WrestleMania XXXI Discussion thread *SPOILERS*

[Rob Lowe]

Cant believe Hall did a big back bump on the floor, nutter's got a bloody pacemaker!

 

The nWo should have brought their spray cans and painted the top of Stings head, poor sod looked a state. GEL YOUR HAIR BACK! Do not leave the house without it! Body-wise looked in good shape though.

 

Hated the handshake afterwards. Big grudge match, which Hunter wins by cheating/using a sledgehammer and you shake hands? Moronic. I was looking forward to both their entrances and they were shite. Stings music is a tragedy. HHH's wouldnt have been so bad if they hadnt cellotaped a terminator eye to his mask from last year. Very weak.

 

Have they relaxed the drugs policy recently? Undertaker looked more muscular than he's looked in years, Barrett was shredded. I go months without watching sometimes and quite a few physiques surprised me.

 

Overall Good show though. The main event was very exciting.

[WWFChilli]

Pretty good show overall, wouldn't say it was as good as last year.

 

The ladder match was so fucking meh. So meh.

 

Battle Royal I enjoyed. Good to see them giving a young upstart the win (I know that's a bit trolling, but fucking hell Big Show?).

 

Tag Title and Divas Match were both serviceable. Extra points to Natalya for looking positively banging in her attire. Also AJ Lee deadsells worse than Cena was ever accused of.

 

Sting/HHH was odd, I liked it, but Sting didn't half feel like an afterthought. It lacked something. Trips entrance was piss funny.

 

Cena's 'MURICA entrance can do one, Rusev's entrance was amazing. Ok match, prefered the FastLane bout.

 

Wyatt/Taker was what it was. American Dead Ass (lovely combo attire) wins.

 

I think the daylight hurt a lot of the entrances. Wyatt's entrance looked like something from HR Puff'n'stuff.

 

Oh and the Orton/Rollins finish was superb.

[undercover elephant]

Incredible show. Booked to perfection. If you didn't love that show tonight, maybe wrestling isn't for you. Sublime.

I don't agree with the booked to perfection reference, otherwise character and storyline development involving the Sting and Rusev finishes would, and should have been a better outcome in presenting that finish.

 

From Sting saying on the Go Home Show that he's not fighting for WCW as that would be pathetic, to having an overbooked part of their match bringing out DX and NWO, who's the bloke lost in the shuffle in the afterthought? Sting. They wanted him presented in that way so that's what we got.

 

Brass rings can't be reached to build new stars for the future when Big Slow's booked to win, Cena beats Rusev and even Taker beating Wyatt. Cena didn't need to win that match. A continued programme with Rusev towards a big SS pay back might have been better business, and if they are splitting Lana and Rusev up, then "if it's not broke don't fix it" what are the benefits moving forward for a method working well already?

 

Brock was just fantastic to watch. The clothesline he gave Reigns from the apron and the multiple suplexes throughout was what I wanted to see. Reigns did a good job of sucking it all up from Lesner, and with Rollins cashing in, I had no problem with the way it played out. The crowd was brilliant for that finish.

 

Could see a couple of call ups tomorrow with Neville being touted as one of them for Raw or Smackdown the following night.

[thegamehhh]

Yeah I agree, the match quality was great top to bottom in my book but some of the booking made no sense at all.

 

The battle royale should of ended with miz and mizdow in there and then mizdow finally having enough to eliminate miz to win.

 

Wyatt should of beaten Taker or at least got some heat back after the match with a brutal attack.

 

Sting said he was not there to represent WCW but it was presented that way, also the original NWO helping Sting made no kayfabe sense at all when the whole reason for him turning into Crow Sting was because of and to battle the original NWO eventually.

 

Rusev should of retained his belt, whether it be by winning or a count out or DQ, he then could of gone on how Cena failed to win the title twice like a puny American and it could of built up for months with Cena asking and asking for 1 more shot until Rusev puts a stip involved if Cena was to lose to which he would finally get the win and defeat Rusev thus ending the unbeaten run.   

[Stylin_and_Profilin]

During Sting's entrance nobody on the commmentary team said a wors for a good 3-4 minutes till he walked to the ring.

 

Initially thought technical problems with sound but it wasn't. Just felt a bit meh when they should have been building him and the match.

