WWE WrestleMania XXIV (March 2008)

Original Airdate: March 30, 2008

From Orlando, Florida; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler (RAW), Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman (Smackdown), Joey Styles and Tazz (ECW)

Opening Belfast Brawl Match: Finlay v John Bradshaw Layfield: This set, with the super long aisle, and towering entrance stage is one of my favorites. They hit it out of the park when they returned to the building in 2017, too. Unfortunately, we've got some raindrops as the show gets started. Finlay tries charging in, but Bradshaw has the high ground, and puts the boots to him. They go at it on the outside, where Finlay manages to reverse a whip into the steps, and he hits John with a sit-down splash on the way back in. Finlay brings some weapons into the mix, but JBL uses a trashcan first, and drills Finlay with a short-clothesline. Bradshaw grabs the ring steps, but an attempt to piledrive Finlay onto them is countered with a backdrop, and Finlay whacks him with a baking sheet for two. Bradshaw fights him off with a big boot, and pounds Finlay in the corner. He grabs the whappin' stick to finish him off, but Hornswoggle runs in to make the save, and Finlay tees off on John with the stick. That allows him to bring a table into play, but Bradshaw blocks a whip into it, so Finlay clotheslines him instead. He grabs the steps to soften JBL up some more, but Bradshaw bails, and slaps Hornswoggle around instead. Finlay saves the runt, but an attempt at a tope goes badly when Bradshaw smacks him out of the air with a trashcan lid. Those clouds over the stadium are getting seriously threatening. Inside, JBL beats on Finlay with a trashcan, but the Clothesline from Hell gets blocked with a lid, and Finlay hits a rolling fireman's carry slam, then puts John through the table for two.  He grabs the steps again, but this time Bradshaw knocks them away with the Clothesline from Hell for three at 8:37. Kind of an underwhelming way to start things off, but I guess it's better placed here (while the crowd is still fresh) than going out to die in the last hour. ¾*

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Chris Jericho v Montel Vontavious Porter v John Morrison v CM Punk v Carlito v Mr. Kennedy v Shelton Benjamin: Money in the Bank was really a godsend for them as a way to get a bunch of guys a WrestleMania payday in an interesting way. There's either a downpour going on as the bell sounds, or the crazy amount of pyro is actually overwhelming an outdoor stadium. And the scary thing is that it's actually the latter. Everyone immediately dives to the outside to go for ladders, except for Porter, who is smart enough to stay put, and hold the high ground. He steals a ladder away from the first guy trying to come in, and uses it to ward off all intruders. Jericho breaks through his defenses, and sends him to the outside, as Morrison dives off the top rope with a wild flying moonsault press onto a bunch of guys - done while holding a ladder! Nuts! Too bad it didn't really connect, though. Jericho and Kennedy slug it out in the ring, with Chris trying a catapult into a ladder, but Kennedy lands on the rungs, and reaches for the case! Morrison meets him at the top for a slugfest, so Shelton sets up a parallel ladder, and starts his own climb as those two trade punches. That results in an awesome spot, where Benjamin sunset bombs Kennedy off the ladder, WHILE Kennedy is vertical superplexing Morrison! Wild! Shelton climbs, so Carlito tips it over, but Benjamin lands on the top rope, and shoves the ladder back at him! Unfortunately, he fails to stick the landing while trying to dive back onto the ladder, and gets hit with a sloppy GTS from Punk. CM climbs, but Kennedy stops him with a rolling fireman's carry slam onto a ladder, as Carlito clips MVP's leg with a ladder. Carlito climbs, but Benjamin pulls him down, and sticks a leg-feed spinheel kick. Shelton climbs, but Kennedy works with Carlito to tip him off, with Benjamin taking a bump all the way to the floor, with a detour through a planked ladder first! Morrison is next to attempt climbing, but Jericho is on his case with the Walls on top of the ladder! That leaves them both tied up though, so Kennedy shimmies up a parallel ladder, but Punk and Carlito springboard on, leading to everyone slugging it out at the top! Jericho gets the best of it, but fails to get the case when Carlito brings him down with a lungblower! MVP climbs, and quite nearly gets it, when suddenly Matt Hardy runs out of the crowd, and brings him down with a Twist of Fate! Why was he running through the stands shirtless, and in full gear? Not exactly stealth. Whatever, no time to think about that, because it's time for the next spot. This one sees Jericho and Carlito seesaw a ladder into position for Morrison to climb, but it tips back at the top, and John crotches himself across the top rope as he falls. Ouch! Jericho climbs, but Carlito spits some apple into his eyes to stop him from getting the case, only to get shoved off by Kennedy before HE can get it! Punk tries, but Jericho stops him from climbing with a Codebreaker, and Chris climbs again, albeit much more slowly now. Punk meets him at the top, leading to a slugfest, with Jericho bashing him in the head with the case to knock him off. Unfortunately, Chris slips, and ends up tangled in the rungs - allowing Punk to snag the case at 13:54! They weren't even pretending this was about anything other than spots. This was like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet place, where you can have Chinese food and a hamburger on the plate next to each other, and while they're both good, there's no real theme to the meal other than variety. *** ¾

