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WrestleMania XXIV
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WrestleMania XXIV was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The 24th annual WrestleMania event was the first to be held in the state of Florida, and it was only the second WrestleMania to be held outdoors (the first being WrestleMania IX).
Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the event, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main bout.
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Encyclopedia
WrestleMania XXIV was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The 24th annual WrestleMania event was the first to be held in the state of Florida, and it was only the second WrestleMania to be held outdoors (the first being WrestleMania IX).
Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the event, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main bout. The first of these was a Singles match from the SmackDown brand that featured The Undertaker defeating World Heavyweight Champion Edge to win the title. The second was a Triple Threat match from the Raw brand, in which WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated challengers Triple H and John Cena to retain the championship. The other was a singles match from the ECW brand, in which Kane defeated ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero to win the ECW title. From the six scheduled bouts on the undercard, three received more promotion than the others. In a No Disqualification match, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. defeated The Big Show. The second match involved wrestlers from all three brands fighting in a Money in the Bank ladder match, which CM Punk won. The other match was a Career Threatening match where Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair, resulting in Flair's retirement from professional wrestling.
Tickets for the event commenced sale to the public on November 3, 2007. For the second consecutive year, WrestleMania broke the record for the highest-grossing pay-per-view in WWE history, as well as for the Citrus Bowl, grossing US$5.85 million in ticket sales. According to a study by Enigma Research Corporation of Toronto, the Citrus Bowl's record-breaking attendance pumped an estimated $51.5 million – surpassing the projected $25 million – into the local economy and generated $1.8 million in local tax revenue. The Central Florida Sports Commission reported that the event created jobs and brought approximately 60,000 visitors to the city. WWE and the City of Orlando hosted festivities that spanned a five-day period within the central Florida region. Over one million people ordered the event on pay-per-view, grossing $23.8 million in revenue.
Background
WrestleMania featured nine professional wrestling matches with wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers belonged to either the Raw, SmackDown, or ECW brand – storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs.
The predominant rivalry scripted into WrestleMania on the Raw brand was between Randy Orton, John Cena and Triple H, over the WWE Championship. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in January, Cena won the Royal Rumble match, where thirty wrestlers competed in a ring and were eliminated by being thrown over the top rope. By winning the match, Cena became a top contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV. Instead of challenging Randy Orton for the title at WrestleMania, he decided to challenge him at No Way Out. In the match, Orton got himself intentionally disqualified by slapping the referee, thus retaining the WWE Championship due to WWE regulations. That same night, Triple H also became a top contender to the WWE Championship by defeating five other men in an Elimination Chamber match, which featured wrestlers fighting in a ring surrounded by chains and girders. The next night on Raw, one of WWE's primary television programs, Cena argued that he deserved another WWE Championship match. Raw General Manager William Regal, who was portrayed as a matchmaker and rules enforcer, then announced that Cena would face Orton later in the night. Regal added a stipulation to the match that if Cena won, he would be added to the WrestleMania match between Triple H and Orton, making it a Triple threat match, a standard match that involves three wrestlers. If Orton won, however, the main event would remain as Orton versus Triple H in a singles match. Cena, however, won the match and was added to the bout at WrestleMania.
The predominant rivalry on the SmackDown! brand was between Edge and The Undertaker, over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the February 1 episode of SmackDown, WWE's other primary television program, Assistant General Manager Theodore Long announced that at No Way Out, an Elimination Chamber match would be held to determine the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. The Undertaker won the match by eliminating Batista (Dave Batista). On the following episode of SmackDown, Edge predicted that The Undertaker's 15–0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania would come to an end once he defeated him. Two weeks later, on the March 7 episode of SmackDown, the team of Edge, Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), and Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona) defeated The Undertaker in a Handicap match, in which one wrestler faces a team of two or more wrestlers, after Edge pinned The Undertaker following a takedown variation called the spear. The following week, Edge, Hawkins, Ryder, and Chavo Guerrero, a group of aligned wrestlers, defeated Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels in a Steel Cage match, where the ring was surrounded by walls of steel. During the match, Undertaker interfered and attacked Hawkins, Ryder, and Guerrero. The Undertaker lifted both Hawkins and Ryder by the throat and slammed them down to the mat, a move called the chokeslam, while he lifted Guerrero upside down and dropped his head down, a move called the Tombstone piledriver. As Undertaker was attacking Guerrero, however, Edge escaped the cage and won the match for his team. The next week on SmackDown, Edge, along with Vickie Guerrero, Hawkins and Ryder, held a mock burial, entitled "Burial of The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Undefeated Streak," to celebrate Edge's early victory over The Undertaker. During the "burial", however, The Undertaker emerged from a casket, which was inside the ring, and attacked Edge, Hawkins and Ryder, knocking Hawkins and Ryder outside the ring and chokeslamming Edge through the casket.