[simonworden]

Couldn't help but notice the bashing of Sting and WCW by JBL and Cole during the match. They really were laying into him about being loyal to WCW and being quite negative about how he didn't come straight to WWE once they closed. Also took in that Lawler tried to defend Sting before being quietly silenced

[tiger_rick]

I've only seen the big four matches (IC Title, Trips/Sting, Cena/Rusev & Main Event) but they absolutely delivered. They put it right up there with the best WMs. It's astonishing how WWE do still deliver on PPV. I'm seriously considering just doing PPV from now on because they don't disappoint most of the time while the weekly TV is just a massive amount of overkill that spoils the anticipation.

 

The WM today shows and the pre-show had incredible video packages that really sold this show. It's a pity there's so much time to fill.

 

The main event was epic. It was booked to perfection. The match was beautifully stiff and both guys were incredible. It told the same story as the SummerSlam match with Cena but Reigns being younger and stronger was able to withstand the barrage Cena couldn't. Absolutely perfect booking of the next guy. They both came out of it better than they went in, I think.

 

The cash-in was perfect too. With Lesnar, Reigns, Cena, Orton and Bryan to chase - a heel champion just works right now. It was a great moment that meant neither guy had to lose clean and a slimy cunt gets to run with the belt. Really, really top stuff.

 

Cena vs. Rusev was ace. The entrances were brilliantly over the top. They really worked too. They weren't wanky shit like Trips' Terminator. They fit the feud and particularly the Rusev character. The match was predictable but it should have been. No one has ever worked main event babyface matches as good as Cena and this was another.

 

Bit worried now that Rusev becomes just another guy now he's lost and the World Champ is a heel. he might be the biggest loser from the show.

 

Opener was a fine spot fest with the usual stunts. It was nothing novel but it looked incredible in the sun shine, it got the show off to an exciting start and it told the world that the IC title is worth dying for. Ambrose was over like a motherfucker, wasn't he? How does that happen after months of shite booking.

 

Trips/Sting was a massive WTF? The commentary team were right, it felt like a time warp. But shit it was a bundle of fun. Great bumps by Razor and Billy Gunn - whose trainers were worth the price of admission alone! The WCW stuff on commentary spoiled a lot of the actual match but I guess you can see why they had to set the scene given the whole "Monday Night Wars has come to life" angle. They must have been gutted when they realised DX couldn't come out in a tank without ruining Rusev's entrance! Hopefully they never mention this stuff again, ever.

[Brock Goldberg]

I really enjoyed the show throughout.

 

The Sting/HHH match was fun but made zero sense but I'm OK with that because moving on I don't think it will matter.

 

I was really pleased to see Taker looking well but I would have liked to see Wyatt get the win, he never does so wasn't shocked at the finish.

 

Cena didn't need the win but I don't think it will hurt Rusev. Looks like a split from Lana soon though, why? They work so well together. The match was OK but I preferred last months effort.

 

The main event worked really well. Lesnar and Reigns both come out of it looking strong and it was a fantastic, hard hitting match. I'm not a massive fan of Seth Rollins but he's growing on me and his title win sets up the possibility of new fresh feuds at the top going forward.

I really enjoyed the show throughout.

[The Invisible Boy]

I was up at 5am for work on Sunday and hadn't had a sleep since so I ended up seeing the tag match, the battle royal which was great fun and the ladder match which I enjoyed. Then I ended up drifting off to sleep but lucky I woke up part way through Taker vs Bray so hadn't ruined anything for myself and wound it back to watch where I had fallen asleep. I've seen all of the show now though and I thought it was great.

 

As already said I enjoyed the tag match and the battle royal, was a bit miffed Big Show won and it didn't finish with Mizdow eliminating Miz though. But for it to be Show's first battle royal win in his career was a bit if a shock and fitting really with it being the Andre the Giant Battle royal.

 

I thought the ladder match was exciting, short but fun. Bryan winning was great, I joked when he had won and said last year Bryan got a push, this year the Intercontinental Title got a push. Then he said it'll be because Lesnar will retain later on and they need the Intercontinental and US Titles to be strong as Lesnar isn't always around.

 

The Orton and Rollins finish was brilliant and gave me back some hope that Rollins may cash in, both with it being early in the show and Rollins losing it too.

 

Triple H vs Sting was a good match but I echo the thoughts of others who said the entrances weren't what I'd hoped for. Then during the match as has already been said, the nWo came down and DX came down. But why would the nWo be siding with Sting? I think they just saw it as a good chance to get the two biggest stables of the 90s to face off.

