The 24th annual WrestleMania PPV. Many claim that it would suck because of predictability and whatever nonsense they could come up with. Still, let's see how it went.
9.0
"Superb"
24-man Battle Royal (Winner faces ECW champion)
Sadly I haven't seen this match so, meh. All I know is that Kane won by eliminating Mark Henry last.
Belfast Brawl - JBL def. Finlay w/Hornswoggle
I figured that MITB 4 would've started us off, like what happened last year. Still, this was probably the best thing to do with a card like this. In any event, I liked this opener. Both guys can work no-disqualification matches pretty well. While this wasn't a complete bloodbath, it was still well done. JBL wins via Clothesline From Hell.
Rating: **3/4
Money In The Bank 4
C.M Punk def. Chris Jericho, Mr. Kennedy, John Morrison, Carlito, MVP and Shelton Benjamin
This has definitely become an annual thing ever since WrestleMania 21. While the 1st MITB was great, the 2nd and 3rd still couldn't lift up to its expectations (Flair, Finlay and Lashley didn't belong in the 2nd one, the 3rd one had too many people going for the briefcase). When the match qualifier were taking place, it was obvious that Jeff Hardy was gonna win and get an even bigger push than the one he initially got. Instead he got busted for drugs, suspended for 60 days, lost his main event push and the Intercontinental title he was wearing, not to mention some respect from a lot of fans. So with him gone, it was anyone's ball game.
This is easily the WWE's first Match of the Year candidate right here. A lot of sweet moves with the ladders and insane bumps to boot. Morrison with a moonsault while holding a step-ladder, the sunset flip into a powerbomb/superplex combination from a ladder, Carlito with his Backstabber to Jericho off of a ladder, Matt Hardy making his return screwing MVP out of winning the match (yep Matt returned which made this even sweeter). In the end, C.M. Punk won and earns himself a shot at either of the top champions on Raw or SmackDown.
Rating: ****1/4
Note: I think I know why they had Punk win. With his straight-edge lifestyle and congress breathing down the WWE's neck about steroids and drugs (never mind that ALL wrestling promotions should be inspected), it would give them somewhat of a good look. Just my thoughts on that.
Raw Vs SmackDown Inter-Promotional Match
Batista (SmackDown) def. Umaga (Raw)
Like I mentioned when this match was made: "they don't know what the hell they want to do with Batista on SmackDown, so let's put him up against someone just to get a pop from the crowd." We all have seen Umaga bringing his best in big-time matches, Batista on the other hand is too damn lazy to work unless he's in there with someone like The Undertaker. And I was right. Umaga was there, "Lazy" Batista was there. There's obviously something about Umaga that fans like about him cause I heard an "U-U-Umaga" chant. Batista won via Batista Bomb, obviously.
Rating: **
Note: Batista botched the Batista Bomb. Funny as hell.
ECW championship - Kane def. Chavo Guerrero (NEW champion)
A 6-second squash. Plain and simple. Now I know people are whining about this, but still. With the card they had, who in the hell would care that Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero in a 10-minute match? Be honest.
Rating: dud
Shawn Michaels def. Ric Flair
This is it. The match where Ric Flair finally hangs up his boots and rides into the sunset. Many people have claimed that a young talent should be the one to get the rub from Flair. I say, are you on bad crack? None of the younger stars deserve to retire Flair, even if it's one of my favorites. If anyone deserves to wrestle Flair in his last match, it's Shawn Michaels.
And what he got was another Match of the Year candidate, along with a classic WrestleMania moment. We know Michaels brings it on big stage matches, Flair on the other hand brought his A+ game. I swear, watching Flair with Michaels was like reminiscent to the old school Flair of the 80s. The "holy crap" moment came when Michaels went for a Asai moonsault to Flair, he moved and Michaels landed knee first on the Raw announce table with his torso landing on the EDGE of it, ouch..........and he still went through the match. Michaels did it again, and missed. Still, kudos to Flair for selling it.
Throughout the match, Michaels was hesitant on using Sweet Chin Music on Flair, only to be caught in the Figure Four. Michaels even did his variation of the Figure Four and didn't put Flair away. A low blow and eye poke by Flair when the referee was distracted (God I love when he did that). Hell, Flair got hit with 2 superkicks......AND STILL COMING BACK. My God, what a match. And the ending, oh my. How I didn't break down is amazing. Before nailing the final superkick to finish Flair off, Michaels quoted by saying, "I'm sorry. I love you." Sweet Chin Music, 1-2-3, Michaels win, Flair is retired.
Rating: ****3/4
Note: Right after losing, Flair got a huge standing ovation from the Orlando crowd as he walked back to the locker. Thank you, Flair, you will truly be missed.
Bunny-Mania Lumberjack Match
Beth Phoenix and Melina def. Maria and Ashley
The traditional bathroom break of WrestleMania, as always. The one thing that was kinda funny, except Santino being Santino, Snoop Dogg wailing Marella, etc was the lights going out. THAT was funny, still kudos to the technicians for getting themselves out of that mess.
Rating: *
Triple Threat Match - WWE championship
Randy Orton def. John Cena and Triple H (STILL champion)
Ah, the match most Orton fanboys feared. That their beloved so-called "greatest heel champion of all time" was about to do the job to either Trips or Cena. Still, it was a good match between the three. My initial thoughts was our favorite political buddy Triple H would win the WWE title by going over John Cena, thus getting his win back from WrestleMania 22. THAT's not what happened. Orton pinned Cena (shock) to retain the WWE title. If this wasn't the biggest swerve of the night, I don't know what is.
Rating: ***3/4
Boxer vs Wrestler
Floyd Mayweather def. Big Show via knockout
This was entertaining, to say the very least. The way the fans were pro-Big Show and wanted to just absolutely destroy Mayweather. Hell, the fans chanted "one more time" when Big Show chopped him. And if anyone can remember how these celebrity/wrestler matches are like in the WWE, can expect a lot of chaos. Such as Mayweather's crew getting involved. Ending came from a brass knuckle loaded right hand to the jaw for the knockout win.
Rating: **3/4
World Heavyweight Championship
The Undertaker def. Edge (NEW champion)
Shocking, huh? SmackDown getting its first WrestleMania main event slot since WrestleMania 19. Wow. Anyways, this was a great way to end a spectacular night in Orlando. At first the match was a little slow, until Taker went airborne, that's when the match got even better. I sure hope Trips was watching cause this is how you make someone look good with you instead of making them look like a stinking joke, cause they made it look like Edge was truly going to be the one to actually break the winning streak. Old school, countered. Chokeslam, kick out. Last Ride, kick out and countered. Tombstone, KICK OUT. Spear by Edge after Hawkins and Ryder (MAN I hate those names) interfered, Taker KICKED OUT. Spear by Edge again.......into the MMA choke for the submission win.
Rating: ****1/2
Overall, I give WrestleMania 24 a 9.0. Out of all of the WrestleManias in THIS era, this would have to be the second best one they did, barely edging the 20th WrestleMania. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who tries to make this WrestleMania look bad at all, don't deserve to be called a wrestling fan because this was a great show, top to bottom.moreless