Sunday, March 30, 2008 saw Wrestlemania XXIV come to Orlando, Florida. Here we give you the results of the matches and compare what we predicted prior to Wrestlemania XXIV.
BunnyMania Lumberjack Match: Candice Michelle & Maria vs. Beth Phoenix and Melina. Candice and Maria were not doing very well in this match, and it looked like Beth Phoenix and Melina were going to take it away, until Master of Ceremonies, Snoop Dogg, intervened.
My Wife’s Pick: Phoenix/Melina (0-1)
My Pick: Candice/Maria (1-0)
Finlay vs. JBL-Belfast Brawl
Fit Finlay takes on John Bradshaw Layfield in a Belfast Brawl. This match had a low interest rate for us, but we both went with Finlay. JBL won the match. This is all part of one of the silliest plot lines in wrestling history with the illegitimate son of Vince McMahon.
My Wife’s Pick: Finlay (0-2)
My Pick: Finlay (1-1)
24-Man Battle Royal-The winner will get a chance to face the current ECW Champion immediately after the Battle Royal. Some of the participants include Kane, Mark Henry, Big Daddy V, Chuck Palumbo, Jaime Noble, The Great Khali, plus stars from Smackdown and Raw.
Kane won the 24-Man Battle Royal and went on to defeat Chavo Guererro to win the ECW World Title.
My Wife’s Pick: Great Khali (0-3)
My Pick: Great Khali (1-2)
ECW Chavo Guererro vs. Kane
My Wife’s Pick: Khali (0-4)
My Pick: Chavo Guererro (1-3)
Smackdown vs. Raw: Batista vs. Umaga
In this match the Samoan Bulldozer Umaga from Raw faces Batista. This will be one great match, the first for the great matches for the night.
As predicted Batista put the “Smackdown” on Umaga.
My Wife’s Pick: Batista (1-4)
My Pick: Batista (2-3)
Money in the Bank Ladder Match (C. M. Punk, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, Ken Kennedy, MVP, Chris Jericho, and John Morrison). This match will be intense and high-flying. The Winner will be the one to retrieve a briefcase with a Championship contact inside from high above the ring.
C.M. Punk emerged victorious from this match which allows the winner to cash in the contract inside the briefcase anytime they want for any title they want for one full year.
My Wife’s Pick: Chris Jericho (1-5)
My Pick: C.M. Punk (3-3)
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels (Career Threatening Match). A 36-year career did end that night. Ric Flair is the oldest living wrestler and the years have not been easy years. A man who has fought the father of current WWE Champion, Randy Orton, and the father of Carlito, Carlos Colon, plus the likes of Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Harley Race, The Brisco Brothers, King Kong Brody, and many more, Ric Flair’s career began in the 1970s.
Of course, Ric Flair lost Retirement matches over in the old WCW. It has been a running gag in wrestling for years. A Retirement Match never really meant anything other than you would not wrestle in a region for a bit. In recent memory, Mick Foley, was fired, retired, re-hired, and all sorts of other drama, but every so often you see him back. It was an emotional night for Ric Flair after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the night before, but it was time for him to pass the torch, officially to others. Look for Flair to continue as a Manager or General Manager but a personality like his cannot just fade away.
My Wife’s Pick: HBK (2-5)
My Pick: Flair (3-4)
Floyd “Money” Mayweather vs. Big Show. The largest wrestler in the business faces off against the Champion boxer. This match brings back memories of Ali facing Andre the Giant. In the end, Big Show towers over Mayweather and outweighs him by about 3 times, but it wasn’t enough. Big Show pummeled Mayweather but the quickness of Mayweather and the fact that brass knuckles were used (I miss good old “brass knuckles” being used in fights) it helped Mayweather defeat The Big Show.
My Wife’s Pick: Big Show (2-6)
My Pick: Big Show (3-5)
World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs. Undertaker. This match should’ve had the most hype. Edge’s character is one of the biggest heels in wrestling history. He is a jerk, who has been romancing Smackdown General Manager, Vicky Guerrerro (widow of the late Eddie Guerrerro), and it has been helping his title reign. With the history of The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania, it was the obvious contest to build up and in the end proved to be one of the best matches of the night.
My Wife’s Pick: Undertaker (3-6)
My Pick: Undertaker (4-5)
HHH vs. John Cena vs. Randy Orton (WWE Champion). Going a totally different direction than we had foreseen, however with the WWE you never know what’s going to happen. Triple H managed to get the Pedigree (his finishing manuveur on John Cena) but Randy Orton was able to get past Triple H and retained his WWE Championship.
My Wife’s Pick: John Cena (3-7)
My Pick: John Cena (4-6)
Overall a great Wrestlemania, another one for the record books.
