WWE Night of Champions 2015 review

Following a standard issue excellent video package WWE's eighth annual Night of Champions pay-per-view kicked off with an Intercontinental title match. Defending champ The Ryback got a mixed reaction from the Houston fans. That didn't deter him from running through his "Wake up!" and "It's feeding time!" shtick. Challenger Kevin Owens got a more positive reaction and started out the match with the crowd behind him.

'The Big Guy' spent the first minute or so of the match knocking Owens down to the mat. Then he gorilla pressed him to the outside and encouraged the fans to cheer him. They did. Owens shrugged off the gorilla press and began targeting Ryback's arm. Ryback absorbed various armbars and takedowns, a Russian leg sweep with his arm pinned behind his back, and a senton onto his arm before finally managing to floor KO with a clothesline. Owens escaped a power bomb but got caught with a spinebuster. The champ went to follow up with a meat hook clothesline but Owens struck him with a super kick instead.

That earned Owens a two count. He tried to put the champ away with a pop-up power bomb but The Ryback ducked out of the way and got his meat hook clothesline. Owens was hoisted up for the Shellshock but was spared the move when Ry' realised his elbow was too hurty to fall backwards. Owens took this opportunity to drop down to the mat and shove Ryback arm first into a ring post.

When that only got Owens a two count he hit an arm takedown and locked in an armbar. Ryback sold that for a moment before powering up to his feet and deciding he was, in fact, strong enough to hit Shellshock after all. But it wasn't to be: Owens raked Ryback's eyes before he could be dropped and slipped out of the move again, schoolboying the champ for a three count and the gold.

Owens as champ is a good thing. The reaction he got here, and the reactions he's been receiving on TV lately, showed that people were ready for the change. It's a nice change of pace and a call back to when the IC strap was used as a signified that wrestlers were destined for big things in WWE. Ryback's reign was fine but he'd had it long enough. I think he'll work better as a babyface chasing a rematch anyway. Owens deserves a meaningful run and I think he'll get it.

An ad aired for Brock Lesnar's Go to Hell tour. Next month he'll wrestle Big Show in MSG, appear on Steve Austin's podcast, and then face Undertaker at Hell in a Cell inside the cage. The highlight of this should be Lesnar's appearance on Austin's podcast. If there's any chance of Austin v Lesnar happening this should make it clear. The match with 'Taker could be fun but we've seen it before, at No Mercy 2002 (Lesnar won), and I imagine we'll get another offbeat finish even though the obvious thing to do is have 'The Beast' win decisively.

Match two was Rusev versus Dolph Ziggler. Before the match 'The Bulgarian Brute' told Rich Brennan he wasn't in the mood to chat, he was in the mood for crushing "the puny American" Ziggler. Grade A lad banter from Rusev, that. They also took the opportunity to establish that Summer Rae, Rusev's girlfriend, was wearing earrings 'The Show Off' had given to her on RAW. Because it's a soap opera feud and needs soap opera trappings.

The match was fine, mostly because both lads rarely have a bad match, although there was very little crowd heat between the start and the finish. To keep the ridiculous soap antics of the feud strong the finish saw Summer get involved, hopping onto the apron, taking a bump and being ordered to the back by the referee. She responded by taking offer her shoe and throwing it into the ring where it hit Rusev in the face. Ziggler snuck in a Zig Zag and won. Rusev left alone. Summer screeched in the aisle. Michael Cole delivered what he probably thought was a zinger about the sequence giving new meaning to the word "heel". Let's never speak of any of this again.

Heat magnets New Day entered first (in some absolutely fabulous new gear) for the tag team title match. They cut an anti-Dudleys, pro-table promo in an attempt to turn the crowd against them. It mostly worked, but they're never going to be completely successful because they're just too entertaining.

The match was fun. Big E and Bubba had some stiff big boy exchanges, Kofi was excellent as a cocky heel, and Xavier was cracking riling up the crowd (highlights included smack-talking Bubba, loudly screaming  "New Day!", and playing the Rocky theme on his trombone). Devon was also there. Bubba was isolated for a while before he made a hot tag. Within two minutes of that they'd hit a 3D. Woods broke the count up in front of the ref to cause a DQ, giving the Duds a win but ensuring New Day retained the belts.

After the match New Day beat down Bubba and Devon then set up a table. They didn't get to use it though. The Dudleys recovered and put Woods through it. Presumably this was done to give the crowd something to cheer after such an unsatisfying ending and to create cause for a tables match between the two teams either at the MSG Network special or at Hell in a Cell.

The Divas championship match was not the scorcher we'd get from an NXT women's title match. It was heavy on delay tactics from Nikki towards the start and had a far slower pace. The champion targeted the challenger's leg and kept her on the mat to work it over. It was a logical story that played on Charlotte's figure eight leg lock finish, the idea being that ikki would do such an effective job that Charlotte wouldn't be able to apply her trademark hold effectively. It succeeded in engaging the crowd and kept them invested in Charlotte. It also played to the pair's respective strengths. 'The Nature Girl' is very convincing when it comes to selling and Nikki works best with a slower, more deliberate pace where she's free to interact with the audience without needing to do try anything overly athletic. 

Charlotte would eventually fire up and give Nikki some chops (accompanied by unenthusiastic wooos from the crowd). Nikki fought back, clambered onto the second rope and launched herself at the challenger. Charlotte caught her with a spear and locked in a figure eight leg lock, despite Nikki having effectively worked over her leg for the entire match. Nikki only managed to hold on for about ten seconds before she tapped out.

Compared to what we've seen from Charlotte in NXT this wasn't that great. Compared to the average Divas title match over the last few years it was. Charlotte and Nikki told a story, played to their strengths and provided the clean finish that was needed. I don't think we could have asked for more. Nikki's reign hasn't been bad and I enjoy her work but I'm pleased we've got a new champion. Charlotte defending against her fellow fresh additions is what the division needs now.

After a brief Kevin Owens promo (he said he's a prize fighter who now has a prize), a check-in with the pre-show panel (they said nothing of interest), a commentary team check-in (they blathered about the following match) and a shot of PCB and Flair backstage (Charlotte botched her pa's limousine-ridin' catchphrase then left to celebrate her win) the Wyatts v Shield rivalry was introduced. Of note during the entrances Michael Cole called Dean Ambrose a dude, Roman Reigns got a babyface reaction, and a guy who looked a bit like New Jack slipped into the ring to stand with Reigns and Ambrose before the third man was introduced. Security quickly removed him and Ambrose and Wyatt, being stone cold pros, played the incident up.

The actual third man was Chris Jericho. Because apparently he has to get himself involved with every hot act or feud he can in an effort to convince people, and himself, that he's still relevant and capable of hanging with younger fellas. He isn't and can't. Despite the involvement of 'Y2J' the match was good. Highlights included; Reigns deadlifting Harper into a sit out power bomb; a Harper suicide dive to Reigns followed by a senton on the floor from Bray; Ambrose turning a Sister Abigail into a(n unsuccessful) schoolboy; Strowman being booked to stay on his feet after two Superman punches; a crazy-good spear from Reigns to Strowman; and Jericho being caught in mid-air as he tried the Codebreaker on Strowman and being muscled up for a backbreaker. The finish saw Jericho, who'd tagged himself in as Reigns seemed poised to polish things off, pass out in Strowman's bear hug.

