Wrestlemania 24 - 2008 Facts

Wrestlemania 24 does seem to shape up as a huge wrestling event. It is currently the grand stage of all wrestling events around the world. Wrestlemania 24 will happen on March 30 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, with a seated capacity of 70,000 places. At the moment we have around 100 people that are working 16 hours daily in order to build the Wresltemania set and this will also bring in the largest pyrotechnics display in the history of professional wrestling. To make it even more special, we will see a new steel roof that is being constructed above the ring in order to protect all wrestlers (and hopefully spectators) from rain. This steel roof will also be the set used to hang lights and even a massive video board. We will also see a new wrestling structure built on the North End of the stadium and this is where the entrance ramp will be set up for the wrestler's entrance. WWE wants to end building the entire structure by March 29 in order to make rehearsals for the various technical parts of the show.

What is interesting is that after the show will be over we will need to wait for around 4 days until the entire structure will be pulled down. Then the WWE will immediately start planning for Wrestlemania 25 and various cities are interested in hosting the wrestling show in the future. Orlando is already pushing to host it in around 2012 again and Phoenix wants to host Wrestlemania in 2010. Wrestlemania 25 will be held in Houston, Texas.

The matches for Wrestlemania 24 are also going to be quite interesting. We have a triple threat match for the WWE Championship that features John Cena, Triple H and the current WWE Champion, Randy Orton. Then the undefeated at Wrestlemania Undertaker takes on the Rated R Superstar Edge for the World Heavyweight title. The entertainment match of Floyd "Money" Mayweather vs. Big Show (this should be interesting). A Career Threatening Match for Ric Flair as he takes on Shawn Michaels. The Smackdown vs Raw match will see Batista taking on Umaga. We also have a Belfast Brawl match between Finlay and JBL (I sincerely hope Finlay will win it - he is hard working and should get a win at Wrestlemania). There will also be a match that I will not be watching: BunnyMania Lumberjack Match featuring Candice & Maria vs. The Glamazon & Melina. We also have the Money in the Bank match of course, one that is so far filled with controversy due to Jeff Hardy's suspension. I don't think we will see Jeff in it and we will probably have to see a Money in the Bank Match at Wrestlemania 24 that features: John Morrison, CM Punk, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Chris Jericho (the man that won the Intercontinental title from Hardy and qualified for the match by defeating the same Jeff Hardy) and Mr. Kennedy. Two champs (US and Intercontinental) are put in this Money in the Bank - it should be a huge match.

The Undertaker vs Umaga

It has been reported that Umaga is going to receive a huge push in the following weeks after Wrestlemania. On that huge pay per view he will take on Batista and it is rumored that this is the match that will mark the start of the Umaga push on Smackdown. Umaga is currently wrestling for Raw but there should be a draft lottery after Wrestlemania and it is believed that the wrestler will make the switch. It is also expected that once on Smackdown, Umaga will have a big feud with the Undertaker, which will most likely win his match at Wrestlemania and become the new World Heavyweight Champion. It is also highly probable that Umaga will surpass JBL and Edge as the top heels on Smackdown, which would be a huge accomplishment for the Samoan Bulldozer. Such a feud between the Undertaker and Umaga would be something nice to see as the two have never actually crossed paths. This basically means that a new flair would be added to Smackdown. It should be quite interesting for the wrestling world to see and for WWE fans in particular. The Phenom versus the Samoan Bulldozer. Should be nice if all turns out to be true.

Hulk Hogan helped Big Show to Lose Weight

Hulk Hogan is one of the biggest factor that helped Big Show in losing weight. It was the WWE Hall of Fame Legend that introduced Big Show to the boxing trainer Artie Artwell from Miami. Big Show wanted to get into boxing and Artie Artwell helped the wrestler lose over 100 pounds. To make it even better, Big Show had one entire year that was smoke free. This is also believed to be one of the reasons why the WWE let the wrestler back in the game. Now one fact that surprised me was that Hulk Hogan took some time to help one wrestling superstar of today.

Booker T the Mentor

This is one interesting piece of wrestling news that was just revealed. We all know about the huge feud between Robert Roode and Booker T. Their rivalry is quite big in TNA but behind the curtains it is Booker T that is pulling the strings and he is actually Robert Roode's mentor. Different reports have highlighted the fact that it was Booker T that went up to TNA management and asked for a feud with Robert Roode. It seems that the reason behind this is the fact that Booker sees a lot of potential in Roode and what is really interesting is that instead of using his position to ask for a title run or at least a feud or destroy Robert Roode he wanted a really good feud to start. Booker T does want Robert Roode to be seen in a good light and this can only turn towards a good thumbs up for the wrestler's willingness to promote younger talent. Booker T is also quite known as talking to younger wrestlers in TNA and always giving advice, trying to rise younger wrestlers. Needless to say that Robert Roode got a lot of credibility from his push in the matches with Booker T. Now we need to ask ourselves what will happen in the future with Roode after this feud is over. It is true that Robert Roode grew a lot lately thanks to the Booker T mix but let us see if he can keep it up in the wrestling ring and see his career go from there.

Jeff Hardy Suspended

Jeff Hardy virtually blew the possibility to appear in Wrestlemania this year because he has been officially suspended for 60 days by the WWE. The reason was breaking the wellness policy for the second time. This is actually the second time he has done it and this time nobody will forgive him. As we can expect the backstage reaction was pretty amazing. Most of the wrestlers are currently questioning Jeff Hardy's actions and some even label him an "idiot".

As you already know, Jeff Hardy was given quite a push and some even believe that he would have been granted the big title soon. All he would have needed to do was stay with it and work hard although there is a big chance that he is also tired at the moment from all the work. The Elimination Chamber Match was pretty brutal and it probably did have an impact on his body. We still do not know what drugs we are talking about and there is a huge chance that we will not find out.

Samoa Joe and TNA Update

We all heard about a lot of rumors that said Samoa Joe was going to leave TNA for the WWE and this has been going on for a long time. Different sources have reported that Joe was even willing to accept a salary cut to move to the WWE although this was not confirmed. Another thing that is not confirmed is that Samoa Joe is happy at the moment and enjoys his push. A lot of people expect him to win the title at Lockdown and get a dominating reign as champion. It was about time that somebody got rid of Kurt Angle as the champion. This guy does need a little rest or who knows what will happen with the recent Karen Angle things presented in the storyline.

TNA do seem confident that the offer they presented Samoa Joe with will keep him wrestling with the company. We did see him as a huge part of TNA in the past weeks and he does look quite happy with his role at the moment. We are still waiting for official confirmation though and we hope to get it as soon as possible. I would love to see Joe in TNA and not going to the WWE and him holding the title is a breath of fresh air in TNA in my view.