WrestleMania XXIV

This was a great wrestlemania , the stadium, the atmosphere and the stage all set this up for the great show it was.

The matches pretty much all delivered we had 3 great matches in my opinion on this card, we had the money in the bank ladder match which was great, the undertaker main eventing against edge in one of the best streak matches, great stuff overall and the best match on the show ric flair vs Shawn Michaels, never expected that to be the last match but yeah, it was a great match and the best retirement match for a wrestler I've ever seen (mania 26s match with Shawn is great too but this is a little better)

The opener Belfast brawl was pretty good, fun and brutal. The umaga vs Batista match was decent, triple threat wwe title match was pretty good too and surprisingly the big show vs mayweather match was actually pretty good too.

The lumberjack match and the ECW title match where both OK but nothing I liked but nothing bad or show ruining either. Stuff with the hall of fame was great as always

Run through

Best Match: Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels

Worst Match: Playboy Lumberjack Match Ashley and Maria vs Beth Phoniex and Melina.

I was taken by surprise by this event since Wrestlemania 21 to 23 were nothing more then Backlash with an extra hour, I wasn't expecting what I got, the show was thrilling and very entertaining.

JBL vs. Finally (3/5) I thought they should of opened the show with a normal match but hey, overall it was better then I thought it was, and I was happy to see JBL come out on top.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match (4/5) WOW, I think this was the best Money in the Bank yet, and kunos to John Morrison, his spots with the ladder were incredible. I was really blown away. I am a huge Morrison fan anyway. I was hoping for either Jericho or Morrison to come out on top, but CM Punk did, I'm okay with that.

Womans Tag Team Match (1.5/5) A lot better then I expected. Even though it was the worst match of the night. Beth Pheniox and Melina really carried it.

Batista vs. Umaga (2/5) Boring. I like Umaga a lot. I thought Batista was alright a few years ago but now he isn't really anything special. I was not looking forward to this before WM and after I forgot, I almost forgot judging it while typing this.

ECW Championship Match (2/5) Well I was happy to see Kane on the card. And the match made me laugh and overall, I think this was the best approach they had for this match.

WWE Championship Triple Threat Match (3/5) I was expecting a great match with the three top guys in the WWE, but I did not get that. I feel like the match was to short, and it was very messy, so to say. I was hoping Triple H to win, I wanted to see Randy walk out so WWE could reclaim the surprise factor in it. I was VERY happy to see Orton walk out with it.

Floyd "Money" Mayweather vs. Big Show (2/5) Well good job to WWE making Mayweather a face and Big Show a heel. Only that did not happen at all, I was expecting something like what we got a WM21 with Big Show vs. that Sumo guy. But hey I have to give Mayweather his congrats, I was shocked that he would take those chops by the Big Show. Those are the only things that hurt a lot wrestling and Mayweather got them hard. Overall I was expecting something worse out of it, though it wasn't great.

World Heavyweight Championship Match (4/5) WOW, It felt like old wrestling again. It didn't seem fake, it seemed like Undertaker wanted to pop Edge's head off, which was good. It brought the feeling of a compotision not a fight, which pro wrestling is supposed to be. The hype wasn't great for this match, but the match brought near falls and more. Even though everyone knew Taker was beating Edge. And btw, Edge is my favorite in WWE right now, I know WWE wouldn't let Edge end the streak. And I didn't want him to either. Overall it was exciting. It would of been a 5 out of 5 if they hyped it up better.

Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (5/5) (beyond the best match) Wooooo. Great story to it, great storytelling, great emotion, great hype, great performers, and a GREAT MATCH. I was sad to see Ric Flair leave. But he went out in style. And the way he dissevered to leave in. Ric Flair is one of the best, way better then Hulk Hogan. And him to face in most wrestling fan's opion the best wrestler ever Shawn Michaels. Two of the best wrestlers in history in Flair's last match. This is with out a doubt one of the greatest matches in pro wrestling history. It had a great storyline, and every different type of wrestling was involved. And Flair saying he didn't want this match main eventing the card and hearing his reason why was so respectful, I have so much respect for him. And the end of the match when Michaels said "I'm sorry, I love you" and Flair cried while getting pinned showed that this match was very emotional, a lot of people were very sad to see Flair go, watching this match live, my friend cried a lot when Flair started to cry, I can not describe how wonderful this match really was...

