Our WWE expert Richard Parr, a lifelong fan, talks you through the hoopla of Wrestlemania week.
Wrestlemania XXIV Week Diary
The WWE's biggest show of the year returned last Sunday with the 24th annual Wrestlemania. Press and media from all over the world including China, Japan, Chile, Germany and France travelled to Orlando, Florida for a week long schedule of activities.
So skysports.com sent their very own Wrestling expert Richard Parr to give his views on the week's proceedings.
Wednesday 26th March
The WWE's and Wrestlemania's effect on the city of Orlando became immediately apparent from the moment I touched down in the Sunshine State. As my taxi headed to the hotel from the airport the driver began to regale to me stories (sounding a bit like Bill Crosby in the process) of all of his favourite wrestlers he used to watch in Orlando. Very aptly he mentioned many legends, including nearly all the wrestlers who were to be honoured into the Hall of Fame on the Saturday evening. He mentioned heroes such as Ric Flair, Eddie Graham, Gordon Solie and his favourites the Brisco Brothers.
Checking into the hotel the WWE's impact became very clear as it was full of promotional material including posters of The Big Show and Floyd Mayweather inside the lift doors. After a spot of dinner and being challenged to a wrestling match by a guy who claimed to be a North America Collegiate Amateur wrestling champion (which I declined, due to tiredness obviously) I hit the hay.
Thursday 27th March
Struggling to adapt to the time change I woke up at 4.30am. Unable to get back to sleep I decided to make an early morning trip to Disney World.
Having dominated most of the rides in the morning and got Piglet (from Winnie the Pooh) to give me his opinion that The Big Show would defeat Floyd 'Money' Mayweather at Wrestlemania on the Sunday night, I headed to Downtown Disney.
A packed Virgin Megastore full of WWE fans were ready to get an autograph from Chris Jericho as he promoted his book 'A Lions Tale' while I crossed the road to the House of Blues for the THQ/WWE Smackdown v Raw 2008 Video Game challenge. Sixteen WWE Superstars and Divas locked horns playing as themselves on the WWE video game.
Before the Superstars took to their consoles, four of the World's best players faced off to win tickets to the Hall of Fame and front row Wrestlemania XXIV tickets. Representing the UK was Darren Lavocah and, in an exciting final, the Leicester lad looked to have lost the final to his opponent who was playing as Batista. Somehow he and his character Umaga avoided getting pinned and began to play a wily game to win the bout in thrilling fashion.
As he promised, Elijah Burke ended up retaining his title by defeating Kofi Kington as I headed back to the hotel for some food and then bed.
Friday 28th March
After a lazy morning, the afternoon was all about one-to-one interviews with a collection of WWE Superstars at their hotel. And as a journalist for Sky Sports I first got to speak to the giant who would headline Wrestlemania - The Big Show.
Having met many WWE Superstars, some of which look smaller than on television and many who look their gigantic size or bigger, The Big Show was simply enormous. The former five-time World Champion had to duck his head just to enter the room. There are no words either to describe the size of his hands. I am 6 foot 2 inches tall and I have never felt so small in my life.
Following an entertaining interview with The Big Show, who really seemed determined to hurt Mayweather, I spoke to William Regal. The Raw General Manger is very open in his responses and seems the kind of guy I could talk hours to about Wrestling. I also got an opportunity to speak to former Playboy cover-girl Ashley who would wrestle in the Bunnymania Match and the always entertaining Santino Marella.
With the interviews complete it was time to head over to the restaurant Tommy Bahamas for an international media dinner. All the invited media were treated to a sumptuous meal and the opportunity to speak to some of the WWE stars in a relaxed environment.
As we walked into the restaurant it was exciting to see 'The Mouth of the South' Jimmy Hart acting as the Maitre D'. Inside Tommy Bahamas I had the chance to mix and mingle with the beautiful ECW Diva Kelly Kelly, the always smiley ring announcer Lilian Garcia and the humongous Great Khali.
Unfortunately for him no one really recognised cruiserweight Shannon Moore but I popped over to say hello anyway.
In a dinner which had WWE CEO Linda McMahon as the guest of honour the real highlight of the night for me was getting to meet Hall of Famer and former WWE and WCW announcer Mean Gene Okerland. A real hero of mine it was great to receive interview tips from the night's host. He told me that the key to interviewing is to 'listen'. He also explained that these days there are no interviewers that really react to what is being said by the person being interviewed.
After the meal, where every table had a replica WWE title as the centre piece, all the media (and Mean Gene and Lilian) headed for a few drinks next door before travelling back to the hotel in preparation for another busy day on Saturday.
