WrestleMania 28: Grading the Top Moments from WWE WrestleMania 21

In honor of WrestleMania 28, we thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane by looking at the history of the biggest event in professional wrestling. Our first installment will be about one of the best-built shows in WWE history, WrestleMania 21. 

This was the show that took place from Los Angeles in 2005. The main event of the show was the World Heavyweight Championship match between Batista and Triple H, in the angle that made Batista a main-eventer in the company until he walked away in 2010. 

In addition to that match, you had the first-ever Money in the Bank Ladder match, John Cena vs. JBL for the WWE Championship, The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton and a Kurt Angle-Shawn Michaels match that was kind of good. 

Those were the matches that made the show, but here are the moments that we will always remember from WrestleMania 21. 

5. Finish of Rey Mysterio-Eddie Guerrero Match

You knew that WrestleMania 21 was going to be special when the opening match was Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero. They set everything else up on the show perfectly by giving their all, while not doing too much to take the crowd out of it for later on. 

In the final sequence of the match, Mysterio hit a 619 and was going for a hurricanrana, but Guerrero turned it into a powerbomb. Mysterio kicked out. Mysterio did a spinerooski onto Guerrero's shoulders that turned into a hurricanrana for the pin. 

A brilliant finish for an underrated match. 

4. Randy Orton Turns Chokeslam Into RKO

Over the years, we have gotten accustomed to seeing Randy Orton do the RKO in unique and creative ways. One of the first times that he did it to perfection was at WrestleMania 21 against The Undertaker. 

This was during a time when fans were still wondering if anyone would ever stop "The Streak."

This would have been the match to do it, if it was going to happen.

Orton had won the world title the previous year at SummerSlam, but that was botched because Triple H had to book himself as champion. He was still young enough with the potential to be the star he is today, and this could have been the win to launch him into the stratosphere. 

It didn't happen, not that it needed to, and Undertaker continues to put "The Streak" on the line at 'Mania every year. 

3. Triple H Does The Right Thing, Sort Of

The best angle that WWE has done in the last 10 years was the long, slow build to the match between Triple H and Batista at WrestleMania 21.

Ironically, Batista did an interview with Wrestling Observer Radio not too long ago saying that the creative team originally wanted to do the match long before it happened with almost no build. It's funny how nothing has changed in the past six years. 

While the match itself was not what it needed to be, since Triple H thought it would be a good idea to just beat on Batista for the vast majority of time they had, the finish saw Batista hitting the bomb with his namesake and winning clean at the end. 

The crowd ate up the finish, the angle finished the way that it should have and Batista turned into a superstar. 

2. It's Shelton Benjamin's World, We All Just Live In It

The first Money In the Bank Ladder match will always be the standard by which all others are judged. Not simply because it was the first, but because it was, in fact, the best. 

There are any number of spots that you could choose from in this match, but Shelton Benjamin was the star. This was still at a time when he had potential and WWE hadn't buried him so low that he just stopped caring. (This match came one month before his classic Raw battle with Shawn Michaels.)

My favorite moment from the match was when Chris Jericho climbed up a ladder, Benjamin ran up another ladder that had been set up diagonally against the standing ladder and clotheslined Jericho. It was an amazing spot from one of the most athletic performers in the business today.

1. Michaels vs. Angle

I could give you any number of spots or moments in this match that were great--the ankle lock finish, Angle yelling at Michaels, who responds with a superkick, top-rope olympic slam--but that would be missing out on the best WWE match of the last 10 years. 

There were no titles, no gimmicks to this match. It was just two of the best wrestlers in the history of the company standing toe-to-toe for nearly 30 minutes and giving the fans a show they will never forget. 

It is useless to keep talking about it, so I will just tell you to watch this match in its entirety if you want to know why we all love wrestling and keep coming back to WWE even when it frustrates us to no end. 

Check back for more on the WWE as it comes, and check out Bleacher Report’s Wrestling Page to get your fill of the WWE. For more WWE talk, check out Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics you just can’t miss.

Follow @adamwells1985

Listen to internet radio with RingRustRadio on Blog Talk Radio