6. WRESTLEMANIA XXIV
The Undertaker, Edge and Batista were the three headliners of Smackdown for several years, so it’s fitting that after the Deadman dethroned the Animal at WrestleMania 23, the Rated-R World Heavyweight Champion was next in line for the Streak. Their program was so good we got a rare Smackdown title fight in the MAIN EVENT of WrestleMania.
The night kicked off with a slightly underrated hardcore match between JBL and Finlay. CM Punk won his first Money in the Bank briefcase in one of the more disappointing offers in the gimmick’s history; luckily a “disappointing” ladder match is still a good match.
While the rest of the card was solid, there’s only one match and/or moment that immediately comes to mind when you think of WrestleMania XXIV – the end of the road for the greatest performer in pro wrestling history. Ric Flair’s last ride with Shawn Michaels was bittersweet. On one hand you couldn’t have asked for a more fitting end, or a better conclusion to Flair’s historic legend, but… it’s Ric Flair. There wasn’t a dry eye in the building that night, or the following night on Raw.
Randy Orton successfully defended the WWE Championship in a match that was pretty OK. Everyone put forth their best effort, but a Playboy “BunnyMania” match wasn’t exactly the buffer fans needed to digest the heart-break that was Flair vs. Michaels. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was how NOT TERRIBLE the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Big Show was. Not that it was a technical marvel, but the two shocked with fun segment that provided a ton of mainstream press for the show.
