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Welcome to yet another Wrestlemania review from yours truly, Mr. Tito. I've been a writer for LordsofPain.net since October 1998 and I've covered and reviewed almost every Wrestlemania since my first show, Wrestlemania 15. The only Wrestlemanias that I missed were during 2007 to 2010 when I was briefly retired and not yet back into the thick of things upon my return. Otherwise, especially if you are a long time reader, you've seen me cover Wrestlemania from 1999 to 2006 and now from 2011 to present. Special THANK YOU to many readers who have been with me since my first reviews and of course, THANK YOU to the main readers that I've gained since. But I want to THANK the WWE for investing in me, a loyal fan. They will be cutting checks to one Brock Lesnar to the tune of $3 million per year for the next 3 years. That's a WWE stamp of approval on a guy that many fans enjoyed from 2002-2004 and also to fans who enjoyed a WWE Champion that was so well built up and hyped. Brock Lesnar's matches have that BIG MATCH FEEL that the WWE has seriously lacked in their Pay Per Views since Brock Lesnar left during 2004. Because of the way that the WWE has booked Brock Lesnar to be an unstoppable machine, everyone will want to tune into the WWE Network to see if any of the current WWE roster can actually measure up against him. We have 3 years of Lesnar to enjoy and the possibilities are endless even with just 4 Pay Per Views a year. Sometimes, "LESS is MORE"... Brock Lesnar's signing has rejuvenated me as a pro wrestling fan, particularly towards the WWE brand. I had serious thoughts about walking away if we were going to (a) lose Brock Lesnar and (b) use Lesnar's exit to put over an inexperienced Roman Reigns. It just didn't seem like a good trade-off to me and began to make me question remaining a pro wrestling fan and also Mr. Tito. Reigns, to me, is in that Miz/Sheamus/Alberto Del Rio/Jack Swagger crowd where WWE management thought they would be great champions or pushed them too early. Each of those 5 wrestlers legitimately struggled in the WWE afterward and I suspect Reigns would as well especially following Brock Lesnar's exit from the company. Vince McMahon is reportedly high on Roman Reigns and wants to push him at whatever cost. HHH has gone along with the plan with some resistance and I can imagine Kevin Dunn is in love with the "look" of Reigns like Vince. But now, Lesnar is back for 3 years... I'm optimistic about the WWE now. The WWE roster has greatly improved with its developmental call-ups with many decent talents on the way. As they develop further over the next 3 years, they can be fed to Brock Lesnar (or John Cena, Randy Orton) to see if they are ready for the bigtime. Somewhere along the next 3 years, we'll find that next exceptional wrestler who can legitimately carry the WWE on his (or her) back. WWE now surrounds its top veterans John Cena, Randy Orton, and Brock Lesnar with Rusev, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Wade Barrett, Ryback, and others... Plus, you have other veterans on the roster like Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Sting, Stardust, Sheamus, Jack Swagger, Miz, Damien Sandow, and onward that could swap in and out of midcard to upper-mid card roles. WWE roster is THICK right now and having a major Pay Per View asset like Brock Lesnar does nothing but help the WWE. Heading into Wrestlemania 31, my expectations BEFORE the Brock Lesnar re-signing were low... Now, they are high! Just as a heads-up to you, the reader, I'm writing this column as Wrestlemania 31 occurs and will post this column immediately as the show ends. INSTA-COLUMN baby. Onto the review... MR. TITO'S PHAT WRESTLEMANIA 31 REVIEW First and foremost, the atmosphere in San Francisco for this Wrestlemania is off the charts crazy! Wow... Better yet, to start the show, we're right in the middle of the afternoon on the West Coast and the son is bright. Tag Titles: Tyson Kidd/Cesaro (c) vs. Usos vs. New Day vs. Los Matadores I was destroying pizza during this match, so thus my play-by-play of this match won't be as crystal clear as others later on this card. But this match was a lot of fun... Lots of high flying talent and great team work. That double suplex spot involving 6 wrestlers was crazy! I really