WrestleMania XXXI Discussion thread *SPOILERS*

[neil is brill]

Some cracking meltdowns over at Heelbook. Whining about how Triple H holds everyone down, how he won't lay down for a wrestling legend but is happy to get beaten up by a woman. Some people are never happy.

[Mr. Hammy]

First Wrestlemania I've watched in 10 years. Was alright...was alright.

[iMPACt!]

I enjoyed the show. I definitely think the daylight and at times very quiet crowd took away from it.

 

Wrestlemania nearly always delivers though and it makes it worth putting up with the wwe's terrible raws throughout the year.

 

Does anybody think that was Sting's last match. I originally thought he would maybe do a few but with all the run ins to hide his probably limited ability these days and the loss, it felt like this may be it.

 

Great main event, I actually wanted Reigns to win but glad it is now off Lesnar.

[wooly]

the one thing i was looking forward to was the undertakers entrance but that was so underwhelming. i thought he would have something with his druids. bray wyatt had a quality entrance. rusevs was cool but stings and hhh were poor.

 

the rock segment did drag out with the rock standing there waiting for a chant to start and stephanie mcmahon getting right pissed off was pretty cool. over the last couple of weeks she has pissed me off and now i think shes a complete cunt.

 

the main event was amazing. found myself getting sucked in going ohhhhhh ahhhhhh and OMG at moments in that match. (waiting for it) i hope brock stays.

 

over all great event

[The Cutting Edge]

Great show, the build wasnt great but wwe did a great job getting me hyped with the promo packages this past week 

 

Reigns vs Lesnar was great, made Roman look strong and a tough s.o.b, he broke the armour of Lesnar and made him bleed intentional or not it really added to the drama and belief that he could win, not just anyone can wrestle Lesnar cos he really lays it in and chucks guys around, Bryan's neck would've been like Ice Cream in the Cali sun after that match

 

Crowd Booing Reigns I still dont get,these are now all kinds of fans in different cities not just the voices in pitcos head, we need new top guys last year fans wanted him but now dont want him, for all there faults sometimes you feel bad for wwe cause they cant seem to win these days.

 

Rollins cashing in was the best thing they could do, imo all 3 guys looked great coming out of Mania.

 

HHH entrance was a bit cheesy but awesome what we expect from him these days.

 

Seemed a bit weird that the nWo helped Sting since they focused so much on his wcw stuff but it was nostalga so doesnt matter anyway, nWo should've worn the Wolfpac shirts since that was Stings group

[Undefeated Steak]

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.

 

That's what I'm doing from hereon.

 

I thought the show was great fun. A step down from last year but it was always going to be that way.

 

I smiled to myself when DX came down, "Ah, Trips has got his mates a Wrestlemania pay day"... AND THEN THE NWO RIFF HIT! I've been craving an overbooked heavyweight match for a while and that more than delivered.

 

Undertaker vs Wyatt was awesome, loads better than I thought it would be. Undertaker's selling is A1.

 

I was hoping Rollins would cash in so I couldn't have asked for a better ending. At one point last night I was hoping Reigns would win. And I'm a huge Lesnar and Heyman mark so well done him. Lesnar and Reigns both looked strong, and Rollins won the belt. Not often three people come out of a match looking better for it. Exactly what a Wrestlemania main event should do.

 

Re the streaming issues. It was the first live PPV I've watched on the Network. I bought a new laptop and HP tablet yesterday. I watched the beginning of the show on the table but it paused every five minutes or so. I think that was down to the flash on my tablet though. I watched the rest of the show on the laptop and didn't have a problem. I was going to cancel my subscription after Mania but I'll keep it if only to watch the PPV's from now on. I used to watch Raw from Rumble to Mania but it was such a let down this year that I'll just watch the PPV's all year round.

[IronSheik]

Most enjoyable Mania in years.

 

Orton's RKO finish was a thing of spectacular beauty.

 

Enjoyed the Sting HHH, but was gutted seeing Sting lose. I liked the contradictory nWo V DX stuff, despite it not making sense. The pathetic "WCW and nWo weren't as good as us" delusional ego trip is hilarious.

 

Liked Taker playing the humanised older dog who's still got heart. Felt he garnered good sympathy with his performance and sold really well to keep me glued to the screen.

 

Main Event was tremendous. Seeing Lesner use his finish a minute in got me sat up on my chair, and I never sat back down til the end. Great stuff.

[C-Rock]

I really enjoyed WrestleMania, from the stadium atmosphere to the in ring action, the show did not disapoint.

 

The opening ladder match for me felt rushed and apart from the Dean Ambrose bump nothing really OMG happened, the match should have been better, esspecially with all the pryor talk of stealing the show, I really believed they had a chance. I'd of preferred Ziggler to win but the obvious guy did, it stood out to me that WWE looked to be protecting Daniel in that match, there was no crazy bumps on his part which was probably a good call.

