Wrestlemania 24: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This is topic 24 of 29 threads looking back on previous Wrestlemania events. Every couple of days I have been submitting a new one and will continue until all of the past Wrestlemania events have been discussed, leading up to the big day in April where Wrestlemania 30 will take place soon.

This thread will be for discussing.... Wrestlemania 24!

Wrestlemania 24 took place on March 30, 2008. It was held at Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. There were 74,635 fans who attended the event. Here are the results of the matches from this show:



0. Kane last eliminated Mark Henry to win a 24-man battle royal for an ECW Championship match later in the night as part of the pre-show event. (06:50)

1. John "Bradshaw" Layfield defeated Finlay (with Hornswoggle) in a Belfast Brawl (08:35)

2. CM Punk defeated Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Carlito, Montel Vontavious Porter, Mr. Kennedy, and John Morrison in a Money in the Bank Ladder match (13:55)

3. Batista (representing SmackDown) defeated Umaga (representing Raw) in a singles match (07:06)

4. Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero (c) in a singles match to win the ECW Championship (00:11)

5. Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in a Career Threatening match that if Flair lost, he had to retire. (20:24)

6. Beth Phoenix and Melina (with Santino Marella) defeated Maria and Ashley in a Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill match (05:56)

7. Randy Orton (c) defeated John Cena and Triple H in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Championship (14:09)

8. Floyd Mayweather defeated Big Show by knockout in a No Disqualification match (11:36)

9. The Undertaker defeated Edge (c) (with Vickie Guerrero, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder) by submission in a singles match to win the World Heavyweight Championship (23:50)





Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the event:

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 24, what would it be and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in March 2008. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Wrestlemania 24 in this thread. The remaining Wrestlemania events will be getting their own retrospective threads shortly, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

Discuss!

 

[The Brain]

A lot of people rank this WrestleMania as one of the best. I think it was very good but I don't rank it that high. It definitley had a great atmosphere. The setting in the in the Citrus Bowl was just gorgeous. My favorite match was Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels. It was full of emotion and Flair was able to give us one more classic match. This felt like a throwback in a modern setting. Also major props to Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather. That was much better than I thought it could be. Great match. My least favorite match was Kane vs. Chavo Guerrero. It may not be fair to pick an eight second match as least favorite but there was no need for this. It would have been better to just leave the ECW title match of mania all together. There was literally no build for this and it was almost as if at the last minute the creative team said oh yeah, ECW exists. Maybe we should put the champ on mania.

I do have some pretty big changes in mind for this one but I'll start small. MVP vs. Matt Hardy should have happened here. They had a big rivalry throughout most of 2007 until MVP took Hardy out toward the end of the year. Hardy was ready to return from injury right before mania and I heard the creative team felt there wasn't enough time to put a story together for mania. How ridiculous. They already built the story for months. All they had to say was Hardy was ready to come back and have him challenge MVP. Simple as that. Since I'm pulling MVP out of MITB I would replace him with Miz. It was kind of weird that Morrison was in the match and Miz wasn't so he's an easy substitue. While I'm at it I'd throw Kofi Kingston in there too. He was still really new to WWE and only wrestled on ECW at this point so this would have been a good way to introduce him to more fans. Too bad Jeff Hardy got himself suspended because he was likely the originally planned winner here. Rey Mysterio would have been good here too if he didn't get injured again.

My next change is a bigger one. The WWE title match should have been Randy Orton vs. John Cena one on one. Triple H simply wasn't needed here. Cena vs. Orton was a big enough match for mania. Cena won the Rumble and Orton was the champ. Now before we play the Triple H ego card my guess is this wasn't one on one because Cean and Orton wrestled each other a few times before Cena got hurt in 2007. I normally like a fresh match for mania but considering Cena was injured while feuding with Orton they had some unfinished business and settling it at mania would have been fine.

So what to do with HHH? How about JBL? I think this was a missed feud from that era. I enjoyed their brief interactions in 2005 before WM21 but with both being hated heels and on different shows their paths never really crossed again. The timing was right in 2008. JBL didn't need to be involved in the Hornswoggle storyline. Kennedy could have taken that role. Either that or have JBL involved but have HHH involved in that story too. He could be the one sticking up for Hornswoggle just to stick it to McMahon. Whether it was JBL vs. Finlay, Kennedy vs. Finlay, or JBL vs. HHH, Vince should have been involved in that match. He should have been in JBL's or Finlay's corner causing trouble. Eventually Hornswoggle, who was off tv because of injuries suffered from an attack by JBL, unexpectedly comes from under the ring to neutralize Vince and humiliate him in the process. Or just scrap the Hornswoggle story all together since they didn't seem to care about it by the time mania came around anyway.

 

[JJV]

Wrestlemania 24 was a great PPV. Undertaker vs Edge and Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair were the best matches of the night. Kane vs Chavo Gurrero was the worst match of the night cause of the time given to the match. It's funny how they made this mistake in a world championship match at 24, and did the exact same thing 4 years later.

