WrestleMania XX
WrestleMania XX was a 2004 professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. It was the 20th annual WrestleMania and took place on March 14, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. This was the third WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden, after WrestleMania I in 1985 and WrestleMania X in 1994, and the fourth of six WrestleManias in the New York metropolitan area, alongside WrestleMania I, 2, X, 29, and 35. The calendar date of March 14 is the earliest date for a WrestleMania.
The match card featured two billed main events. The card's final match, which was the main event for the Raw brand, was a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which saw champion Triple H defending the title against Shawn Michaels, and that year's Royal Rumble match winner, Chris Benoit, who won the match, making Triple H submit via the Crippler Crossface, resulting in his first and only world championship in WWE. The main event for the SmackDown! brand featured Eddie Guerrero versus Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship, which Guerrero won by a Small Package pin. The event also featured the return of The Undertaker in his Deadman persona, who defeated Kane after a Tombstone Piledriver. John Cena made his in-ring WrestleMania debut at the event, defeating Big Show to win his first title in WWE, the WWE United States Championship.
Also on the card was a match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as the special guest referee. This was both Lesnar's and Goldberg's final match in WWE until Extreme Rules 2012 and Survivor Series 2016, respectively. After Goldberg won the match following a Jackhammer, both men were given a Stone Cold Stunner by Austin on their way out. The event also featured the in-ring return of The Rock, teaming up with Mick Foley and reuniting the Rock 'n' Sock Connection to take on Evolution in a 3-on-2 Handicap match, in which Evolution were victorious. This would be The Rock's final match in WWE until Survivor Series 2011.
The event grossed $2.4 million in ticket sales, making the pay-per-view the highest grossing event ever for WWE at Madison Square Garden. More than 20,000 people from 16 countries and 48 states attended the event, which was also televised in more than 90 countries. The event generated an estimated $13.5 million of economic activity for New York City and created an equivalent of 96 full-year jobs.
Production
Background
is considered World Wrestling Entertainment's flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view event, having first been held in 1985. It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views – which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series – referred to as the "Big Four". WrestleMania XX was scheduled to be held on March 14, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, the third time at this venue, after WrestleMania I in 1985 and WrestleMania X in 1994. The event featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions.Storylines
The event comprised 12 matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown! brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown!.The main feud heading into the pay-per-view was for the Raw brand, with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Benoit feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship. The rivalry began on the December 29 episode of Raw, when Michaels challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship in Michaels' hometown of San Antonio, Texas. It appeared as if Michaels would win, with the then-Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff coming into the ring at the last minute and making the pinfall, counting to three for what appeared to be Michaels winning the title. However, as Michaels' shoulders were on the mat at the same time as Triple H's, the match was later declared a draw, and Triple H retained the championship. At the Royal Rumble, Triple H and Michaels again faced each other in a Last Man Standing match for the title, which resulted in another draw. As a result, Triple H retained the title yet again, but leaving open the question as to which of the two truly deserved the championship. Later that night, during the Royal Rumble match, SmackDown!'s Benoit won the match by last eliminating Big Show, after being the first entrant to the event. The following night on Raw, Michaels and Triple H were involved in an in-ring confrontation when Raw's Sheriff Steve Austin made his way to the ring. He stated that, although Michaels should have a rematch, he had to "enforce the law", and that even though the Royal Rumble rules gave the winner of the match a shot at "the championship", there was not any specification as to which world title that was. Benoit, who at the time was a member of the SmackDown! brand, then came to the ring and said he was taking advantage of the loophole, joining the Raw brand and challenging Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX. On the February 9 episode of Raw, a contract signing took place between Benoit and Triple H. As Triple H signed his name on the paper, Michaels came out to inform Benoit that the last thing he wanted to do is "rain on parade". He then stated that he, more than anybody, can respect Benoit's effort to win the Royal Rumble match and earn a World title shot, but suggested that Benoit should've stayed on SmackDown! to take care of business while Michaels, himself, was trying to finish his feud with Triple H. Benoit refused to relinquish his guaranteed title shot, resulting in Michaels hitting Benoit with Sweet Chin Music and signing the contract himself. After the two men wrestled a match marred by interference from the champion on the February 16 episode of Raw, Austin decided to make Triple H's title defense a triple threat match. On the March 1 episode of Raw, after Michaels and Benoit lost to Randy Orton and Batista, Triple H's stablemates in Evolution, the entire group attacked Michaels and Benoit, ending with Triple H hitting both with the Pedigree and rubbing his World title belt into their faces while they lied motionless in the ring.