The match was surprisingly short at thirteen and wasn't a patch on the Shield v Wyatts matches of 2014. But equalling them was an unreasonably high expectation for this match. It was the fun outing it needed to be and it had the right result: Reigns and Ambrose should not be able to beat the Wyatts with anyone other than Seth Rollins (and that match will happen again someday). It also seemed to contribute to the long term plan of having Reigns accepted by the majority of fans by getting him a good opening reaction and sticking him in a good match. Following the finish the Shield boys looked disappointed and checked on Jericho. He heelishly barged passed them and wandered up the aisle, setting up Jericho v Reigns and-or Ambrose. Because, as already stated, Jericho has to get involved with every act that could conceivably be considered hot.

Backstage Triple H and Stephanie McMahon told Seth Rollins they believed in him. He said he was the man, pumped himself up and headed off down a corridor. Sheamus wandered up and hinted at a Money in the Bank cash-in. Trips and Stepher looked concerned. If they were that concerned they wouldn't have booked their boy in back-to-back title defences, but there you go.

Despite being the obvious choice for show-closer (see my preview for why) Cena v Rollins took the semi-main event slot. As predicted they tore the house down (not literally) with the match of the night. Rollins hit Cena with a Blockbuster, a tree of woe double stomp, a sling blade, a tope, and a superplex floated into a falcon arrow, amongst other moves. Cena hit Rollins with his belly-to-back suplex, the Five Knuckle Shuffle, a sunset bomb, a tornado DDT, and the STF. They also reversed a number of one another's usual moves, Rollins kicking Cena in the head on a FKS attempt, landing on his feet off an AA, and turning another AA into a sunset flip, Cena turning a buckle bomb a hurricanrana and weaselling out of a Pedigree at least once.

Cena would win the match with an inverted suplex, his Dangerous Top Leg Drop and an AA, giving him his fifth United States title. It's interesting to note that even though the match was packed with big moments there was only one finishing move (the STF is a hold so doesn't count here) and it brought things to a close. This seemed like a concerted effort to rein in the number of finishers in main events matches in an effort to make them mean more.  

After the match 'The Future' grabbed the WWE strap and tried to leave. Cena cut him off and AAed him in the aisle before throwing him back into the ring. The match that followed was heavy on ringside action and big bumps from Rollins, both designed to hide the physical limitations of 56-year-old Steve 'Sting' Borden. For the most part it worked.

Sting dominated Rollins until he headed to the announce area. Rollins shoved 'The Icon' off the English announce table through the Spanish announce table and Sting (kayfabe) cracked his head on a monitor. In the ring Sting took a sling blade, a falcon arrow, and a buckle bomb. The big man from WCW kicked out of them all. Instead of doing the sensible thing and hitting Sting with a Pedigree, Rollins went to the apron and went for a springboard something or other. Sting recovered and shoved him off the ropes into the crowd barricade below.

Rollins pretty much no-sold that and was back in the ring almost immediately. He was met by an amped up Sting. The champ took some right hands and a pair of Stinger splashes. Then Sting pulled out the big guns and tossed Rollins out of the ring to give him a cross body block from the top rope.

In the ring Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop. Rollins saved himself with a foot on the ropes. Sting got the Stinger splash again then followed up with a mounted ten punch in the corner. Rollins countered that into a buckle bomb. After that Sting collapsed while running the ropes and the referee called the ringside doctor in to check on him. After a bit of a breather he was cleared to continue (a storyline sequence designed to protect Sting). Rollins immediately went for a Pedigree. Sting turned it into a Scorpion Death Lock. Rollins escaped and tried the Pedigree again. Sting again reversed it onto the Death Lock but Rollins reversed that into a small package to get a three count and retain the world title just shy of the fifteen minute mark.

After a few minutes of celebrating from Rollins, Sheamus rushed the ring and Brogue kicked the world champ. Before he could officially cash-in Kane made the return that literally nobody's been waiting for. He continued the Rollins abuse with a choke slam. Shaymo returned to the ring but he was choke slammed too. 'The Big Red Machine' then ended the show by Tombstoning Rollins, leaving us with the question: whose side is he on?

Night of Champions was a good show. There were no outright bad bouts. The opener, Nikki versus Charlotte, and Cena versus Rollins were all very enjoyable. The main event was far from a classic but it was fun if you like a brawl with clever use of big bumps. The booking of Rollins was disappointing. He's supposed to be an undeserving, cowardly champion but he retained the world title clean and held his own with Big Match John, a feat that not just anyone in WWE can manage. They should have gone all the way with him overcoming the odds and had Sheamus take his briefcase title shot only to lose. Three title matches in one night would have really helped Rollins' character.

***

Results summary:

Kevin Owens defeated Ryback to win the Intercontinental championship
Dolph Ziggler defeated Rusev
The Dudley Boyz defeated New Day by DQ
Charlotte defeated Nikki Bella to win the Divas championship
The Wyatt Family defeated Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho
John Cena defeated Seth Rollins to win the United States championship
Seth Rollins defeated Sting to retain the WWE championship

WWE Night of Champions 2015 preview

Do you like title defences? If so you'll love Night of Champions. It's the WWE B level pay-per-view where every championship is defended in a match, which somehow sets it apart from all those other WWE pay-per-views where all titles are defended. Plus there are bonus matches that don't even involve titles at all! WWE is truly spoiling us.

With every title being defended double champion Seth Rollins will make two appearances at this event. He'll defend the WWE championship against Sting and the United States championship against John Cena. The US title match is expected to go on last. Considering the respective ability of Sting and Cena I think that's the right call. 'Big Match John' is clearly more capable of delivering a satisfying main while having Rollins face 'The Icon' first will ensure he's fresher, all the better to carry the ageing former WCW headliner to something passable.

I'm fully expecting Cena to regain the US belt. Keeping Rollins a double champ doesn't seem feasible long term and it's tough to envisage Sting wandering out on RAW with the world gold. It's by no means impossible, there's ample time for Rollins to drop the belt to someone and give them a short reign before he regains it and drops it to Reigns. That someone could easily be Sting. Rollins versus Reigns is the obvious big match for WWE to be building to but there's time for them to surprise us before they get there, basically.

There's a way for all three guys to come out of this show looking good. If Sting v Rollins took the semi-main spot then Rollins could cheat to win a fifteen minute match and sell exhaustion as his US defence kicks off. This would keep heat on 'The Future' for cheating in another title defence, protect Sting by not having him lose clean, and make Cena look strong for giving the heel his comeuppance, with Rollins being protected in his second match because he's wrestled back to back defences. Instead of this I suspect Rollins and 'The Stinger' will open the show and that WWE will go with the same story suggested above, though it won't work anywhere near as well with Rollins having a few hours to recuperate between bouts. 

The other gents' single strap will be defended by Ryback against Kevin Owens. It's a match that has the potential to be hossy excellence. It's quality will ultimately be determined by whether or not Ryback's on form. As a character he's always gold, face or heel, but his ring work can vary. Owens will definitely carry his end of things. Expect his usual big match arsenal of fishermanbusters and double jump moonsaults. I'll be surprised if 'The Big Guy' doesn't get to kick out of at least one of Owens' power bomb variants too.

I'm torn on a winner for this match. Ryback is still very much one of the company's projects, a lad they're determined to get over. It's the reason he got the IC strap in the first place. But Owens very clearly has top line potential himself and is a better worker with (seemingly) a more passionate following than big Ry'.