If I could change a few things about the PPV, I'd probably give the MITB victory to Chris Jericho. Whilst CM Punk winning was alright, it didn't really do much to his career, except for the fact that he can boast about winning two MITB matches. Chris Jericho winning would have made more sense, and he could have cashed in the contract at Unforgiven, instead of booking Randy Orton to take out Punk earlier in the PPV. That made no sense until 2011. They could have just made a new storyline in '11 and Orton and Punk didn't really need this story in their feud. Either Jericho should have won MITB, or Jericho could have defended the Intercontinental championship (or won instead of giving him the strap on Raw) at WM against someone. Jericho just made his return in '07 and it just didn't make sense how he lost to JBL at Royal Rumble, lost the elimination chamber and won the intercontinental championship on Raw just to lose the MITB match at Wrestlemania.

They should have given the Chavo vs Kane match some time, or they could have even put Punk in the match since he was feuding with Chavo at the time. Batista vs Umaga was alright, but they could have used Batista in a better match, probably in the WWE championship match to make it a fatal 4 way? Or no, the triple threat was good anyway, so Batista wasn't really needed there. He could have done something else tho. But otherwise it was a strong match card and all the main matches delivered one way or the other. Great PPV!

 

[LODemolition]

One thing I'll say for WMXXIV is it had one of the best, most memorable sets of all-time. The way they made the Citrus Bowl look was amazing. This was a decent WrestleMania, but could've been much better imo. I'd have scrapped the entire Mayweather/Big Show match and the Lumberjill match. I don't know why they always felt the need to put Big Show in novelty matches or matches against celebs, but they always flopped, at least for me. My favorite match is the one that always comes to mind when I think of WM24, which is Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels. Even though the outcome was very predictable, it was the match I cared most about with it being Flair's last (in WWE anyway). My least favorite was of course the afformentioned Mayweather vs. Big Show bout. As usual, here's how I'd re-book the show.

1. Belfast Brawl: Finlay vs. JBL

I liked this match and thought it made a good opener. I'd leave this how it is.

2. ECW Championship: Mark Henry (c) vs. Great Khali

Chavo as the ECW champion always seemed a bit too unrealistic for me, even in the pro wrestling world. I'd have given this spot to a much more deserving guy in Mark Henry, having him retain.

3. Tag Team Championship: The Miz & John Morrison (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz

They completely left the tag team title out of the picture at WM24. I would've kept Morrison out of the MITB match even though he brings a lot to that type of match and brought Matt Hardy back sooner to set up this match.

4. Money in the Bank Ladder Match: CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Cody Rhodes vs. MVP vs. Kofi Kingston

Different participants, same result with Punk pulling down the briefcase.

5. Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Rey Mysterio

I always wanted to see these 2 face off at a WM. They decided not to have the IC Title defended at WM24 either, which was becoming a habit at the time. I kill 2 birds with 1 stone here.

6. Kane vs. Umaga

I didn't care for Batista being the opponent for Umaga, I thought he deserved a bit higher profile match. Kane would've been a more suitable opponent I think.

7. Batista vs. Big Show

This is the match I would've chosen for Batista. Going up against someone who towers over him, which is pretty rare. Batista obviously overcomes the odds and goes over.

8. WWE Championship Triple Threat: Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H vs. John Cena

This match didn't necessarily do anything for me, but I can't exactly come up with a better one either. So I'll leave this be.

9. Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels

The only thing I'd change here is I'd put it on next to last in the card. The ending couldn't have been written any better. I think it deserved to be on a bit of a higher stage.

10. World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) vs. The Undertaker

Can't complain about how this played out at all. I always thought Edge was one of Taker's better feuds. Taker winning sends everyone home happy after Orton retains earlier in the night.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This is another Wrestlemania event that I look back fondly on. It was a small step down from 23 for me, but I liked the show. The fact that it was held outdoors fit in with the location of the event and the theme song of "Snow (Hey Oh)" was perfect. Most of the matches were good and ended up delivering when it came time for the show, I went it into it with lower expectations and it ended up exceeding them. My favorite match was Undertaker VS Edge, it was awesome and the right choice to end the show with. The triple threat match was very well done too. I was angry at the time as I wanted Cena to win, Orton retaining made me upset. Looking back on it today though, that is now one of the best moments of Randy Orton's career. WWE made the right call. JBL VS Finlay was a solid opening match too. Lots of positives for this event that outweigh the negatives, which I will now address.

My least favorite match was the divas match. Beth Phoenix was the Womens Champion at the time, so why not just simply have her retain her belt against Maria? The addition of Melina and Ashley was not necessary. Speaking of champions, how about that "match" between Kane and Chavo? That should have been MUCH longer! It could have lived up to its potential if they allowed it to. Changing the divas match to be a singles match for the Womens Championship where Beth retains against Maria, and extending Kane VS Chavo by at least a few minutes, are the main changes that I would make. This also had my least favorite John Cena Wrestlemania entrance, but I'm fine with it staying the way it was.

 

[The Brain]

I'd have scrapped the entire Mayweather/Big Show match. I don't know why they always felt the need to put Big Show in novelty matches or matches against celebs, but they always flopped, at least for me. My least favorite was of course the afformentioned Mayweather vs. Big Show bout. As usual, here's how I'd re-book the show.

