30 Week Journey: Wrestlemania XX (2004)

It’s 20 weeks in, and we have reached the point in The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week WrestleMania journey where it all begins, again. And while it felt like WrestleMania 20 symbolized change, it turned out not to be the change we thought that March 2004 night in Madison Square Garden. Hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro take the latest deep dive into the longest Mains ever, recounting what it was like to sit in the MSG balcony that historic night and drinking in the show-closing scene of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, and what it’s like look to back on it after their deaths. It’s a rather heavy installment of the Lapsed Fan, though levity certainly abounds. The hosts tackle: - Vince puts his baby granddaughter on TV - How John Cena was wholeheartedly embraced in 2004 by the tough New York City crowd, and how that all reversed in just a year - “CLB” - Ric Flair – back when he was muzzled and not allowed to talk for reasons unclear – still manages to captivate in his first in-ring interactions with The Rock - Jesse Ventura, clad in black from head to toe, has a question for MSG. But do they have the answer he wants to hear? - The Playboy Evening Gown match, and other front runners for worst match in history - Processing as best one can the untimely demises of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero - The blame Lesnar and Goldberg shoulder for the full-throated rejection of their awkward match on their way out the door - He is Gold. And he is Berg. - Taker’s return to the Dead Man, among the biggest pops ever - The screaming that went on as Benoit torqued the crossface on the white-booted Triple H That and so much more, including probing insight from Dave Meltzer on what it was like to cover the tremendous highs and tragic lows of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. It’s where it all began, and for some all ended.