WrestleMania 23 was a 2007 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the 23rd annual WrestleMania and took place on April 1, 2007, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. It was the second WrestleMania to take place in Metro Detroit, after WrestleMania III, which was held at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. It was also the first WrestleMania to feature the ECW brand following its establishment as WWE's third brand in May 2006. This was the final WrestleMania to air in 4:3 standard definition, with all subsequent WrestleManias being aired in 16:9 high definition.
Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the event, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event of the show, which was the main match on the Raw brand, was John Cena versus Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship, in which Cena won. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was Batista versus The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship, in which The Undertaker was victorious. The primary match on the ECW brand saw ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley (representing Donald Trump) defeat Raw's Intercontinental Champion Umaga (representing Vince McMahon) in a match where either Trump or McMahon would be shaved bald if their wrestler lost. The match was billed as the "Battle of the Billionaires". Other featured matches included an eight-man tag team match between The ECW Originals and The New Breed (which The ECW Originals won), and an eight-man interpromotional Money in the Bank ladder match where Mr. Kennedy defeated CM Punk, Edge, Finlay, Jeff Hardy, King Booker, Matt Hardy,.and Randy Orton.
Tickets for the event went on sale on November 11, 2006. The event set the all-time Ford Field attendance record of 74,287 people, coming from all 50 U.S. states, 24 countries, and nine Canadian provinces. WrestleMania 23 grossed US$5.38 million in ticket sales, breaking the previous record of $3.9 million held by WrestleMania X8. WWE estimated that $25 million was pumped into the Detroit economy. With about 1.2 million buys, the event was the most bought WWE pay-per-view in history at the time. WrestleMania XXVIII in 2012 surpassed the event as the most bought WWE pay-per-view, receiving 1.21 million buys. WrestleMania 23 was also the fifth highest attended WrestleMania in history behind only WrestleMania 29 (which drew 80,676 fans), WrestleMania 35 (which drew 82,265 fans), WrestleMania III (which drew 93,173 fans), and WrestleMania 32 (which drew 101,763 fans).
Production Background
WrestleMania is considered World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985. It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four".Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160) WrestleMania 23 was scheduled to be held on April 1, 2007, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The event featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands, which was the first to feature ECW, a relaunch of the former Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion that became a WWE brand in May 2006, subsequently also being the first to feature the ECW World Championship (although it was not defended at this event as the champion competed in a non-title match).
The set design for WrestleMania 23 began development in October 2006, after WWE set designer Jason Robinson received the final logo for the event from management under the direction of Vince McMahon. Robinson and his team first surveyed Ford Field in July 2006 and began planning out the staging and lighting designs. After returning to the stadium in January 2007 for more site surveying, Robinson and his team finalized the set's design in February. The final design resulted in WrestleMania 23 having the largest set ever built for a WrestleMania event. It incorporated 414 LED video screens and automated lights, 10 spotlights, 56 searchlights, 50,000 ft of cable for pyrotechnics and other use, and 35 stage flamethrowers used to produce 30 ft high and 6 ft wide flames, all which gave the set a unique look for each performer's entrance and an expanded stage lighting element of 300 ft in width and 100 ft in height using the specialized stage lighting instruments. The ramp used to reach the ring from the entrance set was 187 ft in length.
Though it took three weeks to fully prepare Ford Field, set assembly began the week before WrestleMania 23 and was completed shortly before the day of the event. It took a week for 300 staff members, unloading and working from 40 semi-trucks, to build the set and assemble the event's lighting within Ford Field, far more than the usual 40 hours, 100 staff members, and 14 semi-trucks required for the production of WWE's weekly television events. After the event concluded, it took around thirty hours to disassemble the set and lighting, also far more than the usual three hours required for WWE's weekly television events.
Storylines WrestleMania 23 featured professional wrestling matches involving wrestlers from existing scripted feuds and storylines played out on WWE's television programs, Monday Night Raw, ECW on Sci-Fi and Friday Night SmackDown!, along with Raw's supplementary show Heat.
