WWE WrestleMania 31 Discussion Thread - March 29, 2015 from Santa Clara, CA

[Guest bigmatt]

Potential spoiler of a big entrance for one of the wrestlers:

 

 

There's a screenshot going around of a casting call from WWE for actors to portray marching Russian soldiers. It should be a good sight. It doesn't really match Triple H's gimmick but a good spectacle nonetheless.

 

[Maxximus 353]

I don't think that'll be for who they're saying it is because that makes zero sense.

[Guest Jack Collision]

I imagine that's the joke..

 

As it is, I've just gotten NXT tickets and, quite frankly, I'm more excited for this development than I am for Wrestlemania itself. Short of us doing a thing for a real life wrestling promotion, this show looks like it's going to be pretty bleh. I'm sure the matches, devoid of context, will be fine, but the build is possibly the worst I've come across in years and years. Can't even recall build this bad.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Jack Collision

[Evil Gringo 279]

At the moment the card has been rounded out a bit more now...

 

Lesnar v Reigns

Orton v Rollins (not officially announced by Orton said he will challenge Rollins on Raw)

Ambrose v Barrett v Bryan v Ziggler v R-Truth v Harper v Stardust

Paige & AJ Lee v The Bella Twins

Sting v HHH

Andre the Giant Battle Royal

Cena v Rusev

Taker v Bray

 

That is eight matches and XXX only had eight matches with one of those being a four team tag team match they busted out on the pre-show rather then the main broadcast so I'll be honest, aside from maybe Kidd & Cesaro defending their belts in another multi team match on the pre-show this year I think that's our final card.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

After initial fears I'm quite optimistic about this years Wrestlemania. The main event is fresh and new and features a performer under 30 and with his career in front of him not behind. Younger talent like Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins are being featured in prominent positions against established veterans, the latter being the most hopeful of getting the win at the night but at least WWE are pushing/trying something new. Even Rusev is getting the rub against the real face of the WWE and could potentially win!

[Guest bigmatt]

Yeah, there is definitely a lot of good and potential in this card. It's just a shame that its hampered by the poor booking of Roman and the insipid build in general. They really need a good couple of weeks of TV.

[dsrchris 190]

The only two things I actually care about at this point are Bray vs. Taker and the IC Title match.

 

Who'd have thunk that people would actually be anticipating an IC Title match in 2015?

[Evil Gringo 279]

That's the issue - the guys the fans actually care about are all lumped in a match that's going to be a spot fest and throwaway in terms of the history of the belt, Mania and the company.

 

That's fair enough, business is business but they should start doing what is right by the business and doing their level best to get us to give a s**t about the rest.

 

Step 1 is taking the belt off Lesnar. Yes in ring he's been good to great, yes Heyman has been excellent but he's not around enough - stop bumming the part timers and get us invested in the guys who are there week in and week out and reward them god damn it!

[Guest The Beltster]

Brock holding the belt isn't the problem. This is exactly how all the greats of the past were used, never on TV, only at big shows. I see no problem whatsoever with Brock being the champion and used as a special attraction, much better than Cena with the belt for the 10000th time losing it and winning it back every few weeks and acting like he doesnt give a shit when he loses it. Devalues everything.

 

Main problem is, the entire build for everything has been dog shit.

[dsrchris 190]

I'm with Belty. I actually love Brock being champ, and his sporadic appearances mean that when he is there, it's generally for a damn good reason.

 

The same thing happened last year though, WWE are becoming entirely too reliant on WrestleMania selling itself just for being WrestleMania. For some godforsaken reason, they don't seem to think they need to sell the PPV to us, and that we're all just gonna buy it regardless. They're just not putting any effort in any more.

[King 277]

The build has been utter rubbish I think, Brock being champ and making him a special attraction has been the best thing they did in years,I actually think some people look forward to the RAW after Mania more than Mania itself now.

[Guest bigmatt]

Fourthed on Brock as champion being great. They could have booked it better (Promoting his appearances on Raw, video packages etc). But its been the right thing for me.

[Guest Edgehead]

I'm totally behind Brock as champ, he's actually made the title mean something again. I'd be happy to see him hold on to it until next years Mania.

[Guest HH-Evolution]

I think we'll get a cash in of the briefcase, or at the very least a very heavy tease/sniff of one...far as I remember, nobody yet has actually rolled into mania as the MITB holder and cashed in. Of course, I think Brock should murder Seth the following RAW and following months PPV as a result, but at least Mania would end on an somewhat interesting note!

[Guest pheadley]

i dont like that roman and brock havent had much interaction together, you would usually have back and forth one upping leading to a ppv but we had nothing like that. i reckon this week on raw we are going to get brock giving reigns the beating of his life, to make it look impossible that reigns could win.

