WrestleMania 31 Kickoff
Fatal 4-Way WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (c) (w/Natalya) def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) (w/Xavier Woods), The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) (w/Naomi) and Los Matadores (Diego & Fernando) (w/El Torito) to retain their championships
This match turned into all-out chaos. It all started when Cesaro targeted Jey’s injured shoulder at the start of the match. Jey was unable to continue and Jimmy had to go it alone for his team. Since there were no countouts and no disqualifications, the four respective people that were in each team’s corner decided to get involved in the match as well. There was a lot of high flying, a lot of excitement and even though I wanted to see The New Day become the new champions, I thought this was a great match to kickoff WrestleMania 31.
Big Show won the 2nd Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
The competitors in this match were as follows:
- The Miz
- Curtis Axel
- Ryback
- Fandango
- Adam Rose
- Zack Ryder
- Jack Swagger
- Titus O’Neil
- Darren Young
- Big Show
- WWE Director of Operations Kane
- Erick Rowan
- Damien Mizdow
- Sin Cara
- Goldust
- Heath Slater
- Mark Henry
- Konnor
- Viktor
- Hideo Itami
- Alex Riley
- Xavier Woods
- Kofi Kingston
- Big E
- Jimmy Uso
- WWE Tag Team Champion Cesaro
- WWE Tag Team Champion Tyson Kidd
- Diego
- Fernando
- Bo Dallas
This marked the first-ever WrestleMania match for Adam Rose, Erick Rowan, Konnor, Viktor, Hideo Itami, Bo Dallas and Alex Riley. Also, Hideo Itami made his debut on WWE’s main roster. Hideo even managed to eliminate Bo Dallas, but was eventually eliminated by Big Show. The final four ended up coming down to Ryback, Damien Mizdow, The Miz and Big Show. After Big Show eliminated Ryback, The Miz demanded that his personal assistant Mizdow help him win the Battle Royal. Finally, after weeks of verbal and sometimes physical abuse, Mizdow finally stood up to Miz by eliminating him and telling him that he quits as his personal assistant, thus turning face in the process. Then, Mizdow puts up a valiant effort and came close to winning the Battle Royal; however, in the end, The Big Show ends up eliminating him, thus winning the Battle Royal and the Andre the Giant Memorial Trophy. I really wanted to see Ryback win.
WrestleMania 31 Pay-Per-View
Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match to become the new champion
Bad News Barrett walked into WrestleMania 31 as the defending champion. His opponents were R-Truth, Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper and Stardust. This marked Luke Harper’s first-ever WrestleMania match. This match was expected to steal the show and it did just that. There was high flying and unique uses of the ladders as weapons. For instance, Harper powerbombed Ambrose to the outside of the ring through one of the ladders. In the end, both Bryan and Ziggler climbed the ladder trying to retrieve the Intercontinental Championship. After back-and-forth headbutting between the two, it was Bryan who knocked Ziggler off the ladder. Bryan would then go on to retrieve the championship and win his first-ever Intercontinental Championship. Even though I wanted R-Truth to win, I am happy that Daniel Bryan won.
Randy Orton def. Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins (w/J & J Security (Jamie Noble & Joey Mercury)
The issues between these two men started when Rollins nearly ended Orton’s career with a Curb Stomp to the steel steps. Orton was out for revenge on his former Authority cohort. At one point during the match, Orton took out J & J Security with double DDTs off the ring apron to the outside floor. In the end, when Rollins leapt off of Orton’s shoulder for a Curb Stomp, Orton countered with an amazing high altitude RKO to get the pin and the win. I think that this match can be considered a show stealer as well.
WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H def. Sting
For the first time ever, WCW Icon Sting competed inside a WWE ring on the Grandest Stage of Them All, WrestleMania. This was a dream match that nobody ever thought that they would see. This was the first main event of the night and the only way to win was by pinfall or submission. After back-and-forth action between the two, Sting locked Triple H in the Scorpion Death Lock. Just when it appeared Sting was on the verge of defeating Triple H, the familiar DX theme music hits and out comes X-Pac & The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & Billy Gunn) to help out their former DX cohort, Triple H, thus turning The Outlaws heel. Then, the familiar nWo theme music hits and out comes WWE Hall of Famers Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall to even the odds for Sting. After back-and-forth action between the two sides, Sting once again locked Triple H in the Scorpion Death Lock; however, Sting was quickly met with some Sweet Chin Music by former DX member and WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels. After more back-and-forth action between the two sides, in the end, it was Triple H who used a sledgehammer to get the pin and the win over Sting. After the match, both sides stood across from each other and both Sting and Triple H shook hands, acknowledging the respect that they had for one another. Almost this entire match was like the Monday Night War between WWE Raw and WCW Nitro all over again. Even though I really wanted Sting to win, it was great seeing him compete in WWE for the first time ever and I hope we get to see more in the near future.
