WrestleMania 31 -- Results & Afterthoughts, Hall of Fame Class of 2015 Ceremony Notes

WrestleMania 31 was the thirty-first annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

It was the first WrestleMania event to be held in the San Francisco Bay Area, the sixth to be held in the state of California (after 2, VII, XII, 2000, and 21), and the sixth to be held in an open-air venue (after IX, XXIV, XXVI, XXVIII, and 29).

I know that I'm late covering this event, but better late than never right? I've had this article handwritten in my notebook for a while now and I owe you guys some new content here, so here's the beginning of that.

Kick-Off: Tag Team Turmoil - Brass Ring Club (Tyson Kidd & Cesaro w/ Natalya) def. Los Matadores (w/ El Torito), The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston w/ Xavier Woods), and The Usos (w/ Naomi)

Great opening match. I loved that Nattie and Naomi were given the time and opportunity to shine among the men just like the old days of yore in the Attitude Era where Divas like Trish Stratus and Lita got physical when it came down to assisting their respective teams in big matches such as this. This match had a ton of great spots and serves as a perfect example that there's hope and lots of potential with this budding tag team division, if WWE would take the damn time to properly build it up.

Kick-Off; The Big Show wins Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Ryback got a chance to shine here momentarily. The tag team division pull double duty in this match as the New Day, Los Matadores, Usos (half of the team as one of them got injured in the previous match), and Brass Ring Club all participated in this match as well (which kinda made little sense to me...). The highlight of this match was the partnership between The Miz and Mizdow (Damien Sandow) coming to an end, as Sandow grew a pair (FINALLY) and tossed Miz out of the ring only to be eliminated by The Big Show, much to the dismay of many ANGRY internet marks and fans at the live event.

Other highlights include, but not limited to: Cesaro eliminating Kane in the same manner as he eliminated The Big Show last year, Itami vs. The Big Show encounter (I would personally love to see that David v. Goliath-style feud between them in the 'E...), and everyone turning on Curtis Axel to bring Axelmania to swift demise at the start of the match.

Sure, I have marked for The Big Show since WCW, but he deserved this win. Hell, Big Show deserved to win last year as it would've made sense to let the giant win Andre's match. On top of that, I don't understand the complaints when the win didn't do anything for Cesaro's career last year, so I don't see why everyone was getting upset when their favorites were getting eliminated left and right. I didn't have ANY hopes for KENTA (Hideo Itami) winning this and even more so for the bulk of the undercard.

Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Daniel Bryan def. Bad News Barrett (c), Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose, R-Truth, Stardust, and Dolph Ziggler

This match proves why WrestleMania needs to bring back Money in the Bank as part of this special annual event instead of making it a separate PPV. Going into this match, I was fearing Daniel Bryan would go too "crazy" given his reckless ring work, despite coming back from a career-threatening injury, but I was relieved that he didn't do much here. To be honest, I was hoping for R-Truth to pull out the win here as he deserves a final title reign before he rides off into the sunset - he's not getting any younger. The craziest spot in this match by far was the Border Toss-style powerbomb out of the ring by Luke Harper that sent Dean Ambrose crashing THROUGH a ladder down to the floor. I was surprised that Ambrose wasn't injured off that, but he was walking around normally on Monday Night RAW the following night, but damn.

The finale between Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan as they exchanged headbutts at the top of the ladder was well worth it. I hope WWE has the brains to allow them to work a program together during the summer as I'm sure Bad News Barrett is going to get his rematch first before it's all said and done. Daniel Bryan may have taken less risks than anyone else in this match, but his impact and merit in this match spoke volumes. This was truly a great match from top to bottom for everyone involved.

Randy Orton def. Seth Rollins (w/ J & J Security)

Great match but I felt that this gave away the cash-in later in the night as this match was FAR too early into the night's card to just sweep underneath the rug.

Rollins looked like he was trying to jump up to the next level on Super Mario Bros...

The main thing to take away from this match outside of the spectacular catapult RKO finish is that this match adds yet another bulletin pin to Seth Rollins' already impressive resume to show that he is ready for main event caliber matches. If you are not a believer of the Architect's in-ring prowess then you should be now.

AJ Lee and Paige def. The Bella Twins

I have to give it up to the Bella Twins. This promo and video package was just as good as the one for Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte at NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution.

In typical AJ Lee fashion, she spent 95% of this match at ringside on the floor as usual. Most of her fan base chucked this up to AJ giving Paige the opportunity to shine on her own, but I beg to differ. As a result, Paige works the bulk of the match while the Bella Twins run Paige through a speed session of Tag Team Wrestling 101, segregating and cutting Paige off from the other side of the ring and away from any help from AJ. Paige sold the Bellas' offense like a champ before making the hot tag to AJ, who made quick work of the Bella Twins before locking in the Black Widow for the win.

As a result, there wasn't really nothing overall great nor bad here. This was your typical run-of-the-mill Divas tag team match from either Monday Night RAW or SmackDown! that you would see on a weekly basis. I was really let down here as I was expecting a LOT more given the scope of WrestleMania and the meaning behind the #GiveDivasAChance movement.

