The Best and Worst Moment of WrestleMania 22

WrestleMania 22 saw WWE at a crossroads. With Batista injured, John Cena was squarely positioned as the face of the company, and yet was also experiencing a serious backlash from fans who rejected him in that role.

Meanwhile, Edge had shocked the world with the original Money in the Bank cash-in, Vince McMahon was in the midst of one of his last big feuds opposite Shawn Michaels, and after the passing of Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio was lined up for the push of his career.

This article takes a look back at the best and worst moments of WrestleMania 22.

Best Moment: Edge spears Mick Foley through a flaming table

Edge spearing Mick Foley through a flaming table helped launch his whole career forward.

When Edge cashed in the original Money in the Bank briefcase, he got a huge response. Money in the Bank itself was still an exciting and fresh concept, and the fact that he did so opposite the increasingly polarizing John Cena made the moment all the more intriguing. On top of that, Edge seemed to have finally arrived as the main event level talent management and pundits had long expected he might turn out to be.

WrestleMania 22 marked an in-between point for The Rated R Superstar. He’d been removed from the world title picture for the biggest show of the year, but nonetheless had a high profile spot working a part-time legend. The match saw Edge make the most of it as he not only administered a ton of punishment unto the Hardcore Legend, but demonstrated he could take the violence.

Edge speared Foley, only to reveal that the latter was wrapped in barbed wire beneath his outer shirt. Then, in an iconic moment, Edge fired a spear into Foley, straight through a flaming table. This was metaphorically and, to an extent literally, Edge leaping forward to go through the fire and emerge a bona fide top star.

This was just another day in office for Foley who has put his body on the line on similar occasions. But for Edge, it was a landmark moment that helped him scale up the ranks in the WWE to become one of the greatest heels of all time.

The fact that this match outlasted the Money In the bank ladder match in terms of time limit goes on to show you that the WWE did indeed have plans to make Foley and Edge put on a show.

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Worst Moment: The Boogeyman pins Booker T

The Boogeyman was a cult favorite, but had no business beating Booker T at WrestleMania.

The Boogeyman was a fun enough gimmick character, but it seemed WWE was unsure of quite how and how far to push him. After all, a character like this beating up on lower card heels made sense enough and offered a unique attraction. But beating former (and future) world champions?

The Boogeyman beat Booker T decisively at WrestleMania 22 in a moment that felt disrespectful to Booker’s stature and—to that point—under-realized WWE Superstar potential. This is a loss that feels very odd in retrospect, though, fortunately, it didn’t derail Booker’s career. He’d be defeating Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship the summer to follow.

The WWE often books superstars to win big initially only to drop them to lower mid-card status in the near future, and Boogeyman was one of those failed experiments.