This Sunday, March 29th at 7ET / 4PT - Available on pay per view and the WWE Network
It's that time of the year - the Super Bowl of
The OT title is a reference to this great line by new WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash and the fact that WrestleMania 31 has a play button in it's logo.
Cesaro/Kidd (c) vs The Usos vs New Day vs Los Matadores – WWE Tag Team Championship
The tag team titles will be defended on the WrestleMania pre-show that is going to be free on YouTube. There isn't much of a storyline going into this match outside of The Usos and Cesaro/Kidd don't like each other. I don't even know why New Day and Los Matadores are even involved in this, maybe it's just so they can get a WrestleMania pay-day or something. I really can't hype this match up any more than that, but I'll say this – The Usos suck, Cesaro and Tyson Kidd are an entertaining as hell tag team.
The Second Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
More hype would probably follow this glorified jobber battle royal if the winner last year, Cesaro, actually did something after winning this match instead of lingering in at the bottom of the card and being dubbed “too Swiss” by Vince McMahon. There's a chance that this match will mark the return of Shaemus since WWE has been teasing his return for a while. I'm sorry, I want to hype this match up more but I honestly can't. At this point I just hope whoever wins doesn't get a Cesaro treatment. For those who are unfamiliar with the rules of a Battle Royal, it's quite simple; a set amount of superstars (usually 30) all start the match in the ring and are eliminated when they are thrown over the top rope. The last person still in the ring after it's all said and done is declared the winner and receives a trophy.
Rusev (c) vs John Cena – United States Championship
Remember last year when John Cena, a guy who at this point in his career should start putting people over, was going up against a red hot up and coming talent only for Cena to go over? Yeah here we go again only this time instead of Bray Wyatt it's Rusev, the reigning United States Champion. The Cena/Rusev storyline is basically a slightly modified version of Rocky 4. Rusev, the proud supporter of Russia and evil anti-American, has yet to be defeated by pinfall or submission. John Cena already had a shot at defeating Rusev at the WWE Fastlane pay per view only to pass out in The Acolade, Rusev's submission finisher. Cena managed to get a rematch and wants to take the United States title off of Rusev for the good of the old USA.
Will the reign of Rusev continue or will he be the Bray Wyatt of 2015? Will hustle, loyalty, and respect triumph or will the Cenation finally fall?
Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins
Rollins and Orton were former allies as members of The Authority, however Orton eventually grew frustrated with Seth Rollins because Orton felt like he was constantly cleaning up messes that Rollins started. This eventually caused the two to clash, and Seth Rollins ended up taking Orton out of action for a few months. Upon Randy Orton's return from injury, he initially cooperated with Rollins and The Authority again before betraying Seth and RKO-ing him through an announce table.
Randy Orton is a pretty solid worker, Rollins is an absolute star. There's no reason this match shouldn't be fun to watch. Who will triumph, The Viper or The Future of the WWE?
Daniel Bryan vs Stardust vs Dolph Ziggler vs Luke Harper vs Dean Ambrose vs R Truth vs Wade Barrett (c) – WWE Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match
This match basically feels like it's going to end up being the title win Daniel Bryan gets in the hopes that the crowd doesn't turn on the show later on. The story going into this match is, basically, that a bunch of people want to make the Intercontinental Title mean something again. The entire reason the Intercontinental Title is viewed as worthless these days is because the champion his constantly booked terribly and loses constantly, so it feels like on-screen product is crossing over with the behind the scenes process of making the show a little bit. If there's any match I'd look at and say “this is the one that will steal the show”, it's absolutely this one. This match is absolutely loaded with talent, most of whom should be higher up on the card at this point and know it. I just honestly hope whomever walks out of WrestleMania as the Intercontinental Champion doesn't immediately start jobbing to upper-card talent.
