Wrestlemania XXIV / 2008 WWE / 8 Hours / http://www.wwe.com /
When the WWE wants to do something up right, they really know how to do just that. That means that the set for the latest Wrestlemania (XXIV, if you are counting), is a massive three-disc affair that runs for over one-third of a day, if individuals sit straight through all of the features. Of course, all of the matches, be they the Belfast Brawl between JBL and Finlay, the Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship (Randy Orton, Triple H, John Cena), or the WHC match between Edge and the Undertaker, are contained here. However, instead of just putting forth these matches, the WWE has placed the entire Hall of Fame ceremony onto this DVD, meaning that Gordon Solie, Ric Flair, Mae Young, and countless other WWE legends are given the ultimate send over by a collection of active and retired wrestlers including The Rock and Triple H.
However, what is most interesting to me as an added feature has to be the 24-man battle royal that took place to gain a titan shot for the ECW championship. With these features, one should expect a princely sum – $49 or so – for this set. However, the price is about half of that sum, depending on where you pick the set up at. Wrestlemania XXIV also marks the WWE’s first foray into providing their events in the Blu-Ray format. Much as they did when they started to make the shift over from VHS to DVD, they are limiting the releases to the most major of Pay-Per-Events at first, but I’d venture a guess of mid to late 2009 when they shift completely over.
The sound and video are sharp, a miracle considering that the event took place out of doors, and (it just may be my own eyes deceiving me), the enhanced video on this DVD set looks sharper than what originally was put forth in the PPV feed. While I’m personally not the biggest fan of the WWE Diva match (a Playboy Bunnymania Lumberjack/jill Match), the divas present in that match are some of the most talented that the WWE has. There is nothing that I could conceivably think of that should be present on this DVD that was excluded – the Money in the Bank match is there, a Spanish-language track is there (for those Latino/a fans of the WWE), and the box itself has all of the weight that a WWE event like Wrestlemania should have. I’d like to see how the WWE makes the shift over to Blu-Ray in the year to come, but they are spot-on when it comes to their 2008 releases so far.
Rating: 7.5/10