 

Orton/Seth was pretty great as well, I loved Orton wearing the red tights it for some reason reminded me of how he looked years back but the elbow pads looked out of place. They inovative RKO finish was incredible and perfectly timed, love him or hate him Randy Orton for me radiated champion material last night and proved that he can still pull it out the bag when necessary, I wouldn't mind another Orton world title run, the guy is pretty solid and reliable given the right material and opponent.

 

Sting/Triple H was right up my street and steeped in nostalgia which I love and always goes down well for me at WrestleMania, the DX/NWO stand off was something special, just a shame it took so long to happen. Hall was game taking a bump and hats off to him because although it didn't add anything it was certainly a shock to see. I honestly thought we were going to see a Goldberg appearance but in the end I wasn't disappointed we didn't. I was really suprised to find out Sting was 56 years old. He looked in pretty decent shape and as far as the match wasn't a classic it just goes to show that when you have to guys who may be in their twilight years they can still go out and deliver a big fight feel and hang with and arguably steal the show away from the younger guys on the roster. All the young guys mid card WWE and in NXT should take note and aspire to reach that level, it's not going to happen but that's what they should aim for. You won't ever get star power like that again. Sting and Triple H didn't do a whole lot but just because of who they are they didn't need to.

 

The Bellas against Paige and AJ did what it needed to and was pretty decent, is it just me or is it clear that WWE favoue Nikki or Brie, she had way more ring time than Brie and even over the past few months she seemed to have taken lead in Bella duo, it could be the case that it's because she's Divas champion but that could also be evidence that WWE of favouritism, she definetly looks more together in appearance and overall in ring compared to Brie but with that said I suppose Brie had they attention last year during her thing with Stephanie so fairs fair. I'd of perfered the Divas title to have been on the line and who ever scored the pin wether it be AJ or Paige would become Divas champion it would have added an interesting dynamic to the match to see how the AJ/Paige team would have handled that.

 

Cena/Rusev screamed Rocky 4 to me and really felt like Rocky against Drago. The Rusev entrance was a designed perfectly to absorb heat, Rusev looked incredible as did Lana for that matter. If last night doesn't tell WWE that a baby face John Cena or just Cena in general just isn't working then I don't know what will, they threw everything heelish and heat radiating in to this match they had Russia arguably the most hated and controversial country in the world at the minute, along with a super Russian heel in Rusev heeling it up like a mad man, they had the tried and tested angle of good vs evil, USA vs a foreign country, a video of American history and speeches and iconic moments that nearly brought a tear to my eye and gave me goosebumps, they threw all that in to this match and still John Cena got booed out of the building. What else can they do? Rusev played his part incredibly well and for me stole the match and star power away from the more experienced and accomplished Cena, which is props to Cena but says nothing good about Cena. Cena is seriously going to fuck up his hips if he continues to bump the way he does, iv noticed not just in this match but in others he has a tendency to bump hip first, that really can't feel good. It was obvious when Rusev nailed the fall away slam. It doesn't matter the out come was obvious I just hope that this match hasn't hurt Rusev, I can't see it happening you can't hold down a talent like Rusev not even a loss to John Cena at WrestleMania can over shadow the fact that Rusev is a force to be reckoned with and most definetly a one to watch in the future. This match would have worked so much better, been on a different level and would have no doubt been a war if it were Kurt Angle against Rusev, you can't get anymore USA vs Russia than that and I'm pretty confident the fans would have ate it up more than what they did lastnight.

 

Wyatt/Undertaker surpassed my expectations by a mile. I don't know what Undertaker has been drinking or doing in the last year but it looks like he has taken a ride in a delorian and swapped him himself for a early 2000's Undertaker, he looked great, it's amazing what hair and a can of dye can do. I couldn't have been more trilled that, that Undertaker showed up. He looked crisp, clean and healthy proved his truely is the phenom. The match was tight and went on long enough to show the strengths of both Wyatt and Taker. It was exactly what Wyatt needed and it allowed for Wyatt to really show what he can do and his ability to shine bright. His match against Cena last year was the Cena show and Wyatt was just going along for the ride and had to degrade himself to match up with Cena unlike lastnight were Wyatt you could feel was allowed to express himself and revel in his character and his skills. The build up for the match was on Wyatts shoulder due to Undertaker not making an appearance during the match build up. It didn't make sense when it was happening but in hindsight it does. Wyatt was challenged and given the opportunity to build the match with his verbal skills, he was allowed to get his character over and lastnight was allowed to show his in ring abilities against the Undertaker at WrestleMania, he passed both challenges with flying colours. The future is bright for Bray Wyatt.