I'm leaning towards an Owens win. I've been predicting Ryback wins since he won the belt on the basis of it not feeling like time for a change. Now it's beginning to. If WWE are serious about wanting their championships to mean more (and the booking of the US title since WrestleMania indicates that they do) then Owens would be a good man to put it on. Of course, successfully defending against Owens could really help to legitimise Ryback's title reign. So there's that.

Over in the tag division New Day will defend the titles against the Dudley Boyz. Given the New Day's table-themed protest against the Dudleys immediately after their return and the lack of gimmick matches on this show it's surprising that this isn't a tables match. I suppose that could change before the event or even on the night. If it does I expect Bubba and Devon will leave as ten time (WWE) doubles champs. If it doesn't then I could see New Day winning in order to set up a rematch for the MSG special or Hell in a Cell in October.

The match will be great. Because New Day. In fact it'll be great because of the Dudleys too. They've been great since their return to the company last month. Bubba has proven he was entirely wasted as Bully Ray in TNA. Not that that's news to anyone.

The evening's other tag match will be a six man. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, the two man Shield, will once again pair up to tangle with the Wyatt Family. It's the stables rivalry that will never end, which, in a way, is part of why it's so special. The guys involved can always slip into a programme based on their allegiances to these groups. It's the sort of thing that works so well in wrestling.

The Wyatts will be represented by Bray, Luke Harper and new boy Braun Strowman. A mystery partner has been teased for Ambrose and Reigns. The list of potential partners seems pretty short. Randy Orton was attacked by Bray and co on the 7 September RAW and was shown talking to Reigns and Ambrose later in the evening so he'd be a logical choice. Erick Rowan had reunited with Luke Harper before he suffered an injury in June but it's possible he could return to oppose them citing jealousy over Braun Strowman bring brought in. That sounds an underwhelming and slightly silly reason for a face turn but WWE have offered far less in the past. Personally I'd like to see Cesaro as the mystery partner. It wouldn't make much sense but he's not booked and he can wrestle his socks off (possibly literally).

I suspect we'll get 'The Viper' as the third man though. Although he's boring a lot of the time he'd be perfectly watchable here. Sharing the ring with five other men would limit his screen time and allow him to hit his key spots without doing much else. That's pretty much ideal for him.

The current incarnation of the feud (which started back at Money in the Bank in June) is tied at one win each. 'The Eater of Worlds' defeated Reigns at Battleground. Reigns and Ambrose picked up a tag win over Wyatt and Harper at SummerSlam. Assuming this is the final match in the series I'm predicting a Reigns, Ambrose and mystery partner victory here. Reigns needs to be kept strong for the WWE title win he's getting sooner or later. That said I'd love to see the Wyatt Family win after interference from a returning Rowan or, better yet, a debuting Sister Abigail.

Also announced for the show are Dolph Ziggler v Rusev and Adrian Neville and the Lucha Dragons v The Cosmic Wasteland. I've got little to say regarding Ziggler, Rusev, Lana and Summer Rae. The story seems to be deliberately emulating a trashy soap plot. This is fine and something wrestling can parody very well. Sadly nobody involved is going as crazy with their material as they need to to make it work. I'll hope Lana swerve turns on 'The Show Off' to reunite with Rusev.

The six man match will be on the pre-show. I don't usually cover those but I love this Cosmic Wasteland thing so much that I just wanted an excuse to mention it. Stardust has been a highlight of WWE since his issue with Stephen Amell became A Thing and casting The Ascension as his henchmen was a stroke genius. They look good together, it gives a previously aimless team something to do, and it helps 'The Prince of Dark Matter' seem that bit more of a threat. No logical analysing here, I want them to win.

Finally there's Nikki Bella's Divas title match with Charlotte. This match originally took place on the September 14 episode of RAW with the story on that night being that Charlotte wanted to win not just to become the Divas champion but to stop Nikki becoming the longest reigning champ in history. We got a Dusty finish. Charlotte was announced as the victor and new champ, Ric Flair nigh on teleported down to ringside to get in some celebrating with his daughter, then it was revealed that Charlotte had pinned Brie. The match was restarted and Nikki got in a pin to retain her title and shatter a record.

The reasoning behind this sequence was beyond reproach. Nikki cheating to win in the manner she did is a long established character trait. Stealing the title from Charlotte's grasp is the perfect way to get heat on a heel. The trouble is that so much leading up to the match had been haphazard. Nikki had flitted back and forth between face and heel. The Divas Revolution story, while entertaining and definitely movement in the right direction, had not produced that many truly memorable or meaningful matches.

The good news is that the NOC rematch has been announced with stipulations that favour a fair fight. Nikki can lose by DQ, ruling out any heelish shenanigans. Things are set up for a Charlotte victory and Sasha Banks has been surreptitiously readied as her first challenger with clean TV wins over former champion Paige and a subtle restructuring of BAD to make it clear that 'The Boss' is... well, the boss. Nikki is unlikely to regain the title after losing it to Charlotte but she can float around near the top of the division as a perennial challenger, her longest reign ever giving her something to crow about and helping portray her as a legitimate contender.

If Charlotte doesn't win at Night of Champions WWE will have to go back to square one with their Divas division. I don't think they want to. I'm confident enough people backstage understand that Sunday needs to be Charlotte's night.

***

Predictions summary:

John Cena to defeat Seth Rollins to win the United States championship
Seth Rollins to defeat Sting to retain the WWE championship
Kevin Owens to defeat Ryback for the Intercontinental championship
Charlotte to defeat Nikki Bella to win the Divas championship
Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and their mystery partner to defeat The Wyatt Family
New Day to defeat the Dudley Boyz to retain the tag team championship
Rusev to defeat Dolph Ziggler
The Cosmic Wasteland to defeat Adrian Neville and the Lucha Dragons

Booking an Icon

Since Sting started working for WWE last year the company's booking of him has been frustratingly hit and miss. He spent his first appearance trying hard to be mysterious and enigmatic while doing nothing more than interfering in a tag match. That was bad. He spent his first match holding his own with Triple H, one of the biggest stars in company history, and being granted access to all manner of shortcuts to disguise the fact that he is long past his prime. That was good.

Unfortunately nobody on the writing team has figured out what works and what doesn't with regard to 'The Stinger'. They're still experimenting, despite having found some good uses for him and owning the rights to the footage of Sting at his latter-half-of-the-nineties peak. The last two weeks have given us both good and bad things from him.

The August 24 episode of RAW saw Sting return from a lengthy, self-imposed hiatus (we didn't even get to see him chilling in the rafters - for shame!) to rile Seth Rollins by stealing a statue. Y'see, Rollins had earned a statue by defeating John Cena at SummerSlam the night before, a match in which both Rollins' WWE championship and Cena's United States championship had been up for grabs. The Authority had promised him a statue if he won (for some reason) and it was meant to be revealed on RAW before being moved to WWE HQ to join statues of Andre the Giant and Bruno Sammartino.

One of the most WCW segments that's ever gone down on RAW.

This being pro wrestling, the statue was brought down to the ring for the main event segment and the drape was pulled off to reveal... Sting. How he'd managed to not only steal a very heavy life size statue but smuggle himself onto its podium was, understandably, not addressed. The segment played out with Triple H awarding Sting's bizarre and illegal behaviour with a WWE title shot at Night of Champions. A decision which was also odd, for the record, because 'The Icon' had wrestled for the company only once and that was a loss. The September 7 RAW saw Sting holding the statue hostage before ending the night by throwing it into what's best described as a garbage truck.

