In A Word....Perfect!

WrestleMania 24 has now come and gone. Its in the history books and the general consensus among fans is that it was a home run. Awesome event. My entire weekend was based on WrestleMania. I made my predictions on the show Friday, and enjoyed the Hall Of Fame ceremony on Saturday before the actual event on Sunday. The HOF was amazing. The Rock returned for one night to induct his father and grandfather, and looked to have a good time being in front of his former colleagues for the first time in years. And of course, Ric Flair's induction was the highlight of the night. Emotional, touching and at times humerous, the Nature Boy wore his heart on his sleeve and was visibly humbled as Triple H introduced him. On Sunday, the event was on the minds of millions of WWE fans. In the end, it was a solid card, and the matches were well-paced and told some great, emotional stories in the ring.

My brother Brendon and I saw the show in a packed theater at the Galaxy in Saskatoon. If you've never seen a WWE PPV at a theater, you're missing out. Unless you happen to own an HD home theater system of your own, there's nothing like it. We got in the city at about 1:30 in the afternoon, hit up Blockbuster and then drove to the theater, where we picked up our tickets early before going to Midtown Plaza. Later, we went back to the Galaxy and took our seats, with well over an hour before WrestleMania was to start at 5:00. Luckily, the one hour pre-show came on at 4:00 so that was a good time-killer.

Finally, 5:00 hit and the show began. Let the games begin...

I loved the show. I can honestly say it was the best WrestleMania I've seen since WM20. The Citrus Bowl looked incredible and the setup was amazing. And for the first time in years, the match order FINALLY made sense and Smackdown got the main event slot for the first time since Angle/Lesnar at WM19.

As for the matches, these were the results, and they're in order along with the approximate length of each one.

1. Belfast Brawl match, JBL vs. Finlay: Solid opener. In a packed multiplex theater, the smack of those weapons was crisp and clear, lol. Nice torpedo through the ropes by Finlay, never seen him do that before. Thought Vince would interfere in it but glad he didn't. This was just a straight-up fight that JBL won with the Clotheline From Hell. Good match, wise choice for an opener. WINNER: JBL with the Clotheline From Hell at about 9:00

2. Money In The Bank Ladder match, Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. CM Punk vs. John Morrison vs. Carlito vs. Ken Kennedy vs. Shelton Benjamin: Incredible. I think it managed to top the previous 3. People whined and moaned about Jeff Hardy not being it cuz he got suspended. But really, what else could he do with a ladder that we haven't seen before? John Morrison became the new daredevil with that moonsault. That was incredibly brutal! And the look on Carlito's face when he and Kennedy dumped Benjamin onto that ladder outside was priceless! "Oh my God, we killed Benjamin!" Amazing spots and I hope nobody was seriously hurt. CM Punk winning was a pleasant surprise. WINNER: CM Punk at about 14:00

3. Smackdown vs Raw match, Batista vs. Umaga: With the time these two had, I think they made the best of it. I didn't expect a 5-star classic. Wasn't a huge fan of the finish, thought Umaga would maybe kick out of the Batista Bomb, making Dave hit another one to finally win, but whatever. Decent, but could've used a couple more minutes. WINNER: Batista with the Batista Bomb at about 8:00

4. ECW Title match, Kane vs. Chavo Guerrero: What was that, 7 seconds? Looking back on the show overall, obviously they didn't have time for a planned-out match so they decided to surprise everyone with a title switch. Reminded me of Diesel beating Bob Backlund in 8 seconds for the WWF Title back in November 1994. I'm curious to see what they got in store for Kane, and I'm glad the WWE finally gave the big man a title. WINNER: Kane with a chokeslam in about 7 seconds

5. Career Threatening match, Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels: Wow. Just wow. What an emotional story. Flair, the wily veteran bringing his A-game in what could be his final dance, and Michaels, the life-long fan given the task of putting his idol out to pasture. Great action that got the fans really into it. Though Flair botched the moonsault outside the ring. HBK basically moonsaulted onto the mat cuz Flair sure as hell didn't catch him! That other moonsault onto the Raw announce table had to hurt like hell, planned or not planned! Some people think Flair was already out of it 10 minutes in, but I didn't think so. It went at a good pace and was a good see-saw contest. Incredible moment at the end when HBK said "I'm sorry, I love you" and then BAM. Sweet Chin Music. Wonder if we'll ever find out what he said to Flair right after the pin. Reminded me of Rock and Austin at Mania 19 when Rock pushed Hebner away and said something to Austin. Amazing match. Thanks for the memories, Nature Boy! WINNER: Shawn Michaels with some Sweet Chin Music at about 21:00

6. BunnyMania tag team match, Maria/Ashley vs. Melina/Beth Phoenix: Honestly? Better than I thought it would be. It was fun, light entertainment, and that clotheline Snoop gave Santino was hilarious. Really made the fans pop. I also gotta give the girls props for continuing to fight despite the entire Citrus Bowl going dark for a few moments before the backup lights came on. WINNERS: Beth Phoenix & Melina with Phoenix pinning Maria with a fisherman's suplex at about 7:00