The Hall of Fame class of 2008 (Ric Flair, the Brisco Brothers, Gordon Solie, Rocky Johnson, Peter Maivia, Eddie Graham, and Mae Young) come out to take a bow. They're smart enough to send Flair's family out instead of blowing their Ric load too early

Batista v Umaga: Big step down the card from last year for both guys, though they try to add intrigue by making this about both guys representing their respective brands. Batista wins a power showdown to start, but eats a spinheel kick, and ends up on the outside. Back in, Umaga whips him around the ring, and grabs a nervehold. The crowd is much hotter for this than they should be. Batista starts to escape, so Umaga bodyslams him, but takes too long setting up a 2^nd rope flying headbutt, and gets a face full of canvas. Batista tries a bodyslam, but gets toppled for two, and Umaga retains control with another nervehold. Samoan drop gets two, and seriously, is this crowd all part of some rib on Umaga? Are these central Florida assholes She's All That'ing Umaga?! Samoan Spike looks to finish, but Batista blocks, and hits the spinebuster. Batista Bomb, and we're out at 7:07. Not much to it, and the finish was underwhelming, but the crowd was smoking hot throughout. ½*

ECW Title Match: Chavo Guerrero v Kane: Kane won a battle royal on the pre-show to earn this shot. ECW General Manager Armando Estrada acts as the ring announcer for this one. Kane is hidden underneath the ring, and quickly hits Chavo with a chokeslam to win the title at 0:11. More of a moment than a match. And that's fine. DUD

Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair v Shawn Michaels: Only Flair's career is on the line. I don't think the ending of this one was especially in doubt, but much like a James Bond movie, you know how its going to end going in, but you want to see how they get there. Flair's entrance is majestic, taking full advantage of the grandiose set design, much in the same way Charlotte would nine years later. And, speaking of Charlotte, she's seated in the first row, along with the rest of Flair's family, and already in tears before the bell even rings. Must run in the family. Feeling out process to start, with Shawn being respectful, but not shy of mixing it up with the legend. Michaels takes control and goes up, but in a nice turnaround, Flair slams him off! Ric then goes to the top himself, and manages to block Shawn's attempt to slam him down, then actually hits a flying bodypress for two! Kneebreakers sets up the Figure Four, but Shawn shoves him to the outside to block, and smashes into the Nature Boy with a baseball slide. Michaels tries following up with a springboard moonsault press, but Flair dodges, and Shawn puts himself through an announce table. He really smacked into it, too. Shawn beats the count in, where Flair is waiting to meet him with some stomps, and he corner whips the Heartbreak Kid a few times. Side suplex gets two, and a butterfly suplex is worth two. Vertical suplex for two, but Shawn fights off the chops in the corner, and delivers a swinging neckbreaker. Flair responds by charging, but that gets him backdropped over the top, and Shawn dives after him with a flying moonsault press - wisely keeping his distance from any tables this time. Both guys struggle to beat the count in, and stagger to their feet to trade chops. Shawn gets the better of it, and hits a jumping forearm, followed by a pair of inverted atomic drops - Michaels selling the stomach he smacked into the table earlier nicely throughout. Shawn uses a bodyslam to set up a flying elbowdrop, and he half heartedly sets up the Superkick, but can't go through with it. Flair immediately capitalizes by sweeping him down into the Figure Four, but Shawn manages to reverse. Flair escapes, leading to a pinfall reversal sequence, with Flair either unable to execute the bridge, or intentionally failing to get across the story. I'm honestly not sure which. No matter, Michaels hooks a sunset flip for two as a counter to another kneebreaker, and HBK unloads with chops in the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Michaels flips over the buckles. Ric clips the knee to set up another Figure Four, but Shawn counters with a small package for two. Leg-feed enzuigiri, but Flair ducks, and shifts into the Figure Four! Shawn tries reversing again, but Ric rolls it through, and Michaels is forced to fight for the ropes to free himself. Ric keeps hammering him, but walks into a Superkick out of nowhere for a dramatic two count. I actually much prefer it when Shawn would do it like that, without the elaborate setup. And speaking of that, Michaels starts revving up the band for another Superkick, but Flair doesn't feed himself to him, staying down. Shawn gets frustrated, and tries dragging Ric to his feet, but Flair is ready with a mulekick for two! He goes to follow-up, but this time Shawn is ready - sweeping Flair down into his own figure four! Ric goes to the eyes to escape, and a schoolboy gets him two. He starts cracking Michaels with chops, but Shawn again throws a defensive Superkick out of nowhere to drop the Nature Boy! He revs the band, and with Flair giving him the nod, a hesitant Michaels plants the Superkick on his idol for the pin at 20:25 - dramatically mouthing "I'm sorry, I love you" as he does! And, of course, Flair gets a dramatic and emotional send off from the crowd after the bell, in a great WrestleMania moment. And the stips largely stuck too, save for a few matches in the minor leagues and reunion tours. This wasn't the all-time classic it would have been in a different era, but it was really well booked to maximize the drama of the story, and using plenty of smoke and mirrors along the way. It's only too bad they couldn't have timed this to take place just as the sun was setting over the outdoor stadium. *** ½

Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill Match: Beth Phoenix and Melina v Ashley and Maria: Snoop Dogg acts as the Master of Ceremonies for this, which is basically just a fancy way of saying that he's the ring announcer. Watching all the Divas try to dance with Snoop like they're trying out for a rap video might be the funniest thing on this show tonight. Beth and Ashley start, and Ashley fights off a shove with a rana into a cradle for two. Tag to Maria for a tandem hiptoss, so Melina tags in, but Maria quickly dumps her for the lumberjills to abuse. Back in, Maria hits a bronco buster for two, then passes back to Ashley for a headscissors takedown, followed by a clothesline. Facebuster connects, but Melina fights her off in sloppy fashion, and Ashley ends up on the outside for a scuffle with the lumberjills. Inside, Beth and Melina cut the ring in half, but Ashley gets to Maria pretty quickly, as the lights die in the stadium. Blown fuse, or passive aggressive way to tell the girls how horrible their match is? They keep working until the ring crew can get a spotlight on them, with Maria hitting Beth with a 2^nd rope flying bodypress for two. Wheelbarrow bulldog gets two, and Roseanne Barr the door! Maria hits a flying bulldog, but Santino breaks up the cover at two, so Jerry Lawler leaves the announce position to deck him! The distraction allows Beth to sneak up on Maria with a muscle buster though, and that finishes at 5:58. As a match, it was embarrassingly bad, but it worked as a spectacle. This would be negative stars otherwise. Afterwards, Santino taunts Maria, until Snoop lays him out, and makes out with her at center ring. And then everyone dances. DUD