This is the sort of behaviour WWE loves to book for its lead babyfaces and it's a problem. Both Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns have had their momentum hampered by this sort of "loveable scamp" booking over the last year, Ambrose in his hotdog cart exploits and Reigns with his pre-'Mania RAW tug-o'-war with Brock Lesnar (amongst others, for both). In 2015 it's not funny and not relatable. There have been worse booking decisions from WWE this year but that doesn't negate the fact that Sting posing as a statue is silly. And silly is not an adjective that should be applied to someone getting ready for a WWE pay-per-view main event.

This man is 56.

But, like I said, there's been good stuff too. Specifically the wedge Sting has driven between Triple H and Seth Rollins. On the August 31 RAW Sting played 'The Game' and Rollins off against one another by putting the former over as a great wrestler whom he respects and stating that Rollins isn't quite as good. The best part of this was the subtlety of it and the way it played on the established character traits of the heels. Tripper, usually quick to talk Rollins up and boost his confidence, was never going to disagree with Sting on this point. His pride simply wouldn't allow it. Rollins, meanwhile, was clearly going to disagree with Sting because he's already gone on record stating that he's the greatest WWE champion ever (the reason he felt entitled to a statue in the first place). Sting, through nothing more than a well-placed comment, got allies to disagree with one another.

WWE would usually hammer its audience over the head with this sort of foreshadowing. Giving it space to breathe made it all the better and will make the inevitable pay off, in the form of a Triple H versus Seth Rollins match, all the sweeter.

This is how WWE should book their lead babyfaces. Outsmarting heels by pretending to be a statue doesn't make anyone look clever, it just makes those being outsmarted look like idiots. Having Sting drop subtle remarks about one man being a better wrestler than another though? That's good. That understandably drives a wedge between people and shows that the guy doing the remarking is intelligent enough to mentally outmanoeuvre his foes. More of that, please. Less of the statue malarkey. 

WWE WrestleMania 31 review

WrestleMania 31. The main event of the WWE pay-per-view calendar. It would be stretching things to say that the company has been diligently building all of its major storylines towards this for the last year but it's certainly the culmination of several months of work. Sting and Triple H's feud started in November. Miz and Mizdow have been together since around then. Orton got wiped out by The Authority, setting up his grudge match with Rollins, as long ago as October. There were clearly plans in pieces for this show a long time ago.

Of course, one of the key pieces was the WWE's new chosen one. The man chosen to lead the company into the future as one of the stars of the current generation of wrestlers. For the first time in quite a while someone was positioned to experience their first world title victory in the main event of the show. Someone was positioned to be anointed as the company's new lead star.

It just wasn't the man we were expecting.

Including the pre-show WrestleMania was six hours long. Six hours. That's a lot of WrestleMania. The first hour mostly consisted of hype videos for the show's matches and natter from the panel of Booker T, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton and host Renee Young. The highlight was a backstage meeting between Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury and The Stooges in which Noble searched for sugar and Brisco revaled he'd used it all getting coffee for Mr MackMan.

The pre-show's second hour, exclusive to the WWE Network even though the idea of a pre-show is to get some last minute buys (and, in this case, Network subscriptions), featured two matches. The first was a very good tag team title match which saw champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd retain against, Los Matadores, the New Day combo of Big E and Kofi Kingston, and, technically, the Usos. I say technically because Jey took an early spill to the outside at the hands of Cesaro (to write him out of the match due to a pre-existing injury) which left Jimmy to fight alone.

What a pair. And the tag champs.

It was a well-constructed succession of spots, the ideal opener for a show like this as it gave people chance to cheer and cheer and cheer. Each team hit at least doubles move and there was a sequence where all the seconds fought one another, ending with Natalya taking a Rear View form Naomi. The match ended when everyone except Jimmy was involved in a double superple off the shoulders spot. Everyone but Jimmy was wiped out by it and he took the opportunity to splash Big E. Cesaro appeared from nowhere to lob Rikishi's lad out of the ring and steal the pin.

The second match was the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. It was not such a roaring success. Curtis Axel, who'd managed to become genuinely popular in the weeks leading up to the show based on being a guy creative overlooks, found himself overlooked by creative and eliminate first. This was likely done to stop him overshadowing the match's designated stars. This left me feeling that WWE still has no idea how to embrace organic popularity. When Hidoe Itami was KO punched off the apron by Big Show I felt the same, although he at least got to get in some kicks and eliminate Bo Dallas before he went.

My feelings changed slightly when Cesaro got to eliminate Kane with a scoop slam, the same thing he'd done to Big Show to win the previous year's battle royal. He attempted the same thing with 'The Giant' but his back gave out and he was sent over the top rope by Show. This didn't bother me as much as the treatment of Itami and Axel. There was a logical sequence which led to 'The Swiss Superman's' elimination.

Ryback fired himself up and got tossed out by Big Show befoe the match came down to Miz, Mizdow and Show. Miz pleaded with Mizdow to work with him against Big Show so the match could come down to the two of them. Mizdow didn't allow himself to be fooled. He threw 'The Awesome One' over the top rope and took his chances with 'The World's Largest Athlete'. It didn't work out well for him. He managed to survive for a minute or two but the match eventually went to Show after he simply dunked Mizdow over the top rope.

"Pull my finger."

I don't have a problem with Big Show winning. There was nothing on the line besides a trophy that looks like it's made from chocolate and tinfoil. The creative team deserve credit for embracing the Miz and Mizdow rivalry and having it come to a head here. Although I can't help but feel the crowd would have gone wild had the match come down to Mizdow and Curtis Axel. The two underdog favourites getting to close out the match could have been really suspenseful. And the Miz and Mizdow split still could have worked.

The Intercontinental championship ladder match opened the official WrestleMania show. It was preceded by a really good video that started out highlighting the importance of the championship before switching to focus on the legacy of ladder matches at WretleMania. This allowed it to cleverly gloss over how the IC title has been pretty much meaninglessness for the last fifteen years.

While the match didn't feature as many crazy bumps as I'd expected it still had plenty to choose from. A series of dives to the outside at the start of the match culminated with Ziggler getting back dropped over the top rope and Luke Harper diving onto everyone, before Dean Ambrose scaled a ladder to hit his cross body elbow. Stardust introduced a diamanté ladder, only for Barrett to kick a step off it and smack people with it. Harper did the Terry Funk ladder spot before dropping it and getting scissor kicked onto it by R-Truth. Barrett suplexed Stardust off the top of a ladder. Ambrose was Awesome bombed from the ring through a ladder by Harper. Barrett went on a Bullhammer rampage, pulling Ziggler off a ladder into the move, battering Stardust with it as he leapt off the top rope into the ring, and then smashing Truth off the ladder.

I didn't want this but I'm willing to give it a try.

Daniel Bryan nearly got the belt during this but was pulled off the ladder by Barrett. He avoided the Bullhammer and felled the defending champion with the running knee. Bryan scaled the ladder again only for Ziggler to sprint up and offer some last minute resistance at the top. They traded forearms and headbutts, D-Bry getting the last word when he knocked Ziggler to the mat with a head butt and reached up to pull down the title belt and win his first Intercontinenta championship. I'd been against Bryan winning but it went down well with the 'Mania crowd. They were happy to see Bryan triumph.