The main feud for the SmackDown! brand was between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. Angle and Guerrero were initially allies while Guerrero feuded with his nephew Chavo Guerrero. This changed when, on the January 29 episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero last eliminated Angle in a 15-man Royal Rumble match, to earn a shot at the WWE Championship. At No Way Out, Kurt Angle defeated The Big Show and John Cena in a triple threat match to earn a title shot at WrestleMania, and Guerrero defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. On the February 19 episode of SmackDown!, Angle was the special guest referee in a WWE Championship match between Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero. As Eddie was about to gain the victory, Angle stopped the 3-count and turned on Guerrero. On the February 26 episode of SmackDown!, Guerrero was eager to get his revenge on Angle, but when he finally saw Angle, he shoved SmackDown! General Manager Paul Heyman and his assistant Dawn Marie out of his way, only for Heyman to have Guerrero escorted out of the arena by security. Guerrero was scheduled to team with John Cena to take on Chavo Guerrero and the Big Show in a tag team match that night, but due to Guerrero being escorted out of the arena, he was replaced by Rey Mysterio for the tag match, which Mysterio and Cena won. Later that night, Angle appeared and stated that he attacked Guerrero for the SmackDown! fans and for the WWE. He then referred to Guerrero as a former drug addict who should not represent SmackDown! as the WWE Champion, and stated that, one day, people would be thanking him for giving them a champion to be proud of. Guerrero then re-entered the arena and assaulted Angle until he was arrested on the orders of Heyman. As Guerrero got taken out of the building in handcuffs, Angle made some insulting comments to him, before the officers drove away with Guerrero in the police car. On the March 4 episode of SmackDown!, during Guerrero's match with Heyman, Angle interfered and knocked him down a few times, until Guerrero defended himself by spitting on Angle. As Guerrero begged Angle to hit him with the WWE Championship belt, Angle did so and raised the title belt over his head to hype their match at Wrestlemania XX.
This was the first WrestleMania to have matches billed as "inter-promotional", which means that a party from Raw would wrestle a party from SmackDown!. WWE owner Vince McMahon named three matches to be inter-promotional on the February 16 episode of Raw. The first was a tag team match featuring SmackDown!'s Torrie Wilson and Sable, who had recently been featured in a pictorial in Playboy magazine, against Raw's Stacy Keibler and Miss Jackie, who had protested the decision made by Hugh Hefner not to feature them in his magazine.edition of February 14, 2004 of Raw
On the January 26 episode of Raw, Goldberg came to the ring, and demanded a match between himself and Brock Lesnar, with whom he had problems over the past two months. At the Royal Rumble, Goldberg was entered in the Royal Rumble match, only to have Lesnar interfere and execute an F-5, causing Goldberg to be eliminated by Kurt Angle. On the February 2 episode of Raw, as a result of the rivalry between the two wrestlers, Sheriff Steve Austin gave Goldberg the option of attending No Way Out by giving him a front-row ticket. At No Way Out, Goldberg was seen arriving at the arena and being escorted to his front seat by security. SmackDown! General Manager Paul Heyman then gave a promotional in-ring speech on how SmackDown! was the better program than Raw. Lesnar then came down to the ring to promote his match and to insult Goldberg. Goldberg immediately jumped over the barricade and entered the ring, where Lesnar performed a running shoulder block to Goldberg's stomach and tried to perform another F-5 on him. However, Goldberg countered it and lifted Lesnar vertically in the air before slamming him down in a Jackhammer. Goldberg was then escorted out of the arena by security. During Lesnar's WWE title defense against Eddie Guerrero