This review is a little late, and I did watch this when it first premiered, but never thought about reviewing it on here. But I've decided that I actually have something to say, so here we go.
People I know who have seen this 'Mania, have been quite disappointed after viewing it. People compare it to the previous Manias, such as 19 and 20 (20, I think, paled in comparison to 21). However, I saw 21 as a kind of "New Beginning," that I hadn't seen since Mania 18, which was another alleged "let down," but one of my personal favorites. Like 18, 21 marked a new age for the business. 18 marked the beginning of the WWE itself, as opposed to the WWF, and was also the beginning of the Smackdown! branch, along with the convergence with WCW.
21 did something very similar, in that it converged with ECW, and turned ECW into an entirely new branch for the WWE. It also started something along the lines of the Undisputed Title (which was won by Triple H at 18), where both the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships were on one side of the brand, similar to what had happened with the World Title and the WWF title at 18 during the WCW-WWF/E convergence which was taking place.
Mania 21 was also the beginning of the now traditional Money in the Bank Ladder Match, and was the beginning of some of the longest-running and most dramatic rivalries in WWE history - Batista vs. Triple H (and the death of Evolution all together), JBL vs. John Cena, Undertaker vs. Randy Orton, and Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio, not to mention the feuds and battles between Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan. 2005 in general was and still is my personal favorite year in World Wrestling Entertainment, in that it was a year of new ideas and styles for the WWE, down to as things as little as the new-styled match cards for each PPV event.
I'd still have to say my favorite Mania of all-time is X-Seven, though, but how could you not? However, smaller Match card Manias such as these (only 8 matches, as opposed to XX's 12 matches and XIX's 10) I always enjoy, because each match is given enough time to develop and flourish, and each performer is given enough time to... Perform. I mean I don't think I've ever seen a better Taker one-on-one match at any other Mania than here (save for Michaels vs. Taker, of course), and with Randy Orton? He can put up one hell of a fight.
Its Wrestlemanias like these that I remember, not for the match length or for the more violent matches, but for the moments like Orton's RKO choke slam counter, Hogan's return, Piper's Pit with Austin, Batista's thumbs down, and of course the Michaels vs. Angle match in general.