Diva fans would not find out until that following week that this ended up being AJ Lee's last WWE PPV match before going into "retirement" for the duration of her contract. I'm going to discuss that in an ENTIRELY different topic at a later date so let's just move on shall we?

Triple H def. Sting

I don't care what anyone else says but that walking advertisement for Terminator Genisys that was Triple H's entrance looked fucking stupid. I couldn't fathom why WWE would invest in that much props and time for Triple H's entrance when the selling point of this match was supposed to be Sting's formal welcome to WWE. What happens afterwards is why I welcomed the negativity after this match.

Sting has stated in promos before this match that his quarrel with Triple H had NOTHING to do with the Monday Night Wars, but this ENTIRE match turned into the impromptu (or rather revised) finale of the infamous Invasion storyline that tanked in 2001 when the nWo and namely Sting were absent from WCW's marque line-up stars that migrated to WWE after Vince McMahon bought them out.

You would be lying if you were around for the Monday Night Wars and said that you didn't enjoy the nostalgia of D-Generation X and the New World Order (nWo) finally squaring off when it was limited to fantasy booking and e-federation lore for the past decade and a half. Sadly, WWE hit their maximum quota for most old farts in a single match - Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Sting, X-Pac (Sean Waltman), Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Triple H, and even Shawn Michaels. I was in tears laughing at Nash falling to the floor selling like he tore his quad (again).

I would have been with Sting losing if they didn't force Sting to shake Triple H's hand like they are the best of buds afterwards. The guy cheated from start to finish then he somehow has Sting's respect? Not to mention that HHH and Stephanie are bragging about how they buried him later into the show on an in-ring segment so what was the point of all this you ask? Just to fed HHH and Vince's egos to say that they finally jobbed out every top guy from WCW on their home turf that's why.

United States Championship: John Cena def. Rusev (w/ Lana)

Rusev rode a freakin' TANK to the ring while Lana was escorted to the ring by a troop of soldiers. Sadly, that wasn't enough to topple the WrestleMania might of Cena in this rematch from Fast Lane.

There's nothing much to say about this match as it's pretty much a repeat of what we've seen at Fast Lane the previous month. If I'm honest, I was too infatuated with checking out Lana at ringside to care about watching what was going on in the ring for about 70% of this match anyway.

Cena wins. 'Nuff said. Now let's see how Rusev will bounce back with his first loss. Will he go the route of Vladimir Kozlov (Remember that guy? Don't worry most people don't either...) or will he bounce back stronger than ever?

The Rock and Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in-ring segment

This was a welcome surprise for everyone that had the ENTIRE wrestling and MMA world wondering if Rousey was about to throw down in a WWE ring, crossing over from UFC to WWE much like Brock Lesnar. Ronda Rousey in a WWE ring was more surreal than seeing Sting wrestling in there earlier in the same night. (Laughs) I guess Sting knows how Ziggler felt when he completely stole the wind from out of his sails that night because Rousey just did the same thing to him here. I don't know about anyone else but this was a HUGE mark out moment for me. It makes you wonder if more UFC fighters want to make the jump to WWE like Brock Lesnar.

The Authority's gloating tossed more salt into the open wound of Sting's loss. I love you, Steph but it was really TOO soon for that...

This segment pretty much sold WrestleMania 32 for a match between The Rock and Triple H like that was teased on SmackDown! a few months prior to this encounter.

The Undertaker def. Bray Wyatt

After the rumors flooding social media all that day prior to this match, everyone was worried if Bray would even be able to work this match after news got out that he twisted his ankle training for the match.

I'm sure that everyone can agree that the commentary team mentioning Taker's win/loss record is pointless at this stage. There's no reason to act like The Undertaker is going to garner another Streak that long nor as historical as that original one. It was one of the last special things to look forward to at every WrestleMania and WWE already killed that. The awe and mystery behind an Undertaker match at WrestleMania is gone now. It's just a normal match without any smoke or mirrors.

It was odd to see Bray Wyatt slow down his style to accommodate The Undertaker but they managed to make it work for them.

The Undertaker looked great in-ring in this match, which was a vast improvement of how bad he looked during his match last year against Brock Lesnar. I was personally hoping for American Bad Ass Taker instead of the Deadman, but I suppose Big Evil was a nice middle ground though.

Cool to see Bray Wyatt terrified for once during the sit-up moment. That added to the laundry list of special moments during this WrestleMania.

After all it was all said and done, I think WWE just need to give fans that Sting v. The Undertaker match that everyone has been clamoring for at WrestleMania 32. It's in Houston, Texas and they can both retire in their home state and hang up the boots for good. I would like to be selfish and see them continue to wrestle every year, but all great things have to come to an end eventually.

WWE Championship Match - Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins cashes in Money in the Bank and becomes NEW WWE Champion

From start to the point Rollins came out to cash in MITB, both Brock and Reigns were working this match stiff as HELL. 90% of the match was Roman Reigns getting the holy hell beat out of him by the Beast Incarnate - as expected. I found myself rolling my eyes at Reigns' Cena-esque resilience by kicking out of a whopping three F-5s. Cena and even The Undertaker succumbed to that much abuse but this guy can kick out? Like really? C'mon WWE. There's only so much bullshit and Hogan-esque comebacks I can personally stomach.