I see what you're saying but I disagree with you on this one. I thought the match was great. The build was fantastic and they told a great story with the match. It's funny how quickly the roles were reversed and Mayweather came off as the heel going into mania. I think most wrestling fans wanted Show to put him in his place. It would have been nice for Big Show to get the win but that wasn't going to happen over the celeb. Even though he lost Show was able to teach Mayweather a little lesson by dominating much of the match. It was enjoyable watching him squeal and try to walk away like a coward. Show destroyed Mayweather's entire posse and was only defeated after one of the best fighters in the world had to resort to brass knuckles. Not to mention Mayweather is a draw and created a good buzz going into mania.

3. Tag Team Championship: The Miz & John Morrison (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz

Unfortunately Jeff Hardy got himself suspended again. As I mentioned above I think he was set up for the MITB win before he got himself in trouble.

5. Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Rey Mysterio

I always wanted to see these 2 face off at a WM. They decided not to have the IC Title defended at WM24 either, which was becoming a habit at the time. I kill 2 birds with 1 stone here.

Mysterio was injured at the time so he was not available. My guess is he would have been in MITB. He was never in a MITB match at mania and he would have been a perfect choice to give the match a bit more star power.

 

[Aquaman6686]

My 2nd favorite all-time WrestleMania after 19, I have very few issues with this show. From start to finish I thought it was a great show. I actually had tickets to it and lived in Florida at the time, but wasn't able to go for personal reasons. One of my biggest all-time regrets.

Anyway, I have only a few minor things I'd change.

1 - The Triple Threat WWE Championship match should have gone on immediately before the World Heavyweight Championship. Big Show/Mayweather should have been earlier in the show. I'm not a fan of celebrity matches, but this one didn't bother me all that much, because at least the guy was an athlete. But Big Show should have won.

2 - The show needed more championship matches. I would have replaced the Playboy Bunnymania match with a Fatal Four Way Women's Championship bout, using the four women who were in the Bunnymania crap. And second, I would have had Jericho defending the Intercontinental Championship on the show instead of being in Money in the Bank. Nobody gave a crap about the Hornswoggle storyline, so scrap the Belfast Brawl, stick Finlay in Money in the Bank, and have Jericho defend the Intercontinental Championship against JBL.

 

[An Angry Blonde]

WM24 is definitely one of my favorite manias ever, I think I might even have the tapes I recorded it on.

Now, this is probably due to the fact that I had started watching wrestling sometime around No Way Out of that year so I was all caught up in the mania hype and (admittedly) I had felt it was real/non-scripted during the time

Anyway.....

My favorite match was by far Undertaker vs Edge. I'm not really why , since when I started watching I had no idea who anybody was, what was going on or why, but I was admittedly interested in the Undertaker vs Edge feud the second I saw taker come out. I wasn't aware at the time that it was scripted, so the possibility of the streak ending had me at the edge of my seat the entire match. The atmosphere was good, the match was great, the victory was gold and was everything a young undertaker fan could possibly ask for.

Would have to say the Micheal's/Flair Match was my 2nd and Cena/Orton/HHH match was third. I enjoyed both matches, but at the time I had a hard time getting interested in the feuds at first since I couldn't comprehend why I should care about it.

My least favorite match was the Chavo vs Kane match simply because it was so short. If I remember right, I went to go get some popcorn before the match started, and when I came back Kane already won .

If I was gonna change anything, it'd probably be ditching lumberjill match and changing the Batista/Umaga matches.

The lumberjill match was kinda dull in my opinion and probably shoulda been ditched, and I have no memory whats so ever of the Batista/Umaga match. I don't remember if Mark Henry was on ECW at the time, but I think it would been at-least memorable had it been Batista/Umaga/Henry in a triple threat match for either the US or IC championships.

Overall, I can't really complain as I enjoyed it overall and in the end that's all that really matters to me.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

I'm going to join in with the parade of positivity for this WrestleMania, it's definitely one of my favorites as well. MITB had some awesome spots, Ric Flair's retirement match with Michaels was a classic, the Titles matches were both pretty good and Floyd Maywhether's involvement was a perfect example of how to use celebrities in wrestling. Flair/Michaels was obviously the match of the night but I think Big Show vs. Maywhether deserves a lot of praise as well. The crowd was so hot for that match, and it was executed perfectly.

As far as the Title matches, doing Orton/Cena/Triple H made sense, and I liked that Orton retained the Title here. Everyone seemed to expect either Cena or Triple H to win, so Orton retaining was a nice swerve and help to build his credibility as a top heel. Plus, the match was in the middle of the show so it's not like you didn't send the crowd home happy with a face winning the Title. A face winning the Title is exactly what happened in the main event when Taker beat Edge, which was one of Taker's better WrestleMania matches. I liked Taker vs. Edge but it does seem a bit overrated to me. I hear a lot of people talk about how amazing it was, but I think Taker/Batista and Taker/Orton were better. This probably just speaks more to how great Undertaker's matches have been at WrestleMania in the modern era.

