The Potential WrestleMania 31 Card

It sure doesn’t seem like we’re in for a WrestleMania moment as shocking as this one this year.

 

So after WWE Fastlane, what’s the WrestleMania 31 card looking like?

Well for starters, we know that there’s at least two confirmed matches:

Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar
Triple H vs Sting

Based on recent booking, we’ve also got the potential for the following matches:

John Cena vs Ruzev
Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton
Bray Wyatt vs Undertaker
Goldust vs Stardust
The Miz vs Damien Mizdow
Dean Ambrose vs Bad News Barrett

That is already 8 potential matches. There will also most likely be a Divas match. We’ll probably see the tag titles defended in some capacity, and we still have no idea what Daniel Bryan or Ziggler will be doing (though the popular opinion seems to be Bryan will take on a returning Sheamus). It’d be great to see all of these wrestlers involved but, most likely, one of these potential matches will be on the Pre-Show.

But does this card inspire confidence?

A WrestleMania 31 card quality overview

Overall it looks like a solid, but unspectacular WrestleMania card. There’s nothing really that screams out “must see”, which is probably what your biggest show of the year should have. That being said, think there are some potentially good to great matches that could pick things up. This is a show that looks like the whole may be better than the sum of it’s parts.

The biggest problem is that the most hyped matches on the card and the potential main event matches have the potential to be underwhelming from an in-ring standpoint. Here’s a quick breakdown:

WILD CARD MATCHES: (These matches could range from terrible to good, the overall success of the show will likely depend on how these matches turn out)

Reigns vs Lesnar: Should be intriguing if for no other reason than to see how the crowd reacts, and whether Lesnar can “carry” Reigns to a good match. The Main Event often has the pressure of the whole show on it’s back, so if this match is a clusterfuck, people will say the show is bad, whereas if this match is even decent, it’ll drag people’s opinions up.

Triple H vs Sting: Is the “special attraction” match which means it has the pressure of being the match a lot of the older or casual fans who tune into only Mania will be judging the show on. Triple H is capable of putting on good matches even now, but Sting is the wildcard, we didn’t see much in the way of good performances in TNA from him. No one knows how he will perform under the pressure and in his first match in a long time.

Bray Wyatt vs Undertaker: Undertaker’s first match since the streak ending will be a big deal. I don’t know how good the build will be, but Taker is old as we all know and there is a lot of doubt about whether he can handle the rigours of putting on a good match again. Now unlike last year he is against a full timer who is much younger, so hopefully the youthful exuberance of Wyatt can make Taker look young again for one night.

SURE THINGS: (Matches that are pretty likely to be good to great matches given those involved)

Cena vs Rusev: They had a decent first match at Fastlane and I think after being a bit more familiar with each other going into Mania, the two of them can put on a good match. Cena always elicits a strong crowd reaction too which helps. Cena is no stranger to Mania and I think he can up his game to make this worthy of Mania.

*Bryan vs Ziggler/Sheamus: Should the Ziggler match happen, it will almost certainly be a great match from an in ring standpoint and could very well be match of the night or the undercard match that everyone is still talking about. Sheamus as a heel should be able to put on a strong in ring match as well and hopefully he can build up some good heat leading into Mania to make it special.

Orton vs Rollins: These two have the built in feud already and if they can keep Orton as the bad ass, stalking guy who doesn’t talk a lot and just hands out RKO’s to people he should be fine. Rollins is great and the two of them in ring should be able to pull off a good match and an underdog for MOTN.

UNDERCARD: (Matches with decent builds that won’t hurt the card, but could help)

Miz vs Mizdow: This feud has been built up really well, with Miz doing some damn fine heel work and Mizdow as the sympathetic babyface. The moment Mizdow finally has enough and pops Miz will get a massive reaction and should be a memorable moment in his career. This match likely won’t be special, but could be a nice match that gets a good crowd reaction. Could be a good opener.

Stardust vs Goldust: Thus feud sadly hasn’t captured the fans attention like the previous one I mentioned. I’m still hopeful that it can gain some steam going into Mania and become the personal grudge match that it should be. I actually am hoping if it’s Goldust’s last match that he wrestles as Dustin Rhodes, which given the story makes sense.

Overall, it’s tough to gauge what to expect out of the WrestleMania 31 card. It seems like we’re destined for a show that’s not nearly as good as last year’s, but depending on whether everyone brings their A game it could still be an entertaining event.

This post was written by Squared Circle users Viazon and Str8Shooter. Join our forums to contribute to the conversation!

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