Wrestlemania XXIV Review and Thoughts

Hello there.

We are about one day removed from Wrestlemania XXIV in Orlando. From the looks of the reviews of the fans the event was pretty hit or miss. I watched the event live on Pay Per View so I have some of my own opinions but they're not too dissimilar from everyone else's. It wasn't a horrible Wrestlemania but it definitely was ONE OF THOSE Wrestlemanias. Hate to say it but I told ya so!

Anyway, like all Wrestlemanias, the "biggest Wrestlemania under the sun" had some ups and downs but this Wrestlemania contained a Wrestlemania moment that I will never forget for as long as I live - "Nature Boy" Ric Flair has wrestled his final match. One of our last links to truly classic wrestling has taken his final bow in one of the most beautiful and emotional matches I've ever seen but I'll talk about that in a bit when I get to that part of the review.

Now, as for my review, I'll go through all the matches and give you my analysis and opinions and I'll give you my match rating. I rate out of four stars.

Here we go...

24 Man Battle Royal - It was a total shot in the dark when I picked Tommy Dreamer to win the Battle Royale and face Chavo Guerrero at Wrestlemania. I figured Kane would get the win but I thought it'd be another one of those "boyhood dream" moments at Wrestlemania and a Wrestlemania moment for Tommy Dreamer, who has really just made a career of losing. Still, it wasn't a bad Battle Royal. I watched the video of it when I got home from Hooters. They had some nice little spots. Definitely loved the Jamie Noble comedy spot.

JBL vs. Finlay - Not a bad way to open up Wrestlemania. It wasn't a great match by any stretch of the imagination but it was a good plan to open up with a smash mouth, in your face brawl and to get this feud out of the way which has gone over probably worse than the Floyd Mayweather vs. Big Show angle. Unfortunately with the JBL win, which I called, it looks like we'll be getting a continuation of this feud. What's next? Finlay and Hornswoggle vs. JBL and Mini-JBL? Didn't they do that with The Boogeyman? I gave the match ** stars. Couldn't touch the greatest opener in the history of Wrestlemania which was Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart from Wrestlemania X.

Money In The Bank Ladder Match - Complete and total spotfest and my hat is off to all the men in this hellacious battle. There were some really crazy bumps and some really hard hits in this one and moments that left me nearly covering my eyes in fear of seeing someone get seriously hurt. I watched anyway but still - at least I had concern! There were a lot of awesome moments in the match. My first favorite goes to a definite Wrestlemania Highlight which I'm sure will be replayed as one of the sickest bumps in Wrestlemania history is Shelton Benjamin on top of the ladder in the middle of the ring getting flipped off that ladder on top of a ladder propped up between the ring apron and the barricade, breaking the ladder - and apparently himself - in two! What a tremendous spot that was!! Another great spot was Mr. Kennedy going to suplex Carlito off the ladder and Shelton, before his big spot, sunset flips them and it turned into a superplex/powerbomb combination! Very nicely done. John Morrison certainly impressed me with this one spot he did. He got to the top rope holding a ladder and moonsaulted off the top rope to the outside with the ladder across his chest on top of a bunch of wrestlers! Wow!! Carlito seemed to do pretty well in this match. I thought they booked him well. Hitting his Backstabber finisher off the ladder was a nice touch. My favorite moment came when Matt Hardy made a HUGE return, Twist of Fating MVP off the ladder, foiling his attempt to become Money in the Bank! It was even better that I called it. Then, the bad part came. CM Punk became Money in the Bank, stopping Chris Jericho from taking it. Jericho put him over like a mad man, too, making him seem unstoppable, but I've got to say I'm disappointed with the ending. Y2J really should have won it but I knew this was coming. The misuse of Chris Jericho continues. The fans at Hooters certainly were disappointed. Sounded like John Cena won Money in the Bank. From what I hear the live crowd was pissed, too. Now the challenge is for WWE to build Punk up to a Main Event caliber performer. I give the match *** 1/2 stars.