The only thing I'd maybe change is the match order. It was really weird to see Ric Flair's emotional retirement, and then 5 minutes later Snoop Dogg and the divas. You probably could've put Flair/Michaels on last, but that would make for somewhat of a bittersweet ending to WrestleMania.

But yeah, great show. Cena's entrance with the marching band is also my favorite of all his Mania entrances.

 

[MCMG]

I thought this was a fantastic Mania. Only one match that I'd say was poor (Umaga v Batista) but everything else I enjoyed. Finlay v JBL had a decent story and was an good, hard-hitting opener. MITB was, of course, entertaining and this is where Punk got his first break. Kane v Chavo was perhaps a unfair on Guerrero but time was limited and it worked.

The Mayweather match went perhaps too long but he is a massive celebrity so I'm ok with it. It wasn't THAT bad either. The triple threat could have perhaps been better. It was ok but these three should really have put on a more entertaining match. Taker vs Edge was superb and was part of an awesome feud. Definitely one of the best streak matches there has been.

I'm not sure what could have been done to fix Batista vs Umaga. Bearing in mind Jericho was in Money in the Bank there is probably something there. Perhaps, Batista vs Jericho and Umaga in MITB. Batista and Jericho kind off feud for a bit after so maybe that works but both were face and Jericho was IC champ. I didn't like Batista/Umaga at all and that is pretty much all I'd change about this Mania.

HBK vs Ric Flair was definitely my favourite match. It was just an incredible story and moment. This match was one of the most emotional in a long time and it worked. "I'm sorry... I love you" - just incredible.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I liked this Wrestlemania. I've mentioned my top 5 Mania's in previous threads, this is my 6th favourite. There's not a lot of bad on this card and whatever was bad, was kept short, thankfully (Batista vs. Umaga, Divas Tag, Kane vs. Chavo). The Belfast Brawl & MiTB were good and I loved the big 4 main events.

I don't think Mayweather vs. Show is popular with many wrestling fans, but I found the match to be a lot of fun. Orton vs. Cena vs. Triple H was better than I expected and I was shocked to see Orton retain, I had myself convinced he would lose. But I'm glad he stole the win and retained, it was perfect for him as well as giving him the big win on the big stage that he needed. Shawn vs. Flair was great, so much emotion riding in the match and the "I'm sorry, I love you" Sweet Chin Music was a classic moment. It's a shame Flair went and ruined it all by coming out of retirement in TNA, it was such a perfect way for him to go out. And Edge vs. Undertaker was solid and they'd follow it up with more solid gimmick matches in the summer.

As for any changes...

MVP (c) vs. Matt Hardy for the WWE United States Title

Matt returned during the Money in the Bank match to prevent MVP from winning, so I don't see why they couldn't have had him compete for the US Title against MVP. Replace MVP with Miz in MiTB.

Beth Phoenix & Melina vs. Maria & Mickie James

I'm not a fan of this match, but replacing the utterly useless Ashley Massaro with Mickie James might've improved this match a bit. Just let Mickie, Beth & Melina do most of the work here. Mickie would feud with Beth & Melina for the Womens belt following the event anyway.

 

[Pedigree1]

This was a fantastic WM very well done.. I would have done as well the Matt Hardy vs MVP,but at that time I dont think Matt Hardy was clear to wrestle as he was recovering from a I believe a Knee Injury.. The bellfast Brawl,I could have done without it..

Was Triple H needed in the Triple Threat Match,perhaps no he wasn't but his ego imo at that time didnt want to relinquish the spotlight.. A match between him and JBL,would have been great.. It is really too bad that this program never took off. I think it would have been an epic feud between these two.. Like the Brain said,pulling MVP out of the MITB,and replace him with the Miz would have been great..

Absolutely no point in the squash that was Chavo V Kane. That match if given the proper time would have been great.. THE HBK vs Flair match,all-time great.. All time masterpiece the build,the momentum,just the roller coaster we were all involved in..

But my personal favorite match was Edge vs Taker.. What a great Main Event match that was.. Edge and Undertaker had such great chemistry together,the flow of the match the story telling was amazing.. I simply enjoyed it a lot!!

 

[#HELLNO]

This is one of the few WrestleMania's that you can look at & go, WOW! It is definitely in my top 5 all time WrestleMania's & I have been watching sine WrestleMania 13. Now to say which match was my favourite, well that would most certainly have to be the main event of the evening. It was done so well, Edge & Taker had so much chemistry & in all honesty it actually got people asking if Edge could beat the streak as he was on such a high in 2008. That match stole the show & if you were having doubts about the other matches, then this match could have turned anyone's head around.

Now as for the worst match on the card, well I am not going to say it was the 11 second match, because I don't really count it as being 'a match' to be honest. So out of them all the one match that stands out to be the worst would have to be Batista vs. Umaga! This match was a thrown together thing that not one person really cared for, it was about the brand split (which no-one cared for at that point), that right there shows you that this was going to be a mess-up. Batista could go back then & so could Umaga but the way that this match was booked, was lazy, lousy & flat out boring. So that is why it is IMO the worst match of the night.

