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WrestleMania XXIV was the twenty-fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), it was also the first WrestleMania event to be broadcast in HD. The event took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida and was the first WrestleMania to be held in the state of Florida. WrestleMania XXIV was the second WrestleMania to be held outdoors, with the first being WrestleMania IX, held in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the event, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main bout. The first of these matches was a Singles match from the SmackDown brand that featured The Undertaker defeating World Heavyweight Champion Edge to win the title. The second was a Triple Threat match from the Raw brand, in which WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated challengers Triple H and John Cena to retain the championship. The other was a singles match from the ECW brand, in which Kane defeated ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero to win the ECW title. From the six scheduled bouts on the undercard, three received more promotion than the others. In a No Disqualification match, Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Big Show. The second match involved wrestlers from all three brands fighting in a Money in the Bank ladder match, which CM Punk won. The other match was a retirement match in which Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair, leading to Flair's departure from the WWE and a period of retirement from active wrestling. Tickets for the event commenced sale to the public on November 3, 2007.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=What you need to know about WrestleMania XXIV )〕 WWE and the City of Orlando hosted festivities that spanned a five-day period within the central Florida region. For the second consecutive year, WrestleMania broke the record for the highest-grossing pay-per-view in WWE history. It also set a gate record for the Citrus Bowl, grossing US$5.85 million in ticket sales. According to a study by Enigma Research Corporation of Toronto, the Citrus Bowl's record-breaking attendance brought an estimated $51.5 million – surpassing the projected $25 million – into the local economy and generated $1.8 million in local tax revenue. The Central Florida Sports Commission reported that the event created jobs and brought approximately 60,000 visitors to the city. Over one million people ordered the event on pay-per-view, grossing $23.8 million in revenue. ==Background== WrestleMania featured nine professional wrestling matches with wrestlers involved in pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines. Wrestlers were portrayed as either villains or fan favorites as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers belonged to either the Raw, SmackDown, or ECW brand – storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs. The predominant rivalry scripted into WrestleMania on the Raw brand was between Randy Orton, John Cena, and Triple H, over the WWE Championship. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in January, Randy Orton successfully defended the WWE Championship against Jeff Hardy at the same event where John Cena returned from an injury and won the Royal Rumble match, where thirty wrestlers competed in a ring and were eliminated by being thrown over the top rope when he last eliminated Triple H. By winning the match, Cena became a top contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV. Instead of challenging Randy Orton for the title at WrestleMania, he decided to challenge him at No Way Out. In the match, Orton got himself intentionally disqualified by slapping the referee, thus retaining the WWE Championship due to WWE regulations. That same night, Triple H also became a top contender to the WWE Championship by defeating five other men in an Elimination Chamber match, which featured wrestlers fighting in a ring surrounded by chains and girders. The next night on ''Raw'', Cena argued that he deserved another WWE Championship match. Raw General Manager William Regal, who was portrayed as a matchmaker and rules enforcer, then announced that Cena would face Orton later in the night. Regal added a stipulation to the match that if Cena won, he would be added to the WrestleMania match between Triple H and Orton, making it a Triple threat match, a standard match that involves three wrestlers. If Orton won, the main event would remain as Orton versus Triple H in a singles match. However, Cena won the match and was added to the bout at WrestleMania. After the match, Triple H, who was the Special Guest Referee, executed a Pedigree to both Cena and Orton. On the February 25 episode of ''Raw'', the unlikely team of Cena and Triple H defeated WWE Champion, Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy in a tag team brawl. Yet as Cena and Triple H stared each other down, Mr. Kennedy snuck up on Cena and took him down with the Mic Check, as Triple H did nothing to intervene. On the March 3 episode of ''Raw'', Raw General Manager, William Regal allowed a triple threat take over, which would permit Randy Orton, Triple H, and John Cena to establish rules for their matches leading up to the March 30 extravaganza-WrestleMania 24. On that night, Cena was in charge and pitted Orton against Triple H. During the match, Cena charged into the ring and lifted Triple H overhead for an FU. Then Orton snuck up and dropped Cena with an RKO. On the March 10 episode of ''Raw'' (WrestleMania re-wind night), Randy Orton was next to be in charge. He arranged a match between Triple H and his WrestleMania XV opponent, Kane, which Triple H won after executing a Pedigree on Kane while Orton was watching at ringside. Orton also threw John Cena in a match against his WrestleMania 23 opponent, Shawn Michaels. In an attempt at throwing a victory at HBK, Orton attacked him and then went to RKO Cena. Cena countered the RKO and leveled Orton with an FU. On the following week's episode of ''Raw'', Triple H got his turn of being in charge by pitting Cena and Orton against the entire Raw roster. During the match, both men were forced to work together to eliminate Paul Burchill, Snitsky, and Trevor Murdoch before the rest of the roster charged over the ropes, disqualifying themselves and handing Cena and Orton the victory. Afterwards, Triple H had his say too, when he entered the ring and Pedigreed both Orton and Cena, standing over their spent bodies with a look of satisfaction. On the last episode