 

Lesnar/Reigns was mis matched and it became aparant when the two stood face to face at WrestleMania, it was the mega superstar, battled tested, big fight monster Brock Lesnar against a guy I struggled to remember what match he was in the pervious WrestleMania and who has done very little note worthy in his short career. It was wrong on so many levels. Brock, Reigns, Heyman, even the referee and judging by the finish even the office realised at probably the 12th hour realised it was wrong as well. The match was a massacre and punishment to Reigns for failing to get over during the build up to the biggest match on the biggest card of the year, it obviously wasn't 'creatives' or the script writers fault and Reigns was made aware of this at the hands of Brock Lesnar who seemed to really enjoy the match, there wasn't a lot expected of him and he seemed comfortable in the role as he unleashed a beating on Reigns. A reward or resigning with WWE...destroy the guy we had faith in and the guy who failed to get over. I can imagine Vince being like ok it didn't work so let's just destroy him and go with plan B in Seth Rollins probably not what WWE really wanted but it was the next best thing. Does Seth deserve a run with the title more so than Reigns? I feel his does, unlike Reigns, Rollins hasn't been force fed to the WWE fans he has been allowed for the past year to mark out some pretty great matches and prove in some ways that although he's probably not 100% ready he's more ready and more accomplished than Reigns, i wish the best down had lasted longer i really was getting into it, Brock vs 80s jobber, a work out session for him, it was very entertaining.

[garynysmon]

Enjoyed the Sting HHH, but was gutted seeing Sting lose. I liked the contradictory nWo V DX stuff, despite it not making sense. The pathetic "WCW and nWo weren't as good as us" delusional ego trip is hilarious.

 

 

As mentioned in chat last night, Vince and the WWE higher-ups have such a complex about this.

[Nexus]

Really enjoyed the show.

 

Any ideas why Paige looked so upset at the end of the Divas match? 

[Slapnut]

I'm not sure I understand why everybody is saying Reigns was tremendous and came out looking better than when he came in. He wasn't really bad, but he didn't really do much. He got absolutely pasted by a man 10 times more popular than him and barely got much of a comeback. I liked the smiling though.

[Undefeated Steak]

I'm not sure I understand why everybody is saying Reigns was tremendous and came out looking better than when he came in. He wasn't really bad, but he didn't really do much. He got absolutely pasted by a man 10 times more popular than him and barely got much of a comeback. I liked the smiling though.

 

I wouldn't say he looked tremendous. He was always going to take a beating. But he was smiling with a bloody mouth and his comeback was timed perfectly. Can't ask for more from a babyface against Lesnar. 

[Fanny Pack]

Really enjoyed the show until it hit the brick wall which was the Rock segment. Im all for that segment being on Raw but not at WrestleMania.

 

HHH vs Sting was a joy to behold.

[air_raid]

"Cena didn't need to win that match" - go fuck yourselves, smarks. It's not about needing anything, it's about telling stories.

 

Cena, whether you personally like him or not, is the hero in his stories. Rusev has been built up for the last year (expertly, I might add) to provide a villain for Cena to have to go through, and in the end, go through him he did. What's the argument for Rusev needing to win the match? He already beat him at Fast Lane, the only benefit to Rusev winning at WrestleMania is more people will see it because it's WrestleMania. Well, that doesn't really matter, does it? The extra people that will see it who maybe didn't watch Fast Lane because they're watching WrestleMania because it's WrestleMania will barely watch the show for the next year, and will STILL tune into Mania next year (because it's WrestleMania) regardless of whether you let them see Rusev beat John Cena or not.

 

People talking about John Cena winning the United States title like it's a bad thing - doesn't a guy the calibre of John Cena choosing to compete for and then win the United States title actually elevate the secondary belt even more, which is something else the smarkiest smarks have been complaining about forever, that those belts have been devalued? There is no winning. Better yet, people making the argument that the "rub" of getting the first pinfall on Rusev should have been given to a Ziggler or Ambrose or even a Jack Swagger because Cena doesn't "need it" - you're missing the point. Maybe this time the rub isn't about who beats Rusev but about Rusev - everybody has to lose eventually but with this guy it took a guy the level of John Cena to beat him - at the second attempt - with the slight taint of him being distracted by Lana's fall. Does that not make Rusev look stronger than if he'd just lost to a Ziggler or a Curtis bloody Axel and been just another guy lost in the "everyone can beat everyone" mix within about three weeks?

 

Finally, people talking about "well they could have carried on the feud" - why? You're all so intent on pointing out that Cena has made Rusev look weak on TV and now "buried" him at Mania, it's best they part company now, isn't it? Besides, it's WrestleMania, and some of the heroes have to win at WrestleMania. Daniel Bryan, Undertaker, John Cena. Yay!

[Arch Stanton]

Good post Raid, echoes my sentiments about Cena and Rusev. I'd seen so many idiots putting forward a Rusev win as being the right thing to do that it was really starting to get on my nerves, because their argument was never anything other than 'Cena doesn't need the win'. No foresight or appreciation for the storytelling. That includes supposed experts over at the WON and PWInsider too.