for WrestleMania XXIV
Pre-show Before the show aired live on
pay-per-view,
Kane won a
24-man Interpromotional Battle Royal, an elimination style match where the last person remaining was the winner, to win an
ECW Championship match against
Chavo Guerrero later that night. The event officially began with
John Legend singing a rendition of "
America the Beautiful".
Preliminary matches The first match was a
Belfast Brawl between
Finlay and
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), a match in which there were no disqualifications or countouts and the match outcomes could have occurred anywhere. Finlay was accompanied to the ring by his
storyline son,
Hornswoggle, who was returning from a scripted injury suffered at the hands of JBL. During the match, JBL hit Finlay with a
trash can lid when the latter was about to perform a suicide dive on him through the ropes on the outside. Later on, Finlay tossed JBL through a table that he had set up earlier on the turnbuckle. Hornswoggle also got involved during the match by hitting JBL with a
kendo stick, while later on JBL threw a trash can at him. Attacking Finlay's knee with a
kendo stick, JBL delivered a
Clothesline from Hell to Finlay to score a successful
pinfall. This was an interpromotional match. The next match of the evening was the fourth-annual
Money in the Bank ladder match, in which there were no disqualifications or countouts, and the only way to win the match was to climb a ladder in the ring and retrieve a contract briefcase hanging above. The match featured
Chris Jericho,
Mr. Kennedy, and
Carlito from the
Raw brand;
CM Punk,
Shelton Benjamin, and
John Morrison from the
ECW brand; and
Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) from the
SmackDown brand.
Jeff Hardy was supposed to be in the match, but he legitimately violated the wellness program and was taken out of the match. Early in the match, Morrison climbed a
turnbuckle and performed a
moonsault onto other competitors outside the ring while holding a ladder against his chest. Later, while Kennedy and Morrison were battling on top of a ladder, Benjamin climbed another ladder placed adjacent to the first one and performed a
sunset flip powerbomb on Kennedy, who in turn
superplexed Morrison from the top of the ladder. Later, Carlito and Kennedy flipped Benjamin off a ladder in the ring, sending him crashing through another ladder set-up between the
barricade and the ring apron. When MVP was close to retrieving the contract briefcase,
Matt Hardy (returning to action after suffering a
legitimate injury), entered the ring from the crowd, climbed the ladder, and delivered a
Twist of Fate to MVP off that ladder. As soon as Morrison started to climb a ladder,
see-sawing with another ladder, Jericho flipped the other one and Morrison landed on the ring-ropes
groin-first. Jericho even performed a
Codebreaker on Punk using a ladder. In the end, Jericho and Punk fought each other on a ladder, but Punk trapped Jericho's one leg in the ladder's steps and retrieved the briefcase to win the match. This was an interpromotional match. Next after that match,
Howard Finkel introduced the
2008 WWE Hall of Fame class:
Jack and
Gerald Brisco,
Gordon Solie (represented by his family),
Rocky Johnson,
High Chief Peter Maivia (represented by his wife Lia and daughter Ata),
Eddie Graham (represented by his son Mike),
Mae Young, and
Ric Flair (represented by his family). The next match, which was billed as a "Battle for Brand Supremacy", was between SmackDown's
Batista and Raw's
Umaga. Early in the match, both Batista and Umaga exchanged blows and Batista knocked Umaga outside with a
shoulder block. Umaga later
kicked Batista in the face, which caused him to fall back-first outside the ring from the ring-apron. As a result, Umaga started targeting Batista's injured back. In the end, however, when Umaga tried to perform his
Samoan Spike, Batista countered the attempt and gave him a
spinebuster. Batista won the match by pinning Umaga after a
Batista Bomb. The fourth match for the event featured Chavo Guerrero defending his ECW Championship against Kane. Kane surprised Chavo by emerging from underneath the ring instead of from the entrance stage during his ring entrance. Kane instantly pinned Chavo after a
chokeslam and won the ECW Championship in eleven seconds. This was the only ECW match on the show and the only ECW Championship match in WrestleMania history.
