowd was at its best, making the show even better. When you think of great WrestleManias, WrestleMania 22 deserves to be in the conversation.

Jack Stevenson
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: Edge vs. Mick Foley was a truly demented brawl in which even Mr. Socko came prepared with barbed wire. It was logical and thoughtful as well as blood soaked and dangerous though, as Foley and Edge worked hard to creat an incredibly intense atmosphere, and slowly increased the levels of violence in the match so that each stunt seemed more jaw dropping and thrilling than the last. The rest of the card was filled with matches that were good, but not truly worthy of the grandest stage of them all, so this bout was very important to the success of the card, bringing a spectacle and melodrama that was truly worthy of WrestleMania. The look on Edge’s face after his victory, as if he’d just been the main character in a sprawling series of torture porn horror films, told the whole story- this was completely wicked, an absolute heck of a war.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle was marketed as a Playboy Pillow Fight and was just something for people to leer at in between the marquee matches. It undid all the good Trish Stratus and Mickie James put in to their stellar Women’s Championship match earlier in the show. Pleasingly, the lively Chicago fan greeted it with a big “boring!” chant, while they gave Stratus-James a great reception.

Show MVP And Why: Rey Mysterio became an unlikely World Heavyweight Champion and John Cena cheerfully ate up the loathing of the Chicago crowd in a dramatic battle with Triple H, but it was Mick Foley who stole the show. The build up to his match with Edge had centred around the idea that Mick, for all his accomplishments, had never truly had a WrestleMania moment, and while the bout didn’t feature anything on the level of Hogan slamming Andre, it was a great, great outing, fairly comfortably the best display he put on at a WrestleMania.

Your Thoughts on The Show: This is a really weird WrestleMania. It’s very obviously not among the worst of all time and also very obviously not among the best, but it seems unfair to describe it as ‘middling’ considering what a variety of memorable moments the show offered- Van Dam winning the Money in the Bank Ladder match, the spectacular Edge-Foley battle, the best women’s match in WrestleMania history, Mysterio’s title win, John Cena establishing an interesting relationship with the city of Chicago (with CM Punk playing a gangster in his grandiose entrance), a bloody fight between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon… I personally like this show a lot, it’s never boring, but 14th place is perhaps a little high for it, especially since it’s directly above the superb WrestleMania VIII.

Tony Acero
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: Obviously, Mickie’s crotch grab. ha. I kid. There were actually a few good things to come out of this year’s WrestleMania, including the RVD Money in the Bank win that- even though would be a bit tarnished – was a big deal to the fans and to RVD alike. However, for my money, the best thing/match of this show has got to be Edge’s coming out party. Just like Foley did for Triple H a few years prior, he went out there again for Edge and helped to create a star. No, this wasn’t the only thing that helped, but it damned sure cemented it, and both Edge and Foley looked great in doing so. Having rewatched this, it did make me crave a slightly more edgier product than what we have today, but considering the players we have on the roster right now, I’m not sure anyone can pull off what was pulled off here. I remember some people calling the flaming table spot not nearly as cool as they expected it to be, but I don’t know what they expected considering he dove face first into fire. Would you do that? Probably not. Anyways, the match was tons of fun, and Lita’s presence only helped, just as it did for Edge in general. Even she bled! I don’t recall a sore spot in the match, and although some may have seen Edge as a main eventer before, and even more may have waited for yet another moment, this one was it for me. Edge was big time.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: If there’s one good thing about attempting to try and find something bad about this card, it’s the fact that The Boogeyman was on it. That pretty much makes the choice relatively easy. We had a four-minute “match” between Booker T and Boogeyman that was all kinds of horrible. Not even Sharmell could help (not like she would have been able to much anyway). Keep in mind, this was a handicap match with Booker T and Sharmell tagging against The Boogeyman. There’s really no good things to say about this. The match was boring, the crowd wasn’t into it, and Booker was simply trying to do an old man with no front teeth a favor.

Show MVP And Why: I wanted to give this to Edge, and Edge solely, considering his dazzling display in the hardcore match, but that match wouldn’t be nearly what it was, nor would it hold the importance that it did without Mick Foley. Shawn Michaels was another great contender, as he did everything he could to make a McMahon watchable (although to his credit, Vince knows his limits). If there were a top three, it would certainly be tail-ended with Edge and Michaels, but for my money, it was Mick Foley in one of his last great performances, helping out a kid to become a man. Edge was a made man after this night, and although he was the one going face first into a flaming table, it was the man that he was taking to hell with him that helped his career, and helped this Mania to be a hair above average, and certainly better than others on the list.

Your Thoughts on The Show: First off, it’s crazy to think this show is damned near ten years old. In retrospect, this Mania was a lot more fun than it had any right to be. It held a solid main event, a great triple threat, A bloodied and bird-flipping Vince McMahon, a beautiful display of hardcore disaster in Edge vs. Foley, a spotfest yet tons of fun Money in the Bank, a horrible but hot pillow fight, a CM Punk cameo, and just an all around good time to be had as a wrestling fan. It’s interesting to note that without all the filler that surrounded WrestleMania, without extensive knowledge (or memory) of the programs surrounding the card, it wasn’t so bad. Makes me wonder if we’ll feel the same way about 31 in about 9 years….naaaaaahhh

REMINDER, each 411 writer had the opportunity to rank the WrestleMania events (based on overall quality, historical significance and personal preference), those rankings went into creating the final list.

The List So Far…
30. WrestleMania 9
29. WrestleMania 2
28. WrestleMania 11
27. WrestleMania 4
26. WrestleMania 15
25. WrestleMania 27
24. WrestleMania 29
23. WrestleMania 25
22. WrestleMania 5
21. WrestleMania 13
20. WrestleMania
19. WrestleMania 6
18. WrestleMania 16
17. WrestleMania 7
16. WrestleMania 12
15. WrestleMania 8
14. WrestleMania 22