[Evil Gringo 279]

Thing is though Brock's run hasn't been done this way to keep him as a special attraction, its because Brock has it signed that he only appears so many times for x amount of guaranteed money.

 

Also the old days when they did that with Hogan and such was before Monday Night Raw, before wrestling was live every week and not pre-taped syndication shows - the world has changed, the wrestling world more then any.

 

I'm not saying he should wrestle on every show, far from it, the World Title is too big to change on Raw or Smackdown every couple of weeks like it did sometimes in the attitude era (or god forbid an episode of Sunday Night Heat) but for the benefit of a build he needs to be present in some form for interaction and heat building.

 

Even back then, Hogan would be on a show, someone would attack him (for instance Earthquake), cause an 'injury', people would be scared Hogan might be out, he'd come back for vengeance, they'd have a match for the title, Hogan would win, people would be happy. There was a logical reason for it, it built heat, it gave people a narrative and in the end a happy ending and made money.

 

Brock isn't there because he is not required to be due to his contract, its an open secret, he turns up for money, he fights for money - he doesn't care about who he fights really, just that the title = cash, anybody in front of him is for cash and for no other reason. That makes for a crap build in the long run because there is no emotional investment or pay off at all - just Brock eventually losing the title, losing a pay check as a result and leaving.

 

I want Brock to stay, I want Brock to be around more, he has been great in ring and it has been good to have a decent long title reign for a change that hasn't been Cena but he can't/won't be around to do that - Punk had a good title reign for over a year and was there near enough every week and the belt was more prestigious because you had a long running champion to knock off who became more and more paranoid and would do anything to keep his belt from hiring The Shield to kneeing The Rock in the face with a sucker punch attack.

 

But either way you slice it, from the booking, the build and to the very fact that Brock has the belt the blame for the malaise all lies at the McMahon door.

 

They are just expect Wrestlemania to sell itself because it is Mania and we do it every year because it is Mania and we wish and hope and want it to be the best we have ever seen when the fact is they haven't topped X-7 which is funny because that was the last Mania when they had serious competition during the build.

[Guest pheadley]

paddy powers early betting odds

 

reigns (2/7) to defeat lesnar (9/4) for the title

 

cena (1/7) to defeat rusev (4/1) for the u.s. title

 

ambrose (4/6) to win the i.c. title over bryan (3/1), barrett (9/2), ziggler (11/1), stardust (8/1), harper (19/1), and r-truth (35/1)

 

sandow to win the andre battle royal at (8/5), sheamus (9/2), mark henry (6/1) and others.

 

sting (1/7) to win against triple h (4/1)

 

the undertaker (2/9) to beat wyatt (11/4)

 

orton (8/11) to beat rollins (even odds)

 

paige and aj (3/10) to defeat the bellas (11/5)

 

and rollins favoured not to cash in his mitb case at (4/7)

[Guest bigmatt]

Interesting:

NXT tournament at Axxess to decide Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal entrant

An NXT tournament will be held this Thursday at WrestleMania Axxess, with the winner earning the right to compete in the second annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal days later at WrestleMania.

 

Get Axxess tickets now! | Check out these must-see Axxess attractions

 

Tournament participants will include former NXT Champion Adrian Neville, Finn Bálor, Tyler Breeze and Hideo Itami, WWE.com has confirmed. WrestleMania Axxess, which is the year’s biggest gathering of WWE fans, takes place at the San Jose Convention Center Thursday, March 26, through Sunday, March 29.

 

Find out which NXT Superstar will outlast the competition and make his debut on The Grandest Stage of Them All when the action goes down this Thursday at Axxess!

http://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania/nxt-tournament-axxess-andre-battle-royal-27213847

[Guest Jack Collision]

Fully agreed on Brock Lesnar. Would be more than happy for him to hold the title until next Wrestlemania.

 

The Paddy Power odds are all babyface wins, so it'll be 50/50. However, Mizdow winning the battle royal is a belting idea and I fully endorse it.

 

The NXT tournament will be great. I'd guess Sami Zayn wins to send the NXT fans home happy.

 

Flying out this Tuesday - three nights in SF before moving down to Cupertino. Most looking forward to seeing The Undertaker's entrance, but a close second is Levi's Stadium and the ability to order vegan fast food directly to your seat. Should make anything featuring The New Day more tolerable.

[Guest bigmatt]

Apparently all three Shield guys are 2-0 at Wrestlemania? I wonder if they will all win this year. It's very possible. It could be a nice thing to tag on to a Shield 3-way for the title in the future.