WWE Title Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton v John Cena v Triple H: First fall wins. Cena gets played out by a high school marching band, in a neat touch. No word on whether it was the same band from the RAW Bowl in 1996. HHH, meanwhile, actually gets a very subdued entrance compared to his usual overblown WrestleMania processions. They've got the lights for the ring/ringside at bull blast again, but it looks like they're still having some issues in the stands, temporarily giving the show a very old school feel, with a darkened crowd. Cena blitzes Orton in the early going, but they both get dumped to the outside by HHH, with Hunter hammering Randy over by the announce tables. Back in, HHH grabs a sleeper, but Cena runs in to pick both up in a double FU, but a low blow stops that. Orton hits Hunter with an inverted headlock backbreaker, and he starts garvin stomping both guys for two counts on each of his challengers. HHH helps Orton hit Cena with an electric chair/flying bodypress combo, but John rolls through into the FU, but Orton counters with a sunset cradle for two. Orton hits both guys with a double rope-hung DDT, getting a two count off of each challenger again. RKO for Cena, but he fights Orton off, and hits the Throwback to set up a flying rocker dropper. They spill to the outside, where Orton is able to post him, but he gets nailed by HHH as he climbs back in. Hunter goes to work on the champion's leg, and the lights coming back on in the stands reveals that tons of people are using this match as a bathroom break. See, sometimes the darkness is your friend. Cena manages to slap the STFU on Orton, but HHH helps him into the ropes, and decks John. He pulls Cena to the outside for a trip into the steps, then heads in to polish Randy off himself with a modified toehold. Cena saves, and sends HHH over the top with a corner whip, then pounces right back on Randy with another STFU. Orton manages to hang on until HHH can save again, Hunter prying Cena off with a crippler crossface! I still can't believe they were letting guys use that so soon after the whole Benoit thing. I get that it's just a move, but given how closely it was associated with him, and how desperately they wanted to distance themselves from the whole thing, you'd think they'd be more hesitant about doing anything that conjures his memory. Anyway, Cena runs through his comeback routine on HHH, but Hunter blocks the FU. Pedigree, but Cena blocks, so HHH uses a kneeling facebuster and a clothesline. Rotating spinebuster follows, but here comes Orton, so HHH stops to clip the leg. That allows Cena to recover with the FU, but Hunter counters to the Pedigree - only for Orton to break the cover by punting HHH! That allows him to cover Cena, and that's three at 14:10. This felt like the last fourteen minutes of a much longer match, as they basically went right into trading signature moves from the get-go, with no development. It wasn't bad, and it wasn't boring, but it also wasn't particularly engaging match either. * ¾

No Holds Barred Match: Big Show v Floyd Mayweather Jr: Mayweather is the reigning WBC Welterweight champion here. Having Mayweather come out flanked by bodyguards as big as Show is was a silly call. The stare down offers a terrific visual, with the production crew wisely choosing their angles to maximize the effect. Mayweather sticks and moves to start, so Show tries to corner him, but ends up getting the tables turned. Mayweather unloads with body shots, so Show backs him off, and wants to have a proper boxing match. Yeah, I'm thinking that's not exactly wise. Floyd dominates that, in case there was any doubt. He taunts Show by stopping to drink from his pimp cup mid-fight, so Show beats up a dude from his entourage in response. Mayweather keeps throwing fists, but Show catches one, and forces him to the mat. He tries to stomp the hand to take that weapon away from him, but Mayweather evades him. Show tries to corner him in a choke, but Mayweather manages to swipe with some rights, and he gets a sleeper on. Show flings him off with a snapmare, and this time is able to stomp on the hand of the boxer. Show takes him into the corner for some abuse, and he drops Mayweather with a sidewalk slam. Show works him over, but Mayweather's entourage pulls him out before Show can finish him. They shepherd him up the aisle, but Show gives chase, and bodies go flying! He drags Mayweather back into the ring, and it's chokeslam time, so the remnants of the entourage run in. One of the big dudes whacks Show with a chair, but that gets his ass chokeslammed. It succeeds in allowing Mayweather to recover, and he starts going to town on Show with the chair. A series of shots staggers the giant, but doesn't put him down, so Mayweather rips a heavy gold chain off of one of his downed bodyguards, and uses it as knux to knock Show out with - Mayweather awarded the bout by KO at 11:36. Another one where it was all smoke and mirrors, but that was to be expected. This was all about the spectacle, but that's part of what WrestleMania has always been about from the very first one, and it was a lot a fun. Not a great match in the traditional sense, but it delivered in the way it was meant to. ** ¼