What I would have changed would have been the placing of the matches, I would have had it like this;
1. Money in the Bank Ladder Match

2. JBL vs. Finlay (Belfast Brawl)

3. Melina vs. Beth Phoenix (WWE Women's Championship)

4. Kane vs. Chavo Guerrero (ECW Championship)

5. Batista vs. Umaga (Brand Match)

6. Randy Orton vs. Triple H vs. John Cena (WWE Championship)

7. Floyd Mayweather vs. The Big Show

8. Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair (Career Threatening Match)

9. Edge vs. The Undertaker (World Heavyweight Championship)

As you may have noticed I changed the Bunnymania match as it was plain stupid & boring, it was that much of a mess that even the lights went out in the arena! I know I didn't make much of a change to the card, but having the matches in this order I believe would have gotten you more interested in the main events, rather than the way the show panned out!

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Overall strong Mania and IMO, the best Stadium Mania since WWE started doing only stadium Mania's back at 23. Four great main event matches and unlike the sumo match a few years earlier, Show's match with Floyd was everything that the sumo match wasn't. It had a good build and story to it and the match was entertaining and made sense.

I wouldn't change a thing about the card and my favorite match would have to be Edge/Taker. They put on a hell of a match and it was the moment that completely sold me on Edge being a main eventer.

 

[Mac]

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

This was the last great WrestleMania and this was also the culmination of the ruthless aggression era. As the PG Era was about to begin. IMO this is a top 3 WM of all time behind 19 and 17. I loved every match outside of the women's tag and the ECW title match. The only things I'd change is that I'd have MVP win the MITB ladder match. He was one of the hottest guys on SD at the time and he was a star in the making. I'd have him win the briefcase and cash in around Survivor Series time. I'd also make Kane/Chavo longer.

That is basically it for me.

My favorite match was Edge/Undertaker this had a great build stemming from Edge cashing in the MITB on Undertaker, this then slowly built up for months. What was remarkable was how dead the crowd was from just watching a hot WrestleMania and by the time this match came on the crowd was drained. Kudos to both men for getting the crowd back into it.

My least favorite match was Kane/Chavo and that's simply because of how short it was.

 

[FlairFan2003]

One thing I'll say for WMXXIV is it had one of the best, most memorable sets of all-time. The way they made the Citrus Bowl look was amazing. . My favorite match is the one that always comes to mind when I think of WM24, which is Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels. Even though the outcome was very predictable, it was the match I cared most about with it being Flair's last

9. Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels

The only thing I'd change here is I'd put it on next to last in the card. The ending couldn't have been written any better. I think it deserved to be on a bit of a higher stage.

10. World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) vs. The Undertaker

Can't complain about how this played out at all. I always thought Edge was one of Taker's better feuds. Taker winning sends everyone home happy after Orton retains earlier in the night.

You cant have the Flair-Michaels match anywhere near another important match. The ending was so emotionally exhausting that the crowd was spent afterwards, they never would have gotten into the next match. You either have to book it being followed by a blow off match the fans have only casual interest in (which WWE did) or you have to have it Main Event. If you put this match say next to last then the crowd would have been dead for Taker-Edge which as good as it was, could never match the intensity or emotion of Flair's last match. WWE made his mistake at WM 18 when they booked Rock-Hogan in the WWE-NWO, Icon vs Icon Match as the next to last match followed by HHH-Jericho, which was a big match with HHH's recent inury return, Steph having turned on him, Jericho having already beaten Austin & Rock to be Unified Champ, and it was an excellent match, but it always suffered from the lack luster response from a crowd that was nuts over the previous match.

Booking these PPVs is the same as booking the song selection in a concert, you have to start out with a song or two early that hooks and excites the crowd, sprinkle in lesser known or new material in between older, more popular hits to keep enough interest in the other material without letting the crowd get bored, allowing them to pop for the random big hits intermixed in, then you close with a string of hits and crowd pleasing numbers capped off by your most popular song. If a performer opened their show with songs no one had heard off, followed by songs people are only vaguely familiar with, then recited their hits in chronological order from smallest to biggest then for most of the show the crowd would be bored and dead. You could only hope they would get the energy level up for the close.

Fact is, many times the most important match doesn't headline and when it does WWE tries not to book it right after a barn burner match that will exhaust the crowd. You notice WWE didn't want the last two Taker-HHH matches to come right before John Cena's main event, those bouts were so intense and draining for the crowd it would have been hard to get the crowd back up right away, even for Cena-Rock.

Personally I think either Flair-HBK or Cena Match should have main evented but since the Cena match ended with a rulebreaker going over (Orton retains the title). Flair-HBK would have been a stellar ending, but Taker-Edge did have the required Fan Fav Triumphs -Mania ending Vince loves and it was an interesting match that played heavily on both characters, the fact that Edge was "supposedly" smarter than Taker and showcased an impressive amount of counter-offensive wrestling, seemingly having an escape or reversal for virtually all of Taker's offense until the end with Taker using a finisher he hadn't utilized in a very long time , adding in the fact that Edge had never lost to Taker, finding a way to outsmart (and cheat) him in every previous encounter.