I was scared at one moment where Roman Reigns was willing himself a comeback to what seemed like a John Cena-style victory, but that even proved to be null and void.

Just to clarify, I didn't mind Seth Rollins winning the match after cashing in MITB as WWE gave that away from how early into the card where they booked Rollins vs. Orton. I didn't like HOW WWE executed it. Rollins cashed in MITB MID-MATCH, something that hasn't be specified to date that it was possible to do so with the MITB briefcase. It just made it seem like a poor man's cop out for the ending/finish here as WWE was scared to have either Lesnar or Reigns go over. The execution was sloppy but WWE still managed to protect Lesnar and Reigns' credibility to this point.

WWE Hall of Fame: Class of 2015 Notes:

Madusa/Alundra Blayze delivered the speech of the night bar none

You watch it in its entirety above until someone takes the video down. It was an absolute joy for me to see her be inducted the same year as "Macho Man" Randy Savage. FYI if you're reading this blog and don't know I'm a LONG-TIME mark for Team Madness from WCW, then shame on you...

If you look closely at the crowd, you can spot Miss Madness/Mona (Molly Holly/Nora Greenwald) and Ivory (Lisa Moretti) in the crowd. Both Madusa and Natalya were looking simply GORGEOUS during this event. (Whistles) Madusa was one of my first crushes of women's wrestling and that woman had me falling in love with her all over again during this speech.

She gave the Women's Championship back to WWE, let it be known that she was the first Paul Heyman Girl (while part of the Dangerous Alliance), gave tributes to everyone in her career - ranging from Randy Savage to her career in Japan, and even verbally put over the current generation of WWE Divas. The ball is in your court now, ladies.

Tearjerker speeches from Connor's dad, Daniel Bryan, and Dana Warrior

Much respect from all three of these individuals for showing the courage to even come here and speak on the kid's behalf. That had to take more strength and emotional fortitude than anything what the wrestlers in the ring at WrestleMania did the following evening.

I don't remember who said it while I was live-tweeting during the event, but I agree with the idea of Daniel Bryan changing the name of the Knee Plus to "The Crusher" as a tribute to Connor.

I have to admit that the Ultimate Warrior statue behind Dana was the thing of nightmares though. I know I wouldn't want that shit in my house, staring at me like that...

Lanny Poffo speaks on the behalf of "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Even though I was rolling my eyes in disgust that Hulk Hogan of all people was introducing Savage, I enjoyed what Lanny had to say on behalf of his brother and spoke about Savage's charities and how he gave back to others.

This was the hardest induction for me to watch as you guys know how I highly I think of Savage. I wouldn't be a fan of wrestling today nor writing this blog if he didn't make me a fan of this sport.

Rikishi's induction was all about making him the ass-end of all of the Usos' jokes

Scotty 2 Hotty took to social media to express his disgust with Rikishi's lack of acknowledgement to his fellow partners in Too Cool (Scotty 2 Hotty & Grandmaster Sexay) in his Hall of Fame induction speech. I thought it was cool that the Usos got to induct their father into the Hall of Fame and share the stage with him in mock Too Cool-style dance off afterwards.

Kayfabe is NOT dead

I loved how Larry Zbsysko and Bruno Sammartino stayed in kayfabe/character during their speeches, despite the fact that Zbsysko was at a loss of words for the bulk of his speech since he was winging it from off the top of his head.

Fujinami got the shaft

There's no other way to slice, Fujinami flew from overseas to the Hall of Fame ceremony to have one of the shortest speeches of the evening, clocking in less than 4-5 minutes. He should have had a translator for he could have given his speech in his own native language.

Last but not least...

FUCK YOU to Triple H allowing Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kevin Nash/Diesel (along with his Kliq cronies) to speak after Randy Savage and Connor's inductions

I was so pissed off that I turned off the stream on the Network during the live broadcast. If every Hall of Fame from here on out is going to have that one Kliq induction then fuck Triple H and his damn cronies. Seriously, what has Nash done that was noteworthy in his WWE career as Diesel?

Closing Thoughts

After WrestleMania 31, I remember reading all over social media with comments from people saying that this was the BEST WrestleMania of ALL-TIME. Wait... hold your horses there, folks. There were a LOT of great moments on this WrestleMania broadcast, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was the best one. To be fair, it's the best WrestleMania in quite some time in terms of quality, but saying it's the best one of all-time is a bit much. 

Sue me, but it's still going to take a lot to top WrestleMania X-Seven in my eyes. Great builds, even greater matches. This WrestleMania had a lot of lackluster and weak builds for the bulk of the card, so WWE were in a situation where they had to deliver big time on the grandest stage of them all. Not to mention that the live NXT house show event had a full, sold-out attendance for that evening with fans chanting, "BETTER THAN MANIA!" during the event. WWE were fucking idiots NOT to televise that show on the Network as part of WrestleMania week, but I guess they were afraid of NXT overshadowing the main roster talent, much like NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution and Rival did a few months ago.