Boxing pay per view sensation Floyd 'Money' Mayweather is used to doing over a million buys at the box office, so WWE brought him in as the special attraction of WrestleMania 24 in a match against The Big Show. The investment paid off, with Mania 24 coming in as a solid million buys, although slightly disappointingly down from the previous year. One thing to note about Mayweather is the cost he may have come at. It was heavily rumoured at the time that Vince McMahon paid the star $20 million which was partly out of his own pocket. That could just be wrestling hyperbole though and others have suggested he was most likely paid $2 million plus a percentage of the ppv buys. The big story going in was Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair, with the Nature Boy having to retire if he lost. It was a great emotionally charged match and for wrestling fans was the reason to tune in. Undertaker vs Edge closed the show and the WWE title match was Cena vs Orton vs Triple H. The key thing about WrestleMania in this period is that it was transforming into a brand which sold itself, the Mania name was as valuable as any performer on the card.
