WrestleMania 22

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
Name	WrestleMania 22
Caption	Promotional poster featuring Booker T and John Cena
Tagline	Big Time
Theme	"Big Time" by Peter Gabriel"I Dare You" by Shinedown"Save Me Sorrow" by Bullets and Octane"Baby Hates Me" by Danko Jones
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand	RawSmackDown!
Date
Venue	Allstate Arena
City	Rosemont, Illinois
Attendance	17,159
Lastevent	No Way Out (2006)
Nextevent	Backlash (2006)
Event	WrestleMania
Lastevent2	WrestleMania 21
Nextevent2	WrestleMania 23

WrestleMania 22 was the twenty-second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on April 2, 2006 at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois.

The event was a joint-promotion pay-per-view (PPV) featuring performers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands. There were two main events which were the main matches for each brand. The main match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus Triple H for the WWE Championship, which Cena won after forcing Triple H to submit to the STFU. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between champion Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton. Mysterio won the match and the World Heavyweight Championship after pinning Orton following a 619 and a West Coast Pop. Featured matches on the undercard included a No Holds Barred match between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon, a Casket match between The Undertaker and Mark Henry, a WWE Women's Championship match between Mickie James and Trish Stratus and an interpromotional Money in the Bank ladder match featuring six participants.

WrestleMania 22 was the third WrestleMania to take place in the Chicago metropolitan area (following WrestleMania 2, and WrestleMania 13). Tickets sold out in under two minutes, grossing US$2.5 million for the event, making it the highest grossing one-day event at the Allstate Arena. More than 17,155 people from 16 countries and 43 states attended, with millions more watching in more than 90 countries.

Background

The main feud heading into WrestleMania on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Triple H over the WWE Championship. After failing to win the Royal Rumble match, Triple H participated in the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, where the winner would become the number-one contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. In the final match of the tournament, held on the February 20 edition of Raw, Triple H faced Rob Van Dam (RVD) and The Big Show in a Triple Threat match. Triple H won the match after pinning RVD following a Pedigree.

The Road to WrestleMania tournament to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 22 was held between February 6 and February 20, 2006. The tournament brackets were:

Notes: .

, who challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship]] The predominant feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Orton, to earn a World Championship match at WrestleMania. Five days later, on the February 24 edition of SmackDown!, SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long announced that the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 22 would be a Triple Threat match involving Mysterio, Orton, and champion Angle. On the March 24 edition of SmackDown!, Orton interfered in Mysterio's and Angle's respective matches. During Mysterio's match against Finlay, Orton interfered and executed an RKO on Mysterio, allowing Finlay to pin Mysterio for the win. Later that night, during Angle's match against Mark Henry, Orton attempted to execute an RKO on Angle, but Mysterio attacked him. Mysterio then attempted to perform a springboard hurricanrana on Orton, who moved out of the way, causing Mysterio to execute the move on Angle. Shortly after, Angle executed an Angle Slam on Orton and locked him in the ankle lock. Vince then announced that he and Michaels would face off against each other at WrestleMania. Later that night, Michaels faced off against the Spirit Squad in a Steel Cage match. The Spirit Squad won the match by pinning Michaels after Shane interfered and slammed the cage door on Michaels. Vince screwed Michaels, claiming he submitted to the move, and declared Shane the winner via submission.

One of the featured matches on the undercard was a Casket match between The Undertaker and Mark Henry. On the March 3 edition of SmackDown!, Undertaker challenged Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, after Undertaker executed a Tombstone piledriver, Henry came out and attacked Undertaker, causing the match the end via disqualification. Undertaker won the match, but since a championship cannot change hands via countout or disqualification, he did not win the title. On the March 18 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Henry, along with his manager Daivari, called out The Undertaker. Undertaker came out, accompanied by Druids carrying a casket, and the two started attacking each other. Shortly after, Undertaker performed a chokeslam, followed by a Tombstone piledriver, on Daivari on the casket.

