WrestleMania 22

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

WrestleMania 22 was a joint-promotion pay-per-view event, featuring performers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands. The tagline for WrestleMania 22 was "Big Time". The official theme song for the event was "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel. Secondary theme songs included "I Dare You" by Shinedown, "Save Me Sorrow" by Bullets and Octane, and "Baby Hates Me" by Danko Jones.

WrestleMania 22 had two main events. The first one was between Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle and Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Triple Threat match. The second one was between John Cena and Triple H for the WWE Championship. The main matches on the undercard were Shawn Michaels versus Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match and The Undertaker versus Mark Henry in a Casket match.

Background
The main feud on SmackDown! heading into WrestleMania 22 was between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton. Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble match last eliminating Orton and thus earning himself a world title match at WrestleMania. This culminated in a match at No Way Out where Orton faced Mysterio in a match where Mysterio's world title opportunity at WrestleMania was on the line. Orton won that match and thus he also won Mysterio's WrestleMania World Title match. This match was simply a #1 contender's match and now it was Kurt Angle versus Randy Orton for the title until February 24 edition of SmackDown!, when SmackDown! GM Theodore Long announced that the World Title match at WrestleMania 22 would be a Triple Threat Match involving Mysterio, Orton and Angle for the World Heavyweight Championship. On March 3 edition of SmackDown!, Kurt Angle defended the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker in a No Way Out rematch in which Mark Henry interfered and thus Angle retained the title.

The main feud on RAW heading into WrestleMania was between John Cena and Triple H for the WWE Championship. Triple H was the No. 1 entrant in the 2006 Royal Rumble match but he failed to win the match after he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio, but he got another chance to become the #1 contender to the WWE Championship. He participated in the 2006 Road To WrestleMania Tournament. In the final round match of the tournament held on February 20 edition of Raw, Triple H faced Rob Van Dam and The Big Show in a Triple Threat Match. Triple H won the match after he hit RVD with a Pedigree. After the match, John Cena came and showed Triple H that the belt was around his waist and this started their rivalry.

The third major feud was between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. Their rivalry had originally begun on January 2 edition of Raw when Michaels lost a match to Kane. After the match, McMahon forced Michaels to be the first man in the Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution while Kane got the advantage to become the last man to enter the match. After Michaels failed to win the WWE Championship from John Cena at New Year's Revolution in the Elimination Chamber match, he participated in the 2006 Royal Rumble match. McMahon had appointed MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) and Shelton Benjamin to eliminate Michaels. Neither MNM could eliminate him, nor Benjamin even they themselves were eliminated by Michaels. After the elimination of Benjamin, Vince McMahon's music hit and McMahon distracted Michaels. From behind, Shane eliminated Michaels (Shane was not an official entrant) and then Michaels chased the McMahons backstage. On January 30 edition of Raw, Michaels confronted McMahon and then McMahon said that Michaels was screwed more than Bret Hart. McMahon tricked Michaels and from behind Shane hit Michaels with a chair shot. On March 18 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Michaels faced Shane in a Street Fight. Michaels was screwed during the match when Shane locked Michaels in the Sharpshooter and McMahon immediately ordered the bell to be rung.

The fourth major feud was between The Undertaker and Mark Henry. Their rivalry began on March 3 edition of SmackDown! when he had his No Way Out rematch against Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight Championship. Undertaker had hit Angle a Tombstone Piledriver but before he could make the pin, Henry came to the ring and attacked Undertaker causing a disqualification victory for Undertaker. A title does not change hands via disqualification thus Angle retained the title. Undertaker challenged Henry afterwards to a match at WrestleMania and this match was a Casket Match.

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 a rendition of "America the Beautiful" before the show.

The opening match was for the World Tag Team Championship where Kane and The Big Show defended the World Tag Team Championship against Carlito and Chris Masters. Masters applied a Master Lock on Kane until Kane turned Masters towards Big Show and Show broke the Master Lock. Kane set up a chokeslam on Carlito and Masters attempted to hit Kane with a double axe-handle, instead Kane placed Carlito in between. 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 2006 Money in the Bank ladder match. The contestants were Rob Van Dam, Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay, Bobby Lashley and Matt Hardy. This match was a threatening match for all superstars. In the beginning, Benjamin propped a ladder against Flair, then ran it up and launched it into a moonsault on the other contestants outside the ring. Later on, Hardy superplexed Flair off the top of the ladder and Flair's leg injury increased. He was then taken away by the referees to backstage. Lashley was close to the victory until he took a sunset flip powerbomb. Flair came back but Finlay hit him with the shillelagh. RVD stood on the top of the 15-foot ladder and hit Finlay with a death-defying Five-Star Frog Splash. RVD climbed the ladder but Benjamin hit RVD a somersault plancha by springboarding off the ladder. RVD and Benjamin punched each other on the same ladder until Hardy came out with a second ladder and joined the two. They had a little distance from the briefcase. RVD forced Hardy and Benjamin's ladder over and pushed them sending them both smashing on the floor. RVD grabbed the briefcase and went on to win the 2006 Money in the Bank ladder match.