7. WWE Championship match, Triple Threat rules, Randy Orton (C) vs. Triple H vs. John Cena: What was with that marching band? Did the WWE think fans would cheer Cena more if they got some high school kids backing him up? And is it just me, or does anyone else think Randy Orton only has one pair of tights? He's been wearing those black and red ones forever! Anyway, this was a good match but I thought it needed 5-7 more minutes. Some great spots and nice back-and-forth action between all 3. All 3 looked great and you really couldn't determine who was gonna win. I was surprised that Orton kept the Title but I fully support it. As long as Cena didn't win, lol. Was also glad Cena was the one pinned, too. WINNER: Randy Orton, pins John Cena after Triple H gives him the Pedigree at about 14:00

8. Special Attraction match, The Big Show vs. Floyd Mayweather: Wasn't huge on this one. I knew Mayweather was winning because he wouldn't have agreed to do it if he wasn't. Some entertaining moments, though. And where was this supposed "shocking swerve" we were gonna witness? Mayweather's entourage said something like that in an interview. If he meant the brass knucks, oh wow, I'm completely shocked! *sarcasm* Now take your millions and get lost, Mayweather. WINNER: Floyd Mayweather by knockout at about 11:00

9. World Heavyweight Title match, Edge (C) vs. The Undertaker: My favorite match of the night. Awesome main event. Was surprised at the amount of punishment Edge dished out to the Dead Man, but then it turned very back-and-forth. Loved how Edge kept avoiding the old school forearm until the fans went nuts when Taker finally hit it. And who doesn't love the classic "let's trade finishers" climax? Edge hits the Impaler, Taker kicks out. Taker hits a chokeslam, Edge kicks out. Edge bashes Taker with a camera, Taker kicks out. Taker hits the Last Ride, Edge kicks out. Taker hits the Tombstone, Edge kicks out. Charles Robinson running for all he's got down the aisle, just priceless! People in the audience where I saw it were screaming "RUN CHARLIE RUN!" Lol. Finally, Edge hits the spear and Taker kicks out. After the second one, Taker locks on the triangle chokehold and we got a new World Champion. I loved the match and was pleased it was the main event. WINNER: The Undertaker wins the World Heavyweight Title with a triangle chokehold at about 24:00

Overall, WrestleMania 24 lived up to my expectations and exceeded them. The venue, the atmosphere, the setup, the matches, the storytelling, just amazing. Couldn't have been booked better in my opinion. One for the books, and I'm definitely picking it up on DVD.

I give it a 9.5/10. For the first time in a long time, WrestleMania was simply......perfect!

*UPDATE* Now with WrestleMania having come and gone, last night's Raw showed that the WWE is heading in new directions with fresh feuds and new angles. It looks like Randy Orton has a new challenger for the WWE Title, and that's JBL. I like the idea, because its rare to see a heel vs heel program. Makes the fans cheer for SOMEBODY, and that someone would likely be the Champ himself. Orton's an awesome heel, but JBL just has that natural ability to make people hate him. Orton at least is more athletic and younger. If this is a possible match for the Backlash PPV at the end of this month, I'm all for it.

The Big Show also has a new opponent in front of him, The Great Khali. Two behemoths. I loved the camera angle they used on Raw last night when they stood face-to-face. Also looks like a Backlash match.

Shawn Michaels was depressed on the show last night because he now has to live with the guilt of being the man who ended Ric Flair's career. He was shown in the backstage area collecting his thoughts, when the camera veered and showed Batista glaring at him. Of course, Batista and Flair were close friends in the stable Evolution a few years ago, so maybe the idea is to have Batista go after HBK in some sort of revenge angle. Who knows. I like the idea of it.

Speaking of Flair, the final segment on Raw was his farewell address. Once again, the Nature Boy was emotional and soon had tears in his eyes, as did many fans in the audience. Suddenly, just when it looked like he was ready to leave the ring and the minds of pro wrestling fans forever, Triple H came out and said his thanks for everything Flair has done for the business. The Game then introduced dozens of other superstars, past and present, to come to the ring and give thanks to the legendary grappler. The highlight of the evening was definitely when the original Four Horsemen, Flair's iconic stable from the 1980's, made an appearance and gave homage to their former leader. Soon the entire WWE roster surrounded the ring and led the fans in chanting "THANK YOU RIC, THANK YOU RIC!" Simply incredible. Its moments like these that live on in the minds of fans for years.

An incredible WrestleMania weekend, capped off with an emotional farewell on Raw. So now, we move on to Smackdown, which will be taped tonight and then air on Friday. I'll be curious to see where that brand goes from here.

This is for you, Naitch...

WWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Keep 'em laughin',
Derek