. At No Way Out, The Big Show (Paul Wight) made a return to the company after taking time off for injuries beginning in December 2006. In his return promotional interview, Big Show threatened to give Rey Mysterio (Oscar Gutierrez) a chokeslam. Professional boxer and WBC Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who was in attendance and a close friend of Mysterio's, came to his aid and confronted Big Show. After Big Show dropped to his knees, Mayweather attacked him with a combination of punches, which caused Big Show to bleed from the nose and mouth. The following night on Raw, the Big Show challenged Mayweather to a wrestling match, which Mayweather accepted.
On the February 25 episode of Raw, 2008 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee Ric Flair challenged Shawn Michaels to a match at WrestleMania. Michaels accepted after some reluctance, knowing that due to a previous announcement from WWE chairman Mr. McMahon (Vince McMahon) the next match Flair lost would result in his forced retirement. Flair said that "It would be an honor for him to retire at the hands of Shawn Michaels."
On February 18, WWE announced via its website that the fourth annual Money in the Bank ladder match would take place at WrestleMania XXIV, a match where the objective is to retrieve a briefcase suspended in the air using a ladder. The match involved wrestlers from all three WWE brands. The winner would earn a contract to challenge for any of the three WWE World Championships (the WWE Championship of Raw, the World Heavyweight Championship of SmackDown, or the ECW Championship of ECW) at any time and any place over a one-year period. Qualifying matches occurred to determine the participants in the match at WrestleMania, starting on that night's edition of Raw with Jeff Hardy and Mr. Kennedy (Ken Anderson) defeating Snitsky (Gene Snitsky) and Val Venis respectively to qualify. Shelton Benjamin became the third participant when he defeated Jimmy Wang Yang (James Yun) on the following episode of SmackDown. During the next two editions of Raw, Chris Jericho defeated Jeff Hardy, and Carlito (Carly Colón) defeated Cody Rhodes to qualify. At a non-televised SmackDown/ECW house show held on March 8, Montel Vontavious Porter (Alvin Burke, Jr.) qualified when he defeated Jamie Noble. On the March 11 edition of ECW, CM Punk became the seventh person when he defeated Big Daddy V (Nelson Frazier, Jr.). John Morrison (John Hennigan) was the final person to qualify when he beat The Miz (Mike Mizanin) on the March 14 edition of SmackDown. Jeff Hardy was later removed from the match after being legitimately suspended by WWE for a drug violation of the company's wellness policy. WWE decided not to add another superstar in his place, making that year's Money in the Bank ladder match the first year to have seven participants.
Event
Production
As the second WrestleMania to be held entirely outdoors, WWE chairman Vince McMahon announced that the show would have taken place regardless of the weather conditions. In the March 2008 issue of WWE Magazine, WWE set designer Jason Robinson revealed that a steel rig with a tarpaulin roof would be built above the ring itself to prevent rain from falling on the ring. In that same issue, an initial design of the ring setup was revealed showing a larger rig surrounding the tarpaulin rig, with lighting and two giant screens attached. The final design had the lighting and video screens on the tarpaulin rig, as well as the sound system. During an interview, WWE production manager Brian Petree mentioned that video reinforcement should prevent anyone's view from being obstructed by the steel structure. Up to seven generators were used to power up the show.
The set design for the entrance stage was at the north end of the stadium and consisted of another steel structure with various video screens hanging from it. The steel beams for the structure were custom built in Belgium and shipped over to Orlando. According to WWE Magazine, the amount of pyrotechnics used would be ten times that of the amount used on Raw. Without the restriction of a roof, the pyrotechnics for the show shot as high as as compared to WrestleMania 23's height of . The fireworks were set off from boats on one of the lakes nearby the stadium. WWE has been said to have spent an estimated $300,000 on the fireworks alone.
