WrestleMania 21

WrestleMania 21 was the twenty-first yearly WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on April 3, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.^[2] The official theme song for the event was "Big Time" by The Soundtrack of Our Lives.^[3] The secondary theme song was "Behind Those Eyes" by 3 Doors Down.^[3] The tagline for WrestleMania 21 was "WrestleMania Goes Hollywood."

The event was a joint-promotion pay-per-view, featuring performers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands. The main match on the Raw brand was Triple H versus Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Batista won by pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb.^[2][4] The main match on the SmackDown! brand was John "Bradshaw" Layfield versus John Cena for the WWE Championship, which Cena won after performing an FU.^[2][4] The featured matches on the undercard included The Undertaker versus Randy Orton, Kurt Angle versus Shawn Michaels, and the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, which featured six participants from the Raw brand.^[2]

WrestleMania 21 was the first WrestleMania held at the Staples Center, but the fifth to take place in the Southern California metropolitan area (following WrestleMania 2, WrestleMania VII, WrestleMania XII and WrestleMania 2000). Tickets sold out in less than one minute for the event^[source?], making it the fastest ticket sell-out in the company's history as well as the fastest ticket sell-out at the Staples Center. The event drew a Staples Center record attendance of 20,193 people from 14 countries and 48 states and grossed more than $2.1 million in ticket sales, making it the highest grossing WWE event ever at the Staples Center, and the highest grossing of the five WrestleManias held in California. In addition to those in attendance, the event was seen by millions of fans in more than 90 countries.

1. ↑ "WrestleMania 21 results". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk (2005-04-03). "Main events weak at WrestleMania 21". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on 2012-07-20. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Michaels, Mitch (2007-03-17). "The Music of WrestleMania". 411mania.com. Archived from the original on 2008-01-07. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "WrestleMania 21 main events". WWE. Archived from the original on 2007-12-26. Retrieved 2008-01-14.