of ''Raw'', the Raw GM, William Regal ordered a No-disqualification "WrestleMania Showcase" eight-man tag team match pitting Triple H, John Cena, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels against Randy Orton, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Umaga, and Big Show which Triple H and John Cena's team won when Flair forced Orton to tap out to the modified figure four leglock for the victory. The predominant rivalry on the SmackDown! brand was between Edge and The Undertaker, over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 11, 2007, episode of ''SmackDown!'', the Undertaker was defending his first World Championship against Batista (who he defeated for the World title at WrestleMania 23) in a Steel Cage match, which resulted in a draw when both men escaped the cage and both of their feet touched the floor at the same time. After the match, Mark Henry made his unexpected return from an injury and ambushed the Undertaker. As Henry left the ring, Edge, who defeated Mr. Kennedy a few days earlier on Raw to win the Money in the Bank contract, entered the SmackDown! brand to cash it in and defeated the Undertaker to win his first World Championship. At Armageddon, Edge won his second World Championship when he pinned then-champion, Batista in a Triple Threat match that also involved Undertaker due to interference by the Major Brothers (rechristened as the "Edge-heads" on the December 21 episode of ''SmackDown!''). Then at the Royal Rumble event, Edge successfully defended the World title against Rey Mysterio. On the February 1 episode of ''SmackDown'', Assistant General Manager Theodore Long announced that at No Way Out, an Elimination Chamber match would be held to determine the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. The Undertaker won the match by last eliminating Batista. On the following episode of ''SmackDown'', Edge predicted that The Undertaker's 15–0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania would come to an end once he defeated him. Two weeks later, on the March 7 episode of ''SmackDown'', the team of Edge and Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder defeated The Undertaker in a Handicap match, in which one wrestler faces a team of two or more wrestlers, after Edge pinned The Undertaker following a takedown variation called the spear. The following week, Edge, Hawkins, Ryder, and Chavo Guerrero, a group of aligned wrestlers, defeated Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels in a Steel Cage match, where the ring was surrounded by walls of steel. During the match, Undertaker interfered and attacked Hawkins, Ryder, and Guerrero. The Undertaker used a Double chokeslam on Hawkins and Ryder and a Tombstone Piledriver on Guerrero. As Undertaker was attacking Guerrero, however, Edge escaped the cage and won the match for his team. The next week on ''SmackDown'', Edge, along with Vickie Guerrero, Hawkins, and Ryder, held a mock burial, entitled "Burial of The Undertaker's WrestleMania Undefeated Streak," to celebrate Edge's early victory over The Undertaker. During the "burial", however, The Undertaker emerged from a casket, which was inside the ring, and attacked Edge, Hawkins, and Ryder, knocking Hawkins and Ryder outside the ring and chokeslamming Edge through the casket. At No Way Out, Big Show made a return to the company after taking time off for injuries beginning in December 2006. In his return promotional interview, Big Show threatened to give Rey Mysterio a chokeslam. Professional boxer and WBC Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who was in attendance and a close friend of Mysterio's, came to his aid and confronted Big Show. After Big Show dropped to his knees, Mayweather attacked him with a combination of punches, which caused Big Show to bleed from the nose and mouth. The following night on ''Raw'', Big Show challenged Mayweather to a wrestling match, which Mayweather accepted. As part of the storyline, Big Show arranged an exhibition match with fighter Brandon Hill, who was similar in size and stature to Mayweather. Unimpressed with Show's display of dominance over Hill, Mayweather told Show that "at WrestleMania, I'm going to break your jaw". At their weigh-in for their WrestleMania match, Show threw Mayweather into a crowd of wrestlers to emphasise the disparity in size. On the February 25 episode of ''Raw'', 2008 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee Ric Flair challenged Shawn Michaels to a match at WrestleMania. Michaels accepted after some reluctance, knowing that due to a previous announcement from WWE chairman Mr. McMahon the next match Flair lost would result in his forced retirement.〔 Flair said that "it would be an honor for () to retire at the hands of Shawn Michaels."〔 On February 18, WWE announced via its website that the fourth annual Money in the Bank ladder match would take place at WrestleMania XXIV, a match where the objective is to retrieve a briefcase suspended in the air using a ladder. The match involved wrestlers from all three WWE brands. The winner would earn a contract to challenge for any of the three WWE World Championships (the WWE Championship of Raw, the World Heavyweight Championship of SmackDown, or the ECW Championship of ECW) at any time and any place over a one-year period. Qualifying matches occurred to determine the participants in the match at WrestleMania, starting on that night's ''Raw'' with Jeff Hardy and Mr. Kennedy defeating Snitsky and Val Venis respectively to qualify. Shelton Benjamin became the third participant when he defeated Jimmy Wang Yang on the following episode of ''SmackDown''. During the next two weeks on ''Raw'', Chris Jericho defeated Jeff Hardy, and Carlito defeated Cody Rhodes to qualify. At a non-televised SmackDown/ECW house show held on March 8, Montel Vontavious Porter qualified when he defeated Jamie Noble. On the March 11 episode of ''ECW'', CM Punk became the seventh entrant when he defeated Big Daddy V. John Morrison was the final person to qualify when he beat The Miz on the March 14 episode of ''SmackDown''. Jeff Hardy was later removed from the match after a legitimate suspension by WWE for a drug violation of the company's Wellness Policy. WWE decided not to add another superstar in his place, making that year's Money in the Bank ladder match the first year to have seven participants. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「WrestleMania XXIV」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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