Diamonddust

To have the big celebrity crossover. I'm just speculating, but since Rock will be at the Hall of Fame ceremony, I don't think he would turn down a big pay check to get some press and work with Mayweather. I don't see Big Show going over, but how else can they have Mayweather win without making Show look like a joke? I believe The Rock has made it clear he has to fly back to a movie shoot immediately after the Hall of Fame ceremony. Rumors of him appearing at Wrestlemania will be on the same level of Bret Hart making an appearance the day after his induction. The best way to have Big Show save face is for outside interference to cost him the match. If Rey is up to it, I wouldn't be shocked if that's who they use, although then it would be someone who is probably just as small as Mayweather taking down "the biggest athlete in the world". If they weren't planning on keeping Big Show heel, I'd say have the Money in the Bank Winner (MVP or Kennedy) do the run-in and set up a mini-feud with Big Show before they challenge a world champion.

Watching Raw on Monday when Lawler tagged out after one of the divas tagged in, I and probably a lot of other people thought that Andy Kaufman was probably looking down and just shaking his head at Lawler for doing that.

Federation Era: Wrestlemania VIII Attitude Era: Wrestlemania X-7 Current Era: Wrestlemania XXIII

How do you think the match order will go? Here's what I'm guessing: Chavo vs. ??? Money in the Bank Batista vs. Uamaga Flair vs. Michaels Finlay vs. JBL Edge vs. Taker Big Show vs. Mayweather Bunny-Mania Triple Threat Match It's a hard one to figure when determining what matches will be used to bring the crowd down and what matches will be used to elevate them (The matches that follow Money in the Bank, Flair/Michaels, and Big Show/Mayweather will be interesting to see).

I like the wrestling although you used the armbar to death back in those days. But it's the interviews that are gold and that is where they blow away the guys of today. The interviews and hype were the big part of the program. If you wanted to see good wrestling, you were going to have to pay for a ticket to the live show. All the "studio shows" were about getting people to the local event that particular week.

From the looks of the aerial pictures, the ring does appear to be at about the 50 yard line with the entrance ramp coming from the open end of the stadium. A previous article stated that by using the open end as the entrance, the WWE is having to build a pretty big tent city to serve as the backstage and locker room area.

WrestleMania XXIV == Sunday, March 30th 2008 == LIVE from The Citrus Bowl WWE Championship: Randy Orton© vs. Triple H vs. John Cena World Heavyweight Championship: Edge© vs. The Undertaker Floyd Mayweather vs. The Big Show Career Threatening Match Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels Money in the Bank Ladder Match Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. MVP vs. Johnny Nitro vs. Carlito Smackdown vs. Raw Batista vs. Umaga ECW Championship Chavo Guerrero© vs. Winner of 24-Man Battle Royal Belfast Brawl Finlay vs. JBL Playboy Bunnymania Lumberjack Match Ashley & Maria vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina This is officially the thread for all WrestleMania XXIV discussion....starting....NOW. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the TV stations in Orlando has some new pics of the set construction, including the entrance and roof over the ring: http://www.cfnews13.com/Entertainment/HeyJ...itrus_bowl.html It'll be interesting to see if people report on the tent obstructing their view, even though it's designed not to do so.

Agreed... see Prince's performance at the Super Bowl in Miami. As for the roof, I thought it was just covering the ring area. I'm pretty certain the field will be uncovered due to the fact they have heavy boarding on it to cover up the grass.

I miss it to an extent. I miss the fact the WWE doesn't have serious competition to keep them on their toes. The Monday Night Wars were at its peak during the time I was in high school so I have fond memories of that whole period. Monday night was such an anticipated time for a while. I miss the atmosphere of that. Even though I knew about the sale, seeing Vince McMahon open the last episode of Nitro was the most surreal thing I've ever watched in terms of wrestling. In fact, when I was a sophomore (1998), we had to write a letter to ourselves 10 years in the future. Classmates of mine have started getting theirs so I'm anxious to see mine considering I know I have a portion in there that documented what was happening in the wrestling world at the time (We're talking around mid to late February 1998 - a month before Austin's first title win and about the time of Sting/Hogan at Superbrawl).

With a roof over the ring, the match itself would be protected... the fans, though, might scatter. Still, storms in the south at this point of the year are a come and go thing. It might rain real hard, if that, for five minutes or so and then stop as if nothing had happened.

Florida at this time of the year has about the same potential to have tornadoes as does Kansas. Hurricane season doesn't start until June.

Either the triple threat match or Mayweather/Big Show is my guess.

I remember when they did that with Nacho Libre, and people on here were adamantly sure that Jack Black was going to do a match in WWE. Didn't King Leonidas stay on the roster for a while as well?

It was counter-productive to the line of thinking that typically drew them money: Super-hero baby face vs. the big, giant monster.