Batista vs. Umaga - Wow, was I disappointed in this one! This was one of the matches I was extremely excited for! I thought we were going to get a knockdown, drag out brawl. Instead we got a dull Pay Per View match that belonged on Judgment Day, not Wrestlemania. Batista could hardly get Umaga up for the Batista Bomb when he did it. Smackdown is the "supreme" brand. Yeah, right. Now they're going to move Umaga to Smackdown but it's dumb because he was easily defeated by Batista. What kind of a threat is he? They might as well have put these guys in Money in the Bank, too. That seems to be what they do with people they don't have anything for. This match was similar to when they threw together a match with Booker T taking on Edge and they were feuding over a fictional Japanese Shampoo Endorsement. I'm not kidding. I give this match * 1/2 stars.

ECW Championship - WWE has finally paid Kane back for his years of service by giving him his first "serious championship" since 1998 and allowing him entry into the Wrestlemania history books for the shortest match ever. Six seconds. Kane is the new ECW Champion. The match gets 1/2 a star.

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels - You want to talk about passion for the business, emotion and Wrestlemania moments, all three of those traits were projected loud and clear in this epic match that will top the list of one of my all time favorite Wrestlemania matches. Ric Flair was in rare form tonight, pulling out all stops in what proved to be his final match. He even pulled out an old school cross body, the move he used to defeat Harley Race in a Steel Cage for the NWA Title in that classic match at the first Starrcade in 1983!! Flair wrestled this match like he needed it to get through the rest of his life and Shawn Michaels certainly did give him his best. I thought Flair had Michaels with the Figure Four Leglock but alas, it wasn't meant to be. I desperately wanted Flair to win because I really never want him to retire but all good things must come to an end. Flair had a tremendous run and there is no argument - he is the best wrestler that ever lived. The last superkick was so emotional. Flair was crying as he got up because he knew it was the end and HBK said he loved him before taking his head off. I literally started crying at that point. I have witnesses at Hooters. I wasn't the only one though. The crowd really gave him a great last ovation and I hope Ric Flair is satisfied with his career. That match made me proud to be a fan of wrestling. I give it ***** stars. I know I rate out of four but I gave an extra star.

BunnyMania Match - Atrocious. Snoop Dogg was just terrible and the match wasn't any better. I firmly stand by my beliefs that I'd rather just have a fantastic Women's Championship Match like Beth Phoenix vs. Candice Michelle vs. Melina rather than this. The blackout at Wrestlemania, the first ever I believe, certainly didn't help. Snoop Dogg looked 100% unimpressed. Whatever. I give it * 1/2 stars just for them continuing to fight while the lights were out.

WWE Championship Triple Threat - I thought this was going to be the Main Event but I understand why it wasn't. It wasn't a bad Triple Threat by any means of the imagination but it couldn't touch the Triple Threat Main Event at Wrestlemania XX, which I was there live for. Having the lights out for half the match probably didn't help either. Like I said it wasn't a bad match and I'm behind WWE 100% for having Orton retain the title. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that Orton would lose. It wasn't if he's going to win, it was who was going to beat him. Nice swerve by WWE. I like being surprised. I give it *** stars. Very good but not as good as other WWE Title matches in the past.

Floyd "Money" Mayweather vs. Big Show - The match went pretty much the way I thought it would. It was just a spectacle - a cheap way for WWE to make headlines heading into Wrestlemania. I hope it worked for them and that I didn't have to suffer for nothing. I didn't really enjoy this match at all. I sat through it and I was glad when it was over. It was predictable and it was irritating. Big Show ought to be given the World Heavyweight Championship for putting over Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather couldn't even win without cheating. Lame. I gave it ** stars just for all the spectacle involved. At least ESPN covered it and didn't give it a scathing review.

World Heavyweight Championship - The last predictable match of the night. They put in a few near falls to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, even letting Edge kick out of the Tombstone, but in the end, after two spears, Edge tapped out to that ridiculous submission move of the Undertaker. I hate that move and I hate that it ended Wrestlemania. I get it - they're trying to freshen up the Undertaker. Got it. They did a good job of that by giving him a new robe to come out with and a newer kind of entrance but, seriously, like the saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That move should only be used on guys that Undertaker can't Tombstone, like Khali and Big Daddy V, not smaller guys like Chavo Guerrero and Edge. I gave the match *** stars because Undertaker is the man anyway and I'm looking forward to what looks to be the last long title run of his career.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible Wrestlemania but it's not up there as one of the best. It was just "one of those." Ric Flair made this Wrestlemania by having the match of the night and his life. Thank you for the memories, Naitch!!

Until next time, wrestling fans.