WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX was the twentieth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) . It took place on March 14 , 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City , New York . The event was a joint - promotion pay - per - view event , featuring performers from the Raw and SmackDown ! brands . The card for the event featured two main events . The main match for the Raw brand was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between champion Triple H , Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit . Benoit won the match , making Triple H submit via the Crippler Crossface . The main match for the SmackDown ! brand featured Eddie Guerrero versus Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship which Guerrero won after a Small package . The event featured the return of The Undertaker , who defeated Kane after a Chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver . Also on the card was the final match in the company for both Goldberg and Brock Lesnar with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee . After Goldberg won the match following a Jackhammer , both men were given a Stone Cold Stunner by Austin on their way out . WrestleMania XX was the third WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden but the fourth to take place in the New York metropolitan area ( following WrestleMania I , WrestleMania 2 , and WrestleMania X ) . The event grossed more than $ 2 . 4 million in ticket sales , making the Pay - Per - View the highest grossing event ever for WWE at Madison Square Garden . More than 20 , 000 people from 16 countries , 48 states attended the event , which was also televised in more than 90 countries . The event generated an estimated $ 13 . 5 million of economic activity for New York City and created an equivalent of 96 full - year jobs . Background . The main rivalry heading into the pay - per - view was on the Raw brand , with Triple H , Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship . This would mark the 3rd pay per view event that Triple H would defend a World Championship at Madison Square Garden . The first event was January 2000 at the Royal Rumble , where Triple H retained the then - known WWF Championship over Cactus Jack and then on the second event at the same arena was November 2002 at Survivor Series , Triple H defended his first World title in the first Six man Elimination Chamber match , which was won by Shawn Michaels . Triple H was the champion heading into the WrestleMania XX event with the origins of the rivalry beginning on the December 29 , 2003 episode of " Raw " , when Michaels was scheduled to challenge Triple H for the World title in Michaels ' hometown of San Antonio , Texas . As it looked like Michaels was going to win his 5th World title over Triple H , Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff got to the ring at the last minute and made the pinfall count but stopped at a 2 count , thus screwing Michaels in the process . At the Royal Rumble event on January 25 , Triple H and Michaels faced each other again in a Last Man Standing match for the title , which resulted in a draw , and , as a result , Triple H retained the title , leaving question on who was the better of the two . Also at the pay - per - view , in the Royal Rumble match , SmackDown ! ' s Benoit won the contest by last eliminating The Big Show . The following night , on the January 26 edition of " Raw " , Michaels and Triple H were involved in an in - ring confrontation when Raw ' s authority figure ( referred to as the " Sheriff " ) , Steve Austin , made his way to the ring . He stated that , although Michaels should have a rematch , he had to " enforce the law " . He stated that , in the rules it specifies that the winner of the Royal Rumble may face either the WWE Champion or World Heavyweight Champion . The winner of the Royal Rumble , Benoit , made his way to the ring , and stated that he would be challenging the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XX . On the February 9 , 2004 edition of " Raw " , a contract signing took place between World Champion , Triple H and Chris Benoit . As Triple H signed his name on the paper , Shawn Michaels came out to inform Benoit that the last thing he wanted to do is rain on his parade . He then stated that he more than anybody can respect Benoit ' s effort to win the Royal Rumble match and earning a World title shot but assumed that Benoit could ' ve stayed on SmackDown ! to take care of business due to Michaels , himself trying to finish his 10 - year issue with Triple H on behalf of the Raw brand . He then said that he is this close to finishing his rivalry and plans to do so at WrestleMania XX for the World title . Chris Benoit said that it ' s just not going to happen and stated that he ' s the one who challenges Triple H for the World title , not Michaels . After Michaels superkick ed Benoit , he then signed his own name on the paper as the challenger to Triple H ' s World Championship . On the following week ' s episode of " Raw " , Michaels defeated Benoit due to interference by Triple H . Afterwords , Steve Austin appeared and announced that Triple H would be defending his World Championship at WrestleMania against both Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit in a Triple threat match . On the March 1 , 2004 edition of " Raw " , Michaels and Benoit lost to Randy Orton and Batista in a tag team match . Aftermath , World Champion , Triple H and the rest of Evolution attacked Michaels and Benoit , ending with Triple H nailing them with the Pedigree and rubbing his World title belt into their faces while they were laying motionless in the ring . The main feud on the SmackDown ! brand was between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship . In the beginning of 2004 , Angle and Guerrero were allies while Guerrero feuded with his nephew Chavo Guerrero . On the January 29 , 2004 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Eddie Guerrero last eliminated Angle in a 15 - man Royal Rumble style match to earn a shot at the WWE Championship . At the prior pay per view , No Way Out , Kurt Angle defeated The Big Show and John Cena in a Triple threat match to earn himself a title shot at WrestleMania on the same event where Guerrero defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWE title . On the February 19 , 2004 edition of " SmackDown ! " , Angle was the special guest referee in a match between WWE Champion , Eddie Guerrero and WWE Cruiserweight Champion , Chavo Guerrero . As Eddie was about to close in on the victory , Angle stopped the 3 count and would turn on Guerrero . On the following week ' s edition of " SmackDown ! " , Guerrero was eagar get his revenge on Angle while looking for him but when he finally saw Angle , he shoved SmackDown General Manager , Paul Heyman and his assistant Dawn Marie out of his way only for Heyman to have Guerrero escorted out of the arena by security . Guerrero was scheduled to team with John Cena to take on Chavo Guerrero and the Big Show in a tag team match on that night but due to Guerrero being escorted out of the arena , he was replaced by Rey Mysterio for the tag match , which Mysterio and Cena won . Later that night , Kurt Angle appeared and stated that he attacked Guerrero for the SmackDown ! fans and for the WWE . He then referred to Guerrero as a former drug addict and stated that a drug addict shouldn ' t represent SmackDown ! as the WWE Champion . After he last stated that one day people will be thanking him for a champion that they could be proud of , Guerrero came back to the arena and assaulted Angle until he got arrested by orders of Paul Heyman . As Guerrero got taken out of the building in handcuffs , Angle made some more insulting comments to him until Guerrero rode off in the Police car . On the March 4 , 2004 edition of " SmackDown ! " , during Guerrero ' s match with Heyman ( while Guerrero was handcuffed ) , Angle interfered and knocked him down a few times until Guerrero spat on him . When Guerrero begged Angle to nail him with the WWE Championship belt , Angle did just that and raised the belt over - head to show an example of what could happen at Wrestlemania XX . This also marks the first WrestleMania to have a match billed as " interpromotional " , which means that a party from " Raw " would wrestle a party from " SmackDown ! " . WWE owner , Vince McMahon , named three matches to be interpromotional on the February 16 edition of " Raw " . The first was a match a tag team match featuring SmackDown ! ' s Torrie Wilson and Sable , who had recently been featured in a pictorial in Playboy magazine , against Raw ' s Stacy Keibler and Miss Jackie , who had protested the decision made by Hugh Hefner to not feature them . The next match was made at the request of Kane , who had been receiving threats from his storyline brother , The Undertaker . This would mark the 2nd WrestleMania event that the Undertaker and Kane would go one - on - one with the first being WrestleMania XIV six years prior . In November 2003 at Survivor Series , Kane defeated Shane McMahon in an Ambulance match then during the latter event , he interfered and buryed The Undertaker alive in the Undertaker ' s match with Vince McMahon . On the November 20 , 2003 edition of SmackDown , Kane appeared to give the Eulogy for the Undertaker . Kane claimed that the man as the Undertaker the world knew , has been dead for a long time because they were monsters and lived to strike fear into the hearts of normal men until the Undertaker portrayed himself ( in the American Bad Ass / Big Evil persona ) and became one of the fans . Kane then stated that he watched Undertaker show compassion by defending Stephanie McMahon ( during her feud with Vince McMahon ) and show weakness in losing to Brock Lesnar during a WWE title match at No Mercy . He then stated that Undertaker was not his brother nor a monster cause ' a monster shows no compassion nor has weaknesses . He then referred to Undertaker as an imposter and a fraud that he buried alive and ended the eulogy by saying R . I . P . Two months later , Kane participated in the Royal Rumble match where he heard the bell toll from the Undertaker ' s entrance music , distracting and distressing him and enabling Booker T to eliminate him from the ring . Over the following weeks , Kane repeatedly insisted that The Undertaker was " dead " , only to be met with various paranormal incidents such as a rainstorm localized over