Wrestlemania 24 Review

As the show kicked off the arena was a sight to behold with hundreds of thousands worth of dollars going in to set up one of the most impressive Wrestlemania sets of all time and I was starting to look forward to a Wrestlemania which had potential to be a highly memorable evening.

Here is my match by match run down from last night’s show.

Belfast Brawl: JBL (RAW) Vs. Finlay (SmackDown)

This match as expected was just a glorified hardcore match. They knew they couldn’t do many big spots and bumps because of the Money in the Bank match happening later but both competitors provided us with a solid start. It was good to see Hornswoggle back at Finlay’s side but no Vince McMahon which showed you how much he thought of his own storyline. Highlight of the match was Finlay’s suicide dive in to a trash can lid.

Winner: JBL

Money-in-the-Bank Ladder Match: Mr. Kennedy (RAW) Vs. Shelton Benjamin (ECW) Vs. Chris Jericho (RAW) Vs. Carlito (RAW) Vs. MVP (SmackDown) Vs. Vs. CM Punk (ECW) Vs. John Morrison (ECW)

I thought it was the wrong choice to put this on straight after another gimmick match involving weapons. In a match where we were expecting Jericho, MVP and Kennedy to reign supreme it was Morrison who was doing all the early work. Although some of the spots were the same as last year like the ladder break there was still enough innovative moments to keep us on the edge of our seats. Highlight of the match was the return of Matt Hardy to screw his nemesis MVP out of the match. In a surprising twist it was CM Punk who climbed the ladder to grab the briefcase and the open contract for a title shot. I don’t se CM Punk in a Raw or Smackdown main event so he will cash it in for the ECW title which will devalue this match and was not needed as CM Punk’s standing in ECW means he doesn’t need a contract to get a title shot.

Winner: CM Punk

Battle For Brand Supremacy: Batista (SmackDown) Vs. Umaga (RAW)

This match was the worst on the card. It was slow, boring and sloppy. I expected Batista to put a showing on to prove why he should be in the main event but after some sloppy work it looked like he was trying to get out of there as quickly as he could.

Winner: Batista

ECW Championship Match

We found out that Kane had won the pre-show Battle Royal and was going to be facing Chavo. Well if you blinked you missed this one as Kane beat Chavo in 10 seconds in a match reminiscent of Adam Bomb vs. Earthquake from Wrestlemania 10. Chavo’s entrance takes around two minutes match lasts ten seconds, you got to love it.

Winner: Kane

Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair (SmackDown) Vs. Shawn Michaels (RAW)

On a second viewing this was a really good match. Shawn Michaels worked his ass of to make Flair to look good and took some sick bumps including a moonsault through an announcers table. The submission and mat work was top notch and it was a much better match than I thought Ric Flair would have to end his career although being very predictable. However I though they could have made more of the scene after the match as Flair said his last goodbye.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

BuunyMania Lumberjack match: Maria and Ashley vs. Beth Phoenix and Melina

Luckily a technical fault made this match more memorable than it should have been with the lights going out during the match. The WWE scrambled well to spotlight the ring but in all fairness I was enjoying it more in the dark. If it hadn’t been for Santino, Jerry Lawler and Snoop Dogg all getting involved this match would have been a complete uninspiring waste of time.

Winner: Beth Phoenix and Melina

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

After being the most built up match on the WWE’s biggest weekly show it made no sense for this match to be on so early. Having it this early meant we weren’t going to see a big Cena or HHH win as if that was going to be the case they would have had it as the main event but in a triple threat which wasn’t a patch on Wrestlemania 20’s Triple Threat title match I was glad to see the back of it.

Winner: Randy Orton

Wrestler Vs. Boxer: Big Show Vs. Floyd "Money" Mayweather

In a match that many including myself thought was going to be the worst of the night both the Big Show and Floyd Mayweather surprised us both by putting on an excellent, entertaining match. This is probably why we haven’t seen Mayweather a lot on TV because he has been working hard to get this match to be the best it could be. This has to go down as one of the most successful appearances of a celebrity in a wrestling match.

Winner: Floyd Mayweather

World Heavyweight Championship: Title Vs. Streak: Edge (c) Vs. The Undertaker

After just witnessing one undefeated streak remain in tact it was time for The undertaker to put his streak on the line. In a very occurrence of a Smackdown match headlining a joint brand PPV The Undertaker and Edge put on a brilliant match with an edge of your seat ending. Edge through all he had at Undertaker including a camera and his two cronies but regardless of what he tried Undertaker was in no mood to let go of his streak.

Winner: And new World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker

Overall: In my predictions I only got two wrong and one was a result nobody would of could have predicted so I’m happy with that. I thought the event had lots of memorable moments but not outstanding matches that will be remembered for years to come as classics. I think the WWE could have done more with Flair and the WWE title match but they handled Big Show vs. Mayweather and Undertaker vs. Edge very well which helped Wrestlemania go out with a bang and send the fans home happy.