This Wrestlemania was with out a doubt one of the best in a very long time, all the superstars involved gave it their all in it and it shows. It very much gave that Wrestlemania feel that it was lacking for some time.

P.S. Sorry if I misspelled some things I didn't go back to check, and I'm already a very bad speller.

I was just getting back into the wwe just before the No Way Out PPV a month before wrestlemania so i was able to follow the stories leading into it and was quite impressed with the quality of the event.

Obviously the hype going into this Wrestlemania was (to the outside world) Mayweather vs Big show. However within Wrestling the show was all about Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels, where if Flair lost then his career would be over. So for all wrestling fans its a must have as it is 2 of the all time greats up against each other on the grandest stage of them all.

Match 1 Belfast Brawl JBL vs Finlay 7/10 Not a bad match by any means. Hard hitting as you would expect from 2 men like Finlay and Bradshaw with a few entertaining spots. An enjoyable and worthy opener for Wrestlemania, just overshadowed by matches later on the card.

Match 2 Money In The Bank Ladder Match. 7.5/10 Always enjoyable to watch. MitB was a great concept for wrestlemanias and this one didn't disappoint. Slight criticism would be that you could see a few wrestlers being a touch lethargic when preventing someone from grabbing the briefcase which meant they had to be REALLI slow in reaching for it. However there were quite a few high spots in this match involving Jericho, Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison.

Match 3 Umaga vs Batista 7/10 This match could have been better. Again it wasn't bad but it seemed very run-of-the-mill and average for a match at Wrestlemania between 2 big men. Although there were a few good displays of power from Batista and agility from Umaga and the crowd did get into it which keeps this match on 7/10 Match 4 ECW Championship Match. Chavo Guerrero vs The Battle Royale Winner 1/10 I don think there is a single person who liked this. ECW gets one match per PPV. This is the biggest PPV of the year and they were given an 8 second match. I sincerely hope the writers change this for Wrestlemania 25. VERY disappointing Match 5 Career threatening match. Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels 10/10 10/10 because these 2 wrestlers did do nothing wrong in this match. they excelled themselves and you even see Flair successfully perform a top rope move!!! lol. This match had so much emotion and had a perfectly fitting ending. Considering Michaels is early 40's and Flair is late 50's it was an incredible display of athleticism and a fantastic match.

Match 6 Playboy Bunnymania Lumberjill Match Maria and Ashley vs Beth Pheonix and Melina. 5/10 Its very difficult to give womens matches high ratings as they simply don't captivate the audience enough. This match was also stupidly placed on the card. After Flair vs Michaels and before the WWE championship match. Nothing wrong with this match but just nothing special. Apart from snoop dogg and the slight beating santino gets.

Match 7 WWE Championship Match Randy Orton vs HHH vs John Cena 6.5/10 Disappointed a bit here because these are 3 great wrestlers. The match didn't seem gripping enough for me. After being caught up in Wrestlemania so far this was a let down with an ending that could have been much better. Nonetheless worth a watch, but for something that was no DQ and no Countout there was barely any hardcore intervention, which would have been fine had the wrestling been more entertaining.

Match 8 The Biggest vs The Best Floyd Mayweather vs Big Show 8/10 What can i say? Very entertaining considering the size difference. Both Mayweather and Big Show fought very well and both took a substantial amounts of beatings. I was impressed with Mayweathers ability to put up a good fight. Surprisingly good Match 9 World Heavyweight Championship Match. Undertaker vs Edge 10/10 A slight bias here as these are 2 of my top 3 favourite wrestlers, but this was an awesome and deserving main event. Both men brought their best to this match and it went back and forth keeping the crowd on their feet. Sensational main event of good length, that topped off what was an entertaining 'Mania.

Hall Of Fame Ceremony. 10/10 Now its a bit strange 'rating' the hall of fame ceremony, but it comes with the DVD and it is definitely worth watching. JBL was very funny inducting the Brisco's, there was a very long part with none other that THE ROCK who was incredibly entertaining as always and he gave a good light hearted roasting to many including Santino, John Cena, Jericho, Foley and others. But aside from being funny, this was a tear jerker at many points but mainly in the Ric Flair induction. Not tear jerking to the extent of the 2006 ceremony with Eddie Guerrero but it was highly emotional nonetheless and needs to be watching by wrestling fans.