Saturday 29th March
For the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania XXIV, the WWE were holding their Fan Axxess tour and for the remaining three days before the event the tour headed to Universal Studios, Orlando. So early on Saturday morning I decided to check it out.
WWE fans were able to recreate their favourite Superstars' entrances, have their wrestling knowledge tested in a quiz called "How Raw are you?" and also get a photo with a replica WWE belt behind a set of ring ropes. The visiting supporters could also get temporary tattoos of their favourite wrestlers. As one kid was getting a CM Punk tattoo I asked him whether he thought the former ECW Champion would win the Money in the Bank ladder match. When he replied "yes", little did I know he'd be proved right.
While the fans got to meet and greet Deuce, Domino and Cherry from Smackdown and WWE legend Hacksaw Jim Duggan I headed over to the red carpet for the WWE's Make-a-Wish Foundation Pizza Party.
It was a celebration for the WWE's Circle of Champions, children with life-treatening illnesses attending Wrestlemania. Stars for the party were Chris Jericho, Mickie James (who was very enthusiastic about the WWE's involvement in the Make-a-Wish programme) and former WWE Champion John Cena.
With the Champions and Superstars in place for the pizza party we headed back to the hotel for a quick spot of lunch (where I actually had pizza) and to get changed for the Hall of Fame. At lunch I sat with the editor and a journalist of a Japanese weekly wrestling magazine. The journalist sitting with me told me that he had attended every single Wrestlemania. A very impressive feat and one I was extremely jealous of.....although I only would have been one-year-old had I attended the first Wrestlemania!
All suited and booted we headed to the Amway Arena for the annual WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. I arrived at around 3pm for the pre-show press conference. Many of the journalists in attendance were just expecting to interview some of the inductees and those who would induct them.
And it started off that way. Hosted by our former Maitre D' Jimmy Hart, the conference began with Mae Young informing us that she vows to wrestle when she is 100 years old and that Stephanie McMahon wants her to wrestle her daughter then.
Next we had what we thought would be the highlight of the conference. A very emotional and tearful Ric Flair gave us a glimpse of his feelings and mindset ahead of his induction that evening. Following Flair we heard from inductees Rocky Johnson and Jack and Jerry Brisco; John Bradshaw Layfield (who would induct the Briscoes); Carlito ahead of his Money in the Bank ladder match; Hall of Famer Sergeant Slaughter, and Playboy Cover Girl Maria.
The whole room was then surprised as the interviewees got better and better. First the always ultra busy John Cena found time in his schedule to take to the conference table. Then, one of his opponents at Wrestlemania XXIV, the WWE Champion Randy Orton came to speak to the media. When I asked the 'Legend Killer' whether he knew that normally in the last match of a Wrestlemania card the fans favourite ends up winning, he seemed nonchalant, but that's probably because his match surprisingly went on third to last!
After the Champion left the stage another surprise was thrown in as Shane McMahon came out to face the questions of the media. The Executive Vice President of WWE Global Media told me that we should expect to see a physical Hall of Fame for fans to visit in the next few years. He said that many sites had been discussed including Orlando but one still hadn't been confirmed. Vince McMahon's son, after the conference, promised to give me a full interview next time he was in the UK so I look forward to that.
The press now thought the conference had finished and were ready for a spot of dinner before the Hall of Fame ceremony. That was until Shane McMahon announced the final man to be interviewed was the best pound-for-pound Boxer in the world Floyd 'Money' Mayweather. Appearing much more humble in real life than he is portrayed, as we reported on skysports.com, the Pretty Boy still couldn't help having a dig at Ricky Hatton when he said:
"Ricky Hatton, what does he do? He's a boxer, he's one-dimensional. Floyd Mayweather 'the entertainer': versatile. So he'll be sitting at home, and if you're listening, tune in and buy the pay-per-view."
With the interviews complete it was time to take our seats at the Hall of Fame ceremony. Ever since it had been announced that The Rock would be inducting his Father Rocky Johnson and grand-father High Chief Peter Maivia I had been pondering whether 'The Great One' would receive a hostile welcoming. Now referring to himself only as Dwayne Johnson and refusing to discuss wrestling on his recent media tour to the UK, The Rock seemed to have distanced himself from the squared-circle.
Nevertheless I was way off the mark as the fans gave him a tremendous reception. Chants of "Please come back", and "Make him wrestle" directed at his mother Ata Maivia Johnson just summed up the fans' hopes for an in-ring return for the seven-time WWE Champion.
The Rock entertained for nearly an hour and his performance was so resounding that it probably merits its own DVD. It was magical to hear those trademark catchphrases such as "Finally The Rock has come back to Orlando", "If you smell what The Rock is cooking" and my favourite which was directed to Santino Marella "What is your name?......IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!!!".
