WrestleMania 31 was a 2015 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was the 31st annual WrestleMania and took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Santa Clara, California. This was the last WrestleMania to be held in March, as all WrestleMania events since have been held in April.
Nine matches were contested at the event, including two matches on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract as the scheduled main event match between defending champion Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns was in progress, and won the resulting impromptu triple threat match to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship by pinning Reigns. In other prominent matches, The Undertaker (in his first on-screen appearance since the previous year's event) defeated Bray Wyatt while John Cena defeated Rusev to win the WWE United States Championship. The event was also notable for Sting's debut match in WWE, as well as his only WrestleMania match, in which he was defeated by Triple H.
Despite criticism for its build-up, WrestleMania 31 received highly positive reviews from fans and critics; some critics called it one of the greatest WrestleManias of all time. Praise was directed to the quality of matches, the conclusion to the main event and focused match card, although the women's tag team match was subject to criticism for being seen as "filler" and Triple H's win over Sting was criticised as an unnecessary ode to WWE winning the Monday Night War. WWE reported that the show was the highest grossing WWE event ever at the time, drawing a revenue of US$12.6 million. The company also claimed an attendance figure of 76,976. This was also the first WrestleMania to incorporate WWE's current logo that was originally used for the WWE Network that launched in February 2014.
Contents
Production
Background
WrestleMania is WWE's flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, having first been held in 1985. It was the company's first pay-per-view produced and was also WWE's first major event available via livestreaming when the company launched the WWE Network in February 2014. It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". The event has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. Much like the Super Bowl, cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania.
Announced on December 9, 2013, WrestleMania 31 was scheduled to be held on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area city of 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).
The logo for the event included a red "play" button. According to a San Jose Mercury News article, Vince McMahon explained that the play button highlighted the technical prowess of Silicon Valley. There were two theme songs for the event. The main theme was "Rise" by David Guetta featuring Skylar Grey, while the secondary theme was "Money and the Power" by Kid Ink. The event included live musical performances from Skylar Grey, Kid Ink, Travis Barker, and Aloe Blacc. Grammy Award winner LL Cool J appeared in the opening video package for the event.
Travel packages for the event went on sale on September 29, 2014, with the exclusive California Dreamin' Travel Package ranging from $5,500. The VIP Package, Platinum Premium Package, Gold Package, and Silver Package were available on October 6 with prices starting from $3,250, $1,650, $1,150, and $900, respectively, including tickets to WrestleMania, hotel accommodation, airfare, and other activities through WrestleMania Axxess. Individual tickets went on sale on November 15, ranging from $35 to $1,000.
Storylines
The event comprised nine matches, including two on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown.
At the Royal Rumble, Brock Lesnar successfully defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match. Rollins also held the Money in the Bank briefcase, guaranteeing him a future title match at a time of his choosing. Later that night, the Royal Rumble match was won by Roman Reigns, making him the #1 contender for Lesnar's title at WrestleMania. However, the reaction to his victory was overwhelmingly negative, much of it due to the early elimination of fan-favorite Daniel Bryan. On the February 2 episode of Raw, in response to this, Reigns agreed to put his WrestleMania title shot on the line in a match at Fastlane. Later in the night, Bryan defeated Rollins to face Reigns at the event. At Fastlane, Reigns defeated Bryan to remain the #1 contender for Lesnar’s title, enraging the fans even more. From then until WrestleMania, Reigns had only two face-to-face interactions with Lesnar, with critics describing his title match as "being built on whether or not he is even worthy of being in the match in the first place". Reigns was also described as having "experienced no adversity on his journey", as he "chatted with (Lesnar's manager) Paul Heyman one week, got a shirt and then, played tug o' war" with Lesnar (a reference to the final in-ring confrontation between Lesnar and Reigns on the March 23 episode of Raw in which the two grappled with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt). It was acknowledged in the storyline that Lesnar's contract was set to expire not long after WrestleMania, but less than a week before the event, amid speculation that he would be returning to UFC, Lesnar signed a new WWE contract and retired from MMA.
On the March 2 episode of Raw, Paige defeated Divas Champion Nikki Bella by disqualification in a title match after Brie Bella attacked Paige; therefore, Nikki retained the title. Brie and Nikki then continued to attack Paige in the ring until AJ Lee returned from injury and saved Paige. On the March 5 episode of SmackDown, AJ defeated Brie after Paige kept Nikki from interfering in the match. On March 9, AJ and Paige were scheduled to face The Bellas at WrestleMania.
