Where Are They Now?: All Wrestlers Who Competed At WrestleMania 21

Edge

The first-ever Money In The Bank ladder match saw 6 mid-card stars fight for the opportunity to win the briefcase. The new stipulation match saw the wrestlers fight for the briefcase above the ring, which needed to be retrieved with a ladder and the win granted them an opportunity for their brand’s world title at any time of their choosing. The eventual winner of this match was Edge, who picked up the scraps when all others were taken out. Edge would go on to successfully cash-in his briefcase on John Cena after New Years Revolution 2006’s Elimination Chamber match.

Edge retired from a career-ending neck injury in 2011. In 2020, he made a shock return and has since gone on to main event WrestleMania 37 on night 2. He is one of the proposed wrestlers pencilled in to face Roman Reigns in the SummerSlam main event.

Chris Benoit

Always a dedicated athlete, Benoit had one of the bigger spots of the match, diving off a ladder to drop his Diving Headbutt onto a prone Kane, promptly busting open ‘The Crippler’. The ruthless Canadian had won the World Heavyweight title the previous ‘Mania and came close to winning this match but a well-placed chair shot to the arm by Edge allowed ‘The Ultimate Opportunist’ to take advantage, grabbing the briefcase when all others were incapacitated.

Benoit would infamously and horrifically kill wife Nancy and son Daniel in a double-murder homicide. Benoit would kill himself a day after killing his son and 2 days after killing his wife. Benoit’s name has permanently been scrubbed from WWE history for his barbaric, repugnant actions that day.

Shelton Benjamin

The unquestionable MVP of the match was Shelton Benjamin. The agile high-flier was a recognized underappreciated worker, having beaten the likes of Chris Jericho, Edge and even Triple H before this match. ‘The Gold Standard’ jumped on to all competitors on the outside, hit a T-Bone Suplex off of a ladder and – most memorably – ran up a diagonal ladder to clothesline Jericho in a spot still quite miraculous today.

Benjamin returned to WWE in 2017. He was recently in the successful Hurt Business stable on Raw but was kicked out. Since being dropped from the Lashley/MVP group, he has had little TV time and even when on Raw, is often used as an enhancement talent.

Kane

‘The Big Red Machine’ was the biggest threat in the match, with the 7-footer needing to be teamed up on by many of the wrestlers in the match to try to rule him out of a shot of winning. Kane hit a huge outside dive onto all competitors and came within arm’s reach of retrieving the MITB contract but was knocked off the ladder by ‘The Rabid Wolverine’.

Kane is now a figure in the political world, as the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. He was a surprise entrant into the 2021 men’s Royal Rumble, before being inducted into the 2021 Hall of Fame by kayfabe brother The Undertaker – the entry into the Hall of Fame announced on an episode of The Bump.

Chris Jericho

The MITB concept is actually one credited to Y2J as he originally pitched a Hollywood Ladder Match to management as a way to get disregarded talent without a match on the card. The winner’s prize was altered from Jericho’s original idea of anything they wanted to a world title match of their choosing. The match saw Jericho fight under one of his less-spoken of looks where he had short, blonde hair and a dark beard.

Jericho is currently signed to a multi-year deal for All Elite Wrestling where he is the leader of The Inner Circle stable as well as an ex-AEW World titleholder.

Christian

Touching on previous ladder match experience, Christian tried to get a shot at the world title by entering this match. He was somewhat of a write-off however, not having been even close to the world title scene prior to this match. Although a mid-card workhorse, it was not the night for Christian as his old Team EC tag partner would prevail.

Christian Cage is currently a member of the AEW roster, having returned from retirement. He has yet to be pinned or submitted in the promotion and is starting a feud with ‘Big Money’ Matt Hardy’s Family Office stable.

Tyson Tomko

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Managing Christian for this match was his muscly bodyguard Tyson Tomko. Tomko’s attempts at helping his friend involved him getting physically invested. However, the future TNA star did little to dictate the outcome of the matches as Christian did not emerge victorious.

Today, Tomko is doing tours where he gives motivational speeches as well as being the owner of Florida fitness brand Purlife Fitness.