Mania moments

The Grandaddy of Them All, The Grandest Stage of Them All, The Showcase of the Immortals...

Call it what you will, but for more than 25 years WrestleMania has been the place where legends are born and memories are made.

History will occur once again when WrestleMania 29 comes to Sky Sports Box Office on Sunday, April 7, but here are some of the greatest moments from the 21st century so far...

Jeff Hardy hits the Swanton off the giant ladder - WrestleMania 2000
The Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian and The Dudleys squared off for the World Tag Team Championship in a Ladder Match. All six Superstars put their bodies on the line, and the match featured several memorable but moments. But no moment sticks out more than when Jeff Hardy leapt off the top of a giant ladder and hit the Swanton Bomb on Bubba Ray Dudley through a table on the floor. It's amazing both men even survived let alone continued on with their careers.

Stone Cold joins forces with Mr. McMahon - WrestleMania X-Seven
WWE Superstars always say that they would do anything to win the WWE Championship, but no one believed that Stone Cold would stoop to the ultimate low to do so. At WrestleMania X-Seven, Stone Cold challenged The Rock for the WWE Championship. Stone Cold and Mr. McMahon never seemed to have seen eye to eye on anything, so it's no wonder that the WWE fans were shocked at the end of the match. In the end, Stone Cold enlisted the help of Mr. McMahon to defeat his nemesis and regain the WWE Championship.

Shane goes Coast to Coast against Mr. McMahon - WrestleMania X-Seven
Before running to the ring to help Stone Cold win the WWE Championship, Mr. McMahon had a match of his own against his very own son, Shane. This father and son duo put on one of the more vicious matches in recent memory. Tables, chairs and garbage cans were all used in this match, but the most memorable moment came when Shane went to the top rope. With his father hunched over in the adjacent corner, with a trash can laying in front of his face, Shane jumped from one end of the ring to the other, dropkicking the trash can into his father's face as the crowd went wild.

The Rock and Hollywood Hogan go one on one - WrestleMania X8
It is very rare, but every once in a blue moon, a WWE Superstar becomes so famous that he reaches the status of "Icon." It's even rarer that two icons meet in the same ring to go one on one, but that was exactly the case at WrestleMania X8. After a long hiatus from WWE, Hogan returned with the nWo to wreak havoc on the WWE Superstars. The Rock challenged him to an Icon vs. Icon Match at WrestleMania X8, and Hogan accepted. In one of those rare moments that transcends the event itself, the two Icons met in the middle of the ring, face to face, for the first time. Shockingly, the Toronto crowd ended up actually favoring Hogan, who was still a part of the hated nWo at the time.

Brock Lesnar tries a Shooting Star Press - WrestleMania XIX
Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle met in one of the most anticipated matches of the year at WrestleMania XIX. They both came from superb amateur backgrounds. Lesnar was an NCAA champion and Angle was an Olympic champion. The match went back and forth for the most part, but after hitting the F5, Lesnar went to the top rope and attempted a mind-boggling Shooting Star Press. Lesnar couldn't achieve full rotation on the move, which is usually only performed by much smaller cruiserweights, and landed almost square on his head. Lesnar amazingly shook it off and hit another F5 to win the WWE Championship.

Victoria shaves Molly Holly's head - WrestleMania XX
Victoria and Molly Holly's rivalry over the Women's Championship had become so intense that the ante had to be raised a little. Molly agreed to put her beautiful head of hair on the line in a match for the Women's Championship. Victoria came out on top and shaved her opponent's head in perhaps Molly's most embarrassing moment. To cover up the baldness, Molly came to the ring in the following weeks wearing a wide array of different wigs, claiming it was her real hair.

Trish slaps Chris Jericho and kisses Christian - WrestleMania XX
Chris Jericho and Christian were a very successful tag team combination. The two even held the World Tag Team Championship together at one time, but Trish Stratus came between them. Chris Jericho had grown feelings for Stratus, and Christian was upset because it was taking away from their effectiveness as a tag team. The two met at WrestleMania XX, and interference from Trish led to a Jericho loss. It was thought that the interference was unintentional, but after the match she slapped Jericho and added insult to injury by making out with Christian.

Money In the Bank Ladder Match is Born - WrestleMania 21
WrestleMania 21 marked the birth of a WrestleMania tradition; the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. This match has become a staple on the WrestleMania card. The winner would receive a contract to challenge for any World Championships within the year. Edge emerged victorious at WrestleMania 21, which thusly earned him the nickname, "Mr. Money in the Bank". Edge cashed in his contract in January 2006 at New Year's Revolution, where he defeated then WWE Champion John Cena in less than two minutes just after Cena had retained his title against five opponents in an Elimination Chamber match.