Major feuds The main staged rivalry heading into WrestleMania 23 was between Vince McMahon and Donald Trump. On the January 8 episode of Raw, Trump faced off against his real-life rival, Rosie O'Donnell. Trump won the contest, although local wrestlers portrayed Trump and O'Donnell. During McMahon's "Fan Appreciation Night" on the January 29 episode of Raw, Trump interrupted and dropped large sums of money into the arena. The following month, the two came up with a match for WrestleMania, where the stipulations for the match were that they each had to choose a representative to wrestle for them, and the loser would have his head shaved bald. This match was then billed as the "Battle of the Billionaires". McMahon picked Umaga as his representative, while Trump picked Bobby Lashley. After successfully defending his ECW World Championship against Hardcore Holly in a Steel Cage match—a match in which the ring is surrounded by a steel cage—on an episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Lashley charged at the cage, slammed through it, and landed atop Umaga, who was at ringside. On the March 5 edition of Raw, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was appointed as special guest referee for the "Battle of the Billionaires" match at WrestleMania 23. On the March 26 episode of Raw, McMahon faced off against Lashley in a No Disqualification match. In the match, several people interfered on McMahon's behalf, including Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, Chris Masters, Johnny Nitro, and Umaga. This interference allowed McMahon to win the bout.
The main rivalry on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Shawn Michaels over the WWE Championship. After The Undertaker, the winner of the 2007 Royal Rumble match, made his decision to face Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, a match to determine the next challenger to the WWE Championship was announced. Michaels defeated Randy Orton and Edge in a Triple Threat match to earn a chance to face Cena at WrestleMania. On an edition of Raw, Orton and Edge, who were tag team partners as Rated-RKO, attempted to attack Cena, but Michaels ran-in and attacked them with steel chairs. Before a scheduled tag team match between Rated-RKO and Cena and Michaels, Orton played a video that highlighted the past friendships Michaels was involved in before turning on those friends. In the match, Michaels nearly superkicked Cena after Orton moved. Due to a later disagreement, Edge left Orton and walked off backstage, which allowed Cena and Michaels to win the match. The following week, Michaels responded to the video set-up by Orton and made comments regarding Cena.
After Michaels defeated Orton, Cena ran down to the ring and saved Michaels from an attack by Edge and Orton. On the final Raw before WrestleMania, Cena and Michaels teamed up to face Batista and The Undertaker in a rematch from their match at No Way Out. Cena and Michaels appeared set to win after performing a synchronized Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Michaels turned on Cena and superkicked him, allowing Batista and The Undertaker to win the match.
Undercard matches The main feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Batista and The Undertaker over the World Heavyweight Championship. The Undertaker won the 2007 Royal Rumble match to earn a championship match against any one of WWE's three world championships (WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW World). On the February 5 episode of Raw, The Undertaker chose to challenge Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship when he chokeslammed him at the center of the ring. In the weeks leading to WrestleMania 23, Batista and The Undertaker partook in tag team matches. At the beginning of the feud, Batista claimed to have great respect for The Undertaker; however, after several attacks by The Undertaker, Batista claimed to have lost all respect for him especially at No Way Out when Batista gained some payback by delivering a Spinebuster to The Undertaker, allowing Raw's WWE Champion, John Cena and Shawn Michaels to deliver their signature moves on The Undertaker for the victory during their inter-promotional WrestleMania 23 tag team main event. On the final Raw before WrestleMania during a rematch between Cena and Michaels against Batista and The Undertaker from No Way Out, The Undertaker walked out of the match in response to Batista attacking him during the first encounter, leaving Batista to fight alone against Cena and Michaels. However, Batista and The Undertaker would end up winning the match after Michaels betrayed Cena by hitting him with a superkick, which allowed Batista to pin Cena for the win.
The main feud on the ECW brand was between two teams of four; The ECW Originals and The New Breed. The feud mainly revolved around which team was the "dominant force" in the revived ECW brand. The two factions of four-faced off in several tag team matches throughout the weeks prior to the event. The New Breed seemed to have dominated for several weeks; however, ECW Originals leader, Rob Van Dam, defeated New Breed leader Elijah Burke in a singles match. ECW Original Tommy Dreamer issued the challenge to the New Breed for an eight-man tag team match at WrestleMania 23, which was accepted by Burke on behalf of The New Breed.