WWE Wrestlemania 31 (2015) - Discussion Thread

[SamScfc]

Not sure if SRS?

yeah definitely. I'm not normally a fan of artists like that but she was really good to be fair.

 

[Saddlerrad]

The only let down of the event for me, was the lack of atmosphere. I had my TV on quite low, but I thought it sounded almost silent quite a lot of the time, especially during matches, which didn't help the event. Also - HHH's/Stings entrances were tailor made for night time. WWE need to compensate or having massive stadiums so they can have events in the dark again. Orton's RKO was brillant. Not seen the main event yet.

Taker vs Wyatt was very carefully done, makes me wonder if they wanted to leave it as late as possible for Wyatt's ankle to heel as much as possible. The mach was slow and boring, but Taker looked the best he has for about 5 years. The hair suits him, he looked healthy. I noticed he looked up to the sky and said 'thank you' after the 3 count, probably because he made it through without concussion for the first time in a very long time. Wyatt sucks though. Slow, dull character that we have seen many times before, over weight, weak in the ring, not all that over bar his entrance. Meh, hope he isn't a future main eventer.

 

[SamScfc]

It just summed how stupid the entrances were when Wyatt came out with a lantern

 

[mase]

yeah definitely. I'm not normally a fan of artists like that but she was really good to be fair.

I didn't think she sounded too good personally but each to their own!

 

[Stevencc]

Wow, what a fantastic main event that was! Enthralling stuff.

What's with the booing of Roman Reigns by the way? I'm way out of the loop.

 

[Saddlerrad]

BREAKING: #WrestleMania 31 became the highest grossing live event in its history with $12.6 million. #WWE

Vince Russo ✔ @THEVinceRusso
With any show-you just want to be ENTERTAINED. Even though you might not have agreed with everything--tonight WWE entertained. Did their job


So then, it appears that we don't need a 'build' to WM, as both this and last years were pretty awful and both shows delivered the best since WM 20. Just goes to show that WWE's talent is excellent, but the creative are terrible. Everyone kind of knew that anyway.


Also - if you listen carefully, Seth 'thanks' Roman during the pin. Fair play to RR for letting Rollins take the title.
https://vine.co/v/OLvgOvv0JVQ

 

[Big Bird]

At least next year's is in Texas which is only 5 hours behind. Should be getting dark soon into the event. Just felt a bit pre-show to me until the final match.

I quite enjoyed it overall. Found the ladder match a bit disappointing, ended too soon. HHH/Sting turned into more of a parody match with the OAP's getting involved...but other than that it was just ok. With a very good main event. There was some serious punishment being taken in there. Reigns will be hurting today.

As always looking forward to tonights RAW which typically shows which direction various talent will be heading next.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

What's with the booing of Roman Reigns by the way? I'm way out of the loop.

A lot could be written about that, but I think the crux of it is that Reigns, through no great fault of his own, came to be seen as the next "chosen one", i.e. the next corporate poster boy that Vinnie Mac is going to ram down our collective throats whether we like it or not. The next John Cena, basically.

I think a lot of the boos aren't really personal – weird as that might sound. It's just vocal opposition to the idea of him being pushed to the moon (winning the title, headlining WM, beating Lesnar a year after Brock broke the streak, etc.) at a point where he's still relatively new and rather green. Too much too soon. That sort of thing.

We'll never know for sure, but it's very likely that all the negativity towards him in recent months dissuaded WWE from booking him to win last night, which I think is actually a good thing for him.

 

[Stevencc]

A lot could be written about that, but I think the crux of it is that Reigns, through no great fault of his own, came to be seen as the next "chosen one", i.e. the next corporate poster boy that Vinnie Mac is going to ram down our collective throats whether we like it or not. The next John Cena, basically.

I think a lot of the boos aren't really personal – weird as that might sound. It's just vocal opposition to the idea of him being pushed to the moon (winning the title, headlining WM, beating Lesnar a year after Brock broke the streak, etc.) at a point where he's still relatively new and rather green. Too much too soon. That sort of thing.

We'll never know for sure, but it's very likely that all the negativity towards him in recent months dissuaded WWE from booking him to win last night, which I think is actually a good thing for him.

That makes sense, thanks for explaining.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Did anybody notice whilst Sting and HHH shook hands that Trips was saying something like 'One Day, One day' and Sting said 'Awesome'. Makes you wonder what that was about? A rematch? Performing at Wrestlemania again? Getting back in the ring again? That's followed up by this..