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Match: Edge v Undertaker: An Undertaker entrance in a massive stadium with a super long aisle could legit be your bathroom break. Edge tries sticking and moving, but gets grabbed, and destroyed in short order. Undertaker with a jumping clothesline for two, but Edge pulls him down during the ropewalk forearm - 'Taker managing to hold on to roll through it. He chokes the champion in the corner, and hits him with a corner hip attack, which actually sends Undertaker crashing over the top in the process. Edge spears him off of the apron as 'Taker tries to climb back inside, then pops him with a baseball slide, and hits a neckbreaker across the top rope. Undertaker took a nasty bump on the apron with his tailbone there. Edge goes to work on that with a headbutt to the lower back, and he corner spears his challenger before dropping some elbows to the small of the back. Undertaker tries to recover with a bodyslam, but the back pain allows Edge to topple him for two, and the champion delivers a standing dropkick. He goes up, but 'Taker musters the strength to shove him off to the floor to stop the effort, and then dives with a tope suicida! Guillotine legdrop connects, and gets two, but the move aggravates Undertaker's injuries as well. Kind of a stupid thing to try in his situation. Last Ride, but the back prevents him from executing it, and Edge big boots him for two. Limber dude. Edge takes him to the outside, punishing Undertaker with a slam across the barricade, with 'Taker bumping into the front row. Edge drags him back in to get a two count out of the deal, and he slaps a half-crab on the Dead Man to try for a submission. Poorly executed one, too. He ends up shifting into a modified version instead, cranking at the back, but Undertaker manages to power it into a cradle for two. Edge responds with another weird submission, this time using a toehold. Of all the stuff you can use to punish the back, Edge is working like a kid playing wrestler with his friends in the field behind school. Undertaker escapes, leading to a slugfest which he dominates, and he hits the champion with a snake-eyes, but Edge counters the follow-up with a dropkick for two. He tries a dive off the middle rope, but Undertaker catches him in a chokeslam, so Edge counters with the implant DDT for two. Spear, but 'Taker counters with a knee, and plants the champion with a chokeslam for two. Ropewalk forearm, but Edge again manages to block it, this time by crotching the challenger on the top turnbuckle! Vertical superplex brings the Dead Man down for two, but makes the idiot mistake of trying a ten-punch count, allowing 'Taker to counter with the Last Ride - only for Edge to slip free into a neckbreaker for two! Backdrop, but he telegraphs it, and ends up taking the Last Ride for two. Tombstone, but the champ uses the Edge-o-Matic to counter for two, so Undertaker throws a big boot. Third try at the ropewalk forearm is finally enough, but Edge ducks a big boot, and the referee eats it! That allows the champ to plant Undertaker with an inverted DDT, and he goes to the outside to rip a camera away from the crew. He bashes Undertaker's brains in with it, but the referee is still down. Edge tries to revive him, but he's not coming around fast enough, and Undertaker is starting to recover. Edge needs another offensive move, but trying a tombstone gets reversed, and Undertaker covers. Still no referee, so another one sprints down the mile long aisle, but the finisher is only worth two by the time he gets there. Funny visual. And speaking of sprinting, Edge's pals Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder run in next, but 'Taker fights them off. The distraction does allow Edge to recover, however, and he drills his challenger with the spear for a dramatic two. Another spear looks to finish, but Undertaker blocks the pin attempt that follows with the Hell's Gate, and we have a new champion at 23:48! With hard work all around, and drama, this was a proper main event, and the right choice to close the show. Some notably good bumping from Undertaker, too. *** ¾ (Original rating: *** ¼)

BUExperience: A really fun WrestleMania. At four hours long, this felt like the perfect length for a big stadium show, just long enough to be epic, but also wrapping up before it overstayed its welcome. Only three matches are especially worth checking out, but most the stuff that wasn’t great in a star-rating sense managed to be entertaining in other ways. One thing this show did really well was capture the spirit of the early WrestleMania’s in terms of spectacle and overall presentation, and it benefitted tremendously from a lively atmosphere, and cool venue.


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