the ramp on which he stood . On the last edition of " Raw " before WrestleMania , Kane appeared to the ring and saw an empty Casket standing in the ring but as he opened it , he saw an urn inside of it . He then grabbed the microphone and asked if that ' s what he ' s been looking forward too ? He also stated it ' s going to take more than an empty casket with an urn to intimidate him and beat him . He then stated that the Undertaker ' s legacy , his 11 - 0 WrestleMania steak and his life is coming to an end as he said " it ' s back to the grave for you for good " . After he clamied that It ' s over and that he ' s not afraid of the Undertaker . The lights turned out but this time , the 10 , 000 pound wrestling ring lifted off the ground with Kane standing in it and tilted side ways , which would be the final message sent from the Undertaker before their match at WrestleMania XX . On the January 26 , episode of " Raw " , Goldberg came to the ring , and demanded a match himself against Brock Lesnar , with whom he had problems over the past two months : with Goldberg in the Royal Rumble match , Lesnar interjected himself into the match , causing Goldberg to be eliminated by Kurt Angle . The following week on an episode of " Raw " , as a result of the rivalry extending between the two programs , General Manager Steve Austin gave Goldberg the option of attending No Way Out by giving him a front - row ticket . At the No Way Out event , Goldberg was seen arriving at the arena and being escorted to his front seat by security . Then SmackDown General Manager , Paul Heyman gave a promotional in - ring segment on how " SmackDown ! " was the better program over " Raw " . Lesnar would come down to the ring to promote his match and to insult Goldberg . Goldberg immediately jumped over the barricade into the ring , where Lesnar performed a running shoulder block to Goldberg ' s stomach ; however he recuperated and lifted Lesnar vertically in the air before slamming him down to perform the Jackhammer . Goldberg was then escorted out of the arena by security . During Lesnar ' s WWE title defense against Eddie Guerrero later that night , Goldberg returned to the arena and interfered by executing a spear , which saw Lesnar lose the title after Guerrero nailed him with a Frog splash . On the February 22 , 2004 episode of " Raw " , Vince McMahon named the Interpromotional singles match pitting Lesnar versus Goldberg for WrestleMania XX with Steve Austin as the special guest referee . During the match between McMahon and Eric Bischoff , Lesnar appeared on Raw and nailed Steve Austin with an F - 5 then stole Austin ' s four - wheeler . A few days later on " SmackDown ! " , Lesnar stated that he appeared on Raw just to get back at Austin for giving Goldberg the front - row seat ticket and suggesting that Goldberg would attack Lesnar at No Way Out . Behind the scenes , it was widely known that the match would be Goldberg ' s last in WWE . Only a week before WrestleMania , however , rumors surfaced that Lesnar , too , was leaving in order to pursue a career in the National Football League . On the last edition of " SmackDown ! " , Steve Austin appeared to get his fourwheeler back from Lesnar only for the entire roster until they moved aside and let him by to confront Lesnar in the ring . As Austin got to the ring , he and Lesnar traded punches with Austin attempting to nail Lesnar with the Stone Cold stunner only for Lesnar to escape , leaving Austin to finally get back his fourwheeler and closing in on the show with his trademark beer bash . Aftermath . At Backlash , the original main event match was between Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels for the World Heavyweight Championship . Though , on the March 29 edition of " Raw " , after being traded to SmackDown ! and brought back to Raw , Triple H demanded that the intended match at Backlash be changed to Benoit and Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship . Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff liked the idea of the match , but concluded with adding that he made a promise to Michaels for granting 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 retained the World title , after he forced Michaels to 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 legitimate neck problems . This angle would also play on the April 15 edition of " SmackDown ! " , when he attributed injuries suffered after The Big Show chokeslammed Angle off a ledge . In reality , Angle announced that he would be having neck surgery in May and would be out of action 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 reversed the outcome of the match when Guerrero appeared to have retained 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 Angle defeated Guerrero after he forced Guerrero to submit to the Ankle lock . After turning heel at WrestleMania XX , Trish Stratus went on to team with Christian in a losing effort to Chris Jericho in a handicap match at Backlash . Also , Victoria retained her WWE Women ' s Championship against Lita at the same event . The alliance between Torrie Wilson and Sable ended when Sable became a heel again and engaged in a short feud with Wilson . Sable went on to defeat Wilson at The Great American Bash .