The tenth match of the event was the encounter of The Undertaker and Kane, which would be Undertaker's first match since he was buried alive at Survivor Series 2003. The Undertaker made his return under his "Deadman" gimmick, as he was accompanied to the ring by Paul Bearer. The two wrestlers brawled in the beginning of the match, until Kane used a Chokeslam maneuver on Undertaker, which made no effect as Undertaker sat up immediately afterwards. The Undertaker then retaliated by Chokeslamming Kane and executing a Tombstone piledriver into a successful pinfall, thus winning the match and remaining undefeated at WrestleMania with a 12-0 record.
The main event was a Triple threat match over the World Heavyweight Championship between Triple H, Chris Benoit, and Shawn Michaels. This was the seventh title defense of the night, the most in WrestleMania history. Benoit gained control over Michaels when he did the Crossface hold. As Michaels was about to submit, Triple H would save the match. Triple H and Michaels teamed up to suplex Benoit through the announcer's table. Michaels then attempted to hit Benoit with a Sweet Chin Music maneuver, but Benoit countered it, throwing Michaels out of the ring. As this occurred, Triple H attempted to Pedigree Benoit. However, Benoit also countered it and held Triple H with Crossface hold that would force Triple H to submit. As a result, Benoit won the match and the World Heavyweight Championship.
Even though WWE tried hard to promote the Brock Lesnar versus Goldberg contest, some critics were not happy with the match. Many in Madison Square Garden booed the fighters, and only cheered for Steve Austin because both of the fighters were leaving the WWE after the event.
At Backlash, the original main event match was between Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship. But on the March 29 edition of "Raw", after being traded to SmackDown! and brought back to Raw, Triple H said that the match at Backlash be changed to Benoit against Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff liked the idea of the match, but ended by saying that he made a promise to Michaels to give him a World title match at Backlash; instead, Bischoff booked a Triple Threat match between Benoit, Michaels and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. At Backlash, Benoit kept the World title, after he made Michaels submit to the Sharpshooter.
The feud between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero continued. On the March 25 edition of "SmackDown!", Angle was made the on-screen General Manager of SmackDown!, as part to the storyline of Angle's legit neck problems. This angle would also play on the April 15 edition of "SmackDown!", when he said talked abou the injuries he got when The Big Show chokeslammed Angle off a ledge. In reality Angle said that he would be heaving neck surgery in May and would not be fighting until August. At The Great American Bash, Angle cost Guerrero the WWE title in a Texas Bull Rope match against John "Bradshaw" Layfield, after Angle changed the result of the match when Guerrero looked to have won the title. In the same month, Angle's position as General Manager of SmackDown! came to an end when he was fired by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, after McMahon had exposed that Angle was not really injured. At SummerSlam, Angle and Guerrero were booked in a match, in which it saw Angle defeat Guerrero after he made Guerrero submit to the Ankle lock.
WrestleMania 22
WrestleMania 22 was the twenty-second yearly WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on April 2, 2006 at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Rosemont. The event was the third WrestleMania to take place in the Chicago metropolitan area (following WrestleMania 2, and WrestleMania 13). Tickets sold out in under two minutes, grossing $2.5 million for the event, making it the highest grossing one-day event at the Allstate Arena. More than 17,155 people from 16 countries and 43 states attended, with millions more watching in more than 90 countries.
WrestleMania 22 was a joint-promotion pay-per-view event, featuring performers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands. The tagline for WrestleMania 22 was ""Big Time"". The official theme song for the event was ""Big Time"" by Peter Gabriel. Secondary theme songs included ""I Dare You"" by Shinedown, ""Save Me Sorrow"" by Bullets and Octane, and ""Baby Hates Me"" by Danko Jones.
The main match on the Raw brand was John Cena versus Triple H for the WWE Championship, which Cena won via submission after forcing Triple H to submit to the STFU. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was Kurt Angle versus Rey Mysterio versus Randy Orton in a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Mysterio won by pinfall after executing a 619 and a West Coast Pop on Orton. Other matches on the undercard featured Shawn Michaels versus Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match, The Undertaker versus Mark Henry in a Casket match. and Rob Van Dam versus Shelton Benjamin versus Ric Flair versus Finlay versus Matt Hardy versus Bobby Lashley in a Money in the Bank ladder match
The main feud heading into WrestlemMania on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Triple H over the WWE Championship. After failing to win the Royal Rumble match, Triple H participated in the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, where the winner would become the number-one contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. In the final match of the tournament, held on the February 20 edition of "Raw", Triple H faced Rob Van Dam and The Big Show in a Triple Threat match. Triple H won the match after pinning Van Dam following a Pedigree.
The predominant feud on the SmackDown! Brand was between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Orton, to earn a world championship match at WrestleMania. At No Way Out, Orton defeated Mysterio to win his WrestleMania 22 world championship match. Five day later, on the February 24 edition of "SmackDown!", SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long announced that the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 22 would be a Triple Threat match involving Mysterio, Orton, and champion Angle.
On the March 24 edition of "SmackDown!", Orton interfered in Mysterio's and Angle's respective match. During Mysterio's match against Finlay, Orton interfered and executed an RKO on Mysterio, allowing Finlay to pin Mysterio for the win.<ref name="3/24 SD!"></ref> Later that night, during Angle's match against Mark Henry, Orton attempted to execute an RKO on Angle, but Mysterio attacked him. Mysterio then attempted to perform a springboard hurricanrana on Orton, but Orton moved out of the way and caused Mysterio to execute the move on Angle. Henry executed a splash shortly after to gain the pinfall victory. After the match, Mysterio executed a 619 on Angle. The following week, after Angle defeated Mysterio, Orton came out and executed an RKO on Mysterio.<ref name="3/31 SD!"></ref> Shortly after, Angle executed an Angle Slam Orton and locked him in the ankle lock.