March 30, 2008 — the day WrestleMania 24 was held — will remain as one of the most important dates in history. It won’t be because of a WWE swerve on its audience to keep the WWE Championship on Randy Orton in a forgettable match, nor will it be because of the tremendous World Championship match that saw Undertaker make his ‘Mania record 16-0 while beating Edge in the process. The date will remain as one of the most important ones in wrestling history because it saw the end of an era – the end of the wrestling career of Ric Flair.
Coming into the PPV, it had become clear by today that the real main event of the show was the Career Threatening Match. An emotional Hall of Fame ceremony the night before only cemented that fact, reminding everyone that Richard Morgan Fliehr, better known to us as Ric Flair, will remain one of the most important names in wrestling history. Having held about 20 major world titles throughout the 35 years he spent in the industry, Flair enjoyed a great seven year period with WWE to cap off his career – a journey that many of his peers, and wrestling historians have followed close enough to call one of the greatest of all time. Through his early days with the AWA and NWA, through the tough time of complete disrespect and burial he faced in WCW, to his send-off in WWE, Flair remains one of the best in-ring performers, having showcased great technical ability and an unmatched wit and creativity on the microphone. Most important of all, very few people in professional wrestling have been able to draw emotion out of a crowd, like Ric Flair did – an ability he took full advantage of in the final bout of his career at WrestleMania 24.
While there is no doubt that Flair will one day be again on WWE television, it is expected it would be in a non-wrestling capacity. While “career ending” matches in wrestling have little credibility most of the time, as confirmed by the Nature Boy himself, we’ve seen the last of Ric Flair the wrestler, and what a great way to go. His match with Shawn Michaels was already ranked as a five-star bout by many analysts and reporters, although it was hardly his best in-ring performance. The bout will not be remembered for having been a technical classic, and it wasn’t meant to in the first place. WrestleMania 24 will go down in history as one of the most important dates ever because a legend retired in a match that had the right opponent, the right crowd, and the right timing in his life. The emotion that Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair drew out of some 75,000 people in an open stadium full of flaws to host such an event, as well as from million of people all over the world, will probably be unmatched for decades to come. HBK played his role very well, and so did Flair. It is the end of an era. It is the end of a legend. It is history.
Having said that, the rest of the show was a good effort by everyone, with some great matches, and some decent ones. There was really nothing bad on this show. The much-hyped Big Show/Floyd Mayweather match went beyond the average expectations in most people’s books. WWE did a very solid job in laying out the bout, as Big Show came out looking very strong in the process while taking a loss, and Mayweather came out victorious, which was enough. From what I hear, this is not the last time we see Mayweather, who’s possibly coming back for a follow-up program. WWE has big plans for Show as well, with the eventual call being a move to SmackDown! where he’s to feud with the likes of Undertaker, Khali, and Batista.
In a career that many of today’s fans consider controversial – and no doubt it is – Triple H never really had his big moment at WrestleMania. While he was given the opportunity to win the big one before (and he has – against Chris Jericho), he never had all the attention on him in a title program where he came out on top. While this was a hard set-up for that to occur, it just seemed like too many people knew. Added to the emotion of the Flair match, the Mayweather hype, and The Undertaker’s win, it now seems like a good decision to keep the title on Randy Orton. It was the right thing to do, as it makes him an even stronger champ, while it keeps Cena and The Game in the hunt. How much longer can Cena go with the “mixed reaction” gimmick is another story. It seems to me that the boos are prevailing a whole lot more since his comeback – that was certainly the case these past two days in Florida – something to think about.
The legendary Undertaker continued his streak, making it 16-0 at WrestleMania by beating Edge for the World Championship. While one can argue that more people can call the ending of this match than the WWE Championship one, I’m glad they put this one last. It’s always better for a one-on-one match to close such a big event. The Undertaker and Edge brought the best out of their bag, and after a very slow start, they ended with a near five-star match. WWE pulled the stops here, having both men kick out of their finishers several times, and to their credit, they both went all out for the match. Obviously nothing on this show could match the emotion of Flair/Michaels, but it made sense to put the happy ending on last, although I would argue that the most memorable moment could have gone last too, even if it wasn’t exactly the happiest one, but what can you do.
If you told me several years ago that some day there will be a match for the ECW Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania I would have laughed. If you told me that it will be between Chavo Guerrero and Kane, I would have cracked up. And if you told me it would last all of nine seconds, I would have just ignored you. Honestly, that’s all I have to say about that. On the other hand, it was good to see Kane get some kind of a rub after all the hard work he’s put in the company, and all the awkward storylines he’s had to deal with. Here’s a guy who’s had to suffer through masks, fires, Katie Vick, and an enraged character who seemed to get a new trait every week that nobody understood. He’s always been a prominent part of their booking, and has played the “Plan B” guy for years. In a trivia note, Kane has played some part in the last nine WrestleMania shows, which is quite the accomplishment. In another trivia note, there’s only one person in the history of WWE who has appeared on all 24 WrestleMania PPVs – Howard Finkel.
In a “I hope they figure it out soon” situation, WWE handed the “Money in the Bank” honors to CM Punk this year, as the ECW superstar won a good match. Although it wasn’t as creative as previous MITB bouts, this one featured a few insane spots (I hope Shelton Benjamin is alive), and some great execution from all guys who worked really hard. Hopefully everyone is feeling okay! WWE management has been all over the place with CM Punk lately. They were huge supporters of him through his ECW Championship run, then he was in the doghouse for quite a while. After tonight, who knows? Hopefully they figure it out soon, but this win is a good indication that Punk is switching brands soon, which can only be a good thing for him. Right?
JBL and his man boobs have had a hard time in the ring since returning to action. Tonight he looked as good as he probably could, and Finlay had a major part in that. The two had a fun opener that went the right amount of time, featured the right style, and had some great spots to get the crowd going and not burn them out. Kudos to both guys for the hard work. Finlay should be very happy with his decision to return to the ring at such a late phase of his life, as it’s allowed him to be in a couple of WrestleMania shows, and he’s also managed to have a few memorable moments here and there. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes, and how Mr. McMahon and Hornswoggle are involved from here on. Actually, I take that back – I hope this was the last we saw of this storyline!
Well, I wish I could say Batista and Umaga tried, but I can’t. They just seemed like they didn’t want to be there. Umaga, one of the most underrated workers in the entire company, usually has good big-time matches as witnessed in his storyline with John Cena. Perhaps due to the time limit they were given, or the overall emotion of the night, the two didn’t find it in them to have a good one. They did try in the first few minutes, but it quickly died off after that. The plan here is for Umaga to move to SmakDown and feud with Batista, as well as have a title program with Undertaker, which should be very interesting!
In closing, I want to thank Ric Flair for all the wonderful moments he’s provided generations of wrestling fans. I’m glad he was able to have his last hoorah on his terms, and although there is plenty that can be written about his send-off and how “badly executed” it was, think of it this way. A few years ago, Eric Bischoff almost single-handedly robbed us of the memories we gained tonight. So let’s not worry about it, and simply remember the greatness of the Nature Boy. Here is to ya, Naitch!
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