After The Rock had finished owning the stage the ceremony went through the motions inducting all of the Class of 2008, until it was time for the headline act - The Nature Boy Ric Flair.
Flair's acceptance speech brought tears to the eyes of both Superstars and fans alike. Thanking many of his colleagues and co-wrestlers Flair was really touched by this special moment. It was a very long and emotional night and one any of those in attendance are likely to ever forget.
Sunday 30th March
Following the jam-packed and emotional Saturday a bit of swimming and shopping was in order to relax before the whole point of the weekend - Wrestlemania XXIV.
As the coach neared the Citrus Bowl there were signs for parking reaching $30, a fee that I was told was 6-times more than it would be for any other event. This was a perfect example of how Wrestlemania fever had helped introduce $30 million (£15million) into the Orlando economy.
We then entered into the stadium and took our seats. In such a huge arena we had excellent view of both the ring and entrance stage and if there was anything I missed the big screen was visible to help me out. As it was my first Wrestlemania I began to well up due to the reality of attending an event I had watched ever since I was eight-years old.
The pre-show 24 Man Battle Royal helped to get the crowd going before John Legend's 'America The Beautiful' officially got the show underway.
Finlay and JBL's Belfast Brawl was a solid start to the card before the destruction and chaos that is the Money in the Bank Ladder match. Once again Shelton Benjamin proved himself to be one of the real stars of the WWE but he was unable to win the match. CM Punk's victory was a surprise to many in a bout that Jeff Hardy looked destined to win prior to his suspension.
After Batista downed Umaga for Smackdown in the battle for brand supremacy, Kane became the new ECW Champion by immediately chokeslamming Chavo Guerrero.
One fan summed up the next match with a sign before the bout even occurred. The sign read: "Flair + Michaels = Instant Classic".
A match that easily could have headlined the show proved why Shawn Michaels is Mr Wrestlemania and why Ric Flair will be clearly missed.
John Cena's brass band entrance, although unique, took the sting off the massive reception the star's normal theme tune normally brings. Many in the Citrus Bowl were surprised that the triple-threat for the WWE Championship was not the headline act.
Randy Orton's ability to retain his title against both Cena and Triple H was followed by the match the whole world had been talking about. The best pound-for-pound Boxer in the World against the largest athlete in the World.
Floyd 'Money' Mayweather's match with the Big Show exceeded all expectations that even the most hardened critic would have expected. The 74,635 strong crowd were desperate for The Big Show to shut Mayweather up and he certainly did get a lot of offence in, much more than I thought Mayweather's involvement would allow.
The Pretty Boy did once again live up to his promises and he lived up to his bad guy image as it was down to chair shots and brass knuckles that he became victorious.
The match with the least hype in the build to Mania actually ended up being the main event. The Undertaker sent all of the fans home delirious as he became the new World Heavyweight Champion and increased his Wrestlemania record to 16-0 by defeating Edge. The bout began slowly but actually told a fantastic story and at times I really believed Edge could end The Dead Man's streak.
A fantastic show ended with an incredible firework display. Unfortunately some people were reportedly injured by the fireworks but from where I was sitting it looked an incredible show.
With so much excitement and enjoyment, and all of the WWE's hard work complete I returned to the hotel after a tremendous day.
Monday 31st March
Most of the international media departed Orlando on Monday while I had decided to stay for one extra day to witness Monday Night Raw at the Amway Arena.
However when I arrived at the arena I couldn't hear anything in my right ear. I had decided to make a trip to a water park during my free time before the show and one ride had completely knocked me for six, plugging my ear full of water.
Fortunately the WWE's events are normally very loud experiences so I could hear everything in my left ear. Some of the big stars seemed to have been rested after the craziness of the weekend but nonetheless it was an entertaining Raw. Chris Jericho defeating CM Punk and WWE Champion Randy Orton beating the returning Matt Hardy both provided enjoyable contests.
Yet the purpose of the show, and arguably the weekend, was the farewell of the Nature Boy Ric Flair. Triple H began a parade of all of the WWE Superstars who wanted to thank the Nature Boy. Modern day Superstars such as Batista, Chris Jericho and John Cena were joined by Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat, Harley Race and a long awaited Four Horsemen reunion.
With his family also in the squared-circle the entire WWE roster then made their way to ringside before The Undertaker and then Vince McMahon came out to make their own personal tributes to the 16-time World champion.
Tuesday 1st April
After a truly amazing week it was back to the airport to head back to England and reality with the thoughts of Wrestlemania XXV in Houston, Texas already beginning to circulate in my mind.