'- As of last night, WWE officials had not decided on whether or not Sting will be wrestling going forward. This is why the angle with the nWo and DX last night may have seemed like a sendoff for The Stinger. Sting is open to working more dates if WWE wants him to.'
http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/wwe...Was_Bray_Wyatt_s_Pre-WrestleMania_Injury.html

I thought his performance was better than any of Takers in the last 4-5 years. You can see how dedicated and fit he has kept himself even to the age of 56.

 

[way 4 england]

Waited 15 years for wwe to make sting look like a chump. You won vince, move on and stop running wcw talent into the ground.

 

[silvergull]

I like Wyatt, but clearly one of the few that does. Raw creative just don't know how to use him, as he was more than incredible in Nxt. I like his in ring style too. Psychological and reminiscent of Pre- ECW foley. I bring this up, as I think he deserves and incredible amount of respect for last night. He badly sprained his ankle hours before the match, up to the point it was in a cast and he wasn't putting any pressure on it. Yet he still went out and competed. he was clearly limping through out, yet allowed Taker to have his match.

So much to love about mania. It's the little things I loved, such as Ziggler constantly climbing the ladder as much as he could. Here's hoping for a Ziggler heel turn and fued with Bryan.

 

[Leewilson]

My views (apart from the Divas match that I skipped in anticipation for the main events).

6) Ladder match

A good opener but just lacking that special feel. It should have been better considering the people involved but just fell short of being memorable. Not quite sure why it didn't quite work. Perhaps people have become too accustomed to seeing TLC and the ladder loses it's novelty without somebody crashing through a table. But yeah, thought Ambrose was outstanding in this match and really took a few bumps. Stardust also took his fair share, plus Cody Rhodes is awesome anyway. Bryan was subdued and it was a good decision by WWE to drop him down the card a bit and feel his way back in as he is lacking that ring intensity at the minute as he can't take bumps. Ziggler was ok but he's performed better previously as well.

I see a Sheamus/Bryan confrontation tonight whilst I'm sure Barrett and Ziggler will be hovering around the title picture.


5) Taker/Wyatt

Despite ranking this 5th, I actually really enjoyed this match. It will get criticised for the pace and I understand that. For me though, what the Undertaker is doing at the moment is selling his age in the ring. If you watch carefully, the stumbling and lethargic movements are done on purpose. They've been playing on him getting older for the last 2-3 years and the whole story has basically been "Can the Deadman still go in the ring?". Last year he didn't look in great shape and getting injured early on fucked him. Plus when you see how Lesnar wrestled last night, a 49 year old Undertaker in poor shape had no hope of walking out unscathed. He still has it, as he showed with Punk the year previously. I hope next year he faces someone a bit more mobile as I think they would still bring out a superb match with him. I like Wyatt's in ring style. It is a bit ploddy but very psychological and these two worked a nice 3.5/5 star match. There was minimal risk involved which was sensible. The part where Taker sat up was immense.
He'll be back next year, and my dream match for a Taker send off, Taker vs Rollins. I think that would be superb. Rollins would play the villainous role superbly just like Punk did two years ago.


4) Rusev/Cena

A very enjoyable match, made more enjoyable by Rusev and Lana who are absolutely superb. Cena winning was the right result and they kept Rusev's destructive streak alive by having it as a loss via unintentional distraction. Cena pulled out a few more moves than usual and Rusev's presence in the ring is not matched by many in the company. He'll go far. Lana needs to give up the shoe throwing though, made me spit my drink out.


3) Orton/Rollins

A very good wrestling match. Two great athletes who very rarely have a dud match. It just lacked that 5 star quality edge to it although it came very close at times. The ending was superb although I think there could have been a more psychological edge to the match and a bit more viciousness on Orton's behalf although when you consider they needed Rollins in some shape to cash in, you can see why they didn't want to risk any table/weapon spots etc. Very good.


2) Sting/HHH

If you didn't enjoy this, get out. It was never going to be a pure match, it was nostalgia at it's finest. Anything else wouldn't have worked. However, Sting put in an impressive lively performance whilst HHH is in incredible shape for his age and still has one of the best ring presences around. The whole old school angle wars angle was excellent and yeah, this felt like something saved for the biggest show of the year which is exactly what it should be. Hopefully we see Sting again although only if he can equal/top this.


1) Lesnar/Reigns

Well done WWE. I had doubts but the main event delivered as MOTN as it should. Up until the cash in, it was brutal and brilliant. I was worried Reigns was going to be too on top which would lead to a huge backlash but they paced it beautifully. The facial expressions were spot on as was the blood. I know WWE don't like it but it really added something to this. It gave the impression that you can't beat Lesnar by wrestling, you have to try to batter him which again is spot on. Reigns' athletic build gave the impression he can stand up for himself. The cash in was excellently timed and the 2-3 minutes after this were again tense and dramatic. I genuinely at that point could not call it. Whilst my head said surely Rollins, you had the fact Brock had just resigned and that Reigns has been built so strong in your mind. I marked out when Rollins won. A great ending which keeps everyone looking strong and sets up potential feuds down the line. Orton will also have a claim on the title since he beat the champ at WM.