With the Citrus Bowl's locker rooms on the south side and the entrance set on the north side, a tented mini-city outside the north end served as the show's backstage area and included air conditioning, trailers, VIP areas, showers and restrooms. As a consequence, the road next to the north end zone, W. Church Street, was closed down until a day after the event. Numerous other roads were also closed to allow trucks and fork lifts to move in mega equipment for the event. The ring itself was built on the 50-yard line of the Citrus Bowl to give the best view for fans. Heavy-duty plastic flooring had been put over the field, to protect the turf, provide seating, and serve as the steel structures' foundation.
Development on the set design began in the middle of 2007. The building of the actual set began in the middle of March 2008. 100 people worked 16 hours a day to construct the set for the event. The construction finished on March 29. WrestleMania XXIV was the first WrestleMania event to be filmed in high-definition. It was also the first WWE show and sports related title to be released on the Blu-ray Disc format by WWE Home Video. WrestleMania also led to an increase in sales for musical artists related to the event, including the Red Hot Chilli Peppers' album Stadium Arcadium, John Legend's album Live from Philadelphia, Rev Theory's single "Light It Up", and Fuel's single "Leave the Memories Alone" (which was used in tribute to Ric Flair).
Pre-show
Before the show aired live on pay-per-view, Kane won a 24-man Interpromotional Battle Royal, an elimination style match where the last person remaining was the winner, to win an ECW Championship match against Chavo Guerrero (Salvador Guerrero IV) later that night. The event officially began with John Legend singing a rendition of "America the Beautiful."
Preliminary matches
The first match that aired live on pay-per-view was a Belfast Brawl between Finlay (Dave Finlay) and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), a match where there were no disqualifications or countouts and the match outcomes could have occurred anywhere. Finlay was accompanied to the ring by his storyline son, Hornswoggle (Dylan Postl), who was returning from a scripted injury suffered at the hands of JBL. During the match, JBL hit Finlay with a trash can lid when the latter was about to perform a suicide dive on him through the ropes on the outside. Later on, Finlay tossed JBL through a table that he had set up earlier on the turnbuckle. Hornswoggle also got involved during the match by hitting JBL with a kendo stick, while later on JBL threw a trash can at him. Attacking Finlay's knee with a kendo stick, JBL delivered a Clothesline from Hell to Finlay to score a successful pinfall.
The next match of the evening was the fourth-annual Money in the Bank ladder match, in which there were no disqualifications or countouts, and the only way to win the match was to climb a ladder in the ring and retrieve a contract briefcase hanging above. The match featured Chris Jericho, Mr. Kennedy (Ken Anderson) and Carlito (Carly Colón) from the Raw brand; CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison (John Hennigan) from the ECW brand; and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) (Alvin Burke, Jr.) from the SmackDown brand. Early in the match, Morrison climbed a turnbuckle and performed a moonsault onto other competitors outside the ring while holding a ladder against his chest. Later, while Kennedy and Morrison were battling on top of a ladder, Benjamin climbed another ladder placed adjacent to the first one and performed a sunset flip powerbomb on Kennedy, who in turn superplexed Morrison from the top of the ladder. Later, Carlito and Kennedy flipped Benjamin off a ladder in the ring, sending him crashing through another ladder set-up between the barricade and the ring apron. When MVP was close to retrieving the contract briefcase, Matt Hardy (returning to action after suffering a legitimate injury), entered the ring from the crowd, climbed the ladder, and delivered a Twist of Fate to MVP off that ladder. As soon as Morrison started to climb a ladder, see-sawing with another ladder, Jericho flipped the other one and Morrison landed on the ring-ropes groin-first. Jericho even performed a Codebreaker on Punk using a ladder. In the end, Jericho and Punk fought each other on a ladder, but Punk trapped Jericho's one leg in the ladder's steps and retrieved the briefcase to win the match.
