10 Fascinating WWE WrestleMania 24 Facts
The other time that WrestleMania ventured to Orlando.
All told, WrestleMania 24 was pretty good for a show that Jonathan Coachman got to call the main event of. In all, it was what you'd expect out of any WrestleMania of the time: a Money in the Bank ladder match, a historic thriller involving Shawn Michaels, major celebrity involvement, and two World title matches featuring combatants that have already held the gold numerous times each. WrestleMania had really developed a paint-by-numbers formula, but as long as there was plenty of fun to be had, nobody seemed to mind.
The twenty-fourth incarnation did have big shoes to fill, coming off of WrestleMania 23, at that point the most-purchased WWE pay-per-view of all time by a considerable margin. Even the presence of undefeated multi-weight class boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. wasn't enough to match the lofty mark, as WrestleMania 24's buyrate was down 12 percent from the previous year. Even then, that was still good enough for the third-most purchased WWE pay-per-view ever, at that time.
For wrestling fans, Mayweather wasn't the story. WrestleMania 24 was about 59-year-old Ric Flair, performing what looked to be his final wrestling match ever. That ended up not being the case, sadly, but for history's sake, it's probably best to pretend that it was.
10. TNA Attempted To Fly A Plane Over The Citrus Bowl
Seeing that Orlando was the home of the Impact Zone, TNA's television taping domain, Dixie Carter's "little engine that puttered along nicely until one disaster after another sent it plummeting into a ravine" decided to try and have a little fun at WWE's expense.
Dave Meltzer reported that TNA had attempted to send a banner plane with a pro-TNA message over the Citrus Bowl during WrestleMania. WWE reportedly found out about the publicity stunt, and convinced the company that owned the plane not to go through with it.
One story claims the company ended up telling TNA officials that their decision to not fly the plane was because the threatening weather could put the pilot in jeopardy. Yet, other businesses managed to send planes over the stadium, plugging their own products and services, during the parts of WrestleMania preceding nightfall.