Wrestlemania XXIV Delivered

I have to be honest. I wasn’t all that excited about this year’s Wrestlemania. The card wasn’t overally appealing to me. I thought WWE spent too much time hyping the Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather match, and didn’t devout enough energy and creativity on the other top matches. However, when Wrestlemania was over, I was quite satisfied with the end product.

The 24-man battle royal was shown on WWE’s web site. Remember when they would show a live match on the free for all? It amazes me that they couldn’t find the ten minutes on the PPV to squeeze this one in. Kane winning the battle royal made the most sense, but where was Colin Delaney? He seems to be ECW’s current glamour child these days.

Wrestlemania kicked off with the Belfast brawl. I don’t know about you, but I think this storyline is pointless and ridiculous. They brought JBL back for this? The curtain jerker at Wrestlemania? I hope WWE reevaluates JBL status in the company. I don’t care about Hornswoggle, period. The brawl itself was entertaining, but I simply didn’t care about the match.

The competitors in the Money in the Bank Ladder match bumped like crazy. The bar has definitely been raised for this annual demolition derby. I liked that Matt Hardy did a run in to continue the unfinished program with MVP. I am not the biggest CM Punk fan in the world, but I do think he deserved to win the match. He is one guy WWE can be pretty confident won’t fail a drug test, and has a strong fan base. But can you envision Punk as either World Heavyweight or WWE champion?

Batista vs. Umaga was boring. Why wasn’t the ECW side represented in this match? ECW has a general manager. I think WWE has potential in Umaga, but they find ways to bury him at times. At last year’s Wrestlemania, he was Mr. McMahon’s representative in the battle of the billionaires. This year, he was just another mid carder. Batisaberg still sucks, unless he is wrestling The Undertaker.

Speaking of ECW, why does WWE have a third brand? The ECW title is usually a PPV curtain jerker, and when its not, ends in about ten seconds. Why should anyone care about the ECW brand, the ECW roster, and especially the ECW title? Kane won the ECW title, who cares? Why is Kane even on the ECW roster? With Punk winning Money in the Bank, you would think they’ll move him away from ECW.

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels was the match I was most looking forward to, and it didn’t disappoint. I was only disappointed that this wasn’t higher up on the card. I have watched Flair for as long as I can remember, and it’s honestly hard to imagine the wrestling business without him. I would have preferred a swerve with Flair pulling this one off, but what a fitting end to a brilliant career. Whooo!

The second half of Wrestlemania started off with a train wreck. You knew going in that with Ashley replacing Candice, this match was doomed. The only entertaining aspects of the match were Santino’s antics. Otherwise, this was a waste of time. WWE needs to take a few notes from TNA in how to keep a women’s champion strong. And how about defending the women’s title, the tag team titles, the world tag team titles, the U.S. title, and Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania? Otherwise, what is the point of having them at all?

The WWE title match was next. This is when it’s no fun. You knew with the placement of this match that A) the heel was going to win the match, and B) Undertaker’s match was going to be the main event. I guess in some ways the older Wrestlemania were more intriguing because you always knew what the main event of the show was going to be. I’m sorry, I just don’t buy Randy Orton as a creditable champion. While I’m not a big Triple H supporter, I would have preferred for him to walk out with the strap.

Next came the much anticipated Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather match. Yeah, right. I can’t believe WWE spent this much time promoting this match, and then simply announced the stipulation with scrolling text on a taped Friday Night Smackdown. Hopefully, this is the last we’ll see Mayweather in a wrestling ring. I will give Mayweather credit though, he isn’t afraid to take a bump.

I really liked the main event. The story it told was brilliant. Edge had The Undertaker well scouted. He knew The Undertaker’s tendencies, and had counters for of his trademark moves. Edge knew how to counter The Undertaker’s top rope walk, his choke slam, and his patented tombstone pile-driver. Brilliantly, The Undertaker reached far into his arsenal and pulled out a submission hold to run his Wrestlemania winning streak to 16-0. Excellent match to end quite the spectacle.

In the end, Wrestlemania proved that no one does big shows like WWE. With TNA in the area, and trying to divert attention their way, Impact (and many of their PPVs) are saddled in the 900-seat Impact Zone. Can you imagaine TNA trying run a show at the Citrus Bowl or at Reliant Stadium in Houston? I will say the pyrotechnics were over done, but WWE set a great atmosphere for a good Wrestlemania.

I don’t believe Wrestlemania XXIV will end up in our memory banks as a top five Wrestlemania, but probably a top ten show. My hats off to Ric Flair, as this was his weekend to shine. All in all, I am going to give Wrestlemania XXIV a thumbs up, largely based on the Flair-HBK and Undertaker-Edge matches. The best match, in my opinion, was Flair vs. Michaels.

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