The next match, which was billed as a "Battle for Brand Supremacy", was between SmackDown's Batista (Dave Bautista) and Raw's Umaga (Eddie Fatu). Early in the match, both Batista and Umaga exchanged blows and Batista knocked Umaga outside with a shoulder block. Umaga later kicked Batista in the face, which caused him to fall back-first outside the ring from the ring-apron. As a result, Umaga started targeting Batista's injured back. In the end, however, when Umaga tried to hit his Samoan Spike, Batista countered the attempt and gave him a spinebuster. Batista won the match by pinning Umaga after a Batista Bomb. The fourth match for the event featured Chavo Guerrero (Salvador Guerrero IV) defending his ECW Championship against Kane. Kane surprised Chavo by emerging from underneath the ring instead of from the entrance stage during his ring entrance. Kane instantly pinned Chavo after a chokeslam and won the ECW Championship in mere seconds.
Main event matches
Ric Flair's "Career Threatening" match against Shawn Michaels was next, which stipulated that Flair would have to retire from wrestling if he had lost. At the start of the match, both superstars engaged in a series of counters, and then Flair shoved Michaels in a corner, making "Old Yeller" comments to him. In retaliation, Michaels slapped Flair in the face, which caused him to start bleeding from the mouth. Later, Michaels tried to go for his Sweet Chin Music, but stopped in the process and Flair capitalized by trapping him in his figure four leglock. Afterward, Michaels finally delivered the Sweet Chin Music to Flair, but the latter kicked out to the pinfall attempt. Michaels then trapped Flair in his modified figure four leglock, but Flair delivered a thumb to the eye to Michaels to break the submission. As Flair was delivering chops to Michaels' chest, Michaels hit a second Sweet Chin Music. After getting up on his feet with a worried face, Michaels said to Flair "I'm sorry, I love you," before nailing a final Sweet Chin Music and thus pinning Flair to end his 35-year long wrestling career. After the match, Michaels left quickly and Flair got a standing ovation from the crowd. An emotional Flair embraced his family at ringside and then, as he proceeded to go backstage, he thanked the crowd for their support.
The sixth match was the Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match, in which Maria and Ashley faced Beth Phoenix and Melina, who were accompanied to the ring by Santino Marella (Anthony Carelli). Rapper Snoop Dogg served as the official "Master of Ceremonies" for the match. In the match, several WWE Divas surrounded the ring and were able to interfere in the match without disqualifications. Due to some technical difficulties, the lights at Citrus Bowl temporarily went out during the match. Near the end, a pin attempt by Maria was prevented when Marella pulled Maria's leg. In response, Raw commentator Jerry Lawler approached and knocked Marella down with a punch. Phoenix hooked Maria's leg and vertically lifted and slammed her to the mat and pinned Maria to win the match. After the match, Snoop Dogg hit Marella with his forearm in the ring and kissed Maria, before leaving with her and Ashley.
In the next match, Randy Orton defended his WWE Championship against Triple H and John Cena in a Triple Threat match, which is a standard match involving three wrestlers with no disqualifications. For his entrance, Cena had the Jones High School Marching Tigers marching band perform an instrumental version of his theme song "The Time Is Now" live. During the match, when Triple H had held Orton in a sleeper hold, Cena picked up both Orton and Triple H for an FU, but Triple H dropped down and low blowed him. Orton then dominated the match for some time; one highlight of the match featured Orton performing a crossbody from the top rope on Cena, while the latter was held on Triple H's shoulders in an seating position. Orton also performed DDT from the second rope to both Cena and Triple H simultaneously. Orton then tried to perform an RKO, but he countered and threw Orton onto Triple H. Triple H then started targeting Orton's legs and using some submissions on him. The match came to an end when Cena had Triple H on his shoulders for the FU, but was countered into a Pedigree. As Triple H was in the pin, Orton come across and punted Triple H in the head and pinned Cena to win the match and retain the WWE Championship.
, who battled and lost the World Heavyweight Championship to The Undertaker.]]
The next match was the No Disqualification match between The Big Show (Paul Wight) and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.. Early in the match, Mayweather repeatedly escaped Big Show's grasp and delivered body shots to him. Mayweather and his accomplices tried to "walk out" of the match, but Big Show walked up the ramp and brought Mayweather back in the ring. As Big Show was about to chokeslam Mayweather, one of Mayweather's accomplices struck a steel chair on Big Show's back, and the latter chokeslammed him in retaliation. Capitalizing from this distraction, Mayweather grabbed that chair and hit Big Show multiple times on the head with it. Finally, Mayweather removed his right glove and put on a pair of brass knuckles to hit Big Show in the face. As a result, Big Show was knocked out as he could not answer the referee's ten count, and Mayweather was declared the winner.