Here are my predictions for Wrestlemania this year. What does everyone else think? Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. HHH vs. Randy Orton (Champion) -This match has been built as Cena vs. HHH with Orton, the champion, as an afterthought. Most people are predicting HHH to win as Cena is about to go film another movie, and HHH has lost at a lot of Wrestlemanias recently. Orton has an outside chance since he submitted to the figure-four on Raw, and if that happens, the guy usually gets the heat back at the PPV. Still, as much as Orton has improved, I don't see anything but HHH winning this match. The Streak vs. The Title: World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Undertaker vs. Edge (Champion) -It's the battle of the two men who have never been pinned at Wrestlemania (Edge did technically lose the Money in the Bank match last year). I have a feeling they are going to steal the show, much like Taker and Batista did last year. Taker and Edge tend to bring their A-game when it comes to Wrestlemania. Still, the streak isn't ending, even though it would do wonders for Edge's career. Taker wins and gets the extended title reign he was supposed to have last year. David vs. Goliath: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. The Big Show -This match started off with a super-hot angle as Mayweather busted Big Show's nose back at No Way Out. Along the way, however, the WWE hasn't gotten the message the fans want to boo Mayweather and cheer Big Show. Both have been portrayed as heels, and it's been quite confusing to the common fan. I fully expect a melee amongst the entourages, especially if Big Show brings down a whole bunch of wrestlers to watch his back. In the chaos, someone will probably run in, nail Big Show, and allow Mayweather to get the win. Big Show, though, will come out of this still looking pretty good. The Nature Boy vs. The Showstopper: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels -In the match I'm most looking forward to, Ric Flair enters the ring in probably the last match of his active career as he takes on the man who has idolized him, Shawn Michaels. Many have picked apart how this angle has been booked, but the most recent altercation on Raw was absolutely incredible. I fully expect Shawn Michaels to make Flair look like a million bucks and then some. I'm guessing near falls a plenty, and a finish involving something along the lines of Michaels superkicking Flair, thinking about pinning him for a moment, and then finally pinning Flair. Flair will be emotional in the end, and I do hope he does the tradition of leaving his boots and robe in the ring as a symbol of retirement. I just hope the crowd treats this match as best as it can. Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Chris Jericho vs. Kennedy vs. MVP vs. Carlito vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. CM Punk vs. John Morrison -This match was originally going to have 8 people in it, and it was Jeff Hardy's to win. Unfortunately, Jeff Hardy had to act like Jeff Hardy and got a 60 drug suspension. As a result, the outcome for this one is up in the air. We have three legitimate people who could win it in Jericho, Kennedy, and MVP. Jericho really doesn't need it, while Kennedy winning it would be a do-over from last year, even though he's prone to screwing up golden opportunities (Getting injured, running his mouth, etc.). MVP, in my opinion, is a logical choice as it would allow for a Undertaker/MVP feud this summer, or even a MVP/HHH feud. The only thing keeping MVP from winning it would be Matt Hardy making a surprise showing and continuing that feud. Punk, Morrison, and Carlito will be nothing but extra bodies to bump around. I'm going with MVP to win, and Kennedy as the back-up. Smackdown vs. Raw: Batista vs. Umaga -Umaga has really grown on me over the months, and I really hope he beats the hell out of Batista, who is someone I just can't stand at all. I do know, however, that won't happen as Batista will probably win. I've heard the feud should continue this spring with Umaga jumping to Smackdown, where he should do quite well. I do expect this to be a nice brawl. Beltfast Brawl: Finlay vs. JBL -This match should be the conclusion of the Hornswaggle angle, which has been quite polarizing. The build to this match started real strong with JBL really being a dick and injuring Hornswaggle while Finlay, handcuffed to a cage, was forced to watch. It has cooled off considerably, even with Vince McMahon's involvement in the angle at the beginning. I'm guessing Finlay wins this, but don't count out JBL with assistance from a heel turning Hornswaggle. Like Umaga/Batista, this should be a hell of a brawl. Bunnymania: Maria/Ashley vs. Beth Phoenix/Melina -The usual women's match was supposed to be Maria/Candice vs. Beth Phoenix/Melina, but Candice got injured again so they put Ashley, another playmate, into the mix. If they keep this one under 10 minutes, it'll be ok... anything else will be torture on the crowd. Maria/Ashley should get the win, although I really would like to see Beth just beat the hell out of everyone. 24 Man Battle Royal/Winner Meets Chavo Guerrero -In the usual "Let's get everyone involved so they get a Wrestlemania payday" match, we have a 24 man battle royal with the winner meeting Chavo Guerrero immediately afterwards for the ECW Title. They've been building The Great Khali as a potential winner, but I don't see them doing a heel vs. heel match. As a result, I'm picking Kane to win the battle royal and ECW Title. I wouldn't be shocked, however, if Colin Delaney, who is doing a great job in playing Mikey Whipwreck 2.0, win the battle royal on a fluke and win the ECW Title on an even bigger fluke.

Unfortunately, Orton hasn't looked real strong in a while...

It was down to Orton vs. Michaels/Flair... Michaels stops Flair from putting on the figure four, Flair responds with a nut-shot, and then Flair slaps the figure-four on Orton. Orton sold it like his legs were snapping, and Flair got the victory.

Great ending... at least for any Flair mark.

Good to see Finlay...

I missed it..when is this match? Tomorrow on ECW With all the guys in the battle royal I assume? Correct

I missed it..when is this match? Tomorrow on ECW

I know they didn't have people the size of the guys you mentioned, but wasn't there a 5 tag-team, 10 vs. 10 elimination match at the first Survivor Series?

Hell, Melina hasn't been in Playboy so why not have Mickie as Maria's partner. What does Melina have to do with it? Beth hasn't been in Playboy..it's the Playboy girls vs. the non-Playboy girls. Good point...

Hell, Melina hasn't been in Playboy so why not have Mickie as Maria's partner.

The Rock, without a doubt. Honorable mention would be Sid.