On the whole a very solid Mania and definitely one of the better ones. Though the event card equates to just over 7/10 it was also the way the event was put together along with the attendance (in excess of 70.000) and the atmosphere that kept the rating high. The WWE really did put on a classy show. Not as good as 17 or 21 but still very good.

Like Wrestlemania X-Seven and Wrestlemania 3, XXIV was of the more "classical" Wrestlemanias that I've ever seen. It brought back that feel, that "Mania Feel" that I hadn't experienced since X-Seven.

What really helped this event was the decisions behind the match card, and where the matches were placed. Ending the show with two upsets and an excellent one-on-one title match, that wasn't over-hyped, with the Undertaker was a brilliant decision. Another great choice was to start the show off with a fast paced, quick street fight, or as it is referred to here, a "Belfast Brawl." The show had something new to offer for each match, and had no "card fillers" as you would expect from seeing many Manias in the past. The problem with the WWE is that they over-hype Manias like 20 and 25 and try too hard to make them good, and they come out as stinkers. For some reason they feel the need to fill the show by having 12 matches, and every title defended. Nobody really cares about the Tag Team titles or the Women's Championship, they want to see matches like the Ladder Match and the three main events. They want to "feel" Wrestlemania, which certainly happened in the Flair vs. Michaels match, and the very emotional outcome. But most of all, they want to be surprised.

And boy did this show have some surprises, not to mention the wonderful choice of CM Punk winning the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. What everyone seems to be talking about when they think of XXIV is Orton's win in the Triple Threat. This was a brilliant move by the WWE, and I'm sure it was a last minute decision (note the poll that was taken early on in the show, I'm sure they based who won on the lowest percentage of people who voted for that person, which just happened to be Orton thankfully). The Triple Threat was great, I think, because it was so well set up - you had the two big comebacks over the past year (HHH and Cena) who were both potential Champs following Mania. But if there's two hyped comebacks in one match? Together? For the title? At Wrestlemania? How can you possibly make the best of it? You turn it into a triple threat match with the most unlikely winner on WWE, and there you go...

Now to The Biggest vs. The Best. I was pleasantly surprised at the excitement I had while watching this match, and watching Big Show's interaction with the crowd, which made it all the more entertaining. Big Show always seems to be the first in line for these kinds of odd-ball matches, like his Sumo Match at 21 (which wasn't as exciting, but still interesting). Mayweather walked away with the win, by knock out, which was partly surprising and partly expected. A great match nonetheless.

Finally, we arrive at the main event: World Heavyweight Championship. They under-hyped this match so much that its brilliance was unexpected and was an amazing choice for the main event of the evening. Undertaker truly was put to the challenge, surprisingly, by Edge in this match. The crowd in this match helped out a lot, as they did with many other matches, and really brought the event to life in the last 30 minutes of the show, making Taker's win all the more special and appropriate.

Of course, in the "good-bad-good" trend that WWE's Manias have been following over the past couple of years, I didn't expect much from the 25th Anniversary, that truly was one of the dullest and most laughable Manias I've ever seen, a real dive. By "good-bad-good" I of course am referring to the trend started around 18 or 19, or even 20, where it goes from a good Mania, to a bad Mania, to a better Mania, to a horrible Mania. With 26 being an improvement over 25, obviously, as bad as it was, I think I may just vomit thinking about how bad 27 could be.

Oh well. All I can do is hope for another XXIV.

Overall, this is a pretty standard and quite respectable Wrestlemania DVD package. However, I have a warning to any WWE fans who are contemplating springing for the rather expensive deluxe 3-disc collector's edition of Wrestlemania 24. One of the reasons I purchased the 3-disc edition was to own the unforgettable 2008 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony. Be forewarned though that the ceremony is truncated. In the original broadcast of the Hall of Fame Ceremony, before presenting any awards, the Rock made all kinds of clever and light-hearted comments. These included self-deprecating remarks about his own involvement in the "Doom" box office debacle, sarcastic words about Santino Marella and a jab at John Cena and his work in the WWE film "The Marine". Sadly, this lively and entertaining banter has all been removed from the DVD version of the Hall of Fame ceremony. The most disturbing part is that this was obviously a conscious decision by the WWE to save money. I felt robbed, since it was one of the main reasons I bought the collection. I am sure that other WWE fans will clearly feel the same. If they don't, they should. This is unfortunately, a reminder of all that is wrong about the WWE today.