liked the finish where Cesaro snuck a tag on an Uso from the top rope and scored the pin. Zero complains here with this hot opener and hey, Cesaro has won at 2 Wrestlemanias in a row. Winners: Tyson Kidd/Cesaro Match Rating: ***1/2 Andre "The Giant" Battle Royal Finishing my pizza for this one. Lots of warm bodies in that ring which could defeat Kevin Nash's strategy on Battle Royals of everybody going to a corner to not blow out knees. Fun moments in this match such as Miz/Mizdow confronting Alex Riley and Big Show fighting off the New Day (all 3 members). To WWE's credit, they remembered that Cesaro won this last year and he tried to toss Big Show once again. Cesaro failed and Big Show tossed him. Then, you thought Ryback would be the guy but Big Show tossed him. Miz and Mizdow versus Big Show and the crowd is getting HYPE with Mizdow. Early on, Sandow does not want to work with Miz but Miz pleads with him. Then, the Mizdow tosses Miz! Finally! Miz is irate and tries to attack with the referees pulling him away. Now, it's one-on-one with Damien Sandow vs. Big Show. Big Show is laughing at him to start and Sandow tries to fight him. Big Show is overpowering, almost tosses Sandow but Damien pulls himself up like Shawn Michaels. Big Show makes a mistake and tries to lunge at Sandow and goes over the ropes. Big Show grabbed him for a chokeslam and then Sandow reverses it for a chokehold. However, Big Show just tosses him... UH OH, that means that a Big Show push is in order... Watch out Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar! Winner: Big Show Match Rating: **1/2 Have to say... It does make sense that Big Show would win this Battle Royal... Looked cool standing by the Andre Trophy. Aloe Blacc sang "America the Beautiful" and it was very nice. LL Cool J did the opening video package which was pretty damn awesome. For as much as we may rip WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn for his creative ideas, nobody can question how well he can produce a video segment. Levi Stadium looks HUGE. Too bad the San Francisco 49ers are pretty much rebuilding this year when attempting to fill it. Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Wade Barrett(c) vs. Daniel Bryan vs. R-Truth vs. Luke Harper vs. Stardust vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose Nice touch on having Pat Patterson being honored in the ring before the IC Title is raised. Respect, yo. Daniel Bryan comes out first with lots of "YES!" chants, of course. And, to piss off Mr. Tito, the CHAMPION Wade Barrett comes out 2nd before 5 other wrestlers... Come on, WWE... Champions come out last for their entrances! Ziggler comes out with his hair braided down the center. Yeah, enjoy that being permanently on a Wrestlemania show. Stardust comes out with Katy Perry's Superbowl outfit. Luke Harper comes out... Eh. Guy seems directionless after the Wyatt family. R-Truth comes out but doesn't rap. Dean Ambrose comes out and gets a nice pop and as he hits the ring, the match immediately starts. Lots of jumping through the ropes on the outside to start the match. Then, Ambrose goes to the top of a ladder and drops the elbow on a whole group of people. Daniel Bryan is bumping early as he dropped hard with a dropkick and then took a ladder to his head. But Bryan gets his revenge with Harper hanging from the ladder and Bryan was kicking him repeatedly. Crazy spot with R-Truth, Dean, and Dolph all on the ladder and Stardust dropkicked it. Stardust pulls his own special ladder and the bottom leg breaks off, LOL. Small ladders in the ring now... I always love the Ladder Helicopters when someone puts the ladder on their head and spins. Big ladders is up now and Wade Barrett delivers a devastating suplex on Stardust to get a "HOLY SHIT" chant from the crowd. Now, Bryan and Ziggler get pushed off the big ladder by Dean Ambrose. Then, Dean Ambrose was next to suffer from that same ladder when Luke Harper pulled him off and powerbombed him to the outside. OUCH! Ziggler then pulls Luke Harper off the big ladder but then Wade Barrett hits multiple Bullhammers. Daniel Bryan in the ring and hits the knee on Barrett. Bryan is climbing the ladder but Ziggler earns the title of FASTEST WWE LADDER CLIMBER EVER to start a slugfest with Bryan. LOTS of headbutts, which looked very real, and Ziggler eventually couldn't take any more. Bryan grabs the title. Nicely worked match. Funny how Bryan won the WWE Title last year and the Intercontinental Title this year. Yikes... Winner: Daniel Bryan Match Rating: ***1/2 And now, an ad for Tapout merchandise featuring Roman Reings. Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins Poor J&J Security has to wear black suits tonight with black dress shirts in that hot son today. Nice sequences to start as it appears that Randy Orton is pretty motivated for this match. Poor J&J Security get destroyed with a double DDT off the apron. Seth Rollins started to dominate but Orton fought him off. Wow, T-Bone Suplex by Orton. J&J Security continue to sell the effects of the DDT and then Seth Rollins hits a moonsault on Orton. Picture perfect flip, too. A rare top rope crossbody by Orton which was somehow reversed into a pin by Rollins. Nice sequence for when Orton hit the DDT through the ropes on Rollins. RKO out of no where but 2 count only on Rollins. Orton lines up for the punt but J&J Security block it. Poor Mercury and Noble get RKOs for their trouble but distracts enough for Rollins to attack and hit the Curb Stomp. 2 count only. SICK FINISH! After missing a top rope flip, Seth Rollins tried a Curb Stomp but freakin' Randy Orton stands up to elevate Rollins in the air and RKO! Wow... Standing ovation for that finish. Winner: Randy Orton Match Rating: ****1/4 Sting vs. Triple H An oriental type orchestra with Sting facepaint is out and my mind is just BLOWN that Sting is on a freakin' Wrestlemania. Looks like Sting is wearing the tights from the 1997-1998 WCW era. Charles Robinson ("Little Natch") is the referee, too. Looks like the Terminator entrance is actually happening. Oh my GOD, those graphics... Sting is in the ring thinking "I thought I looked stupid when Robocop saved me" as Triple H rises from the stage Terminator based armor and Arnold declaring that it was "time to play the Game". HHH did have water in his mouth the entire time, to his credit, to spit it out upon entering the ring. "THIS IS AWESOME" chants start the match before they even lock-up. After some back and forth, "YOU STILL GOT IT" chants for Sting. Eventually, Triple H starts dominating the match and the crowd goes silent... Yikes, Sting has quite the bald spot. Oh yeah, he just turned 56. Triple H has a huge bruise on his left leg which cause the Scorpion Death Lock to really hurt. As that Deathlock is locked, Degeneration X (X-Pac & New Age Outlaws) run out to attack. Apparently, this is a No Disqualification match that I didn't hear about it when sleepwalking through RAW for the past few weeks. Sting has a nice toprope jump on HHH and DX... But after a while, Sting falls for the Pedigree but gets 2 Count Only. Sledgehammer is grabbed by Triple H and then the NEW WORLD ORDER (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall) comes out! What the hell?!? Holy cow, DX and NWO are brawling!!! That distraction caused Sting to hit the Scorpion Deathdrop for 2 count only. Now, the Scorpion Deathlock is hit but the sledgehammer is nearby. But Hulk Hogan pulls it away! On the outside antics, I think Kevin Nash tore another quad! HHH hits the ropes on the Deathlock as I wonder, "what happened to NO DQ?". As Sting attempts another Deathlock, Shawn Michaels sneaks in and hits the Sweet Chin Music on Sting. 2 count only! HHH as the Sledgehammer and Scott Hall hands Sting the Bat. He snapped the handle of the sledge hammer in 2 with the bat! Sting is assaulting HHH in the corner and now, the Stinger Splash as HHH picks up the metal half of the Sledgehammer and that's it, 3 count. HHH wins. Well, so long for any additional Sting matches in the WWE. Still, that was a lot of fun with some strange DX vs. NWO antics. Afterward, a handshake between HHH and Sting. Winner: Triple H Match Rating: ***1/4 Backstage, Pat Patterson gives congrats to Daniel Bryan and then Roddy Piper gives him a big kiss. Then, Ricky Steamboat appears and says that the IC Title Ladder Match ranks up there with the Wrestlemania 3 match. Uh, no. Ric Flair appears and made me mark out by chopping Ricky Steamboat. Then, Bret Hart appears for a "Yes!" chant. Ron Simmons appears and says "DAMN!". Hilarious segment! Travis Barker & Skyler Grey are out for a music performance... Don't care that it's