ROLL ON RAW!

 

[ccfctommy]

Just sen the last part (after Rocks' looooong segment). Taker Wyatt was okay, but that main event though. THAT ending. Wow.....

That was a very good Wrestlemania. Very good indeed.

 

[GodsGift]

That main event was just so fucking good, it's the best match I've seen in years. It was so far beyond the predictable back and forth WWE template that is churned out every night and you were hooked from the very first minute. Rollins and Reigns were excellent, but Lesnar was out of this world.

I thought the rest was very good as well. The ladder match was a decent spotfest to open the show, Orton v Rollins was a very entertaining wrestling match and while Triple H v Sting was truly bizarre, it did provide some great moments. I didn't really enjoy Taker v Wyatt, it was slow and cumbersome but I didn't expect it to be anything other than that. I could just about accept Taker v Sting next year but after that he's done.

 

[Captain Scumbag]

If you didn't enjoy this, get out. It was never going to be a pure match, it was nostalgia at it's finest. Anything else wouldn't have worked.

I thought it was a pretty decent pure match (one the crowd was definitely into) before it descended into a nostalgic circle jerk. That shift didn't really work for me. I admit I laughed out loud when Nash took a bump outside the ring and started selling a quad injury (great insider sight gag, that), but for me there was something kinda self-serving, indulgent and sad about the match from the hobble-ins onwards.

For me, that match should have been about Sting getting a small and belated piece of WM glory. Instead it felt more like (a) an excuse for Hunter to get his old mates on the card, and/or (b) an excuse for Vince to gloat about beating WCW for the 22,389th time. Why have Hunter win this one? Why have Sting shake his hand afterwards? None of it really made sense. It was historically illiterate. It made no sense in storyline.

I can get people enjoying the goofy nostalgia of stuff like this, but was that really appropriate for the occasion? Save that for backstage segments or some gimmicky undercard thing that no one cares about. This match should have been about putting Sting over, giving him the respect he's due and keeping him interesting for possible future appearances. So, yeah, completely disagree.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Personally, I think this was Sting's last match. Why?

1) He agreed to job. The traditional way to end your final match is on your back. He lost.
2) This was just meant to be a one time only career 'completion' moment, just having 1 match on a big stage at WM.
3) The whole 'shake hands' thing to me signals the end.
4) According to PWinsider, Sting asked for Charles Robinson (Ex WCW) to officiate the match as a little 'package addition' on his final appearance.

Also, you have to remember. Sting was wrestling in School gymnasiums just a few months back with TNA. This was one final hurrah infront of a big crowd, on a big stage. There was never ever talk about him being with WWE after Mania, never talk of him performing any kind of schedule. As far as WWE are concerned, Sting COULD be done with them, especially now that the streak is gone. Triple H needs some ring-worthy credit after losing 8 in a row putting over Bryan and Taker twice in recent years, especially if he is on about headlining WM32 with 100,000 people against the Rock next year. I suspect Sting needed no persuasion to lose the match last night, with his old school wrestling head he probably had the mindset that...I'm the new man on the block, I have to come and prove myself in this ring before anything else. He said the word 'awesome' at the end last night as they shook hands, probably about the match/experience having been surrounded by nothing like it for 15 years.

As much as I LOVE Sting, the real WCW move (booking wise) was for an outsider who refused to join the company...just come...turn up at Wrestlemania and beat one of WWE's big headline stars. Sting is probably one of the most dedicated, current, knowledge of the business savvy stars ever to get in the ring..it's not just a case of ego and fan reaction to him. WWE did Sting a favour here and earnt themselves a big buck too.

 

[Leewilson]

That's a really good post Captain. I can't argue with that as that's your viewpoint and the way you see it. And I can completely see why you see it that way as well.

I see it like Saddler though. I also think the ending was more about it being Sting's final/only match and storyline going out of the window with mutual respect being shown. If Sting shows up tonight and agrees to face Taker next year mind, I'll eat my words with that.

Alot of seeing going on there.

 

[iesty wfc]

Managed to avoid this thread all day and have just finished watching it now.

Tag match - I do love Cesaro and Kidd, but they need to sort out new tag teams pronto. How many times have los matadores and the usos faced off in the last year??