Howard Finkel introduced the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2006. First of all, he announced that Bret Hart would not be coming to attend the event. "Mean" Gene Okerlund, "Sensational" Sherri Martel, Tony Atlas, William "The Refrigerator" Perry and The Blackjacks (Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza) attended the class while the late Eddie Guerrero was represented by his wife Vickie Guerrero who was supported by Eddie's nephew Chavo Guerrero.

The third match was between John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Chris Benoit for Benoit's WWE United States Championship. During JBL's entrance, the entrance ramp was raised and JBL's limousine drove out from underneath. During the match, Benoit wrestled very well and he hit great moves including a series of german suplexes, Three Amigos and a diving headbutt. JBL finally hit Benoit a Clothesline From Hell but Benoit avoided the move and applied in the Crippler Crossface. JBL flipped Benoit over on his back and used ropes for leverage and then the referee counted to 3 as JBL won the WWE United States Championship.

The fourth match was a brutal hardcore match between Edge and Mick Foley. During the match, Foley attacked Edge brutally with cookie sheets, road signs, barbed wire bat, thumbtacks and lighter fluid. When Edge speared Foley, he cut his arm and his blood poured out. Foley removed his clothing and revealed that he was wrapped in a razor wire. Foley applied a barbed-wire Socko Mandible Claw on both Lita and Edge but finally Edge had the match in control when he speared Foley through the ring ropes and Foley fell on a flaming table which hurt both men. Edge pinned Foley to win the match but after the match, Edge was twitching, bleeding and was totally burnt. His flesh was punctured as he won the match.

The fifth match was a handicap match where Booker T and Sharmell faced The Boogeyman. The two took advantage of the 2-on-1 situation and Booker even hit Boogeyman a Book End but Boogeyman pulled out a huge glob of worms. He put the worms into his mouth and chewed them and then kissed Sharmell. Sharmell screamed and immediately left the match running to backstage. Boogeyman hit Booker a Falling Chokebomb to get the victory.

The sixth match was a divas match between Mickie James and Trish Stratus for Trish's WWE Women's Championship. The two had a frustrated match as Trish was very frustrated during the match while Mickie acted as a psycho. Trish had the control of the match. Mickie ultimately kicked out after a massive powerbomb. Mickie hit a sharp Mick Kick in Trish's head which knocked out Trish and then Mickie pinned Trish to win the match and the WWE Women's Championship.

The seventh match was a casket match between The Undertaker and Mark Henry. In the beginning, while Undertaker was entering into the ring, Henry immediately attacked him. Henry tried to use his size and power to drop Undertaker. Henry hit Undertaker with a World's Strongest Slam and covered him but there are no pinfalls, submissions, countouts or disqualifications in casket matches. According to rules, a wrestler should be thrown into the casket. Undertaker took advantage and hit Henry with a Last Ride. While Henry was out of the ring, Undertaker hit him with a death-defying suicide dive. Undertaker went on to hit Henry with a Tombstone Piledriver and then threw him into the casket to win the match and keeping his undefeated WrestleMania streak alive improving his WrestleMania record to 14-0.

The eighth match was a No Holds Barred match between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. As the match began, Michaels was able to beat up McMahon until Spirit Squad came on behalf of McMahon. Michaels controlled all the five men and then the two wrestled against each other. Michaels fetched a ladder from the bottom of the ring and smashed squarely in McMahon's head. McMahon's blood gushed down his face until Shane interfered on his father's behalf but Michaels handcuffed Shane to the ring ropes and threw the key in the audience. Shawn decided to hit McMahon a Sweet Chin Music but he got a trash can and a table. He was going to hit McMahon a diving elbow drop from the top of a ladder until he got a taller ladder. He put McMahon on a table and put a trashcan over McMahon's head and chest. Michaels then climbed on the top of the tall ladder and hit McMahon a diving elbow drop. The match totally became brutal for McMahon and Michaels ended the match after he hit McMahon with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels pinned McMahon to win the match.

The ninth match was a Triple Threat match between Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle and Randy Orton for Angle's World Heavyweight Championship. During Mysterio's entrance, P.O.D. performed Mysterio's music live. In the beginning of the match, Angle wrestled very well. He hit a jaw-dropping german suplex to both Mysterio and Orton that sent Mysterio fly across the ring. He forced both Orton and Mysterio tap to grapevined ankle lock but usually the hold was foiled. Angle kicked out of an RKO by Orton and a West Coast Pop by Mysterio. Angle hit Orton an Angle Slam and also tried to hit Mysterio an Angle Slam but Mysterio reversed it into an innovated arm drag that slingshotted Angle out the ring. Mysterio went on to hit Orton a 619 followed by a West Coast Pop pinfall victory. As a result, Rey Mysterio became the new World Heavyweight Champion. After the match, Mysterio celebrated with Chavo and Vickie.

