The twenty-third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was presented by 360 OTC and took place on 1 April 2007, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The event was the first WrestleMania at Ford Field and the second to take place in the Detroit metropolitan area.
The other Mania that took place at the same venue was WrestleMania 3. The event witnessed new stars who made it big in the business and established stars who made their presence felt. All in the all, the show could be rated 7.5/10 and there are matches that went down the history wire as some of the epic WrestleMania matches.
The Great Khali vs Kane
The Great Khali enjoyed a great first six months in the WWE. He went after big names like The Undertaker, Big Show and Batista to name a few. At WrestleMania 23, the company wanted to engage Khali in a non-title match against someone who matches his physical measurements, the big red machine, Kane.
Khali represented the RAW brand and Kane represented the SmackDown brand and this match was dubbed as an Interpromotional Battle Royal. Khali absolutely had no problems with Kane as he delivered a giant chokeslam and won the match within six minutes.
Money in the Bank ladder match
For the second time, WrestleMania had a ladder match for the Money in the Bank contract. Eight of the finest WWE superstars on the roster back then – Mr Kennedy, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Finlay, Matt Hardy, Booker T, Jeff Hardy and Edge took part in this 24-minute gruelling encounter.
This was the first official WrestleMania match for CM Punk. Mr Kennedy went on to win the contract but Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy and Edge stole the hearts of the WWE universe with their incredible skills inside the ring. The first ladder match for the Money in the Bank contract took place a couple of years ago and the second one too accrued great success, this one was no different either.
Batista vs The Undertaker
The Animal, Batista, defended his World Heavyweight Championship against the phenom, The Undertaker in a traditional singles match at WrestleMania 23. Batista delivered two Batista Bombs on The Undertaker but still couldn’t get the match won. The Phenom went for a Last ride, a chokeslam and a Tombstone but still couldn’t tame the Animal.
At one point, it looked like the match would go on forever but Taker delivered a vicious Piledriver and pinned the champion. With this, Undertaker not only won the World Heavyweight Championship but also improved his WrestleMania winning streak to 15-0.
Bobby Lashley vs Umaga
In a match, dubbed as the “Battle of the Billionaires”, Bobby Lashley and Umaga competed in a singles match with Steve Austin as the special guest referee. Lashley represented the current US Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump while the Samoan badass, Umaga, represented the WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon.
This match was a Hair vs Hair match which means the loser would get his hair shaved off. Lashley defeated Umaga with a spear and won the match for Trump. After the match, Trump, Austin and Lashley continued the proceedings and made Vince bald. A very special match and one to be remembered for long!
John Cena vs Shawn Michaels
This is a perfectly poised WWE Championship main event in which both the superstars tore each other apart in a gruelling 29-minute encounter. Michaels was dominant throughout the first half of the match but the defending champion, Cena came back strongly in the closing moments of the match.
The match started with Michaels slapping Cena and a flurry of right-hand exchanges to each other. Cena was taken down with a kick on the head and Michaels followed it up with a Springboard moonsault on the floor.
Cena hurt his left knee after this attack. Michaels attacked Cena’s left knee repeatedly. Cena was badly hurt and could barely stand his ground without the aid of the ropes. The referee confirmed with Cena whether he can compete further or not. But as Cena would always say, he responded with a big no and continued the match.
The superstars exchanged a lot of blows and Cena created separation finally, after he drove Michaels into the steel post, head first. Shawn started bleeding and Cena capitalised with a vicious clothesline and a Five Knuckle Shuffle.
He made a failed attempt for an AA while Michaels blocked the move and tried to superkick Cena. Cena stepped aside and the referee was hit by Michaels with Sweet Chin Music and he was down.
Cena attempted another AA but Michaels once again countered it with a DDT. Cena was piledriven on the steel steps by Michaels. Shawn capitalised this and quickly covered Cena but the champ kicked out at two. The match rolled on with a sequence of moves, counters and near misses. Cena finally caught Michaels in the STFU and made him tap out to retain the title.