Battle royal - some good spots. Axel getting dumped off the bat was predictable. Itami got a bit of offense in but put in his place. Can't believe it was big shows first win in one of these

Ladder match. Seemed a bit contrived and forced to me. Too much standing around waiting for the set ups and spots to happen. Ambrose bump was horrendous looking.

You know what you are getting with Orton. Solid match

hhh vs sting - wtf with the entrances??? Terminator one was lame! Good match though. I watch TNA and thought sting looked much better than he had done the last few years. Loved the DX NWO bit as well, but that's the 90s mark in me. Stings last match? I don't think so

Diva match. Shouldn't have followed sting. But meh.

Cena rusev - again wtf with the entrances. Cena threw some new moves in his bid to win and glad rusev did. I can see rusev Lana splitting and someone coming to her rescue. Don't know who yet though

The authority rock\rousey promo was OK. Love rousey and I reckon we could see her in wwe at some point in the future

Wyatt taker. Taker was infinitely better than his match last year. He might even make more than one appearance this year. Where does bray go after this though?? Bring in a sister Abigail character \ storyline? Oh and he didn't look like he had an ankle injury, contrary to rumours

Main event. Didn't like the way reigns was built as laughing off the punishment lesnar was dishing out. Lesnar is immense and will be in the title scene for sure. He bled a lot and haven't seen that much on wwe TV for a long time. Couldn't tell if his ringpost was a cut job or not. I think it was. And a great twist on the mitb. Rollins will be a good heel champion

Overall a reasonably good ppv. Thank the lord for the network - only 9.99!

Did anyone notice the Grimsby fan near the front of the crowd too? Kept holding up a top and a 'this is Carl magnay' sign haha

 

[T.A]

The Lenny John Lewis sign was my fave.

 

[RavenBish]

The only let down of the event for me, was the lack of atmosphere. I had my TV on quite low, but I thought it sounded almost silent quite a lot of the time, especially during matches, which didn't help the event.

Stadium innit with not a lot of cover. Never going to be the same as having it in a dome.

 

[mase]

Did anybody notice whilst Sting and HHH shook hands that Trips was saying something like 'One Day, One day' and Sting said 'Awesome'. Makes you wonder what that was about? A rematch? Performing at Wrestlemania again? Getting back in the ring again?

Hall of Fame?

 

[JustinQPR]

SUPLEX CITY BITCH.

Brock is the greatest. Fucking greatest ever.

 

[JustinQPR]

Did anyone notice the Grimsby fan near the front of the crowd too? Kept holding up a top and a 'this is Carl magnay' sign haha

I've noticed him at the last few PPV's, and when he kept popping up last night I did a little search...

http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/G...rs-steal-WWE/story-26253095-detail/story.html

Fair play to him, must have a decent job/understandable wife/virgin to be able to afford those trips!!

 

[GodsGift]

Ha, I wrote that story. He's a really nice guy who actually lives in Edinburgh where he runs his own events management company, hence why he's got so many reliable contacts who can get him ringside tickets for all these events.

Here's the story I did after he was spotted at Fast Lane last month - http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/G...ers-ringside/story-26084972-detail/story.html

 

[Saddlerrad]

 

[Leewilson]

You beat me to it Chris!

 

[Saddlerrad]

Taker 'I thought at least one of us would end up in hospital!'
Sting 'Dude I know right?!'
Taker 'Man wait till you see that mania paycheck... Why the hell you think I keep coming back every year..

 

[NiallQuinnDiscoPants]

that was one amazing trip. if someone could let me know how to download pics onto a post, I'll try and get some pics on here.

the axxess event, i met some cool guys like Xavier Woods, Big E (hate the gimmick but the actual guys are pretty cool) & Luke Harper (huge). I also managed to get an autograph for my little lads favourite guy Sin Cara, which he signed to him personally as well. He's another nice guy. Also met Renée Young too. Hubba Hubba.

hall of fame was a bit boring. the zbysko speech was a train wreck & the macho man stuff seemed really rushed which was a shame. Having Nash as the main guy rubbed me up the wrong way. The crowd were all dying to see the Macho Man inducted, but then not to have it as the main event was pretty wrong.

mania was awesome. the greatest sporting or entertainment event i have ever been to. crazy.

the raw after the show was really cool too, although this guy next to me called Randy seemed obsessed with me going with him to Dallas next year for Mania 32 and taking any opportunity possible to touch me on the shoulder or leg or anywhere. The first 2 hours of the show were brilliant, the main event was dire though. Being in that post-mania Raw crowd though - winner.

 

[Saddlerrad]

Sounds great mate. Are the photo's saved on to your PC? If they are simply hit 'more options' then 'upload a file' you will be able to add them manually. Glad you had a good time? You found yourself an American buddy to go to Dallas with! Wooo.