page_title: WrestleMania XXIV
section_title: Storylines
hierarchical_section_title: WrestleMania XXIV / Production / Storylines
caption_attribution_description: English: Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24
context_page_description: WrestleMania XXIV was the 24th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. The event took place on March 30, 2008, at the Florida 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 event. The first of these matches was a singles match from the ECW brand, in which Kane defeated ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero to win the ECW 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. In the final match of the event, The Undertaker defeated SmackDown's World Heavyweight Champion Edge to win the title. From the six scheduled bouts on the undercard, three received more promotion than the others. In a No Disqualification match, boxing champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather defeated Big Show.
context_section_description: WrestleMania XXIV 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 when he last eliminated Triple H. Instead of challenging Randy Orton for the title at WrestleMania, he decided to challenge him at No Way Out, where Orton got himself intentionally disqualified by slapping the referee, thus retaining the WWE Championship. That same night, Triple H also became a top contender to the WWE Championship by defeating five other men in an Elimination Chamber match. The next night on Raw, Cena argued that he deserved another WWE Championship match. Raw general manager William Regal then announced that Cena would face Orton later in the night, where if Cena won, he would be added to the WrestleMania match between Triple H and Orton, making it a triple threat match. 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.
  The predominant rivalry on the SmackDown brand was between Edge and The Undertaker, over the World Heavyweight Championship. 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 after Edge pinned The Undertaker. The following week, La Familia (Chavo Guerrero, Edge, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder) defeated Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels in a steel cage match. During the match, Undertaker interfered and attacked La Familia. However, Edge escaped the cage to win 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 "Money" Mayweather, 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
caption: Ric Flair before his last WWE match at WrestleMania XXIV
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