AJ Lee & Paige def. The Bella Twins (WWE Divas Champion Nikki & Brie)
I predicted that Paige would have her first-ever WrestleMania match this year and she did. Throughout most of the match, The Bellas tried to keep Paige in the ring and kept knocking AJ off the ring apron. Despite all that, Paige was eventually able to tag AJ into the match. After back-and-forth action between the two teams, it was AJ who would secure the win for her team by forcing Nikki to tap out to the Black Widow. Paige won her first WrestleMania match and AJ is now 2-0 at WrestleMania.
United States Championship Match
John Cena def. Rusev (w/Lana) to become the new champion
This marked Rusev’s first-ever WrestleMania match. Rusev had not been pinned/submitted since debuting on the main roster, but all that changed at WrestleMania 31. Despite attempted interference from Lana, it backfired and Cena hoisted the 300-plus pound Rusev on his shoulders for an Attitude Adjustment to get the pin and the win to become the new United States Champion. Finally, Rusev was conquered on the Grandest Stage of Them All by John Cena, who had saved the day for the WWE Universe once again.
The Rock and UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Rhonda Rousey confronted The Authority (WWE Principal Owner Stephanie McMahon and Triple H)
Stephanie McMahon and Triple H announced to the world that Levi’s Stadium (the sight of WrestleMania 31) just set a new attendance record of 76,976. Instead of thanking the WWE Universe, however, they thanked themselves and started to gloat about The Authority’s WrestleMania 31 success. They even went as far as to say that they “own” the WWE Universe. One man who took exception to this was none other than the returning People’s Champion, The Rock. After back-and-forth verbal jabs between the two sides, Stephanie slapped Rock across his face and then began to taunt Rock by telling him that he would never hit a woman. Rock then turned his attention to one of the many celebrities who were in attendance, Rhonda Rousey, who also happens to be one of The Rock’s co-stars in the new movie “Furious 7”. Rock then invited her to come into the ring with him. After more back-and-forth verbal jabs between the two sides, The Rock finally fired the first shot at Triple H. Rhonda then judo tossed Triple H to the mat. Stephanie then tried to strike Rhonda, but was blocked by an arm bar. Rhonda then tossed Stephanie out of the ring alongside her reeling husband. The Rock then declared that The Authority had just been “owned” by him and Rhonda. I was hoping that The Rock would make it for WrestleMania 31 and he did in a big way.
The Undertaker def. Bray Wyatt
For weeks leading up to WrestleMania, Bray Wyatt had been calling out The Undertaker for a match. Bray finally got his wish when Undertaker accepted his challenge. Bray felt that since The Undertaker had suffered his first-ever WrestleMania loss last year, Bray had declared himself the “New Face of Fear”. The only way Bray felt that he could cement himself this way is by beating The Undertaker on the Grandest Stage of Them All. After not being seen since last year’s WrestleMania, however, The Undertaker returned and showed Bray Wyatt that he is still the “Face of Fear” by conquering Bray and notching his WrestleMania win-loss record to 22-1. While The Undertaker’s WreslteMania undefeated streak may be dead, The Undertaker is not.
Triple Threat WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Seth Rollins def. Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar to become the new champion
This match had originally started as a one-on-one match between defending champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Roman Reigns. While Lesnar had dominated most of this match, Reigns was able to endure the punishment and fight back. At one point during the match, however, out came Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins, who would then go on to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, thus turning the match into a Triple Threat Match. Eventually, as Lesnar had Rollins hoisted up on his shoulders, Reigns nailed Lesnar with a Spear. Rollins, however, quickly capitalized and nailed Reigns with a Curb Stomp to get the pin and the win to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. This should have been Roman Reigns’ night. This marks only the second WrestleMania in history that did not have a happy ending. WrestleMania 17 was the first when “Stone Cold” Steve Austin betrayed the WWE Universe by striking a deal with the evil WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon to help him win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Hopefully, there will be happy endings for WrestleMania going forward.
