At his blog, IWantWrestling.com Lagana had the following to say:
“When WWE decides to go with a guy and stick with them, it usually pays off huge. In 2005, WWE decided to captain both of its brands with two heros. RAW was going to be led by Batista who the fans were clamoring to break away from Triple H. Smackdown was going to be led by the brash anti-hero John Cena. This Royal Rumble match was to crown one of them and stamp his ticket to Wrestlemania. Later that year, when UPN decided to switch Smackdown to Fridays a decision was made to switch John Cena and Batista on their respective brands. They would both be “the man†but just in new homes.
But on this night, a late decision was made to have these two face off as the last two men in the match. Could it split the audience? Was it the best thing? It was a moment though.
The moment between Bastista and Cena lead to an appearance from Mr. McMahon. This was supposed to be Batista’s night. Speculation has it that Batista had his bell rung by a punch by Cena and when he went to throw out Cena, they both tumbled to the floor causing chaos. The PPV time window was expiring quickly. There was a call for either Eric Bischoff or Teddy Long, the respective GMs, to go out and restart the match but due to the size of the arena in Fresno they were not close enough. Vince McMahon got up from the production table where he had sat for nearly three hours.
We all had stopped and looked at the screen not knowing what had happened; I don’t think we were alone with anyone watching that day. He hadn’t stretched, he hadn’t warmed up. And here he sat in the middle of the ring; the main event of Wrestlemania hanging in the balance and time ticking down on the broadcast. From that position, Vince McMahon was able to render his decision for the live house and restart the match. Batista quickly threw Cena out of the ring to make sure the audience at home saw the conclusion. But what the audience didn’t see was Vince McMahon, full of pride, walk to backstage area.
Vince had torn both of his quads and in an instant was gone from the on-site WWE creative process. Stephanie McMahon, with no warning and her mind on her father, had to jump right in. The next day, we produced the first WWE Supershow without him and then boarded a plane to Japan where WWE taped television for the first time ever. It was the fast-forward button on a time when WWE would exist without Vince McMahon. Six years later, people still speculate when that will be and what will happen.
