WrestleMania 22 (2006): Edge and Foley Steal a Show Built Around Cena, Mysterio, and a Wild Chicago Crowd

The opener is basic tag wrestling carried by a hot crowd and four clearly defined personalities. Carlito and Masters try to isolate Kane, while Big Show's size gives every eventual tag a natural power shift. The younger challengers get more crowd support than their heel roles suggest, which immediately establishes that Rosemont will react however it wants. Masters briefly traps Kane in the Master Lock before Show breaks it up, and a miscommunication between the challengers creates the finish. Carlito accidentally gets caught in the wrong place, Kane hits the chokeslam, and the champions retain. Six minutes keeps the limitations hidden. The match is functional and energetic, but the champions winning does little to advance Carlito or Masters beyond their post-match argument.

The second Money in the Bank match is shorter than its predecessor but still packed with distinct contributions. Flair supplies the veteran drama, Lashley supplies the power, Finlay brings roughness, Hardy takes dangerous ladder bumps, and Benjamin again looks like the stipulation's most natural athlete. Van Dam becomes the emotional favorite as the match progresses, especially after using the ladder as a platform for a splash. The closing sequence is excellent. Benjamin springboards onto Van Dam's ladder, Hardy climbs a second one, and all three fight above the ring until Van Dam shoves the other ladder away. Hardy and Benjamin crash to the floor, leaving RVD alone to retrieve the briefcase. The result feels both satisfying and consequential.

Benoit and JBL work a straightforward championship match built around whether Benoit can force a submission before JBL finds a shortcut. Benoit's suplexes and Crossface attempts give the match its wrestling credibility, while JBL slows the pace with strikes, headlocks, and opportunistic counters. The crowd is engaged, especially when Benoit uses the Three Amigos and diving headbutt. The finish fits JBL perfectly. Benoit secures the Crossface, JBL rolls through, stacks him, and grabs the ropes for leverage while the referee misses it. The three-count gives JBL the championship without making Benoit look decisively inferior. Ten minutes is enough for the idea, though neither wrestler gets the time to turn it into a major WrestleMania title match.

Edge and Foley build the violence so intelligently that the famous flaming-table finish feels like a destination rather than a stunt. Foley reveals barbed wire beneath his shirt to counter the first Spear, Edge bleeds from the arm, and the match escalates through steel steps, thumbtacks, a barbed-wire bat, and Mr. Socko wrapped in wire. Lita's involvement repeatedly changes the balance without replacing the two wrestlers at the center. Foley's comeback becomes increasingly brutal until the table is soaked and lit. Lita attacks his knee, Edge charges through the ropes, and the Spear sends both men through the flames. The image is extraordinary, but the structure before it is what makes the image matter.

The match is almost entirely an extension of Boogeyman's entrance and worm gimmick. Booker tries to create conventional offense, Sharmell supplies the handicap element, and the crowd spends most of the four minutes waiting for the character beat it knows is coming. Boogeyman absorbs Booker's attacks, produces the worms, and eventually kisses Sharmell with them, sending her away from ringside. Booker is left alone, gets caught, and loses after the chokebomb-style finish. Nothing develops enough to become competitive, and the handicap stipulation never creates real danger for Boogeyman. The segment may satisfy viewers invested in the character, but as WrestleMania wrestling it is nearly empty and places a former world champion in an unusually helpless role.

Mickie and Trish have something several longer matches on the card lack: months of character work the crowd already understands. Mickie attacks Trish's leg and keeps glancing toward the champion with the same obsessive intensity that built the feud. Rosemont increasingly cheers Mickie and boos Trish, creating another inversion of WWE's intended roles. The wrestling is strong until a visibly awkward Stratusfaction attempt disrupts the finish. Mickie recovers, lands the Mick Kick, and wins the championship cleanly. The match is not technically perfect, but the title change lands because the story has made Mickie feel like a fully formed star. Her victory becomes one of the most enduring women's moments from the pre-Divas Revolution era.

Undertaker and Henry never find enough pace or suspense to make the casket stipulation feel dangerous. Henry's power gives him a plausible route to controlling the match, but most of the middle is slow offense and repeated attempts to position Undertaker near the casket. The best sequence belongs entirely to Undertaker. He escapes trouble, hits the Last Ride, then launches over the top rope and over the casket with a no-hands dive onto Henry outside. Back in the ring, the Tombstone ends the resistance and Undertaker places Henry in the casket to move the WrestleMania streak to 14-0. The dive is memorable; the rest is mostly a bridge between stronger attractions.

Michaels and McMahon are not trying to have a conventional wrestling match, and the bout is better when it embraces that limitation. Spirit Squad interference, belts, handcuffs, trash cans, tables, and ladders turn the match into a long revenge spectacle. Vince spends much of the time surviving abuse while Shawn keeps rejecting easier finishes because he wants a more humiliating punishment. That choice creates the signature moment. Michaels places Vince on a table beneath a trash can, climbs the oversized ladder, flashes the DX gesture, and drops the elbow through both. Sweet Chin Music finally ends the match. Eighteen minutes is excessive, but the audience remains invested because the violence is attached to a clear revenge story.

The triple threat is excellent wrestling compressed into a frustratingly short window. Angle works at a frantic pace, throwing both challengers with suplexes and constantly threatening the ankle lock. Mysterio creates movement through springboards and counters, while Orton picks moments to attack whichever opponent has just gained control. The near falls arrive almost immediately because the entire match has to reach a finishing stretch before ten minutes pass. Angle survives an RKO and repeatedly has submissions interrupted. Mysterio eventually sends Angle outside, hits Orton with the 619, and follows with the West Coast Pop for the championship. The title win is emotional and historically important, but the match feels like the first half of a potential classic.

The pillow fight is presentation first, wrestling a distant second. The bed, dresses, Playboy branding, and clothing-removal spots define the segment before either participant tries to create a conventional match. Rosemont grows openly impatient, and the four-minute runtime feels longer because there are no meaningful stakes beyond the spectacle itself. Torrie eventually catches Candice with a roll-up for the win. Nothing about the result changes either wrestler's direction, and the segment is especially difficult to defend when the world-title triple threat immediately before it received barely nine minutes. It is representative of WWE's treatment of much of the women's division in the era, but representation is not the same as quality. The match is among the easiest skips on the card.

Cena and Triple H wrestle against the crowd as much as against each other. Triple H receives the hero's reaction despite working as the heel, while every Cena comeback is met by loud hostility. The early pace is deliberate, allowing the audience to react to basic holds and punches before the final stretch becomes much faster. Triple H survives the FU, Cena survives the Pedigree threat, and the referee bump creates a brief weapon tease without becoming the finish. Cena eventually catches Triple H in the STF, loses it, then applies it again and traps the arm. Triple H taps cleanly. The submission matters because it removes ambiguity and confirms Cena as the champion WWE intends to build around.