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WWE WrestleMania 24 Reax #6: "I found myself adamantly rooting for Big Show whereas I anticipated not caring at all."
Mar 31, 2008 - 2:34:40 PM


Sam Weiss of San Diego, Calif. (7.5): Best match, as many people have commented, was HBK-Flair. HBK and Flair both are masters at reaching out to the fans and getting them to emote. What does surprise me is that some viewers commenting on this match seem to think all the emotion displayed was a "work." While the "Old Yeller" bit was definitely a work, the emotions displayed were not. That someone so passionate as Flair (and HBK) would express (and bring out in others) great emotion at the end of one life's work is very, very normative for humans. Congratulations to both men. Worst match: yes, the Divas. Snoop, Santino, and Jerry saved it from being a total waste of time. One note on the championship matches: it seems clear that it is time to bring in some new characters and new ideas for matches. While both the WWE and World Hvt. matches were decent, they were both very predictable (given the order of the matches).

ShowBigWWE.jpg
The Big Show (WWE press photo)
Learnl Jones of Rochester N.Y. (9.0): Best Match: MITB IV and Flair vs. HBK. Damn you, Vince McMahon, for tuning out what on paper was a blah WrestleMania into a fantastic night! The reason I didn't pick a worst match was because I felt there weren't any really. Maybe we could've done without BunnyMania, but I knew coming in that it wasn't going to be a technical masterpiece. If I had to nitpick about something, it is that you really shouldn't do PPVs during the day. Trying to do pyro with the sun out is just silly. But later, when it got darker, that pyro was the best WWE has done ever. It was the great spectacle fully realized. The stage was cool looking as well when it was lit up. Flair vs. HBK was a tremendous match. I will not be surprised to see it end up on a lot of people's Match of the Year list when all is said and done this year. At this point, I can't imagine who's going to defeat the Undertaker. After last year's main event, I figured if Batista can't do it, no one will. Big Show-Mayweather was a cool match, too. Very surprised at how that turned out. Also surprised that C.M. Punk won MITB, as I'm not sold on him as a contender for a major title as of yet. But, he has 12 months or shorter to convince me. Great show! Buy the replay if you haven't seen it! I taped it and I'm going to watch it again as soon as I'm done typing this!

Justin Ballard of Boston, Mass. (7.5): Best match: Flair-Michaels. Worst match: Kane-Chavo. Very satisfying ‘Mania. Not the best by any means, but all four matches I was looking forward to delivered the goods. Flair vs. Michaels was a top-notch bout and provided a really great ‘Mania moment. The ending of the match was truly touching. Thanks for a wonderful career, Ric! Both Title matches were solid - Orton retaining was a major surprise. Edge-Taker was a worthy main event, and I was glad Edge went down looking strong. Money in the Bank was just as good as previous editions, I thought, and I was happily shocked that Punk took it. Show-Mayweather exceeded my very low expectations; I found myself adamantly rooting for Big Show whereas I anticipated not caring at all. The rest of the show was filler – the biggest disappointment being Batista-Umaga. I expected something better than a seven minute throwaway. Overall, a pretty good WrestleMania, well worth the money!

A.A. Norman of Tulsa, Okla. - My "day job" is "professional writer" (8.5): Best match: MITB; Worst match: Batista vs. Umaga. I am really hoping they let Big Show be a face for awhile after the way he moved the crowd last night. Aside from Big Show, I think other matches last night proved that there are a lot of underutilized, underrated talents on WWE's rosters. The first few that come to mind are Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison. I will beg if necessary, but they are a sure-fire reason that there needs to be tag team division matches again for title belts on PPVs. Sure, Shelton can't carry a microphone to save his life, but that's why you have a tag team partner to help out. They could be a reincarnation of Ron Simmons and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, with JBL (which would be John "Nitro" Morrison) hogging the mic and Farooq (Shelton) exclaiming "DAMN!" or some other new catchphrase. Please make it happen and make it happen soon. Next, they need to make use of celebrities more, but only ones that can be effective. Sure, Snoop Dogg is a big name, but did he even want to be there? Mayweather sure seemed to be enjoying himself, as did K-Fed on last year's Raw segments. Bring in celebrity heels that fans want to see get roughed up a bit and crowds will eat them alive when they get their comeuppance. There's a reason we loved "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and it wasn't because we got a feel-good ending like Undertaker winning the title for a perfect 16-0 at Wrestlemania. Fans seem to like seeing heels and should-be heels (Batista, Cena, Finlay) get beaten. It was good to see Ric Flair bring out the best in what would otherwise be "just another match." If younger wrestlers want to know how to make an ordinary match extraordinary, I hope they were taking notes.

We welcome your 1-10 score and comments on this show for a "Raw Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on Raw, click here.


If you saw the event, rate WrestleMania 24 on 0-10 scale:
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