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WWE WRESTLEMANIA: 15 GREATEST MATCHES IN THE SHOW OF SHOWS' HISTORY P2
Money in the Bank (WrestleMania 21). There have been so many Money in the Bank Ladder matches since the inaugural one in 2005 that it is easy to forget just how extraordinary that bout actually was.
Featuring a talent pool consisting of Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Kane, Christian and Edge, it was a bout loaded with future Hall of Famers.
Thought it was the lack of anything else better to do that landed them in the contest, each men set out to steal the show and the result was a near-flawlessly executed gimmick match.
Major high spots early gave way to an in-ring psychology that is rarely seen in those type of matches. Midway through the bout, Benoit had his left arm crushed between a ladder.
He sold it to perfection, so much so that fans remembered he had an injured limb when it came time for it to play a deciding role in the match.
Benoit climbed the ladder late, appearing to be on his way to a guaranteed championship opportunity.
From out of nowhere, the vile Edge blasted his arm with a steel chair, knocking him off the ladder and allowing the future Rated R Superstar to ascend to the top of the ladder and retrieve the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Inventive spots and strong psychology came together to set the bar incredibly high for all other matches of its type to follow and, in the process, made for one of the 15 greatest WrestleMania contests ever.
Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (WrestleMania 21).
Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle represented the peak of professional wrestling in 2005. Two all-time great workers with a knack for recognizing and understanding in-ring psychology, they were second to none when discussing the finest the industry had to offer.
At WrestleMania 21, in front of Hollywood big wigs and fans from all over the world, they would battle for the right to call themselves the very best in their field.
The tenacity of Angle would be the difference in the match. The Pittsburgh native survived everything Michaels through at him, including Sweet Chin Music that nearly dimmed his lights, and trapped The Heartbreak Kid in an ankle lock.
Michaels tried everything he could to escape the hold, but Angle countered it all before intertwining his legs around his opponents and forcing a tapout. The drama created late in the match by the industry standards was phenomenal.
The story they told, including a point in which Angle got too cocky and confident and nearly wound up beaten as a result, was the stuff of epics.
The right man went over, the match was fantastic and the 2000s had another WrestleMania classic to tout. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania XII).
Who had the guts, determination and drive to compete for 60 minutes for the right to call himself WWE champion?.
That was the question that faced both defending titleholder Bret Hart and challenger Shawn Michaels as they arrived in Anaheim, California, for WrestleMania XII and the first Ironman match in WWE history.
The top two babyfaces in the company would shed blood, sweat and tears for the opportunity to hold the WWE title high overhead at the end of the night.
Exhausted, their bodies worn out from the incredible athleticism they displayed throughout the hourlong run time, they would stop at nothing to emerge victorious.
So much so that neither was able to net a single fall against their strong-willed opponent throughout the initial 60 minutes.
In overtime, Michaels would blast Hart with Sweet Chin Music and win his first world title as commentator Vince McMahon uttered the iconic sentence, The boyhood dream has come true for Shawn Michaels!.
The match was unlike any longtime fans of WWE had ever seen before. For so long, wrestlers got by on their looks or the size of their biceps. Marketability trumped talent. Not anymore.
Michaels and Hart were standard-bearers for the athletic, high-intensity and frenetic main event matches that would eventually follow. Their bout represented a change in philosophies and a shift in tone for WWE.
Plodding main events would no longer be accepted, as fans dictated the following year when those in Chicago sat on their hands for the slow headliner between Undertaker and Sycho Sid.
A dramatic bout that managed to capture the attention of the audience for its duration, the contest deserves its place in the annals of WWE history and in the top 10 of this countdown.