happening because this is a 5 hour show and I don't mind not typing for a change. Kid Ink joins them and sings yet another song that I've never heard of. Whatever. Mountain Dew continues its dominance of sponsoring WWE shows with a Kickstart commercial. When will the ringside announcers ever drink their Mt. Dew bottles? AJ Lee/Paige vs. Bella Twins Paige, AJ Lee, and then Bellas come out in that order. Paige and Nikki start off and Nikki dominates. Nikki knocks AJ off the apron and then hits Alabama Slam on Paige! Nice missile dropkick by Brie as Paige is now in full "face in peril" mode already. Nice double suplex, using the ropes for an extra bounce, by the Bellas. Reversal on an Irish Whip saw Nikki Bella hitting a dropkick on AJ Lee off the apron again. Rack Attack on Paige but 2 count only. What? Paige gets in some offense and fights off both Bellas and then hits them on the outside. Finally, a hot tag on AJ Lee and she hits this fascinating Tornado DDT on Nikki that hits the top rope. AJ Lee counters the Electric Chair Drop and into a DDT (almost botched it but fixed it mid-air). With Brie taken out on the outside, as Paige slammed her into the stairs, and AJ Lee slaps on her submission hold to make Nikki tap. Match was underwhelming as there was too much stuff on the outside and wrestlers getting knocked out on the outside. Not enough actual tag wrestling. However, they had to follow HHH/Sting. Winners: AJ Lee & Paige Match Rating: ** WWE 2015 Hall of Fame segment... I'm relieve to see Kevin Nash walking normally. With the way he clenched his leg earlier, that had me worried. Good to see Macho and Kevin Nash getting in. Not many missing names left, other than active wrestlers. US Title Match: Rusev (c) vs. John Cena My buddy Virtue said "get ready for Rocky 4" and what happens? The classic Russian National Anthem played from Rocky 4 is played. Better yet, we get Lana back and leading the Russian soldiers to the ring. And Rusev comes out in a freakin' tank! Best entrance of the night! John Cena, in contrast, gets a video of Presidents speaking about American achievements which was nice. However, John Cena comes out to his regular entrance and doesn't get anything special. What, the Avengers didn't want to give Cena an entrance? By the way, another FINGER OF SHAME to the WWE for having the Champion come out first instead of last. Rusev dominates the start and holds up the Russian flag to brag it up. The cockiness costs him, as Cena kicks him and hits repeat trademark moves. Cena blocks the Superplex and Cena hits a nice legdrop from the top on Rusev's back. Cena attempts the Attitude Adjustment but Rusev escapes and drills Cena with a kick to the face! Back and forth and then Cena slaps Rusev into his submission. Then, Lana tosses in her shoe right in front of the referee. OOPS! Rusev to the top and hits a flying headbutt. Rusev attempts the Accolade submission but Cena fights him off and hit a springboard Stone Cold Stunner. Wow! Rusev fought back and hit a variation of a slam that I used to see Vader hit in WCW. Accolade submission locked in! Cena stands up with the hold and runs Rusev into the corner, STF(U) submission now locked in by John Cena. Lana was on the apron to distract but then Rusev accidentally hits her. CALLED THAT ONE! And then Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment to win a freakin' midcard title. Decent match... Winner: John Cena Match Rating: ***1/2 Triple H and Stephanie McMahon announce a NEW attendance record at Levi Stadium. Hey, it's a new place... But to WWE's credit, there is a good chance that this record holds for a while because not many events will pack seats on the field. HHH then brags about beating Sting, all 76,000+ fans in attendance, and the millions watching WWE Network worldwide. "The Authority always wins." And then, the Rock's music hits! Holy shit! The Rock is VERY over with the Levi Stadium crowd. Rock suggests that they could have a Wrestlemania moment now but Triple H said that he beat Rocky regularly and didn't have anything to prove. Rock suggests that HHH left his balls in Stamford, CT... But Stephanie intervenes and nails him with a real point of "without the McMahons, there would be no Rock". Fair point. Stephanie said that her grandfather, her dad, and herself made the Rock a success but Rock said