One of the main matches on the undercard was a singles match between Mickie James and Trish Stratus for the WWE Women's Championship. James debuted in WWE on the October 10, 2005 episode of Raw coming to the aid of then Women's Champion Trish Stratus from an attack from Victoria. She wrestled under the gimmick of Trish Stratus biggest fan. The two competed in tag team action together frequently where James was becoming extremely obsessed with Trish. James became the number one contender for the Women's Title on December 12 by defeating Victoria in a match to determine who would face Stratus at New Year's Revolution. She was unable to win the title at the Pay Per View. The storyline between James and Stratus developed into a lesbian angle after James initiated an intimate kiss with Stratus under the mistletoe and complemented on the size of her breasts. At Royal Rumble 2006 James confessed to Stratus that she loved her. It finally became too much for Stratus as she then told James that they needed time apart. The two teamed each other at Saturday Night's Main Event to defeat the team of Victoria and Candice Michelle. After the match James honored Stratus wishes to have time apart. However James attempted to kiss her. After Stratus refused James made a heel turn by attacking Stratus and vowed to destroy her.

Event

singing a rendition of "America the Beautiful" before the event]] Before the event went live on pay-per-view, a dark match was held which was an 18-man interpromotional battle royal. Viscera won the battle royal last eliminating Snitsky. After winning the battle royal, he kissed Lilian Garcia. Michelle Williams sang the annual rendition of "America the Beautiful" before the show.

The opening match was for the World Tag Team Championship between champions Kane and The Big Show and Carlito and Chris Masters. Kane hit Masters with a big boot, then chokeslammed Carlito to get the victory and to retain the World Tag Team Championship.

The second match was the Money in the Bank ladder match between Rob Van Dam (RVD), Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay, Bobby Lashley and Matt Hardy. RVD climbed the ladder, but was stopped when Benjamin springboarded onto RVD and delivered each other blows back and forth. Hardy came out with a second ladder and joined the two. RVD pushed Hardy and Benjamin's ladder over with his feet and pushed them sending them both smashing on the floor. RVD grabbed the briefcase and won the match.

The fourth match was a hardcore match between Edge and Mick Foley. Near the end of the match, Foley had Edge in control and pulled out a table. Lita then hit Foley in between the legs with a barbed wire bat and lit the table which then allowed Edge to perform a spear on Foley through the ring ropes through the flaming table on the outside. He then pinned Foley for the victory. The fifth match was a handicap match where Booker T and Sharmell faced The Boogeyman. Boogeyman executed a Falling Chokebomb on Booker and pinned him to get the victory. The sixth match was a Divas match between Trish Stratus and Mickie James for the WWE Women's Championship. At the end of the match, Mickie hit a Mick Kick on Trish's head which knocked out Trish, allowing Mickie to win the match and the WWE Women's Championship.

faced off against Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match|100px]] The seventh match was a Casket match between The Undertaker and Mark Henry. Undertaker took the advantage and hit Henry with a Last Ride. While Henry was out of the ring, Undertaker hit him with a suicide dive over the top rope. Undertaker then performed a Tombstone Piledriver on Henry and pushed him into the casket to win the match and improve his WrestleMania record to 14–0.

The eighth match was a No Holds Barred match between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. Shawn was about to perform Sweet Chin Music on McMahon, but instead he got a trash can and a table. He put McMahon on a table and put a trashcan over McMahon's head. Michaels then climbed on the top of the ladder and executed a diving elbow drop. Michaels then hit McMahon with Sweet Chin Music and pinned McMahon to win the match. The tenth match was a Playboy pillow fight between Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle. Wilson pulled Candice's dress and pinned her with a roll-up to get the victory.

The main event was for the WWE Championship between champion John Cena and Triple H. Triple H came out to the ring on a throne dressed as a Conan the Barbarian-type king, while Cena came out with a tommy gun and was accompanied by a group of "gangsters" (one of whom was future WWE Superstar CM Punk) in a 1940s Chicago-era vehicle. The match was evenly matched with both men getting the advantage over each other. Triple H tried to perform a Pedigree, but it was countered by Cena into an FU. After Triple H kicked out of a two-count, Cena locked him into the STFU. Triple H got to the ropes and went for another Pedigree, but was countered into the STFU again by Cena. Triple H tapped out, and as a result, Cena retained the WWE Championship. It was then announced that the main event at Backlash would be a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship between Cena, Edge and Triple H. At Backlash, Cena won the match and retained the WWE Championship via pinfall on Triple H with a jackknife roll-up, but after the match, Triple H attacked Cena, Edge and the referee with a sledgehammer.

After WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels continued to feud with Vince McMahon. At Backlash, Michaels teamed up with "God" to face Vince and Shane McMahon. At Backlash, Michaels suffered a loss when the Spirit Squad interfered on behalf of The McMahons. On the June 12, 2006 edition of Raw, Vince announced that Triple H would face the Spirit Squad in a 5 on 1 Handicap Gauntlet match. Vince called Mitch out last, as throughout the match he had called out the other four members one-by-one, instead Mitch was thrown out from the curtain by Michaels.

Mickie James continued to feud with Trish Stratus. At Backlash, Stratus won the match by a disqualification legitimately dislocating her shoulder in the process. Due to regulations by the WWE, a title cannot change hands via a disqualification. As a result, James was still champion. Whilst injured, Stratus still appeared on-screen and during the storyline, Beth Phoenix made her debut as Stratus ally claiming that James had wronged Phoenix in the past. She returned to the ring on June 26 episode of Raw where she cleanly lost a Women's Championship match against James thus ending the feud

Rey Mysterio went on to feud with John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 5 edition of SmackDown!, after Mysterio expressed his feelings about being World Heavyweight Champion, JBL came out and declared himself the number one contender. Mysterio reacted by saying that he would fight anyone at anytime. In turn, JBL announced that Mysterio would face off against Mark Henry later that night. At Judgment Day, Mysterio defeated JBL by pinfall after performing a Frog Splash. After the pay-per view, the feud ended between the two when JBL's rematch against Mysterio turned into his last match if he failed to win the World's Championship.

Reception

WrestleMania 22 was met with very positive critical response from various wrestling publications and websites. Writing for SLAM! Wrestling, Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk stated that "With more wrestling, less interviews, and more pageantry than the last several editions, this year's 'Mania had a "Big Time" feel to it." He rated the overall event 8 out 10 stars, which was a higher rating than the previous year's event. The main event between Triple H and John Cena for the WWE Championship was rated 8.5 out of 10 stars, the Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton was rated 8 out of 10 stars, the No Holds Barred match between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon received a perfect 10 out of 10 stars, the Casket match between Mark Henry and The Undertaker was rated 7 out of 10 stars, the Hardcore match between Edge and Mick Foley was rated 8.5 out of 10 stars and the Money in the Bank ladder match was rated 7 out of 10 stars. Robert Leighty Jr of 411mania gave the event an overall score of 8.0 out of 10.0 commented on how "This is a pretty solid show as both title matches deliver in one aspect or another. Shawn tries to steal the show again, but Edge and Foley take that honor in a crazy ass brawl. This was the last Mania held in an arena and it's a fun atmosphere because of the jacked up crowd. Throw in another solid Money in the Bank Match, and a memorable Woman's Title match, and you have a fun show all around!"

Results

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" style="font-size:85%; text-align:left;" |- !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|# !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Results !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Stipulations !style="border-style:none none solid solid; background:#e3e3e3;"|Times |- | |Viscera won by last eliminating Snitsky |18-man Interpromotional battle royal |09:00 |- |1 |Kane and The Big Show (c) defeated Carlito and Chris Masters |Tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship |06:41 |- |2 |Rob Van Dam defeated Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay, Matt Hardy and Bobby Lashley |Money in the Bank ladder match |12:21 |- |3 |John "Bradshaw" Layfield (with Jillian Hall) defeated Chris Benoit (c) |Singles match for the WWE United States Championship |09:44 |- |4 |Edge (with Lita) defeated Mick Foley |Hardcore match |14:37 |- |5 |The Boogeyman defeated Booker T and Sharmell |Handicap match |03:52 |- |6 |Mickie James defeated Trish Stratus (c) |Singles match for the WWE Women's Championship |11:48 |- |7 |The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry |Casket match |09:26 |- |8 |Shawn Michaels defeated Vince McMahon |No Holds Barred match |18:28 |- |9 |Rey Mysterio defeated Kurt Angle (c) and Randy Orton |Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship |09:18 |- |10 |Torrie Wilson defeated Candice Michelle |Playboy pillow fight |03:54 |- |11 |John Cena (c) defeated Triple H via submission |Singles match for the WWE Championship |22:02 |}

References

External links

The Official Website of WrestleMania 22

WrestleMania 22 Is Highest Grossing One-Day Event Ever At Allstate Arena

Category:2006 in professional wrestling Category:Rosemont, Illinois Category:WrestleMania Category:Wrestling in Illinois