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.

Update on Bobby Lashley Leaving the WWE

Although Bobby Lashley did announce on the Internet that he is going to leave the WWE it seems that he still did not sign the release forms that were sent to him. This might be a very similar case to what happened with Brock Lesnar. Lashley did have a long term contract with the company and this might mean that if he asks to be released there might be a "no-compete clause" somewhere in there. If you are not aware, this would mean that Bobby Lashley would not be able to compete in other companies for a given time. This includes MMA, the company that Lashley wanted to work with. Many individuals think that this clause is what will get Lashley back in the WWE.

We still do not know why Lashley wants to leave the company but we might assume that it is because of his Wrestlemania fee. He did complain to the fact that he only made $250,000 dollars that night. A lot of people think that this is simply ungrateful from Bobby Lashley but we do need to think about the fact that his wrestling match against Umaga with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special referee and the whole Trump versus McMahon storyline is the one that brought in the biggest amount of money that night. Rumors also have it that some comments that Michael Hayes, head writer for Smackdown, made regarding Krystal Marshall. It seems that Bobby Lashley took the comments personal and this immediately led to a bad relationship with Hayes.

Survivor Series Update

Survivor Series is quickly coming round the corner for the WWE and it seems like their traditional match is going to be one that will put in a lot of wrestlers that were not fitted anywhere else, which is kind of weird. The traditional Survivor Series elimination wrestling match will see the team of Rey Mysterio, Kane, Triple H, Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy fight against the team of Umaga, Big Daddy V, MVP, Mr. Kennedy and Finlay. So we basically get to see the feuds of Finlay vs Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy vs MVP and Triple H vs Umaga continue while the rest are just extras. Still, a lot of talent and potential in this match. We are also going to see a WWE Title match that will see Randy Orton against Shawn Michales (as expected) and Batista vs The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell wrestling match for the World Heavyweight Title.

This basically means that we will get to see Shawn Michaels win the title now and maybe The Undertaker defeating Batista to get back the World Heavyweight Title although there is one big question coming up: where is Edge in these plans? Given how things stood before his injury it might be something concerning both The Undertaker and Batista so we might see him interfering in the match or maybe even getting add on the title match, thus maybe obtaining a 3-way Hell in a Cell Match. That would be special and could end up spectacular. Also, what in the world happens with Chris Jericho and what is with that Save.US commercial? Leaving all aside now, I want to see Edge wrestle again and let us hope it will be a nice pay per view, not like Cyber Sunday, which in my view was kind of like a fiasco except for the Batista vs Undertaker match and the Shawn Michaels vs Randy Orton match (which still should have been better). I am also tired of Umaga vs Triple H. Get him in DX again or maybe in contendership spot or something. You are wasting him on the roster. After what Triple H had to endure at No Mercy he should get a prize of some sort!

Cyber Sunday updates

Well, we know have 6 matches to vote for when talking about the WWE's interactive pay-per-view. Besides the ones previously announced, we have three more that really need to be discussed. So, we have Triple H vs Umaga, again. We get to choose the type of match from First Blood, Street Fight or a Steel Cage Match. It will probably be a Street Fight wrestling match so I am curios to see if I am right on this. Triple H definitely needs to win this one after the incredible showing at No Mercy. Loosing to Umaga will not be tolerated by the WWE fans.

The second match sees Rey Mysterio vs Finlay, with the fans deciding the type of wrestling match again. This has been an interesting feud between the two, Rey Mysterio will probably win no matter what but I would love to see Finlay here. We get to choose from a stretcher match, a shillelagh on a pole match or a no disqualification match. After the No Mercy stunt by Finlay, maybe a stretcher match would be nice although I find it a stupid match type. My vote is for No Disqualification.

The last one is Matt Hardy vs MVP. We get to choose the type of match but this one is very interesting because we get to choose between a wrestling match, a boxing match or a mixed martial arts match. It is interesting to see that the WWE is bringing in such stipulation. A MMA match or a boxing match should end up causing a lot of damage to the opponent if we were to see it properly carried out. On the other hand, this is pro wrestling, this is entertainment so this will not happen. I am a fan of mixed martial arts though so my vote is in for that.

My personal most expected match will be Batista vs The Undertaker, Randy Orton vs Shawn Michales (if it is to happen) and a possibility of a spectacular match between CM Punk and Jon Morrison (if it is to happen again).

Shawn Michaels is Back

OK, so Shawn Michaels is back in the wrestling ring. There have been many rumors that he had to come back in November but yet, he seems to have been recalled earlier. Now we see him going after the guy that took him out, Randy Orton, which is conveniently enough the WWE Champion. OK, the WWE did good in dealing with John Cena's Injury, I have to give them that as the recent events give us many possible scenarios of how things are going to stand in the future. We might have a DX re-formation or we might see Shawn Michaels attacked by Umaga or we might see a good match that will bring The Legend Killer down or we might seem Triple H help Shawn Michaels without a re-formation of DX and we could get to see matches between Shawn Michaels and Triple H but that would mean choosing one as more of a face than the other one. Maybe Shawn Michaels will turn heel and will compete with Triple H as face. Who Knows? So many possibilities!

On the other hand, we might also see a re-formation of The Brothers of Destruction on Smackdown. They could start dominating the Tag Team titles and work towards challenging Batista. I would love to see The Undertaker as Tag Team Champion and the World Heavyweight Champion. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Triple H. Vs Randy Orton Feud

No Mercy was trully spectacular when it comes to Randy Orton vs. Triple H but in my view, it was Triple H that really stepped up. No Mercy started very strangely with the appearance of Vince McMahon and the crowning of Randy Orton as the WWE Champion. I did not like that at all, I thought there was going to be a fluke match. Then the appearance of Triple H got things interesting. I thought that maybe there will be a surprise appearance by Shawn Michaels or soemthing. We got to see how good The Game is on the microphone and what he said in the speech against Mr. McMahon was hilarious. I laughed my head off. Then the first match started for the WWE Championship: Randy Orton vs Triple H. It was a pretty classic match, two attempts at finishers, a figure 4 leg lock, some classic Randy Orton moves and eventually a win by Triple H with a simple roll up. This means the 11th title for Triple H came at a time in which WWE needed something big for the championship.

On the other hand, Triple H was scheduled to face Umaga so it was no surprise that the match still went on and it was for the WWE Championship. Once again, it was clear that Triple H was going to win and the match would be a formality. It was great to see Triple H walking down the aisle with the belt around his waist though, I personally missed that as I am a Triple H fan. While the match was going on it was interesting to see a kid that sat at ring side. During the Randy Orton vs Triple H match he was really mad that Triple H won but during this second match he was cheering Triple H. The match was not bad. A great Black Hole Slam, classic Triple H spinebuster and the pedigree. Triple H won but it seemed as if his ribs got a lot of beating.

I thought all was nice and I did not expect to see a new match involving Triple H for the WWE Championship. Well, we still had Randy Orton vs Triple H in a Last Man Standing Match. Such a match is clear and everybody knew that it was going to be a match that will involve a lot of extra weapons. We had a chair, the ring steps, destroyd commentator tables and a finish that involved an RKO on the RAW commentator table. The Game got up at 11 but 10 was all that was needed so Randy Orton is the WWE Champion. Interesting night for both Triple H and for the WWE Championship. Orton gets the shortest rain as WWE Champion ever and Triple H brought a lot of fans to their feet. Great feud and hopefully we will see a new match between Orton and Triple H. As the things went at No Mercy, Triple H should win that one and become the 12 times WWE Champion.