later that night, Goldberg returned to the arena and interfered by executing a Spear, which caused Lesnar to lose the title after Guerrero nailed him with a Frog splash. On the February 23 episode of Raw, Vince McMahon set the interpromotional singles match as pitting Lesnar versus Goldberg for WrestleMania XX, with Austin as the special guest referee. Later that night during the match between McMahon and Eric Bischoff, Lesnar appeared and nailed Austin with an F-5, before stealing Austin's four-wheeler. On the February 26 episode of SmackDown!, Lesnar stated that he appeared on Raw just to get back at Austin for giving Goldberg the front-row seat ticket and suggesting that Goldberg would attack Lesnar at No Way Out. Behind the scenes, it was widely known that the match would be Goldberg's last in WWE. Only a week before WrestleMania, rumors surfaced that Lesnar, too, was leaving, in order to pursue a career in the National Football League. On the March 11 episode of SmackDown!, Austin appeared to get his four-wheeler back from Lesnar, only for the entire roster to get in his way by orders of SmackDown! General Manager Heyman. Moments later, the entire roster decided to move aside and let Austin by to confront Lesnar in the ring. As Austin got into the ring, he and Lesnar traded punches, with Austin ramming Lesnar headfirst into the steel ring post and attempting to nail Lesnar with the Stone Cold Stunner, only for Lesnar to escape, leaving Austin to finally get back his four-wheeler and close the show with his trademark beer bash.
The next match was at the request of Kane, and had its roots in a match at Survivor Series, in which Kane's storyline brother, The Undertaker challenged Vince McMahon to a Buried Alive match. Kane interfered in the match and buried his brother under several tons of dirt, apparently killing him. On the November 20 episode of SmackDown!, Kane appeared to give the eulogy for his brother, claiming that The Undertaker was no longer his brother and had died a long time before, as he no longer embraced his dark side. This rewarded him with a match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Armageddon, which was won by Triple H in a Triple Threat Match also involving Goldberg. Kane participated in the Royal Rumble and was eliminated by Booker T when The Undertaker's old theme music began playing and distracted him. Over the following weeks, Kane repeatedly insisted that The Undertaker was "dead", only to be met with various paranormal incidents, such as a rainstorm over the ramp on which he stood. On the March 8 episode of Raw, Kane appeared in the ring and saw an empty casket; as he opened it, he saw an urn inside of it. He then grabbed the microphone and stated that it was going to take more than an empty casket and an urn to intimidate him. He then stated that The Undertaker's legacy, his 11–0 WrestleMania streak and his life, was coming to an end. As Kane that he was not afraid of The Undertaker, the lights went out, and the 10,000-pound wrestling ring was lifted off the ground with Kane standing in it and tilted sideways, which would be the final message sent from The Undertaker before their match at WrestleMania XX.
A rivalry had been simmering for some time between Mick Foley and Randy Orton. On the June 23 episode of Raw, following an on-air ceremony honoring Foley for his achievements, Orton and Ric Flair attacked him backstage and threw him down a flight of stairs. Foley returned as the replacement for Steve Austin as Raw co-general manager and gave himself a shot at Orton's Intercontinental Championship on the December 15 episode of Raw, but he walked out of the match and would not face Orton, even after Orton spat on him. On the January 19 episode of Raw, a furious Austin declared that Foley would be entered in the Royal Rumble match and be expected to return and wrestle, which he did by eliminating Orton from the match. On the March 1 episode of Raw, Foley was later joined by The Rock in the feud, and the re-formed Rock 'n' Sock Connection challenged Orton, Batista, and Flair to a handicap tag team match at WrestleMania.