she wouldn't be successful without Vince's "johnson". Ouch. Stephanie slaps Rock and dares Rock to do something, hit a woman? Rock exits the ring and thinks about it... he then notices UFC Women's Champion Ronda Rousey ringside and brings her to the ring. Holy cow! "Holy shit" chants from the crowd and then "Ronda's Gonna Kill You". LOL. Stephanie suggests she and Ronda are friends... But, Stephanie suggests that we're not in UFC and we're in the squared circle. "Get the hell out of my ring" to which Ronda responds "any ring I step in is mine". Oh damn! Rock's response about Ronda Rousey pulling out Stephanie's insides and playing jumprope was hilarious! HHH and Rock start to brawl when Ronda gets in the action and hiptosses HHH. Then, Stephanie dares to get into Rousey's face... Stephanie tries to slap but Rousey catches her and locks the arm or "being owned" as the Rock said which he declared the "biggest Wrestlemania moment of the night". That was pretty crazy... Terminator trailer aired... I wonder who paid who for the entrance and trailer airing? Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker Bray Wyatt is out first. His entrance just looks weird in the daytime, to be honest. Ditto for the Undertaker's entrance. Undertaker looks to be in good shape and looks cool with the hair grown out. Crowd is pumped with "Undertaker" chants to start and an upset Bray charged the Undertaker only to eat a big boot. Taker working on the arm to start and then walks the rope for some OLD SCHOOL. "You Still Got It" chants break out. Taker did his classic landing when tossed to the outside and then the legdrop on the apron. Wyatt gets back on the offense by hitting an elbow off the ropes when a "Let's Go Taker / Let's Go Wyatt" chant breaks out. Hmmmm... Bray pounds on Undertaker and then sits in the corner to stare. Then, Bray pulls Undertaker out of the ring but didn't seem to really connect on that knee to the fact over the steel steps. Actually, he connected with the steps on his knee. D'oh! Out of no where, Undertaker hits the Hell's Gate submission but Wyatt punches his way out of it. Wyatt slams Taker in what sort of looked like a Rock Bottom and then hit the running Senton. Sister Abigail attempt but Undertaker chokeslams Wyatt. Tombstone Piledriver hit and Wyatt kicks out at 2. Wow... Goes for another Tombstone (slashes throat first) but Bray Wyatt reverses it for a Sister Abigail. 2 count only! Spiderwalk time as Undertaker rises up. Uh oh, that's a Wrestlemania moment that we'll see for years. Sister Abigail attempt again with Bray Wyatt kissing his head, but Undertaker pushes him off, hits the Tombstone, and scores the victory. Told you, guys... Reward for Undertaker losing last year and ending the streak, even at the expense of Bray's early career. Winner: Undertaker Match Rating: ***1/4 WWE Title Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns Heavy boos for Roman Reigns and this guy has a serious chance of beating Brock Lesnar and being WWE Champion? Reigns starts the match going aggressively towards Brock Lesnar but Brock hits a German Suplex and then an F5. Looks like Reigns caught Lesnar just above eye... Shades of Rocky 4 again as Rocky started winning after he busted Ivan Drago open? Suplex after suplex... Brock is no-selling, too. "Suplex City Bitch!", LOL! Reigns tries to punch but another Suplex. Brock's mouth is busted open. Uh oh... Another German! Reigns getting the crap kicked out of him and fans chant "this is awesome". Reigns appears to be hitting him with a few stiffs and was hitting him through the ropes... Then, Lesnar crushed him with a clothesline. F5, but 2 count only. Man, finishers are NOT working tonight. Michael Cole and JBL are selling "the kid's got heart" hard with Reigns. Gloves are off and Lesnar is slapping the piss out of Reigns. 