Main event matches Ric Flair's
"Career Threatening" match against
Shawn Michaels was next, which stipulated that Flair would have to retire from
wrestling if he had lost. At the start of the match, both superstars engaged in a series of counters, and then Flair shoved Michaels in a corner, making "
Old Yeller" comments to him. In retaliation, Michaels slapped Flair in the face, which caused him to start bleeding from the mouth. Later, Michaels attempted
Sweet Chin Music, but stopped in the process and Flair capitalized by trapping him in his
figure four leglock. Afterward, Michaels finally delivered the Sweet Chin Music to Flair for a near-fall. Michaels then trapped Flair in his
modified figure four leglock, but Flair delivered a
thumb to the eye to Michaels to break the submission. Flair performed a low-blow for a near-fall. As Flair was delivering
chops to Michaels' chest, Michaels executed a second Sweet Chin Music. After getting up on his feet with a worried face, Michaels said to Flair "I'm sorry, I love you", before nailing a final Sweet Chin Music and thus pinning Flair to end his 35-year-long wrestling career. After the match, Michaels left quickly and Flair got a standing ovation from the crowd. An emotional Flair embraced his family at ringside and then, as he proceeded to go backstage, he thanked the crowd for their support. at WrestleMania XXIV with
Ashley Massaro and tag team partner
Maria The sixth match was the
Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match, in which
Maria and
Ashley (the latter who replaced
Candice Michelle due to injury) faced
Beth Phoenix and
Melina, who were accompanied to the ring by
Santino Marella.
Rapper Snoop Dogg served as the official "
Master of Ceremonies" for the match. In the match, several
WWE Divas surrounded the ring and were able to interfere in the match without disqualifications. Due to some technical difficulties, the lights at Citrus Bowl temporarily went out during the match. Near the end, a pin attempt by Maria was prevented when Marella pulled Maria's leg. In response, Raw commentator
Jerry Lawler approached and knocked Marella down with a punch. Phoenix executed a
Fisherman Suplex and pinned Maria to win the match. After the match, Snoop Dogg executed a Clothesline on Marella and kissed Maria, before leaving with her and Ashley. Next was
Randy Orton defending his
WWE Championship against
Triple H and
John Cena in a triple threat match, which is a standard match involving three wrestlers with no disqualifications. For his entrance, Cena had the
Jones High School Marching Tigers marching band perform an instrumental version of his theme song "
The Time Is Now" live. During the match, when Triple H had held Orton in a
sleeper hold, Cena picked up both Orton and Triple H for an
FU, but Triple H dropped down and
low blowed him. Orton then dominated the match for some time; one highlight of the match featured Orton performing a
crossbody from the top rope on Cena, while the latter was held on Triple H's shoulders in a
seating position. Orton also performed a
DDT to both Cena and Triple H simultaneously. Orton then tried to perform an
RKO on Cena, but he countered and threw Orton onto Triple H. Triple H then started targeting Orton's legs and using some submissions on him. The match came to an end when Cena had Triple H on his shoulders for the FU, but was countered into a
Pedigree. As Triple H was in the pin, Orton
punted Triple H and pinned Cena to win the match and retain the WWE Championship. lost the
World Heavyweight Championship to
The Undertaker. The next match was the No Disqualification match between
Big Show and
Floyd Mayweather. Early in the match, Mayweather repeatedly escaped Big Show's grasp and delivered body shots to him. Mayweather and his accomplices tried to "walk out" of the match, but Big Show walked up the ramp and brought Mayweather back in the ring. As Big Show was about to chokeslam Mayweather, one of Mayweather's accomplices struck a
steel chair on Big Show's back, and the latter chokeslammed him in retaliation. Capitalizing from this distraction, Mayweather grabbed that chair and hit Big Show multiple times on the head with it. Finally, Mayweather removed his right glove and put on a pair of
brass knuckles to hit Big Show in the face. As a result, Big Show was
knocked out as he could not answer the referee's
ten count, and Mayweather was declared the winner. The
main event of the night saw
Edge putting his
World Heavyweight Championship on the line against
The Undertaker. This was The Undertaker's first WrestleMania main event in 11 years, last main eventing against
Sycho Sid at
WrestleMania 13. The early going of the match was slow-paced, in which both superstars countered each other's maneuvers. During the match, The Undertaker ran and leapt over the top rope from the ring onto Edge on the outside. Then throughout the match, Edge was able to counter The Undertaker's numerous signature moves, including the
Chokeslam,
Old School and the
Last Ride, a variation of the powerbomb. Near the end, Edge hit The Undertaker with a television camera while the referee was knocked down. When he proceeded to deliver a
Tombstone Piledriver to The Undertaker, The Undertaker countered it into his own version and successfully delivered it to Edge for a very delayed two-count.
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder came to the ring for Edge's aid, but The Undertaker took them out. Because of their distraction, Edge was able to execute a
spear on The Undertaker for a near-fall. When Edge delivered another spear to The Undertaker, The Undertaker applied
Hell's Gate and forced Edge to submit to win the World Heavyweight Championship, improving his WrestleMania record to 16–0. ==Reception==