 

[Aquaman6686]

Booking these PPVs is the same as booking the song selection in a concert, you have to start out with a song or two early that hooks and excites the crowd, sprinkle in lesser known or new material in between older, more popular hits to keep enough interest in the other material without letting the crowd get bored, allowing them to pop for the random big hits intermixed in, then you close with a string of hits and crowd pleasing numbers capped off by your most popular song. If a performer opened their show with songs no one had heard off, followed by songs people are only vaguely familiar with, then recited their hits in chronological order from smallest to biggest then for most of the show the crowd would be bored and dead. You could only hope they would get the energy level up for the close.

I disagree. On a Pay-Per-View supercard with more than one main event, the main events should all be at the end of the show. If they're done properly, the crowd doesn't get bored of seeing the most important matches. That's why I will always say WrestleMania 19 was the closest WWE ever came to booking a perfect WrestleMania card. All four main events were at the end of the show, with no filler or bullcrap in-between them. The only thing they did wrong in my opinion was have the main events themselves in the wrong order. It went Triple H vs. Booker T, Hogan vs. McMahon, Austin vs. Rock, and Angle vs. Lesnar, and I think it should have been Hogan vs. McMahon, Austin vs. Rock, Triple H vs. Booker T, and Angle vs. Lesnar.

As for WrestleMania 24, I think the final four matches should have been Big Show vs. Mayweather, Flair vs. HBK, Orton vs. Triple H vs. Cena, and Edge vs. Undertaker. If they had reordered the matches that way, I think it could have been THE greatest WrestleMania of all time.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Flair VS Michaels should've closed the show.

I know some people say it's too corny and overly sentimental, but I had a seat in the crowd, and everyone bought into it. The emotion, Flair fighting to keep his career alive, Shawn's final farewell to Flair before the last Superkick, the big standing ovation from the crowd. The eerie silence (you could hear a pen drop) in the Citrus Bowl before that last Superkick was unreal, because everyone knew Flair was going down for good without a kick-out.

It should've been Orton VS Cena in a one on one match, and I still have no idea why WWE wasted Cena's Rumble win with a forgettable DQ match at No Way Out. In kayfabe (if I'm not mistaken, Kennedy is the one, who caused Cena's injury), Orton put Cena on the shelf, and the Wrestlemania match should've been his moment for redemption.

Triple H felt like a third wheel in the match, but finding another spot for Triple H on the card creates a real conundrum. My first idea is to replace Batista with Triple H in the match with Umaga, but from what I remember, Triple H and Umaga feuded for a while in 2007.

This is a real stretch, because you're hurting the David Vs Goliath dynamic, but I would go with Triple H and Floyd Mayweather VS Big Show in a handicap match. Think about the combo finisher with a knockout punch into a Pedigree, with Floyd scoring the pin. But I had no problems with Floyd VS Big Show. It's a fun celebrity match, and it's a refreshing treat, when you compare it to other celebrity Wrestlemania matches (Snooki at 27).

Undertaker VS Edge is my pick for match of the year in 2008. A well executed and smooth match, and you knew it was coming, but Taker forcing Edge to tap out to win the WHC in the main event is still a memorable (didn't have a big problem with the attempted run-in from Ryder and Hawkins) moment.

With Jeff hardy out of the picture, Punk winning winning MITB was the right move. The Divas Playboy match reminds me of two things: 1. Melina was horribly overrated, and 2. Ashley Massaro was useless. And something about Snoop Dogg kissing Maria after the match. JBL VS Finaly was good for a few laughs. The ECW battle royal was forgettable, and now that I think about it, that's a bad sign for the Andre The Gian Battle Royal coming up.

Kane VS Chavo? Meh. I can't say I really care either way, because let's be honest, do you really expect a potential show stealer or a good match from Chavo and Kane?

Wrestlemania 24 is an all-time favorite of mine, but Mania 24 is my first live Wrestlemania, so I'm biased. I was sitting near the entrance ramp on the floor (a big mistake in hindsight, because I had stand up to see the action in the ring after every finisher and close three count. Fucking annoying), and I'll never forget the image of Undertaker walking down the ramp with the fire in the background, and the image of Taker walking to the back with the WHC draped over his shoulder. And I vividly remember standing in the middle of that ovation for Flair after his match. Incredible moment.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I did actually like this WM very much even more so than WM22 and WM23. However like WM22 and WM23 there wasn't a particularly a great match that is called a WM classic. Sure people would say Flair/HBK was a MOTN but does anyone really call this their best match? Sure it was a moment and still a very good match but hardly what I would call a 5 Star Classic (4 Stars is fair I think )

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels was the MOTN, like I said it wasn't a classic but it was a WM moment. And still a very good match up with Shawn Michaels being hesitant putting Flair down and Flair doing a few dirty tricks to get the win.

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 24, what would it be and why?

