Wrestlemania XXIV

Wrestlemania has come again, the WWE's equivalent to the Super Bowl or the World Series. This year's focus was on guest stars, John Legend sang "America the Beautiful" while Kim Kardashian was guest host. Snoop Dogg presided over the Bunnymania match while boxer Floyd "Money" Mayweather faced off with the Big Show. With this many guest stars and a great setting at the outdoor Citrus Bowl in Florida the WWE had an opportunity to deliver a great show.

Following John Legend's performance, JBL met Finlay in a Belfast Brawl match with Hornswoggle. Essentially a Hardcore match, it was physical and highlighted by Finley diving out of the ring and getting smashed in the head with a trash can lid while in mid air. JBL won in the end leaving Finley and Hornswoggle disappointed.

The Money in the Bank Ladder match followed. Like most Ladder matches, there were a lot of big falls and pain to go around. John Morrison stood out for his acrobatics, particularly performing a moonsault while holding a ladder. Shelton Benjamin took the most punishment, he had a ladder collapse underneath him and then later took a head first dive from the top of the ladder to another ladder suspended a few feet above the floor. That will teach Jeff Hardy to get suspended! Speaking of Hardys, Matt Hardy returned in time to give MVP a Twist of Fate off the ladder. CM Punk beat out Chris Jericho for the Money in the Bank prize.

The Smackdown vs Raw match of Batista against Umaga was up next. Another physical match, it looked like Batista was having back problems but he pulled off a victory.

The retirement match of Ric Flair versus Shawn Michaels brought Wrestlemania to an emotional crescendo half way through. The stakes were that if Flair lost he would have to retire. Flair couldn't have gone out on a higher note, Michaels was the perfect foil and played his part to the hilt. When Michaels crashed and burned on a moonsault, landing on a stiff announce table that didn't collapse immediately on impact, Flair picked up the slack by moving Michaels limp body around while protecting him at the same time. A tearful goodbye to a living legend.

The Bunnymania match presided by Snoop Dogg provided the comic relief needed. The lights suddenly went out in the middle of the match but otherwise it was event free.

The Triple Threat match of Randy Orton, John Cena and Triple HHH was up next. Following the hype going in, this match did not disappoint with its rapid moves and well timed shifts in momentum. John Cena had the entrance of the night having a college band performing his intro music. Orton stole the pin from Triple HHH on John Cena to retain the title.

Floyd Mayweather went into the match against Big Show and naturally did not live up to the hype. It was clear from the outset that had this been a real battle the Big Show would have crushed Mayweather. To my surprise, Mayweather actually knows how to sell pain and went with a heel ending to the match by use of a steel chair and brass knuckles.

The show closer was Undertaker versus Edge for the World Championship. The match was a little weak but Taker was visibly hurting in his back which added a lot of drama. Towards the end it picked up a bit and led to a satisfying ending with Undertaker as new World Champion.

All in all, it was a solid Wrestemania. Ric Flair's retirement was unquestionably the Wrestemania moment this year, while the much publicized Mayweather fight was good enough for what it was. No guest appearance by the Rock though. Wrestelemania XXIV was OK, if you smell what the Rock is cooking. Had he been there.