Rey Mysterio proves that size doesn't matter; captures the World Heavyweight Championship - WrestleMania 22
Rey Mysterio may not be tall in stature, but he now has a "Big Time" WrestleMania moment that is one for the ages. Rey Mysterio defeats Kurt Angle and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match. It was the desire and unique athleticism of Rey Mysterio that propelled him to a historic victory - one that was for both him and the late, great Eddie Guerrero. It's something many said Mysterio could never do, but Rey Mysterio is the World Heavyweight Champion.

Battle of the Billionaires; Vince McMahon gets his head shaved by Donald Trump - WrestleMania 23
The 80,000-plus capacity crowd in Detroit was then drawn out of their seats as Donald Trump sheared Mr. McMahon of his hair while the now-bald billionaire bellowed an agonizing wail. Humiliated and head-shaved, McMahon wept at the mercy of The Donald while Austin looked on sipping on a can of beer. The clash concluded, the dust cleared and the silvery locks of the WWE Chairman were shaved completely from his head live from his own creation, WrestleMania 23. Then, when it seemed that all hell had already been raised, Austin gave Donald Trump his receipt for the downpour of cold hard cash that fell from the ceiling of Ford Field earlier on - in the form of a Stone Cold Stunner.

Floyd "Money" Mayweather knocks out the Big Show - WrestleMania XXIV
Floyd Mayweather put his "money" where his mouth was, running his professional record to 40-0 with a shocking knockout of the 7-foot, 441-pound Big Show. Floyd Mayweather showed the world at WrestleMania why he is a six-time champion in five different boxing weight classes. In doing so, he proved the old adage that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

Rourke, Flair laugh in the face of defeat - The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania
When the dust finally settled inside Reliant Stadium, the arrogant Chris Jericho may have emerged victorious in his battle against WWE Hall of Famers Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper & Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, but it was Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke & WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair who stood tall, hands raised in the ring. After giving Flair a Codebreaker, the devious Superstar goaded Rourke into the ring. The star of The Wrestler entered the squared circle, but soon decided he'd heard enough of Jericho's relentless taunts. Rourke, a former boxer, swung a slew of heavy fists at his tormentor, finishing with a punch that dimmed the lights of the conceited Superstar and dropped both him, and his pride, to the mat.

Phenom spells 18 and woe for HBK - WrestleMania XXVI
Michaels fell in defeat to The Phenom, who extended his unbeaten WrestleMania streak to an unprecedented 18-0. However, by ending The Showstopper's storied career, The Deadman effectively provided the WWE Universe with perhaps its greatest collective loss in WWE history: the end of an icon's ring career. Before 72,219 fans inside the University of Phoenix Stadium, fans' loyalties were divided as "Mr. WrestleMania" gave the Showstopping performance of his career - and a match that must have left The Undertaker wondering, even if just for a moment, whether or not he could defeat HBK at a second consecutive WrestleMania. In his seventeenth and final WrestleMania as an in-ring competitor, Michaels motioned to the WWE Universe, professing his undying gratitude and love. And like a true ring warrior, he exited the stadium in the Valley of the Sun with his head held high - and a career that will live on as long as any WrestleMania streak The Undertaker can achieve.

Bret screwed Vince - WrestleMania XXVI
The Excellence of Execution unleashed more than a decade of malice onto the man who tarnished an incomparable career of a genuine champion, with or without a gold prize in his possession. Swinging a tire iron and steel chair at McMahon - at least one strike for every year since his unsavory departure from WWE - the fury in The Hit Man's eyes told a story of justice and attrition. Then, to lock in vindication and serve his mortal nemesis a 12-year brew of retribution, Hart clinched the legs of The Chairman for a Sharpshooter. McMahon quickly surrendered, pounding his palm against the mat with a rhythmic pulse similar to the intro of Hit Man's entrance music, which then sounded instantly to both signal and accentuate victory.

The Rock Helps The Miz beat Cena - WrestleMania XXVII
In his first-ever WrestleMania main event, WWE Champion The Miz successfully defended his title against seasoned Show of Shows veteran John Cena when WrestleMania XXVII Host Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hit the Rock Bottom on The Cenation Commander-in-Chief. In front of more than 70,000 ecstatic members of the WWE Universe in Atlanta's Georgia Dome, this retaliatory act allowed The Awesome One to capitalize and score the pinfall.