At Survivor Series, Sting made his first WWE appearance in the main event Survivor Series elimination match, attacking Triple H and aiding Dolph Ziggler in pinning Seth Rollins, giving Team Cena the win and causing The Authority to be out of power, which was a secondary stipulation of the match. On the January 19 episode of Raw, Sting made his Raw debut, appearing backstage during the main event, a 3-on-1 handicap match between Cena and the team of Big Show, Kane, and Rollins. The lights in the arena darkened as Sting entered the stage and gestured to The Authority at ringside. The distraction allowed Cena to pin Rollins for the win, which reinstated the jobs of the recently (kayfabe) fired Ziggler, Ryback, and Erick Rowan. On January 26, Triple H challenged Sting to a "face-to-face" confrontation at Fastlane. On the February 9 episode of Raw, Triple H again called Sting out to accept his challenge. The lights went out, and a group of Sting impersonators appeared around the arena and inside the ring, illuminated by spotlights, while a video message of Sting accepting Triple H's challenge played on the TitanTron. At Fastlane, the two brawled until Sting got control of Triple H. Sting then pointed to the WrestleMania sign in the rafters with his signature baseball bat, issuing a challenge, which Triple H accepted. Later that night, the match was confirmed.
Event
Broadcasters
The WrestleMania 31 Kickoff Show was hosted by Renee Young, with Booker T, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton as analysts, while Tom Phillips and Lita served as social media correspondents. English commentators for the event were Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield. Spanish, German, French, and Italian commentators also called the matches at ringside. Lilian Garcia and Eden Stiles served as the ring announcers.
Celebrities
As is tradition, WrestleMania featured numerous appearances by celebrity guests – such as E! News host Maria Menounos, who served as a backstage interviewer. The pay-per-view broadcast was opened by Aloe Blacc performing "America the Beautiful". The event saw another musical performance as Skylar Grey, Travis Barker, and Kid Ink performed a medley of the two WrestleMania 31 theme songs – "Rise" and "Money and the Power". Arnold Schwarzenegger also was featured at the event, first as part of the Terminator Genisys themed grand entrance of Triple H, and later being recognized as part of the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame class as a celebrity wing inductee.
Pre-show
Two matches were contested on the WrestleMania Kickoff pre-show. The first was a fatal four-way tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship between the champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro (with Natalya), The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E) (with Xavier Woods), Los Matadores (Diego and Fernando) (with El Torito), and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (with Naomi). Kidd and Cesaro retained their titles after Big E suffered a Samoan splash from Jimmy Uso, followed by Cesaro throwing Uso out of the ring and scoring the pin. Also of note, Jey Uso would suffer a shoulder injury during the match, putting him out of action for several months.
The second pre-show match was the second annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Big Show won the 30-man contest by last eliminating Damian Mizdow.
Preliminary matches
The actual pay-per-view opened with the seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship where champion Bad News Barrett defended the title against Daniel Bryan, R-Truth, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, Dolph Ziggler, and Stardust. Bryan won the match after he and Ziggler exchanged headbutts at the top of the ladder, causing Ziggler to fall backward and allowing Bryan to claim his first Intercontinental Championship.
Next, Seth Rollins faced Randy Orton. During the match, both men kicked out of their finishers. In the climax, Rollins attempted a "Phoenix Splash", but Orton moved out of the way and Rollins countered an "RKO" attempt. As Rollins attempted a second "Curb Stomp", Orton countered by propelling Rollins up into the air and performing a second "RKO" to win the match.
After that, Sting and Triple H competed in a No Disqualification match. This was Sting's first official match in WWE. Midway through the match, Sting locked Triple H in his Scorpion Death Lock submission hold, which prompted Triple H's D-Generation X (DX) allies to enter the ring and attempt to interfere in the match. Sting knocked down Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, and X-Pac, countered Triple H's Pedigree and threw him to the outside, and then launched himself from the top rope onto all four men. Triple H then performed a Pedigree on Sting for a near-fall and retrieved a sledgehammer from under the ring, which prompted the three original New World Order (nWo) members (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall) to interfere on Sting's behalf. The nWo members took out DX and Sting dropped Triple H with his Scorpion Death Drop for a near-fall. Sting then locked Triple H in another Scorpion Death Lock. Triple H tried to grab his sledgehammer, but Hogan pulled it out of his reach, causing another brawl between both factions while Triple H was still locked in Sting's submission hold. Shawn Michaels then appeared and executed Sweet Chin Music on Sting. Triple H went to pin Sting only for Sting to kick out. Triple H grabbed his sledgehammer from Gunn, while Hall tossed a Baseball Bat to Sting. A standoff ensued between Triple H and Sting as they both held weapons. Sting struck Triple H in the gut with his bat and struck Triple H's sledgehammer which snapped in half. Sting then trapped Triple H in the corner and landed his Stinger Splash. When Sting went for another Stinger Splash, however, Triple H struck Sting with the sledgehammer to win the match. After the match, Triple H and Sting shook hands in the ring while the commentary team speculated that the rivalry between WWE and WCW had finally been put to rest.