 

The women's tag match was what it was really, it was much better than the stupid lingerie pillow fight things or mud matches and so on or people like Snooki coming in and wrestling. It was good to see four divas wrestling on the show.

 

Cena's entrance didn't really live up to the hype but Rusev's was brilliant and now Rusev's undefeated streak is over. With this feud and Cena as the US Champion again it makes the Title very strong and at this time I can't honestly think of a better US Champion than Cena.

 

Bray Wyatt's entrance was my favourite if the night (thus far that is), it made me think of the Walking Dead and I absolutely loved it. This is the match I was most disappointed in though as yes Wyatt kicked out of the tombstone but he didn't look incredibly strong and I think the loss will affect him now. I don't think it would have mattered too much if the streak was unbroken but now that the streak is over and Wyatt hasn't wrestled in what seems like ages it seemed a bit disappointing. It was the first year I really thought Taker could lose now because he's already lost the streak and it seemed like a normal legend vs future match. Plus Wyatt is a guy that has that dark, mysterious, creepy persona that could take over from Undertaker so I thought it would have been fitting for him to defeat him, especially if it was his last match.

 

Onto the main event. I actually loved this match, it was two strong monsters/warriors and they battered the hell out if each other. Brock actually looked like he'd put up a hell of a fight and Reigns had been destroyed for parts of the match but was getting back into it at the end, he looked the stronger of the two as the show was coming to a close. Before I mentioned I fell asleep so obviously I could see how much time was remaining on the show, so when it was down to four minutes I thought whoever wins will win now, there's no time for a cash in. So I found myself really wanting Reigns to win. This surprised me a little as I had already thought I'd prefer a Reigns win as that might mean a cash in, I couldn't see a cash in on Brock happening. But even when I thought there's no time for a cash in now I still really wanted Reigns to win, maybe I've finally thought now I'd like a Champion who is there every week now rather than appearing a few times every now and then. I had a feeling it would go with Reigns looking as if he was on his way to a win and all of a sudden Brock hits an F5 and that'd be it and at one point that almost happened.

 

But then my favourite entrance of the night happened and I leapt up. I don't think I heard anyone say Rollins would cash in as the match was still going, I'd heard Reigns will win and he'll cash in on him and Brock will win and he'll cash in on him. My prediction/hope was a bit out there, I wanted Heyman to turn in Brock and align with Reigns, helping him become the new WWE Champion only to then have Rollins run down cash in and Heyman double cross Reigns and side with Rollins who would become the new WWE Champion. Then there were those who thought it might be a clean finish either way with no cash in or Heyman might double cross Brock and no cash in.

 

What actually happened was great and I loved it. That run down and cash in and pinning Reigns really made things interesting. Brock can now say he lost his Title but wasn't pinned and also the fact it was Reigns who was pinned and the history between Rollins and Reigns in the Shield. Hopefully they might include Ambrose in any feud for the Title now and it can be a big Shield rivalry for the Title and then you'd still have Brock and Orton in the mix too.

 

It is funny to think everyone knew and predicted that one day at least one guy in the Shield would be WWE Champion but it was usually Ambrose and Reigns being mentioned and the first if them to do it was Reigns. I just hope things get as interesting as they should be now with Rollins as Champion. This finish to WrestleMania is exactly what I'd wanted.

[ColinBollocks]

Turned out to be a good show. All the matches that had a half decent build delivered anyway.

 

Triple H v Sting was tremendous fun. Even hilarious if you picture a petulant Vince McMahon screaming at JBL to tell us WCW was full of knobs and Sting can suck a dick. It can't be understated how awesome it was seeing the nWo bump around like it was 1997. Last night again highlighted how superior and cooler the nWo/WCW was back in the day, despite what Vince wants us to think. Not a fan of the handshake, as it made no sense.

Both their entrances were hilarious misfires too.

 

Cena v Rusev could have been a stinker and all would have been forgiven due to that Rusev entrance. Maybe the finest in 'Mania history. The match, however, was on par with their effort at Fast Lane (which was very good) and Lana was there.

 

The Rock and the "smoking good" Ronda Rousey v The Authority was wonderful panto and my favourite thing on the show. The Rock and Triple H being in the ring together always brings back warm fuzzy feelings of Modjo, and Fergie's best United team wearing that navy blue shirt with thin white hoops that was made of weird material. Anyway, it was good and I know this because I was falling asleep seconds before The Rock waddled down to the ring. Stephanie gets abuse, but she was tremendous during all of this. When Rousey finally started throwing the pair of them around it was well earned.