Orton v Rollins was match number two. Orton dominated the first several minutes, smacking Rollins about and no-selling buckle bomb before flooring 'The Future' with a clothesline. J&J interfered and were dropped off the apron with a double draping DDT. But that was enough of a distraction for Rollins to get in a suicide dive and take over the pace of the match. After a brief rest hold Orton comes back with clotheslines and turned a Curb Stomp attempt into a power slam.

'The Viper' hit a rough-looking T-bone suplex. Rollins escaped a draping DDT and got in an enziguri then an Asai moonsault to the outside. Back in the ring Orton got his draping DDT. Orton went for the RKO but Rollins countered into a schoolboy roll-up. Orty kicked out and then took an super kick but managed to stay on his feet to hit Rollins with an RKO.

Orton reacted to the kick out that followed with absolute shock. That seemed a bit much. Yes it normally wins him a match but people have kicked out of the move before, and this was WrestleMania, where we told that everyone goes that little bit further to make an impression. Anyway, he went for his back-up finish, the Deadly Punt™. Noble got in way and took an RKO. Mercury tried a cross body and took an RKO in mid-air. This allowed provided enough of a distraction for Rollins to recover and this time he hit Orton with a Curb Stomp.

An unspectacular photo from a really very good match.

Randy kicked out of that and Seth pulled him into position for the phoenix splash. Orton slipped out of the way as Rollins left the top rope. Rollins landed on his feet and rolled across the ring. Orton went for an RKO, got pushed off and stumbled to his knees. The match ended on a beuatifully performed exchange as Rollins went for the Curb Stomp and Orton slipped out from under him to catch him coming down with an RKO. The match could not have been better.

In a bold (or possibly stupid) move Sting and Triple H followed. They even went without the benefit of a pop song or a filler match. They did get the grand entrance treatment though. Sting came out to a Stomp-style group playing metal drums and wearing his face paint. Triple H had something themed around the Terminator. There was a headpiece themed around his tried and tested skull and crown motifs along with a red "laser" eye, four classic Terminator robots stood motionless on the stage, extras dressed up as less spectacular robots, a target-acquiring POV shot, and a cameo from Arnold Schwarzenegger in which he said "It's time to play the game!". It was weird but also nicely done. Triple H's cosplay fantasies are the closest thing to The Streak we have left at WrestleMania.

The opening few minutes were all about making Sting look like a top guy. He overpowered Trips. Then he outwrestled him. He no-sold the knee buster and went for the Scorpion deathlock. Trips wriggled out of the ring, returning to get whipped back outside via Sting's immense power. Sting followed him out and went for a splash against the barricade. Triple H moved and threw him into the steel steps.

Paul versus Steve: The Epic Collision.

Back in the ring H3 muscled Sting up for a stalling suplex then worked Sting over with knees and powerful whips into the corner before slapping on a sleeper so that 'The Vigilante' could loudly call some spots. Sting fought back and applied the deathlock. Billy Gunn, Road and X Pac ran to the DX music. Sting made short work of them with chops. The he threw Tripper out of the ring onto them for good measure. That set up a nice human crash mat for Sting to leap off the top rope onto. It looked like 'The Stinger' was finally going to put 'The Game' but a distraction from Billy Gunn allowed Trips to get in a Pedigree.

Sting kicked out so Triple H grabbed his sledgehammer. Before he could use it he was distracted by the music of the nWo and Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan swaggering down to the ring. Had he thought about it the so-called 'Cerebral Assassin' could have lamped Sting with the hammer and won the match before the nWo fellas had arrived at ringside. He was clearly awed by their shock tactics.

When they arrived the nWo dispatched DX and Sting recovered to hit a Scorpion Death Drop on Tripper. When Trips kicked out Sting put him in the deathlock. Triple H went for the sledgehammer that lay tantalisingly close. Luckily for Sting that bastion of fairness Hulk Hogan was on hand to grab it from the evil COO's clutches. That triggered a flurry of activity on the outside and DX and the nWo wiped each other. Trips sat in the hold as this went on, only managing to make it to the ropes after everything had simmered down and the camera was back on him. Funny that. It was almost like the match was staged.

Sting went to reapply the Scorpion deathlock but got lamped with Sweet Chin Music (outta nowhere!) by Shawn Michaels. Helmsley crawled into a cover and Sting kicked out. Billy handed Trips the sledgehammer. Hall handed Sting the bat. Sting dropped Triple H with a tap to the midsection then broke the hammer's staff in half. 'The Game' backed into a corner and got pummelled with fists and a Stinger Splash. 'The Vigilante' got greedy and went for a second, which gave Triple H the chance to grab hold of the top half of the sledgehammer and lamp him with it. That was enough to finally put 'The Stinger' down for three.

After the match Triple H pushed DX off and offered a handshake to Sting. Sting accepted. The entire match was far, far better than I'd expected it to be. Sting was protected, Triple H didn't try anything too fancy, and they made excellent use of run-ins. It's probably a bit odd that Sting was saved by the nWo, a group he experienced the biggest match of his career fighting against, but we can take that as the four having put aside their differences since WCW went under. Or you could go really wild and see it as acknowledgment that Sting really was with the nWo all along as they claimed in the nineties.

Backstage Maria Menounos interviewed new IC champ Daniel Bryan, asking how he felt about his win. He tried to answer and was interrupted by Pat Patterson, Roddy Piper, Ricky Stramboat, Ric Flair, and Bret Hart. They all but Bryan over (Flair got himself over too, naturally) and did a "Yes!" chant. Then Ron Simmons showed up and said "Damn!". I presume this was hilarious for those into that sort of thing.

Following a musical performance so uninspiring I can't even be bothered to look up who it was by Paige and AJ Lee teamed up to tangle with the Bellas. Paige was isolated by the twins for a while before finally managing to tag out to AJ. She worked over Nikki, Paige eliminated Brie, and then AJ made Nikki submit to the Black Widow. This was the most time I can remember Divas getting at 'Mania in years. They made the most of it and told a story in a good match.

After the audience had been given the chance to gape at the Hall of Famers it was time for Cena v Rusev II: The Russian Federation Strikes Back. Rusev entered on a tank. An actual, honest to goodness tank. There was other stuff going on with a Russian flag and troops and Lana but it was nowhere near as impressive as RUSEV RIDING A TANK. John Cena got a video of American symbolism intercut with Reagan jingoism. His actual entrance was the standard Cena entrance.

Flag-related taunts set to become wrestling's next craze.

They had another surprisingly energetic, enjoyable match. The match they gave us at Fast Lane had raised my expectations for the quality of this match. They again surpassed them. Cena pulled out his top rope leg drop, multiple AAs and the STF. Rusev busted out his regular assortment of big lad moves and  athletic kicks. He was on top of his game with his selling, ring placement, and facial expressions, perfectly getting across his increasing desperation with wild eyes and an uncharacteristic trip to the top rope.

Not to be outdone with new material Cena hit a springboard Ace crusher. Then he powered to his feet and almost casually become the first man to break out of the Accolade. Lana tried a distraction from the apron and got knocked off by Rusev. Cena then scooped him up and hit him with an AA. Just like that Cena won. It felt like Rusev should've been able to withstand more with a year-long winning streak to his name. Going down to the second AA of the night seemed very anti-climactic.

