A heavily promoted match for the event was an Interpromotional match between SmackDown! superstar Kurt Angle and Raw superstar Shawn Michaels. Their match stemmed from the Royal Rumble, the pay-per-view event two months before WrestleMania. At the Royal Rumble, Kurt Angle relentlessly attacked Shawn Michaels after Michaels had eliminated him from the Royal Rumble match. The next month at No Way Out, Angle lost a number one contenders match to John Cena, losing a spot in the SmackDown! main event at WrestleMania. The next night on "Raw", Michaels told SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long to inform Angle that he had challenged him to a match at WrestleMania.<ref name="PWWEW - 2/21 Raw"></ref><ref name="OWW - 2/21 Raw"></ref> On the February 28 edition of "Raw", after Michaels defeated Edge in a Street Fight, Angle attacked Michaels and accepted his challenge.<ref name="PWWEW.net - 2/28 Raw"></ref><ref name="411mania.com - 2/28 Raw"></ref>