The main event of the night saw Edge (Adam Copeland) putting his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against The Undertaker. The early going of the match was slow-paced, in which both superstars countered each others maneuvers. During the match, Undertaker ran and lept over the top rope from the ring onto Edge on the outside. Then throughout the match, Edge was able to counter Undertaker's numerous signature moves, including the chokeslam, Old School and the Last Ride, a variation of the powerbomb. Near the end, Edge hit Undertaker with a television camera while the referee was knocked down. When he proceeded to deliver a Tombstone Piledriver to Undertaker, the latter countered it into his own version and successfully delivered it to Edge. Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder came to the ring for Edge's aid, but Undertaker took them out. Because of their distraction, Edge was able to hit a spear to Undertaker, but was unsuccessful to pin him. When Edge delivered another spear to Undertaker, the latter caught him in his Gogoplata submission hold and forced Edge to tap out to become the new World Heavyweight Champion and improve his WrestleMania record to 16–0.
Aftermath
After the show, WWE was criticized for a malfunction in the pyrotechnics during The Undertaker's victory celebration. During the celebration, a hot cable for pyrotechnics was sent flying into audience members in the upper seating bowl of the stadium, leaving 45 injured with some hospitalized. The accident was apparently due to a cable which fireworks were traveling across snapping, thus resulting in the fireworks exploding into the top rows of the upper bowl of the stadium. WWE's corporate website released a statement afterward stating that they would investigate the incident, though the results of the investigation were never released.
On the following episode of Raw, Ric Flair made his farewell speech, which led to Triple H introducing various people from Flair's past, such as the Four Horsemen, a former group of wrestlers, Ricky Steamboat, and others, each coming out to give an emotional farewell. Afterward, the entire WWE roster came out to say thank you to Flair. Shawn Michaels, who was clearly upset about retiring Flair, was forgiven by Flair. Despite Flair's forgiveness, his former protégé Batista later started a feud with Michaels, citing Michaels' "selfishness" at WrestleMania for not laying down for Flair. The two had a match booked at Backlash, WWE's next scheduled pay-per-view event, and after a confrontation between Michaels and Chris Jericho, Jericho was later added into the match as a Special Guest Referee. Michaels won with a superkick.
The feud between Randy Orton, John Cena and Triple H continued after WrestleMania with the added involvement of John "Bradshaw" Layfield leading to a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match between all four at Backlash, an elimination style match where the last person remaining is the winner. At the event, Triple H won his seventh WWE Championship by last pinning Orton. With Matt Hardy's return at WrestleMania, his feud with Montel Vontavious Porter over the WWE United States Championship, that had started in July 2007, was revived with a match booked at Backlash, which Hardy won. The rivalries between The Undertaker and Edge and the one between Kane and Chavo Guerrero both continued with successful title defenses at Backlash. On the May 2 episode of SmackDown, General Manager Vickie Guerrero stripped The Undertaker of the World Heavyweight Championship because of his continued use of his illegal chokehold, claiming she did it to protect the other wrestlers.
Reception
Approximately 1,058,000 people ordered WrestleMania XXIV, grossing $23.8 million in revenue. This amount was less than the 1,188,000 buys that WrestleMania 23 achieved. Canadian Online Explorer's professional wrestling section gave the entire event a 9 out of 10 stars. The rating was higher than WrestleMania 23 which was rated an 8 out of 10 stars. The main event between The Undertaker and Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship was rated 9.5 out of 10 stars, the Career Threatening match between Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels was rated a perfect 10 out of 10 stars, Big Show vs. Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. was rated a 7 out of 10 stars and the Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship between Randy Orton, Triple H and John Cena was rated 6.5 out of 10 stars.
DVD/Blu-ray release
The event was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc by WWE Home Video in the U.S. on May 20, 2008, after it had completed broadcast on pay-per-view. As well as the event, the DVD/BD release features bonus material in the form of the 2008 Hall of Fame ceremony in its entirety and the battle royal that took place before the event.
Results
External links
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