The tenth match was a Playboy Pillow Fight between Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle. It was a quick match which Torrie had in control. She hit Candice a snap suplex and a backdrop. She pulled Candice's dress and pinned her with a roll-up.

The main event was between John Cena and Triple H for the WWE Championship. Both men came in different styles during their entrances. Triple H came out on a throne dressed as Conan the Barbarian-type king while Cena came out with a tommy gun and was accompanied by a group of "gangsters" in a 1940s Chicago-era vehicle. The fans were against Cena during the match. At the end Triple H hit Cena in the head with a sledgehammer, but Cena kicked out on a 2 count. Moments later Triple H tried to hit Cena with a Pedigree but was countered by Cena into an FU. Triple H kicked out of the pinfall attempt despite the FU. Cena then applied the STFU, but Triple H got to the ropes. Cena would then lock Triple H in the STFU again, and as a result Triple H tapped out and Cena retained the WWE Championship.

Aftermath
John Cena continued his feud with both Triple H and Edge over the WWE Championship. At Backlash, Cena defended the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match which Cena won after pinning Triple H with a roll-up. In addition, Rey Mysterio defended his newly won World Heavyweight Championship against JBL at Judgment Day.

Results
Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
 * Dark match: Viscera won an 18-man Interpromotional Battle Royal featuring: Eugene, Goldust, Snitsky, Tyson Tomko, Rob Conway, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch, Matt Striker from Raw and Super Crazy, Psicosis, Funaki, Steven Richards, Johnny Nitro, Joey Mercury, The Road Warrior, William Regal, Simon Dean from SmackDown! (9:00)
 * Viscera eliminated Snitsky last to win after Snitsky missed a Big Boot.
 * Kane and The Big Show defeated Carlito and Chris Masters to retain the World Tag Team Championship (6:41)
 * Kane pinned Carlito after a chokeslam.
 * Rob Van Dam defeated Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay, Matt Hardy and Bobby Lashley in a Money in the Bank ladder match (12:21)
 * Van Dam won by climbing a ladder and taking possession of the briefcase hanging above the ring.
 * During the match, Ric Flair was superplexed off of a ladder by Matt Hardy and was taken out of the match, though he later returned to finish it.
 * Howard Finkel introduced the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2006:
 * "Mean" Gene Okerlund, "Sensational" Sherri Martel, Tony Atlas, Verne Gagne, William "The Refrigerator" Perry and The Blackjacks (Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza). The eighth inductee, Bret Hart, did not attend the event. The ninth inductee, Eddie Guerrero, was represented by his widow Vickie, who was escorted out to the stage by Guerrero's nephew Chavo Guerrero.
 * John "Bradshaw" Layfield (w/Jillian Hall) defeated Chris Benoit to win the WWE U.S. Championship (9:44)
 * Layfield pinned Benoit after flipping him over on his back during a Crippler Crossface and holding onto the middle rope.
 * Edge (w/Lita) defeated Mick Foley in a Hardcore match (14:37)
 * Edge pinned Foley after a Spear off the apron and through a flaming table on the outside.
 * The Boogeyman defeated Booker T and Sharmell in a Handicap match (3:52)
 * Boogeyman pinned Booker after a Falling Chokebomb.
 * Mickie James defeated Trish Stratus to win the WWE Women's Championship (8:48)
 * James pinned Stratus after a Mick Kick.
 * The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry in a Casket match (9:26)
 * Undertaker rolled Henry into the casket after hitting him with the Tombstone Piledriver.
 * Shawn Michaels defeated Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match (18:28)
 * Michaels pinned McMahon after Sweet Chin Music.
 * During the match, both the Spirit Squad and Shane McMahon interfered on McMahon's behalf.
 * Rey Mysterio defeated Kurt Angle (c) and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship (9:18)
 * Mysterio pinned Orton after a 619 and a West Coast Pop.
 * P.O.D. performed Mysterio's entrance music live.
 * Torrie Wilson defeated Candice Michelle in a Playboy Pillow fight (3:54)
 * Wilson pinned Michelle with a roll-up.
 * John Cena defeated Triple H to retain the WWE Championship (22:02)
 * Cena forced Triple H to submit with the STFU.
 * Triple H came out on a throne dressed as a Conan the Barbarian-type king.
 * Cena came out with a tommy gun accompanied by a group of "gangsters" in a 1940s Chicago-era vehicle.