Then the stalling kicked in. You see, WWE likes to present certain wrestlers in certain ways. One such wrestler is Undertaker. He always enters to darkness because he's a spooky character and darkness is spooky. At this point it was about quarter to seven. They needed to kill time so that it was as dark as possible for 'The Dead Man's' entrance. They also needed to give the crowd time to cool down and hit the toilets before the final two matches of the card.

The expert panel and the commentary split the task of recapping the show up until that point. Then Triple H (now wearing a suit) and Stephanie  were introduced. They announced that a new attendance record of 76,976 had been set for the stadium. Steph put herself and Tripper over as the reason for this and WWE's success in general. Trips took over and said they owned everyone there and everyone watching. I thought this was leading to an appearance from Vince McMahon but instead we got The Rock. He goaded Triple H into taking his jacket off before Steph stepped in and told Rock her family had made his family then gave him a slap. She teased The Rock about ot being able to hit her because she's a woman and ordered him to the back.

Luckily Rock avoided inappropriate talk of pies.

Rock left the ring but he didn't go to the back. Instead he went over to Ronda Rousey (sporting a memetastic "It's over 9000!" T-shirt) in the front row and brought her into the ring. Steph said she and Ronda were pals. When Ronda didn't exactly go along with this Steph demanded she leave. Rock and Tripe H ended up getting into it, with Ronda giving Triple H a hip toss and then grabbing Steph. She released her and the heels hobbled backstage as Rock's music played and he declared the sequence the greatest WrestleMania moment of the night. It was good but this self-aggrandizement put me off it a bit.

With all the time that could be killed killed it was time for Undertaker versus Bray Wyatt. 'The New Face of Fear' entered first, accompanied by a gang of scarecrows, some of whom he brought to life as he walked past. This could not compare with Rusev's tank entrance. Nor, for that matter, could Undertaker's entrance. There was still plenty of light in the sky and, for the first time in a few years, there were no special props on the stage. It was just 'Taker, his jacket and hat, and the funereal music. Very much a back to basics approach.

The match was fine but not the special attraction I think many expected. The crowd didn't seemed as invested in Undertaker as they have been at recent WrestleManias and I suspect this was because of the lack of The Streak. Not having that to fight for and defend makes 'The Phenom' a bit pointless, drifting character. The Streak was tied strongly to his legacy. Without it there's very little point in him sticking around unless he's going to have a stronger presence on TV across the year, which he's obviously not.

Who'd have guessed Sting v Triple H would be more enjoyable
than Wyatt v Undertaker?

They did most, but not all, of the spots that could have been asked of them. Wyatt did his flying forearm and threw out a handful of Sister Abigails. 'Taker gave us Old School, choke slams, and Tombstone piledrivers but omitted the Hell's Gate and the Last Ride. It seemed peculiar. When a guy who only wrestles once a year has this many recognisable moves to call on you expect him to pul them all out, especially in what was possibly his penultimate match. Wyatt survived one Tombstone but fell to a second just after the fifteen minute mark.

That just left the main event: Roman Reigns challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE world heavyweight championship.

Reigns' entrance was heavy on boos. Lesnar got a thunderous initial pop and extended cheers once he was in the ring. He also received a personal ring introduction from his advocate, Paul Heyman. I liked that. It was a good use of Heyman on a show that didn't really have any other opportunity for him to talk.

Within thirty seconds of the match starting Lesnar had hit Reigns with a German suplex and an F5. He didn't go for a cover. Instead he started with the throws and suplexes. Reigns made sporadic attempts to fight back, clotheslining and pie-facing the champion as well as chuckling, to show us that he can take a beating, but he was quickly shut down each time.

The scene before the match.

After a while Reigns was punched off the apron down to the ringside mats. He got a brief moment of hope as he headed back into the ring, kneeing Lesnar in the face as he tried to grab him. 'The Pain' shrugged that off and sent Reigns off the apron back down to the mats with a lariat. When he returned to the ring he was given more suplexes, Heyman counting along with each one. The eighth was a particularly impressive belly-to-belly from the apron, over the top rope, back into the ring. 

'The Conqueror' hit an F5 and went for the first cover of the match. Reigns kicked out. Lesnar punched away at Reigns. Reigns laughed, earning himself two more German suplexes and a third F5. Reigns kicked out again, technically breaking WWE's unwritten rule that people don't kick out of more than three finishers in a match.

Lesnar tried to shove Reigns into a ring post outside the ring but Reigns managed to reverse the attempt. Lesnar would roll back into the ring bleeding heavily. Reigns hit him with a Superman punch but the champ stayed on his feet. A second Superman punch sent 'The Beast', briefly, down to a knee. Reigns went for the move a third time but Lesnar sidestepped it and went for a German suplex. Reigns fought out and blasted Lesnar with a third Superman punch and two spears. Lesnar managed to kick out. Reigns went for another Superman punch but Lesnar caught him in mid-air and F5ed him.

With both men down Seth Rollins sprinted out to the ring and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, sending the crowd crazy (in a positive way, obvs). The match was restarted as a triple threat and Rollins immediately booted 'The Big Dog' out of the ring and Curb Stomped Lesnar. He went for the move a second time but Lesnar snatched him up into position for the F5. Reigns thrust himself back into the action with a spear. Lesnar rolled out of the ring. Rollins hit Reigns with a Curb Stomp and pinned him to become the new WWE world heavyweight champion.

The scene  after the match.

The main event was superb. Reigns stood up to a vicious beating from Lesnar and kept coming back for more. Lesnar delivered the suplexes and F5s he's adored for. The finish was designed to accomplish several things and did so. Lesnar was kept strong by not being pinned. Reigns was presented as the wronged victim who had his moment stolen away by someone else's selfishness. Rollins was presented as an opportunistic chancer who selected the perfect moment, making a name for himself at the expense of someone who'd earned their way to the top. Which, in kayfabe terms, Reigns had with his Rumble victory and win over Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane.

WrestleMania 31 was a far better show than I'd thought. I hadn't really expected much from many of the matches. Too many of them seemed like odd choices for a big show. But there wasn't a bad match on the card. The main event was everything I wanted it to be.

What's nice is that it feels like WWE has a plan coming out of this show. I don't like Bryan and Cena having the mid-card titles but it's clearly been done for a purpose. The world title picture has Rollins on top with Lesnar, Reigns and Orton in a position to argue they deserve a championship match against him. On the night the show was a surprising success. I think it will prove to have been a success in the long term too.

***

Results summary:

Cesaro and Tyson Kidd retain the tag team championship
Big Show won the Andre Battle Royal, last eliminating Damien Mizdow
Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental championship in a ladder match
Randy Orton defeated Seth Rollins
Triple H defeated Sting
AJ Lee and Paige defeated the Bellas
John Cena defeated Rusev to win the United States championship
Undertaker defeated Bray Wyatt
Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar to win the WWE championship

WWE WrestleMania 31 preview

Here we are again. Another WestleMania. The culmination of a year's worth of storylines being drawn to a close and produced with all the flash and sizzle WWE can muster. It will be the biggest and most financially successful wrestling event of the year for the world's most financially successful wrestling company. We know this. WrestleMania is firmly established as the one show where WWE pulls out all the stops, the one show it's guaranteed to make a spectacle.