MVP vs. Matt Hardy for the United States Title. This feud had a very long build up and it would have been great if this storyline ended culminating at WM. It's a shame really since fans did really respond well to their "love"/hate relationship.

Insert Chavao Guerrero and Kane at the MITB Ladder Match and remove MVP. Yeesh, I had no problems with Chavao and Kane having a match for the ECW Title but if they were only going to be given a few seconds, why even bother? I think even Tazz was pissed at how that match turned out. At least Kane and Chavao would have been given more to do at WM.

The Diva's Match up it was pretty terrible but since there's a partnership with Playboy and WWE it had to be done. At least make it interesting for one remove the Lumber Jill's I am sorry I know they are for eye candy but if all they were going to do is prance around might as well limit the diva participation to the ones actually involved in the match. Secondly, Ashley with Mickey James, at least someone can carry the load in the face team.

As for the other top billed matches

I did think it was fine that Edge vs. Undertaker closed the show. It makes up for Taker not closing WM23, it gives Edge that distinction of one of the few superstars to close a WM, and it give the WHC and Smackdown! some legitimacy as a brand. Plus the sight of Undertaker celebrating with the title to close WM with fireworks was a sight to behold.

I was also fine with Orton retaining the WWE title from Cena and Triple H. Reason being is if you look at Orton's title reign since winning the title at No Mercy he had 5 PPV title defenses before WM24. 3 of those matches ended with a DQ one had a stipulation where his opponent could not use his finisher. As long as Orton's title reign is he still didn't get that big win as Champion on PPV, winning it here does that and it allows him to drop the WWE title as a "legit" Champion when he finally dropped the title.

Mayweather vs. Big Show was an ok match up. Entertaining and better than what most expected. I thought it was enjoyable and did it's job garnering media attention and it was fun seeing the celebrity play the heel.

 

[Cub McCallister]

This is another wrestlemania that could of gone down in history as one of the best but certain matches just made it lacklustre to say the least, the changes I would make would be:

1) Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes (C) Vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch Vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick Vs William Regal & Charlie Haas
World Tag Team Titles 4 Corner Elimination Match
This would be a nice opener for the show with holly and rhodes retaining the titles.

2) Cm Punk Vs Shelton Benjamin Vs Mr Kennedy Vs Carlito Vs Kenny Dykstra Vs John Morrison Vs Jeff Hardy Vs The Miz.
Money in The Bank Ladder Match. I would make Jeff Hardy win this one and possibly cash in at a later date.

3) Chris Jericho (C) Vs JBL
Intercontinental Title Match Street Fight. This should of been on the card they had a really good match at the rumble and this could of been a real good one with jericho going over.

4) Batista Vs Umaga
Battle for Brand Supremacy Match. This should stay the same because I can't see what else they can do.

5) MvP (C) Vs Matt Hardy
United States Title Grudge Match. I'd have Matt go over here and finally get one over on mvp.

6) Beth Pheonix (C) Vs Mickie James Vs Melina Vs Victoria
Women's Title Match. Seems the next best thing.

7) Chavo Guererro (C) Vs Kane
Ecw Title Extreme Rules Match. This stays the same but make it abit longer.

8) Big Show Vs Floyd Mayweather
This stays the same

9) Randy Ortan (C) Vs John Cena Vs Triple hhh
Wwe Title Triple Threat Match. This stays the same

10) Ric Flair Vs Shawn Michaels
Career threatening Match. This match stays the same

11) Edge (C) Vs The Undertaker
World Heavyweight Title Match. This stays the same.

 

[RedRegan1005]

There is nothing major i would've changed on WrestleMania 24. I loved this mania and it was packed with great matches and moments. I'll just run down the card and give my quick thoughts.

1. John "Bradshaw" Layfield defeated Finlay (with Hornswoggle) in a Belfast Brawl: I enjoyed this match and thought it was a good opener. It was a nice brawl to get the crowd going and i thought Finlay and JBL meshed well sense they could both be alittle stiff and brawl well.

2. CM Punk defeated Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Carlito, Montel Vontavious Porter, Mr. Kennedy, and John Morrison in a Money in the Bank Ladder match: Another good Money in the Banks ladder match where the men worked hard and it showed. I like the winner, i remember I wasn't a fan the year earlier when Mr. Kennedy won but I felt the WWE made the right decision this year.

3. Batista (representing SmackDown) defeated Umaga (representing Raw) in a singles match: This was probably my least favorite match of the night. Not saying it was awful. It was just boring and unforgettable to me. Also, by this point the Brand split had really started to lose its steam so the whole Raw vs. Smackdown thing didn't seem to be that important.

4. Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero (c) in a singles match to win the ECW Championship: I never liked Chavo as ECW champ and I actually was looking forward to a Chavo vs Kane match so I got the best outcome for me. Kane won and it was very quick.

5. Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in a Career Threatening match that if Flair lost, he had to retire: Its so crazy to think a match this good didn't close the show. I don't think i need to say if i enjoyed it or not. Amazing story telling and emotion from both men. A classic.

6. Beth Phoenix and Melina (with Santino Marella) defeated Maria and Ashley in a Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill match: There has to be a Diva's match every year it seems. I wasn't expecting anything better than what we got here.

