March 30th, 2008
Location: Orlando, Florida
Venue: Citrus Bowl
Attendance: 74,635
Theme songs: "Light It Up" by Rev Theory; "Snow (Hey Oh)" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
For the first time since 1993, WrestleMania got fresh air and headed to an outdoor stadium. The State of Florida was granted its first WrestleMania, and Orlando’s Citrus Bowl would be the venue.
With the sun setting midway through the show, it would also be symbolic for one man who’s wheelin’ and dealin’ career concluded.
WrestleMania 24 caught a big break as light showers took over most of the day leading up to the show's start. With a gloomy grey sky covering Orlando, WWE got the go-ahead. Grammy-winning John Legend sang “America the Beautiful” (my favorite performance of the yearly tradition) to get the festivities underway.
The technology was also moving forward as this WrestleMania would be the first in High Definition. I can’t emphasize enough how happy I am to stop cropping out gifs.
Nine matches were scheduled on the card, and nearly all of them deserved an honorable mention.
The night opened with John “Bradshaw” Layfield taking on Finley after the former attacked Hornswoggle in a steel cage a few weeks before on Monday Night Raw. The match would be a Belfast Brawl, or in other words, a street fight. JBL came away with the victory.
The fourth Money in the Bank ladder match took place,,, which initially had eight participating. However, it was cut down to seven after Jeff Hardy was legitimately suspended for violating the wellness policy. CM Punk would outlast the others and grab the precious briefcase for that luxurious championship opportunity.
SmackDown’s Batista and Raw’s Umaga battled in a fight for “brand supremacy,” in which Batista would escape with the win.
For the first time at WrestleMania, the ECW Championship was on the line as Chavo Guerrero was defending his title against Kane. The latter won a battle royal before WrestleMania began to earn the opportunity. In just 11 seconds, Kane came out with the victory and was the new ECW champion.
Finally, Randy Orton defended his WWE Championship in a triple threat match against John Cena and Triple H.
This match's journey was by chance after John Cena left WWE with a pectoral muscle injury in October 2007. Cena was expected to be out for seven months to a year and surprised everybody when he returned at the Royal Rumble. He entered the annual Rumble match at #30 and would win it to book his ticket to WrestleMania.
Just as Triple H was in reach to win the WWE Championship after hitting Cena with his Pedigree, Orton came out of nowhere and kicked his head. Orton pinned Cena instead and would hang on to his title.
That being said, let’s move on to the three things that stood out to me.
The best fighter in the world
At No Way Out in Las Vegas, the Big Show returned to the company after leaving with some injuries in December 2006. He reminded everybody that he wanted to be champion again.
However, a boxing great was sitting in the first few rows. Floyd Mayweather was in attendance for his close friend Rey Mysterio who lost his title opportunity against Edge. As soon as Show noticed, he began to make fun of him and proceeded to grab Mysterio for a chokeslam.
Mayweather jumped over the barricade and got in the ring to stick up for his friend. Big Show then got on his knees and asked Mayweather to punch him, thinking he’d be harmless. A few shots later, Show left the ring with a bloody nose and mouth, furious about what the boxer did to him.
The next night on Monday Night Raw, the Big Show challenged Mayweather to a wrestling fight. Surprisingly enough, the boxer agreed. Their match at WrestleMania would have No Disqualifications.
Now, with a guy as giant as the Big Show, and another as short as Floyd Mayweather, it doesn’t really seem like a fair fight, right? I mean, just look at the tale of the tape for their match at WrestleMania. Even if Show’s numbers were slightly altered, that’s still a massive difference.
Mayweather brought out his whole crew to accompany him to the ring while having money fall from the sky. His nickname is “Money,” in case you didn't know (very fitting).
The bell rang, and Mayweather understood that size difference and, at one point, started to walk out to avoid the embarrassment. Big Show would run after him and bring him back.
The numbers game would overtake the Big Show as seeing it was a No DQ match, Mayweather’s teammates began to attack Show with chairs.
In the final moments of the match, Mayweather took off his boxing glove and put on brass knuckles, and punched the giant square in the jaw.
The Big Show was out cold and couldn’t respond to the referee’s count of ten. Floyd “Money” Mayweather would leave the Citrus Bowl with a win, something he’s used to in boxing after all.
Let’s face it; this was a random match. But given the height difference, at least they made something out of it.
One streak stands tall
Edge caught a lucky break midway through 2007. As I mentioned during WrestleMania 23, Mr. Kennedy became Mr. Money in the Bank when he won the coveted briefcase in the ladder match.
Kennedy promised the world that he wouldn’t cash in his contract until the following WrestleMania. On the other hand, Edge wanted to test him and challenged Kennedy for the briefcase, which he won.
It would turn out that Mr. Kennedy was suffering from a legit injury that would have kept him out for five to seven months, and WWE wanted to get the briefcase off him to heal. Sadly enough, the injury was never that serious and cost him a big opportunity.
In the week that he won the briefcase, World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker faced Batista in a Steel Cage match on SmackDown, which he retained. Then, Mark Henry came down to the ring and attacked ‘Taker, leaving him weak and lying in the ring for some odd reason.
That’s when Edge’s music suddenly hit, walked down to the ring with the briefcase in hand, and told the referee he wanted a championship match at that very moment.
Sure enough, Edge shocked the world and became the new World Heavyweight Champion. As the year went by, Edge at one point needed to relinquish the title due to an injury but won it back at the Armageddon pay-per-view to close out 2007.
At No Way Out, The Undertaker won an Elimination Chamber match to earn the right to face Edge for the title at WrestleMania. Everything would come full circle after what Edge did to become champion.