 

The main event was exactly what we all wanted, which was basically Lesnar throwing Reigns about for most of it. Nobody pinning Lesnar was an interesting conclusion, seeing as the plan all along was for Lesnar to lose clean to Reigns and create new John Cena. Not only did Reigns not beat Lesnar (getting his arse kicked for 90% of the match too), but he was the one that got pinned. Long term it definitely creates the better feuds, I guess we'll see what happens with Reigns. Interesting that they went so far with their year-long plan only to not quite get over the finish line. I suppose their only other option was Reigns getting booed like crazy as the show finished.

 

Couldn't really give a hoot about all the other matches and segments on the show, but that's WWE's fault.

 

 

The stream was pretty bad for me, constantly dropping to about 240p resolution and freezing. I assumed it was due to my connection being crap. Horribly, during the main event it was doing a thing where it'd freeze, then skip backwards a few seconds, then skip forwards, so I missed/spoiled a couple of nearfalls.

Pretty much what happened to me after Daniel Bryan won the IC title. The thing decided to stop working right before Triple H and Sting were doing their face off too. Annoying because my connection was fine all weekend, then the big show comes and it's like I'm watching United v West Brom on Wiziwig.

[tiger_rick]

 

The stream was pretty bad for me, constantly dropping to about 240p resolution and freezing. I assumed it was due to my connection being crap. Horribly, during the main event it was doing a thing where it'd freeze, then skip backwards a few seconds, then skip forwards, so I missed/spoiled a couple of nearfalls.

Pretty much what happened to me after Daniel Bryan won the IC title. The thing decided to stop working right before Triple H and Sting were doing their face off too. Annoying because my connection was fine all weekend, then the big show comes and it's like I'm watching United v West Brom on Wiziwig.

 

That happened to me watching on-demand but I just pressed back and then resume watching and it came back fine.

 

Oddly I've watched WM today (on demand), WM pre-show (live) and WM without a single second of bufering and no problem other than mentioned above. Yet I've given up watching 1995 Raws because they just constantly freeze.

[CTXRussomark]

Brilliant show. Not a bad match and I was so pleasantly surprised at how good Taker looked. Even after losing the streak and looking like he was done after last year I STILL got into the false finishes more than any other match on the show.

 

The main event was booked perfectly and Lesnar still looks like an absolute beast. 3 of the 5 of us that watch Mania are completely lapsed fans and Mania is the only exposure they get to wrestling anymore, and between last year and this they came away with the impression that Lesnar is a total superstar and were asking when he'd be fighting again.

 

The ladder match was a disappointment and Ziggler was fucking awful I thought. Seemed to be all over the place and looked ridiculous sprinting up the ladders the entire match then selling for 5 minutes in between. Fine for what it was though.

 

Stings hair was tragic but still better than Triple H's entrance. We all passed ourselves at how cheap and 80's it all looked. His Terminator outfit looked like a Halloween costume. Match delivered what it needed to but made no sense in the grand scheme of things. The handshake seemed especially out of place when Trips had just won with a sledgehammer shot.

 

Rest of the card was fine, and echo the sentiments about the daylight taking away from the entrances. Wyatts just didn't work at all but would have probably been pretty cool in the dark.

[neil is brill]

I can't add to most of what's already been said but I'm astounded that they didn't pull the trigger on Reigns.

 

The main event was getting a little uncomfortable to watch, Lesnar looked more and more pissed the more he got bust open that I thought he was shooting at one point. They were doing a good job building sympathy for Reigns until the mutant fans realised that they were cheering and quickly got back behind Lesnar.

 

Interesting fact: All 3 members of The Shield were undefeated at Wrestlemania at the start of this show at 2-0 each. I thought they might have gone with Reigns building up his own WM streak but it wasn't to be. I think even Miz lost his WM undefeated streak last night too. Making Michael Cole the only male currently undefeated at Wrestlemania 1-0.

[thegamehhh]

I did have a feeling once orton got the win over seth, my triple threat cash in prediction was gonna come true because had seth won there would of been no loss of heat for seth.

 

As I said in my prediction (quoted on the previous page) now it brings up a number of fresh situations.

[Doctor Whos Next]

My connection was acting up during the preshow - I got kicked out of the app then had to log in again and it was fine the rest if the night