WrestleMania 21 (2005) — 'WrestleMania Goes Hollywood'

Card and principal matches

The card was built around two world title matches and several marquee undercard bouts. On the Raw side, Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista, who defeated Triple H to capture the title and begin his run as a main-event player. The SmackDown! headliner saw John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) lose the WWE Championship to John Cena, signaling Cena's rise as a central figure in the company. Other notable singles matches included The Undertaker versus Randy Orton, and Kurt Angle against Shawn Michaels.

Money in the Bank and innovations

WrestleMania 21 introduced the inaugural six-man Money in the Bank ladder match, a concept that has since become an annual fixture and spawned its own pay-per-view. The match, contested by six Raw-brand competitors, combined the spectacle of ladders with a guaranteed championship opportunity for the winner by virtue of a contract suspended above the ring. The match's success influenced booking and helped create a recurring storyline device used across WWE programming Money in the Bank.

Production, attendance and presentation

This WrestleMania was the first held at the Staples Center and the fifth in the greater Southern California area, following several earlier events in the region. The show featured official theme music, including the primary song "Big Time" and a secondary theme by a mainstream rock band 3 Doors Down. Tickets reportedly sold out in under one minute, setting a Staples Center record and contributing to a billed attendance of 20,193 fans from numerous states and countries. The event grossed over $2.1 million in ticket sales and was one of the highest-grossing WWE shows staged in California attendance box office.

Reception and legacy

Critically and commercially, WrestleMania 21 is remembered for launching Batista and John Cena into sustained main-event prominence and for formally introducing the Money in the Bank concept to a broad audience. Matches such as Angle vs. Michaels and Undertaker vs. Orton are often cited for their storytelling and in-ring psychology, while the event's Hollywood theme and celebrity-adjacent presentation marked a distinct aesthetic choice for WWE's biggest annual show.

Notable facts and links

Beyond the in-ring results, WrestleMania 21 stands out for blending long-term character pushes with a forward-looking match concept that expanded WWE's booking options. The event also reinforced WrestleMania's role as a cultural tentpole for professional wrestling, drawing viewers from more than 90 countries and attracting mainstream attention.

• WrestleMania overview
• Professional wrestling reference
• Pay-per-view format
• Event date details
• 2005 context
• Theme music by 3 Doors Down
• SmackDown! brand
• Raw brand
• Triple H
• Batista
• World Heavyweight Championship
• John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)
• John Cena
• WWE Championship
• The Undertaker
• Randy Orton
• Kurt Angle
• Shawn Michaels
• Money in the Bank concept
• Southern California setting
• Los Angeles metropolitan area
• WrestleMania II
• WrestleMania VII
• WrestleMania XII
• WrestleMania 2000
• Attendance and demographics
• Box office and gross