AJ Lee and Paige vs The Bella Twins
AJ Lee and Paige are the former friends and enemies that have teamed together in order to fight the Bella Twins, whom are basically a mutual foe. I'm actually not sour on this match at all because three of the four competitors in this match (AJ, Paige, and Nikki) are actually respectable wrestlers (and by that I mean they aren't bad). It's kind of surprising that the Diva's Championship isn't being defended at WrestleMania of all places, however. The main thing that's going to suck about this match is that Brie Bella is going to be screaming "COME ON NIKKI" every 20 seconds when she's not the active wrestler in the match. I put an over/under on 15 Brie screams during the match.
The Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt
The Undertaker has not been seen since Brock Lesnar ended The Streak. Bray Wyatt, meanwhile, was basically buried by John Cena and spent the majority of the year since WrestleMania 30 attempting to pull himself out of the hole Cena put him in.
This is a match that I feel more people would be excited about if it happened one year ago when The Streak was still alive and when Bray Wyatt was still red hot. The storyline going into this match is that Bray Wyatt used to fear The Undertaker but, after Brock Lesnar ended The Streak at WrestleMania 30, that is no longer the case and Bray wants to basically end The Undertaker. The feud has entirely been carried by Wyatt's promo ability since Undertaker hasn't appeared on TV at all. I legitimately cannot say who I think will win this match as I don't think Undertaker will lose at two straight WrestleManias however I don't think Wyatt would be built up and fed to someone like this two years in a row (granted, this is Vince we're talking about). Can the dead man rise again or will the eater of worlds send The Phenom into the great beyond?
Sting vs Triple H
This storyline began at Survivor Series this fall when Sting made his debut appearance in WWE and helped Dolph Ziggler defeat Team Authority and (temporarily) end Triple H and Stephanie McMahon's rule over WWE. However, The Authority managed to return to power not too long after due to some trickery from Seth Rollins, and since then Sting has made multiple appearances thwarting Triple H and The Authority. As the storyline grew it transformed into, what we can assume will be, the final battle between WCW vs WWE – with Sting returning after 14 years (because TNA doesn't exist in WWE canon) to avenge WCW by taking down Triple H, who has claimed that WWE is the most important thing to him next to his family.
This will in all likelihood be a pretty entertaining match. Sting appears to be in pretty respectable shape for someone his age and compared to his final appearances in TNA. Triple H's last 'Mania match was against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30, which many would agree was one of the best matches of 2014. Will Sting triumph over Triple H and avenge WCW, or will WWE drive the final nail into WCW's coffin?
Brock Lesnar (c) vs Roman Reigns – WWE World Heavyweight Championship
This is probably the most poorly built up WrestleMania main event that I can remember off the top of my head. The story going into this matchup is that Brock Lesnar is the undisputed God King of professional wrestling after leaving everyone legit shook by ending The Undertaker's undefeated streak.
Brock then followed up this by absolutely obliterating John Cena at SummerSlam, retaining the title against Cena in the rematch a month later, and then defeating both Cena and Seth Rollins at the Royal Rumble with a broken freaking rib.
Roman Reigns, meanwhile, is the guy who won the Royal Rumble match and got booed out of the building because he wasn't Daniel Bryan. Roman went on to put on a pretty solid match against Daniel Bryan to then cement himself as the #1 contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
In terms of being an entertaining wrestling match, I have my doubts about Lesnar vs Reigns. The real entertaining portions of this match are the things surrounding it. Roman Reigns is basically Vince McMahon's new “chosen one” because he has “the look”, while Brock Lesnar may or may not be preparing to leave WWE since his current contract expires the day after WrestleMania. Will Lesnar resign with WWE? Will Lesnar retain the WWE title? Will the coronation of Roman Reigns happen at WrestleMania? Will WrestleMania 31 end in a chorus of boos? Or will there be a Plan B involving Seth Rollins and the Money in the Bank contract? There sure are a lot of interesting question marks heading into this main event.
Tune in this Sunday night to find out!
