WrestleMania 31 Reax

- VIP member Ken Arnold (8.0): Best: WWE Title match. Worst: none. I flew from my new home, Pittsburgh, to my old home, Santa Clara, to be at WrestleMania and I was not disappointed. Regardless of how shaky this year's line-up was or how the booking wasn't up to snuff compared previous years, I enjoyed this show immensely. This was my first WrestleMania ever and will always think of this as my personal favorites. From top to bottom WWE delivered with all the glitz and glamour and the production values - despite it not getting dark until 7:25 local time - were top-notch. Experiencing Undertaker's entrance live was a sight to see and seeing Brock Lesnar in-person was unbelievable. Brock is up there with Steve Austin and The Rock as one of my all-time favorite stars. He comes across as not just a special attraction, but a once-in-a-generation star like the aforementioned pair.

In terms of matches, I enjoyed the main event and while I would have preferred Lesnar winning straight up and celebrating to close out the show, I have zero problems with a deserving Seth Rollins becoming champion - regardless of how long he holds the title... I'm glad that Paige and A.J. got their moment to shine, Daniel Bryan was the right call winning the IC Title, and given how the show ended Randy Orton beating Seth Rollins made sense... Sting losing didn't bother me, and I was one of the many who enjoyed the nostalgic trip down memory lane with DX and the NWO... I'm curious as to where they go with the Rock-Hunter and Ronda-Steph situations and how this plays into WM32 next April... Overall, a solid show that I will cherish and enjoyed. I can't wait to go next year and experience this all over again.

- Joey B. in N.J.: Since I have barely been watching Raw, I was in a position to be objective. My overall feeling from the show and the same one that made me lose interest in Raw is this: the overbearing presence of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. If you're a fan of wrestling history, you know that time and again the boss and/or booker put himself over to the point of turning off the fans. Look back on WrestleManias and who always gets the most over the top intro? Who cherrypicks huge match-ups for himself? Who gets the most mic time week after week? The son-in-law and one of the three main people in charge. Unless this was Sting's last match, I can't see why Hunter did not put him over. And that intro? Well, he learned something from the Hulkster - glue yourself to the hip of any big name non-wrestling star that comes in. And that segment with Stephanie epitomizes a huge problem - emasculating your performers for 15 minutes while they stand there like jabronis, and then MAYBE they get a few seconds of comeuppance does NOTHING to help them! It actually hurts them. And turns fans like me away. That all said, Sting and Hunter was fun up until the pin and handshake. Taker-Wyatt was just okay, but I was sucked in wondering who'd win; the RKO was way cool; and I fell asleep before the main event, sorry. The Hall of Fame segment was good and I wonder how many wrestling journalists are pulling their hair out about Nash. But, it was a pretty spectacular setting and an impressive crowd.

- Tim I. from Chisholm, Minn. (7.0): Best Match: Main Event. Worst Match: The end of Hunter vs. Sting. Very few can contest that the show wasn't better than they expected but it wasn't without some resonating flaws. The IC Title match was a fun spotfest - will Bryan be allowed to give the title some much needed prestige? ... Orton-Rollins was as close as it got to a wrestling clinic with an innovative ending... Sting vs. Hunter - I'm all for nostalgia from the Attitude Era, and some might have seen the match as overbooked, but I thought it was fun. But, WWE deflating and neutering Sting's first and possibly last WrestleMania match is unforgivable. It brought my score down at least two points. All these years later and Vince is still trying to scream to everyone that will listen that HE BEAT WCW. No one cares anymore. Sting is an icon and to lose that match was shameful. Hunter needed that win for what? And no, the faux respect from Hunter afterwards did nothing for me.

The Divas tag match was good with lots of good, accelerated action that gave a glimpse of what the ladies can do when given a chance. I hope their presence will be vastly expanded by next year. WWE seemed fine with spotlighting UFC's main female star - how about the same effort to their own stars? ... Taker vs. Bray was better than expected, but the sting of The Streak dying last year remains. I hope by next Mania that Bray is booked in a big feud where he can actually win... I loved the main event for the most part. Lesnar was booked as strongly as you can be in defeat, and Reigns took a masterful beating, but is too reliant on his Superman Punch/spear. Also, he should not have survived the number of F5s that he did. I loved Seth's MITB cash-in and Brock not taking the loss. It will be interesting to see how he rebounds, if WWE can somehow hit the restart button on Reigns, which they desperately need to, and watch all the possibilities unfold with Rollins as champ.

Did you watch WrestleMania? Send your Reax, 0-10 Score, and Best/Worst Match to pwtorch@gmail.com.

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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