The complete book, having passed into the public domain, is on-line at Project Gutenberg's official website and elsewhere.
The book's text has often been abridged or adapted for younger readers, and there have also been several comic book adaptations.
WrestleMania 21
WrestleMania 21 was the twenty-first yearly WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on April 3, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The official theme song for the event was ""Big Time"" by The Soundtrack of Our Lives. The secondary theme song was ""Behind Those Eyes"" by 3 Doors Down. The tagline for WrestleMania 21 was ""WrestleMania Goes Hollywood"."
The event was a joint-promotion pay-per-view, featuring performers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands. The main match on the Raw brand was Triple H versus Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Batista won by pinfall after executing a Batista Bomb. The main match on the SmackDown! brand was John "Bradshaw" Layfield versus John Cena for the WWE Championship, which Cena won after performing an FU. The featured matches on the undercard included The Undertaker versus Randy Orton, Kurt Angle versus Shawn Michaels, and the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match, which featured six participants from the Raw brand.
WrestleMania 21 was the first WrestleMania held at the Staples Center, but the fifth to take place in the Southern California metropolitan area (following WrestleMania 2, WrestleMania VII, WrestleMania XII and WrestleMania 2000). Tickets sold out in less than one minute for the event, making it the fastest ticket sell-out in the company's history as well as the fastest ticket sell-out at the Staples Center. The event drew a Staples Center record attendance of 20,193 people from 14 countries and 48 states and grossed more than $2.1 million in ticket sales, making it the highest grossing WWE event ever at the Staples Center, and the highest grossing of the five WrestleManias held in California. In addition to those in attendance, the event was seen by millions of fans in more than 90 countries.
The main feud heading into WrestleMania on the Raw brand was between Triple H and Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship. Batista won the 2005 Royal Rumble, last eliminating John Cena, earning the right to participate in the main event of WrestleMania 21 against the World Champion of his choice. In an attempt to persuade Batista to challenge WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield rather than Batista facing Triple H at WrestleMania, Triple H concocted a scheme to have Batista run over in a limousine resembling the one used by Layfield. Initially, Batista did not want help from Evolution and wanted to confront JBL by himself. Triple H insisted that Evolution accompanied Batista anyway, saving him from the oncoming limousine. Batista became aware of the plot while eavesdropping on fellow Evolution members and signed a contract guaranteeing him a match with World Champion Triple H at WrestleMania, thus leaving Evolution and officially turning face. Batista pretended to sign with the SmackDown! brand, giving Triple H and Flair the "thumbs up," but turned it into a "thumbs down" before attacking the pair. This lead to Batista's departure from the stable.
The main feud heading into WrestleMania on the SmackDown! brand was between John "Bradshaw" Layfield and John Cena for the WWE Championship. At No Way Out, Cena defeated Kurt Angle to earn a spot in the SmackDown! main event. As a result of Cena's win, he began a feud with WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) and his Cabinet. In the feud, Cena lost his United States Championship to Cabinet member Orlando Jordan. The following week, JBL proceeded to "blow up" Cena's U.S. spinner version belt and reintroduce the traditional style belt.
A heavily promoted match for the event was an Interpromotional match between SmackDown! superstar Kurt Angle and Raw superstar Shawn Michaels. Their match stemmed from the Royal Rumble, the pay-per-view event two months before WrestleMania. At the Royal Rumble, Kurt Angle relentlessly attacked Shawn Michaels after Michaels had eliminated him from the Royal Rumble match. The next month at No Way Out, Angle lost a number one contenders match to John Cena, losing a spot in the SmackDown! main event at WrestleMania. The next night on "Raw", Michaels told SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long to inform Angle that he had challenged him to a match at WrestleMania.<ref name="PWWEW - 2/21 Raw"></ref><ref name="OWW - 2/21 Raw"></ref> On the February 28 edition of "Raw", after Michaels defeated Edge in a Street Fight, Angle attacked Michaels and accepted his challenge.<ref name="PWWEW.net - 2/28 Raw"></ref><ref name="411mania.com - 2/28 Raw"></ref>
The other Interpromotional match on the card was between Randy Orton and The Undertaker, with Orton representing Raw and Undertaker representing SmackDown!. The feud first started on the March 7 edition of "Raw" when Orton challenged The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania billed as ""Legend vs. Legend Killer"".<ref name="PWWEW.net - 3/07 Raw"></ref><ref name="OWW - 3/07 Raw"></ref> Three days later on "SmackDown!", Undertaker accepted Orton's challenge.<ref name="PWWEW.net - 3/10 SmackDown!"></ref><ref name="SLAM! Sports - 3/10 SmackDown!"></ref> On the March 14 edition of "Raw", Jake "The Snake" Roberts, attempted to give Orton advice about his match with Undertaker at WrestleMania, but was RKOed when Orton was not cooperating.<ref name="411mania.com - 3/14 Raw"></ref><ref name="OWW - 3/14 Raw"></ref> Later that week on "SmackDown!", Orton and Undertaker had a contract signing for their match at WrestleMania.<ref name="PWWEW.net - 3/17 SmackDown!"></ref><ref name="411mania.com - 3/17 SmackDown!"></ref> After both men signed, Orton told Undertaker that he has nothing but respect for him. Shortly afterwards, Orton slapped him and claimed that his 12-0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania, would soon be 12-1. The next week on "Raw", Orton claimed that his confidence was at an all-time high, despite what happened on "SmackDown!" the week before. Afterwards, Orton turned heel and furthered his "Legend killer" gimmick by RKOing his then-girlfriend Stacy Keibler.<ref name="411mania.com - 3/21 Raw"></ref><ref name="OWW - 3/21 Raw"></ref>
Another match on the card was the Money in the Bank ladder match between Chris Jericho, Christian, Chris Benoit, Edge, Kane, and Shelton Benjamin. The idea for the Money in the Bank match was introduced by Chris Jericho who proposed a six-man Ladder match, for the event in which the winner would receive a contract for a World title match at the place and time of his choosing. Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff, booked the match at WrestleMania 21 soon after.
Before the event went live on pay-per-view, a dark match was held. A 30-man Interpromotional Battle Royal, which featured: Booker T, Paul London, Heidenreich, Spike Dudley, Nunzio, Funaki, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Orlando Jordan, Mark Jindrak, Luther Reigns, Scotty 2 Hotty, Hardcore Holly, Charlie Haas, Billy Kidman, Akio from SmackDown! and Simon Dean, William Regal, Tajiri, Rob Conway, Sylvain Grenier, Snitsky, The Hurricane, Rosey, Chris Masters, Viscera, Rhyno, Val Venis, Tyson Tomko, Maven from Raw. However, Booker T won the Battle Royal, as he eliminated Chris Masters.