So why doesn't it feel as special as it has in previous years? There's no definitive answer but the feeling is there. This year's entry in the 'Mania series feels like it's destined to become just another show before it's even taken place. Personally I think there are several reasons for this. The obvious place to start listing them is at the top, which means mentioning Roman Reigns. Which is unfair. Because I really don't think Reigns has been as bad as he could have been since his shove into the upper echelons came about at this year's Royal Rumble.

Okay, so his promos could have been better, he's been protected with clever booking, and he was pitted against Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane in an incredibly transparent effort to both curry favour with a certain fan demographic and show everyone that Reigns is better than Bryan. The only thing he had any real control over from that list is his effort in promos. He's far from great but he's improved since this time last year, and let's not forget that he is ultimately reading words given to him by someone else rather than expressing his own feelings and opinions. That he's been afforded good booking and got to beat Bryan is entirely out of his control but it's not like he should have turned either down. Who in their right mind would ask their employer to expose their weaknesses and refuse a lengthy pay-per-view match with one of wrestling's best workers?

Reigns being in the main event is a problem mostly because he's not Daniel Bryan. Practically everyone, including me, wanted to see Bryan versus Lesnar for the WWE championship. With a move back to the UFC looking likely for Lesnar that match doesn't seem as though it's meant to be. Reigns versus Lesnar is not a substitute for that match because Reigns is not the wrester Bryan is. But this isn't to say the match is guaranteed to be bad. It's not. In fact it's more likely to be good. Lesnar's no slouch when it comes to delivering gripping matches, Reigns is perfectly capable even though he's not the standout many wish he were, and it's going to headline the biggest show of the year. There's no way everyone involved won't do everything they can to make it the best match possible.

What's good about Reigns' participation in the main event (it's not all bad) is that he's someone new. WWE has been in need of fresh singles acts at the top of the card for years and they've been incredibly slack about building some up. Before they were coerced into doing something with Bryan last year the last guy they'd given the hallowed Big Push to was CM Punk in 2011. Before that it was Jeff Hardy in 2008 (and let's not forget that he was so appreciative that he's been slumming it in TNA since early 2010). Reigns is a much needed shot in the arm and indicates that WWE are finally set on filling their many gaps.

Probably the second biggest issue I have with WrestleMania 31 is the use of Daniel Bryan. That may initially sound like a direct contradiction to what I've just said but it's not. I'm not arguing that Bryan should be in the main event. He was there last year and had his moment. It would have been nice to see him face Lesnar but it wasn't the only thing that could have been done with him. There are other shows he can headline and the world title will still be there for him to win once 'Mania's done and dusted. In fact Bryan versus Reigns would be a very nice main event for this year's SummerSlam. Bryan not being the man to face Lesnar here isn't the issue. The issue is what he's been given to do instead.

Having Daniel Bryan be one of the men to challenge Bad News Barrett for the Intercontinental championship sends the message that he's not important. Whether he's liked by management or not this isn't a message they should be getting behind. D-Bry has been chosen by the people as a top guy, and at a time when top guys are light on the ground the company should not be choosey about who's in the main event. The man's popularity has already taken knocks this year, most obviously when he was eliminated early from the Royal Rumble and when he failed to defeat Reigns a month later at Fast Lane. This sort of counterproductive booking may keep Bryan "in his place" (not that Bryan seems like the kind who has an ego about how he's used) but it deprives people of something they clearly want: Daniel Bryan having a key role on WWE television. All this does is deincentivise viewers from watching the product and becoming emotionally invested.

The only thing worse than having Bryan in the ladder match would be having him win it. That would send the message that he was out of his league competing for the world title and that he's much happier larking about with the likes of Barrett and R-Truth over a second rate strap. Think Bryan holding the IC strap would add credibility to it? Think again. No matter how good a wrestler and how over Bryan may be the Intercontinental championship is a tarnished item. It will take more than slinging it on 'The People's Elixir' to make it mean anything. This would be an attempt at a quick fix when extended effort is what's required.

The lack of a Streak match is also bothering me. The Streak was something that was easy to invest in and helped make WrestleMania feel like a major event. I won't argue that Brock Lesnar wasn't a good choice to end it but it does feel odd that Undertaker is carrying on after he's suffered a loss on 'The Grandest Stage of Them All'. For the last several years 'The Dead Man' has been portrayed as being motivated by his annual defence of The Streak. Can Bray Wyatt becoming one of the many men to steal his urn really compare to the defence of a two decade long winning streak? In my mind no, it can't. I don't think the match will be bad, in fact I'm rather looking forward to it, but part of 'Taker's lustre has definitely gone along with his undefeated record.

The final thing on the list is the Triple H v Sting match. While I've never been the biggest fan of 'The Game' I have come to appreciate him more over the past few years as he's transitioned into his new role as an evil authority figure and part time wrestler. He's not the super-reliable hand he believes himself to be but he's more enjoyable than he was during his full time career. Meanwhile Sting does nothing for me. He didn't engage me during the final couple of years of WCW and he's been worse in TNA (although it wouldn't be unfair to claim that most things are worse in TNA). They're just two guys I have no real connection to and so I can't get excited for their match.

The requisite number of big names have been lined up for the show. The crowning moment for the new chosen one has been adequately set up. But there's been no flair to anything in the lead-in to this year's 'Showcase of the Immortals'. It almost feels like WWE are resting on their laurels a little. And it definitely feels as though they're not fully in tune with what their audience wants in 2015. WrestleMania should always feel like the company's crowning glory, a show dripping in relevance and it just doesn't this year. The substance is there but the style is missing.

The rest of the card is unremarkable. The main match not yet mentioned is Rusev versus Cena. Their match at Fast Lane was (slightly) better than I'd expected but that they had that match in the first place harms the appeal of this one. Cena v Rusev felt like a match that should have been saved for WrestleMania. I understand that by moving it forward to Fast lane 'The Super Athlete' was set up as the unstoppable machine and Cena as the underdog, which is sound logic for a rematch. But that's also made it look pretty clear who's going to win. While I'd love to see Cena fall to Rusev again, because he can afford to and it would do Rusev so much good, I just can't see it happening. Everything about the scenario points to Cena avenging his Fast Lane loss, building for the future be damned.

In defence of the Rusev v Cena rematch it has provided us with one of the most entertaining segments from this year's Road to WrestleMania; the contract signing segment from the March 16 RAW. Okay, it was mostly good because of how incredibly bad the guy playing Rusev's lawyer was but that was at least something. By contrast the build to Randy Orton and Seth Rollins' match has been abysmal. 'The Viper' returned, out of the blue, at Fast Lane and ran The Authority off from the ring. The next night he rejoined them. Then he spent a few weeks pretending he was allied with them while at the same time costing Rollins meaningless television matches before eventually revealing that he wasn't really back with The Authority at all and Sting showed up to help him ward the heels off.

It's been a series of underwhelming events. What's so frustrating is that at the beginning of the year Rollins v Orton felt like one of the easiest matches in the world to set up. Orton had become jealous of the young chosen one and allowed that anger to boil over into physicality. Forced to take sides, Authority bosses Triple H and Stephanie McMahon had gone with 'The Future', essentially showing Orty that he'd been right to worry. A vicious beatdown saw Orton written off TV, at a point when he was more interesting as a performer than he had been in years, and Rollins went on to headline pay-per-views and challenge for the WWE title in his absence.