The lingering topic entering their match (aside from the title) was The Undertaker’s 15-0 winning streak at WrestleMania. Edge would point out that he was also undefeated (not counting he left his match the year before on a stretcher) on the flagship show. The match would somewhat become a streak vs. streak match.
Fast forward to WrestleMania, and the two would be the closing match of the night, giving Edge his first and only main event on the grand stage.
The bell rang, and Edge and Undertaker would exchange their maneuvers, outsmarting the other when they had the chance.
There was no referee in a funny moment during the match after The Undertaker accidentally kicked Jimmy Korderas. ‘Taker hit his Tombstone Piledriver and was pinning Edge for the victory.
That’s when referee Charles Robinson made the run of his life and slid in the ring to start the three-count, only for Edge to kick out.
In the closing moments, Edge hit his spear and was ready to seal the deal. Just as he was going for the pinfall, Undertaker managed to wrap his legs around his head for his Hell’s Gate submission.
A few moments later, Edge was seen tapping out. In back-to-back WrestleManias, Undertaker was crowned World Heavyweight Champion.
The two put on a classic, but Edge’s “winning” streak had ended. More importantly, The Undertaker would grow to 16-0 at WrestleMania.
End of the line
For over thirty years, Ric Flair entertained the wrestling world with his unique charisma and incredible in-ring performance. Regarded as one of the best of all time, the 16-time World Champion would forever be known as a legend. Heck, he felt like he could go forever when in November 2007, Flair told the world he would never retire.
Until his boss, Vince McMahon had something to say about it.
That same night, McMahon gave Flair a never-ending stipulation in that the next time he lost a match, his career would be over.
Flair would face multiple opponents in the lead up to WrestleMania. He defeated Randy Orton, Umaga, Mr. Kennedy, and William Regal, to name a few. He also squared off against his best friend Triple H. Even Vince McMahon attempted to force him into retirement.
None of them could give Flair a loss, and would look as if he would never lose again.
A few weeks before WrestleMania, Flair asked the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels to be his potential final opponent in his career. At first, Michaels was hesitant, knowing the tremendous amount of respect he had for him. Flair begged and pleaded, and Michaels gave him what he wanted.
On the Raw before WrestleMania, before HBK left the ring, he looked at Flair and reminded him of Old Yeller's story. Michaels stated just like the dog, when the time came, he would put Flair out of his misery.
Flair snapped and began slapping HBK for the comment, reminding him that he’ll give him everything he had, and put on one hell of a fight.
At WrestleMania, the two did give each other everything they had. At one point in the match, HBK was set to recreate his moonsault spot from the ring to the commentary table from WrestleMania 21 to nail Flair.
However, Flair rolled out of the way, and Shawn’s ribs hit the edge of the table.
However, the final moments of the match deserve the utmost attention and ironically created a WrestleMania moment.
Flair was weakly giving chops to Shawn before he suddenly hit “The Nature Boy” with his Sweet Chin Music. When Michaels got up and headed to the corner to set up another kick, he hesitated to lift his foot up to deliver the final blow. Flair slowly got up and told Shawn to keep giving him his absolute best.
With one heartbroken look, the Heartbreak Kid uttered words that we all were able to pick up on.
“I’m sorry, I love you.”
Michaels gave him one final superkick and got the pinfall to take the victory over Ric Flair. Shawn kissed his opponent on the forehead and quickly left the ring in disgust.
With tears running down his face, a crushed Ric Flair stood up and acknowledged the standing ovation from the crowd. He exited the ring to embrace his family at ringside and walked up the ramp saying good-bye to everybody.
The Stylin', profilin', limousine riding, jet flying, kiss-stealing, wheelin' n' dealin' son of a gun told the world he loved them and left the Citrus Bowl with his head held high.
Final thoughts
The one thing I’ve noticed from WrestleMania 17 and on is how much fun the shows have been. Once again, WrestleMania 24 delivered an incredible night. I remember my parents let me run to a friend’s apartment who lived just a few floors below me.
I also remember my dad telling me that I needed to come home at 10pm since I needed to be up for school the next morning. I’m very proud to say that I ignored that rule and stayed until the very end. Sorry dad, but I’m happy I did.
The one thing that did bug me was what happened with Ric Flair after WrestleMania 24. He would retire from WWE and had an emotional send off the next night on Monday Night Raw, but he didn’t retire from wrestling.
Flair would have a run with TNA Wrestling and keep on doing what he does best, wrestle. He eventually would fade from in-ring competition and begin being by his daughter’s side, Ashleigh (AKA Charlotte), who started her own wrestling career in WWE.
It was great to see WrestleMania back outdoors. This trend would appear more frequently over the years, including the upcoming one at MetLife Stadium. I think it’s a great scene to start the evening with the sun setting and have it carried into the night.
As another WrestleMania closed, the road to WrestleMania 25 had begun. In the months leading up to it, one question was asked with the WWE Universe: Do you want to be embraced by lightness? Or do you want to be embraced by darkness?
Results:
- John “Bradshaw” Layfield def. Finley – Belfast Brawl
- CM Punk def. Carlito, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, Mr. Kennedy, Montel Vontavious Porter, and Shelton Benjamin – Money in the Bank ladder match
- Batista def. Umaga
- Kane def. Chavo Guerrero (c) – ECW Championship
- Shawn Michaels def. Ric Flair – Career Threatening match
- Beth Pheonix and Melina def. Ashley and Maria – Playboy Lumberjill match
- Randy Orton (c) def. John Cena and Triple H – Triple threat match for the WWE Championship
- Floyd “Money” Mayweather def. Big Show – No Disqualification match
- The Undertaker def. Edge (c) – World Heavyweight Championship
Rating: A-
Thanks for reading. Look out tomorrow when I take a look at WrestleMania 25.
11 days away until WrestleMania 35.
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