7. Randy Orton (c) defeated John Cena and Triple H in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Championship: I enjoyed this match. How I think it won me over was the finish. I really didn't see Orton retaining and i thought it was a good move.

8. Floyd Mayweather defeated Big Show by knockout in a No Disqualification match: Out of all the Celebrity involvement we've gotten at WrestleMania over the years this one is hand down my favorite. I really liked the whole build for this match. Also, Mayweather seemed like he was real into the whole thing, unlike some past celebs who just went through the motions to get payed.

9. The Undertaker defeated Edge (c) (with Vickie Guerrero, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder) by submission in a singles match to win the World Heavyweight Championship: Two years in a row Undertaker puts on an amazing World Title match. And this time around he was paired with Edge, who plays an amazing heel. This match was great and hands down the better of the two World Title Matches.

I guess it just hasn't been long enough since WrestleMania 24 for me too realize how great it was without going back looking at everything. Now when i think about it 24 is definitely up there on my list of top WrestleManias

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Overall, this was a great Wrestlemania.

The biggest problem with the event, in my opinion, is Jeff Hardy's absence. He was RED HOT and then got himself suspended right before the event. This really stood in the way of him getting a fantastic push, and it also placed Jericho in an awkward spot on the card. He was chosen to be the recipient of Hardy's IC belt upon his suspension, and whether it was related or not, he was placed in the MITB match (which seemed to be a little more undercard than I would have wanted out of Y2J in the short amount of time that he'd been back. It's interesting to think about where CM Punk's career has gone and how different it would look if Hardy would have been around to win the MITB instead of Punk.

The Belfast Brawl was an OK opening match, but the build to this match was incredibly forgettable. I would have rather saved JBL for a different match and left Finlay off the card or placed him in MITB.

The Batista v. Umaga match seemed forced, also. I would have rather added Batista to the WWE Title match, making it a Fatal Four Way or put him in a feud with Jericho. I realize that they were still quite strict about observing the Brand Split at this point in WWE History, but it feels like they missed out on something with Batista here.

HBK v. Flair was a great match. No changes needed here.

Cena v. Orton v. HHH for WWE Title was really a hodgepodge and the product of a strange many months leading back to Cena's injury. Having Cena win the Rumble with the surprise return was definitely the right booking decision for that event, but it made the lead-up to Wrestlemania awkward. For me, there was a sense that I was tired of Cena/Orton, as they spent a lot of the summer feuding. But with the Elimination Chamber matches debuting for No Way Out and the #1 Contender stipulations added, this added another component to complicate the title match. This is just a complete headache to rebook, so I stand by my stance on adding Batista to the match in order to at least have it jam-packed with huge names.

Big Show v. Floyd Mayweather. I don't know about this. I did not like it, but I'm not sure what else to do with it.

Edge and Taker was a great, great match that told a far better story than the WWE Title match beforehand. No changes needed for this one.

 

[MMA Mark]

I stopped watching from about WM 22-27, so it is hard for me to know what might have worked better. The only thing I can think of might be to keep Cena undefeated at Mania and have his own streak until a bigger feud like The Rock or even Undertaker at Mania 27 instead of the Miz match.

 

[Elchicano15]

I enjoyed this Mania as well. It was a step up from 23. The Flair/HBK match and Taker/Edge match were the best matches. I do like the Flair/HBK one more and I think the change i would make, is I would have the Flair/HBK match close the show. IT seemed more fitting to do that instead. We probably would have seen Flair for that H.O.F segment to. I know he was getting ready for his match but if his match was last he'd probably have more time to be part of the segment.

I also like the idea of having Triple H out of the triple threat and have him go against J.B.L. A feud looked like it was hinted between the 2 a few years before. I would also shorten the MITB, or Batista/Umaga match just so the ECW championship match could have more time.

 

[Rocky84]

I did my usual road to Wrestlemania check in for this year. I was shocked again that WWE didn't capitalize on Batista vs Cena. Mania 22 was acceptable because Batista was hurt (I thought it would've been good as they were the top two coming off Mania 21) and 23 I accepted it because they split them up to take on the two top legends on the active roster in HBK and Taker.

I just didn't get it, and the fact that they put them with Umaga and in a triple threat (which I HATE for Mania title matches) made me not feel guilty I wasn't watching full time anymore.

I underestimated the Taker vs Edge fued...their match was pretty good. HBK and Flair was the best match of the night though. The worst was the triple threat imo because I resented it. Wasn't fond of the build up either.

I would've swapped around a few things for sure.



Batista vs John Cena (c)- WWE Title

Money Mayweather vs Big Show

Triple H vs Edge (c)- World Title

Beth Phoenix & Melina vs Ashley & Maria

JBL vs Undertaker

HBK vs Ric Flair

Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho

Kane (c) vs Umaga -Ecw Title

MITB: Punk vs Kennedy vs MVP vs Finlay vs Benjamin vs Morrison vs Carlito



Would've possibly had JBL cost Taker the title somehow to spark that fued.