A look at the real winners and losers from Wrestlemania 31.
Wrestlemania 31 was this past Sunday and it exceeded just about every expectation anyone had. There was a winner and a loser in each match, but we all know that wins and losses don’t actually matter in wrestling. Let me tell you who really won and last at the year’s biggest event.
WINNER - The Kliq
In 1995, the Kliq ran the WWF. Diesel was the champion, Shawn Michaels won titles and never lost them, Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid were prominently featured, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley was one of the few midcard wrestlers with a storyline. 20 years later and they still run the show. They closed the Hall of Fame show on Saturday, were all involved in a Wrestlemania match even though only one of them wrestled, and the one who wrestled even picked up the victory. The Kliq is truly the most dominant group in pro wrestling history.
WINNER - The Main Event
Brock Lesnar continued to be the most awesome man in wrestling, Roman Reigns proved that he could take a good ass-kicking, and Seth Rollins won the title. I thought Rollins would cash in, but figured it would be after the match. Cashing in during the match was an ingenious idea because it continued to protect Lesnar as he didn’t have to take a pinfall and helped protect Reigns as he took the pinfall against a fresh man after a grueling battle.
LOSER - The Future
Rollins walking out of the stadium as the champion was a fantastic moment, but let’s look at what happened prior to the main event. The Big Show won the battle royal, Randy Orton beat Rollins, John Cena beat Rusev, The Undertaker beat Bray Wyatt, and Triple H beat Sting. In every instance the established star defeated the new face. And yes, I realize that Sting isn’t exactly a “new face” but he is a new WWE face who could’ve helped make the company more money down the line. Now, who could possibly care about Sting? The battle royal doesn’t really matter so I accept that Big Show won and they salvaged Rollins at the end of the night, but the other three losses could do serious damage moving forward.
LOSER - Sting’s WWE Run
Sting first appeared on WWE television at the Survivor Series, costing The Authority the match and banishing them forever. They were back four weeks later. When he finally got to open Raw, he was emasculated by Stephanie McMahon. And when he finally wrestled in a WWE ring, he lost to Triple H and was buried on commentary by JBL. This is what we waited 14 years to see? WWE put one more nail in a WCW coffin that doesn’t even exist as it’s completely rotted and destroyed.
WINNER - The US and IC Title
Daniel Bryan and John Cena are establish stars and former champions. Now they hold midcard titles, which should elevate the belts from obscurity. Whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen, but it’s at least a start. They tried really hard to put the IC title over at the show. From the video package to Bryan’s win to the backstage segment with the legends. They made it feel important. And Cena has the US title, which automatically makes it feel important. Now they just have to follow-up with good feuds and the champion not losing on TV every week. At least we know that won’t be an issue with Cena.
LOSER - Bray Wyatt’s Existence
Bray spent over a month carrying his feud with The Undertaker. He cut a 5-10 minute promo every week and had no interaction with the Deadman outside of a flaming chair. What did he get for his efforts? They didn’t even show all of his promo work in a video package on PPV because the show was running long (had to have that Kid Ink performance) and he lost an average at best match. For two years in a row Bray has lost the big one at Wrestlemania. He’s a leader with no followers and can’t make good on any of his promises. Maybe it’s time for Bray Wyatt to call it a career and Ian R. Schyster to debut.
LOSER - The Undertaker’s Mystique
I was sad watching The Undertaker on Sunday. His entrance, which used to mean something at Wrestlemania, felt like any other entrance. Taking place in daylight certainly didn’t help, but it was more than that. When Taker would enter, you got the feeling that you were about to witness something special because The Streak was on the line. With no streak, things just felt different. He felt like just another Wrestlemania performer, but not in the same class as someone like Shawn Michaels, who won and lost his fair share of Mania matches, but always delivered. Taker was just a guy who lost last year and looked terrible in doing so, took a year off, and returned just because that’s what he does.
WINNER - Stephanie’s Ego
Ronda Rousey put her in an arm lock and she didn’t tap out. Suck it, UFC Women’s Batamweight Division.
DRAW - Entrances
Undertaker and Bray walking to the ring with the sun still out looked terrible, Sting’s entrance felt uninspired, and Triple H’s Terminator entrance was so over the top stupid that I couldn’t help but laugh. That said, Rusev’s awesome tank entrance made up for every other lame entrance on the show.
WINNER - John Cena
Because John Cena never loses.
WINNER - WWE
They re-signed Lesnar and had it announced on ESPN during the week, Wrestlemania is being universally praised, they avoided any kind of backlash by putting the title on Rollins instead of Reigns, they had their “mainstream moment” with The Rock and Ronda Rousey, and they once again beat WCW.
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