All WWE needed to do was have Orton make a dramatic comeback in which he almost but not quite got his hands on Rollins then have him get closer each week as WrestleMania edged nearer. It would have been simple to do, would have gotten over the cowardly aspect of Rollins character, and would have made use of the large entourage, casting them as perfect RKO-fodder. By the time they arrived at WrestleMania people would have been desperate to see Rollins finally take his beating.

As things stand the two can still have a good match. Rollins is one of the best in the company. Provided he's in a mood to try so is Orton. The potential is there for a great finishing spot that sees Orton nip to his feet and blast Rollins with an RKO as he goes for the Phoenix splash. There's a chance Rollins will win the match because he's been kept pretty strong by the writing team but I'm leaning more towards an Orton win. Not only does that add one more to the good guy tally on the company's top show but it also gives Orton a victory over a man with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Should Rollins cash-in, which is not impossible, Orton would be established as an immediate challenger.

Finally there are the designated filler matches: the tag title match, the Andre battle royal and the token Divas match. The tag title match will see Cesaro and Tyson Kidd defend against the Usos, Los Matadores, and The New Day. It will take place on the pre-show, as is now apparently traditional for the doubles hardware. Although they're technically the only heels in the match I suspect the Brass Ring lads will be the most popular duo with the live crowd, which would make a successful defence logical (always good to start a show with a crowd-pleasing result). This match will almost certainly get enough time to be an enjoyable experience. Considering the rest of the show it could even end up as the match of the night.

The Divas match will break from tradition by not being for the championship. Instead champion Nikki Bella will team with her sister Brie to face AJ Lee and Paige. The lead-up to this match has arguably been some of the best work the writing team have done over the last month, which is more a reflection on how poor the standard of writing is than anything else. Instead of drawing on the history between AJ and Paige (Paige debuted the night after last year's 'Mania and defeated AJ in her debut match) the feud has centred around the Bellas being stereotypical mean girls and Lee and Paige becoming bessie mates to teach them a lesson. It's been lazy and only seems like a good idea for a match when you consider that they're the four most heavily featured women in WWE and they've been involved with one another in a variety of forms for months. AJ and Paige will probably win with one of them pinning Nikki to create a reason for a championship match.

The only thing I really have to say about the battle royal is that I'm surprised to see it back. When last year's was described as the "first annual" Andre memorial battle royal I took it to mean that it would be the first and last, because that's generally how things work in WWE. It's nice to be wrong on this. The match could really go to anybody because there's not actually anything on the line. That said it is a nice opportunity to start a push and it would be nice to think this will be capitalised on by those in charge. Looking at the list of entrants Ryback, Miz and Midow seem the most likely people to win. Mizdow could eliminate Miz early and win for a well-deserved WrestleMania Moment™. 'The Awesome One' could eliminate Mizdow via shady tactics at the last second, cruelly snatching a win away from him. Ryback's Ryback. He seems over with the right people and he's been protected recently. I'm going to go with Mizdow winning. Whatever happens I expect the next pay-per-view will see a Miz versus Mizdow singles match.

The only other guy I'd consider as a battle royal winner is Sheamus. We've been (cruelly) teased about his comeback for a month or two now. It would make all the sense in the world for him to return and win the battle royal. But I think it's likelier he'll be a surprise addition to the Intercontinental championship ladder match. His chances of winning that seem depressingly good. Rumours persist that we're in store for yet another Sheamus v Bryan series (they're good together but I don't like their seemingly annual rivalries) and it's all too easy to see the starting point being Shaymo yanking D-Bry off a ladder and grabbing the gold for himself. I'd be happy with Ziggler or Barrett leaving as the champion, because they're the guys I think a strong mid-card should revolve around, or Ambrose, because I think he could convince people the title means something to him, but Sheamus seems likelier.

All of which brings me back around to three of the event's top matches. Wyatt versus Undertaker, despite not being for The Streak should be good as long as 'The Phenom' can avoid a repeat of last year's early concussion. The ring entrances alone should be something special. I'm fairly confident Undertaker will go over. A victory would help to revitalise him for next year's WrestleMania, which will seemingly host his retirement. He'll look stronger coming off a win than coming off a loss.

Although there's also something in the idea of 'The Eater of Worlds' winning. That would put Undertaker in the position of having lost two matches back-to-back going into his final appearance, which would in turn allow WWE to play the "Can he still get it done?" card for the retirement match. If that's against Cena (as there's a strong chance it will be) it could be a very good story, Undertaker desperate to win and prove that he still has the old magic before he takes his final bow and Cena wanting to prove he could have taken The Streak had he had the chance. But having protagonists show weakness is not something this company does well or often.

I've little more to offer on the subject of Sting versus Triple H. Sting should enter to his WCW music. He won't. The bout should last less than six minutes. It won't. Sting should dominate Triple H before Triple H cheats to gain an unfair advantage, leading to a mighty Sting comeback a few minutes later, culminating with a Scorpion Death Drop for the win. This... might happen. But it probably won't. I am at least confident 'The Vigilante' will win, because that's the logical conclusion to the story they seem to be trying to tell. The longer this match goes the less interested I'll be.

Finally there's the main event. The thing that would sway my prediction is something I can't know until after the fact: whether or not Brock Lesnar has signed a deal to stay in wrestling. I think if he opts to stay Vince and co will be more than happy to keep the title strapped around his waist, possibly all the way until WrestleMania 32. That would give 'The Pain' another year of dominance before dropping the title. Daniel Bryan's popularity could finally be embraced and he could win the 2016 Rumble before dethroning Lesnar in a modern day dream match. Or the loss this year could send Reigns over the edge, turning him into a madman who feels he's had his birthright stolen from him and setting him on a path of destruction that sees him go over everybody before finally earning a rematch with Lesnar.

Lesnar sticking around is not the only way the Reigns scenario could come about. Even if Lesnar's off to UFC Reigns could lose to him before a Rollins' MITB cash-in. That would allow Rollins to brag about doing what golden boy Reigns couldn't while allowing Reigns to engage in his longer term storyline of unleashing fury.

Something I find surprisingly easy to rule out is Reigns simply winning. I can imagine Lesnar retaining and sticking around. I can imagine Reigns failing, both with and without a Rollins cash-in on Lesnar following. I can imagine Reigns winning and then having Rollins cash in the contract on him. But I can't imagine Reigns defeating Lesnar and then enjoying a lengthy run as the WWE world heavyweight champion. This is a company that loves to throw adversity at its top babyfaces, because the theory is that overcoming it will make fans love them (something which cheerfully overlooks the fact that babyfaces need to be loved beforehand for this to work). Reigns beating Lesnar and making it out of both WrestleMania and the following evening's RAW as the champion just strikes me as unlikely.

In this regard the main event is already a success. It's not an easy match to predict a winner for. With Lesnar's contractual status, Reigns' mixed reactions and Rollins' briefcase there are too many factors to say with any confidence that any one sequence of events will take place. So I'll predict the one I like the sound of the best: Brock Lesnar will retain the WWE heavyweight championship.

***

Predictions summary:

Brock Lesnar to defeat Roman Reigns
Undertaker to defeat Bray Wyatt
John Cena to defeat Rusev
Sting to defeat Triple H
Randy Orton to defeat Seth Rollins
Sheamus to win the Intercontinental championship ladder match
Paige and AJ Lee to defeat Nikki Bella and Brie Bella
Damien Mizdow to win the Andre The Giant memorial battle royal
Cesaro and Tyson Kidd to retain the tag team championship