2 more Germans and another F5, 2 count only. What? It took that much to beat the Undertaker... Lesnar tried to ram Reigns into the post but Reigns pushed Lesnar into instead. Busted open! Yep, we're ripping off Rocky 4, again. Lesnar is busted open and that weakens Lesnar (Ivan Drago) for Reigns (Rocky) to capitalize. Superman Punch hit, another, and Lesnar fights the third one but Reigns hits it. Spear! Spear again, but 2 count only! Lesnar avoids the next spear and hits the F5 but is too tired to capitalize. HOWEVER - Seth Rollins cashes in the MONEY IN THE BANK briefcase in the middle of the match to make it a TRIPLE THREAT MATCH! Curb Stomp on Lesnar, unable to hit a second on Lesnar and gets locked into an F5. However, Roman Reigns speared Lesnar before the F5. Lesnar out of the ring and Seth Rollins sneaks in the Curb Stomp onto Roman Reigns to become the NEW WWE Champion! Holy cow!!! Winner: Seth Rollins Match Rating: ****1/2 LAST WORD on Wrestlemania 31 I was going to write about how the WWE veterans dominated... Then, Seth Rollins wins! Holy cow, the WWE called the audible on Roman Reigns and gave the WWE Title to the rightful young star. Seth Rollins is a legitimate star and the company's best heel. To Roman Reigns's credit, he put up his very best effort of his career tonight. Great finish to a pretty decent night of 3-star matches. Finish made the event more satisfying. A- for an overall good show with a handful of great matches and a satisfying ending. -------------------------------------- ADDITIONAL WRESTLEMANIA 31 THOUGHTS Writing as the live event occurs and posting it instantly after the show probably made for more of a results column than a true review. So because you requested my thoughts, here's an amendment to this column. Overall, I believe this was one of the stronger Wrestlemanias, probably top 15 and maybe top 10. I need more viewings, obviously. I thought that only the Divas Match was marginal and that was mostly because they had AJ Lee selling injury on the outside for much of the match. The Main Event delivered between Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns... That is what might separate this Wrestlemania from most other shows. It is easily Roman Reigns's best match and he gains more from losing than winning. Now, he can build from this match. I am amused how WWE clearly ripped off Rocky 4 where the character of Ivan Drago is an unstoppable machine against Rocky Balboa until Rocky catches him with a random punch that busts him open. At Wrestlemania 31, Lesnar was pushed into a post that busted him open and weakened him. Ripped off, yes, but it was perfect and needed psychology for Reigns to possibly win this match. I could have believed in that... Instead, Seth Rollins sneaks in and wins the match! In my opinion, Rollins is the better champion NOW and maybe Reigns can be built up for SummerSlam or Wrestlemania 32 on top of this match. Thankfully, Rollins won... The WWE veterans DOMINATED this Wrestlemania with Orton over Rollins, Undertaker over Bray Wyatt, John Cena over Rusev... I was actually fine with Cena winning because it told a story of why Rusev lost with my predicted Lana bump but I thought that Bray Wyatt looked bad by losing. I have no problems, however, with Seth Rollins losing to Randy Orton because it sets up the obvious rematch but now for the WWE Title. That makes sense to me... I just don't understand why the New World Order would help Sting in a match. That psychology is WAY OFF even if it's just the WWE trying to have fun. Go watch the WWE Network during 1997 and ask yourself "what the hell??". Sting and the NWO were clear enemies whereas Triple H remains friendly with his Degeneration X pals. And why would Scott Hall even help Sting? I could maybe understand Kevin Nash, as he did feud with Triple H several times in WWE, but not Hall. He's Clique all the way... I guess the past 2 Hall of Fame salutes just didn't happen. It did add much needed chaos to Sting and Triple H which might have been an overall dull match without it. But the psychology was off... Sting losing, eh, I just don't know... My only issue is that the WWE gets nothing out of him for future matches because he can't beat another part-time wrestler. With Wrestlemania 32 being in Dallas and the WWE needing to sell 100,000+ tickets, expect lots of villains to flood the WWE over the course of the year. But overall, I enjoyed the show and even the Pregame matches with the 4 Way Tag and the Andre Battle Royal entertained. Probably a Top 10 Wrestlemania but I need more viewings. Great night for the WWE... And if Old Man Tito can just figure out a way to get the WWE Network onto his HD television, then I may finally buy it. #getoffmylawn SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2015
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