Main event
In the main event, Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns. Within the first minute, Lesnar performed a German Suplex and an F-5 on Reigns. Lesnar also suffered two minor cuts (first on one cheek and later on the chin) after his clash with Reigns, but went on to dominate the next ten minutes with knee strikes and various Suplexes (Fisherman, German, Overhead Belly-to-Belly, Vertical and Snap), leading to Lesnar screaming "Suplex City, Bitch!" (giving birth to his nickname "The Mayor of Suplex City" as well as the "Suplex City!" chant). Lesnar performed a second F-5 on Reigns for a nearfall. Lesnar removed his MMA gloves and slapped Reigns four times, causing him to bleed a little from the mouth. Lesnar performed three more German Suplexes and a third F-5 on Reigns for a nearfall. After a long domination from Lesnar, a turning point came around the twelve minute mark, when both men were at ringside: Reigns shoved Lesnar into a ring post, causing him to bleed from the forehead. Back to the ring, after Lesnar barely avoided a pinfall, Reigns performed three Superman Punches and two Spears for a nearfall. After Reigns attempted a fourth Superman Punch, Lesnar reversed it into a fourth F-5, but failed to follow up with a pin.
While both men were still down, Seth Rollins ran down to the ring with his Money in the Bank briefcase and cashed in his contract, making the Singles match a Triple Threat match and the first time in history a Money in the Bank contract was cashed in during a Wrestlemania main event match. Rollins kicked Reigns out of the ring and performed a Curb Stomp on Lesnar. After Rollins attempted a second Curb Stomp, Lesnar reversed it into an F-5 attempt, but Reigns performed a third Spear on Lesnar, saving Rollins. As Lesnar rolled out of the ring, Rollins performed a Curb Stomp on Reigns for a pinfall, winning his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship, the first world championship of his career and becoming the fourth heel to win in a WrestleMania main event. In the aftermath, Rollins ran up to the entrance stage with his WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt and celebrated, while WWE dubbed this victory as "The Heist of the Century".
Reception
WWE claimed that the show was the highest-grossing WWE event ever at the time, drawing revenue of $12.6 million. WWE also claimed an attendance figure of 76,976. However, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported an attendance of 67,000, and said during the second main card match that there were "actually a lot of empty seats all over the stadium", mostly in the upper deck.
The event received acclaim from fans and critics alike. John Powell of Canadian Online Explorer gave the event a perfect 10 out of 10-star rating, calling it "the best Mania ever", with the main event between Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins rated 8.5 stars out of 10. Sting vs. Triple H received the highest rating of 9 stars out of 10, and Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt was rated 8 stars out of 10.
In his live report from the event, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter described the event as "one of the best shows I've ever seen. Several great matches, a killer angle and very little that wasn't good". He also praised the involvement of Ronda Rousey. Overall, he stated that WrestleMania 31 was "one of the more balanced WrestleManias in history because there was not a bad match. But it also didn't have anything close to a match of the year or a candidate for best Mania match".
Jack De Menezes of The Independent said, "It will go down as one of, if not the greatest WrestleMania of all time. From NWO's reunion, to The Rock teaming up with Ronda Rousey and Randy Orton's incredible 'RKO outta nowhere', nearly every match delivered a spectacle fitting of the Grandest Stage of Them All".
Aftermath
Dave Meltzer reported that members of Roman Reigns' family were legitimately upset at the finish of the main event, writing that especially his father Sika was furious to the point that there was "nearly a bad scene".
The following night on Raw, Brock Lesnar wanted to invoke his WWE World Heavyweight Championship rematch clause, but was denied by new champion Seth Rollins. Lesnar responded by attacking Rollins, who escaped. Lesnar then attacked Rollins' cornermen J&J Security (Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury), a cameraman, and the broadcast announcers (Booker T, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, and Michael Cole). As a result, Lesnar was suspended and fined by Stephanie McMahon in storyline. Byron Saxton and Jerry Lawler immediately replaced them in the broken announcer table. Tom Phillips also replaced Michael Cole as lead announcer for two weeks on the following Thursday on 'SmackDown.
Rollins returned later during the show, where Randy Orton requested a title shot due to beating Rollins the night before. Orton and Rollins then had a Steel Cage match for the title at Extreme Rules, where Rollins retained after interference from Kane. Due to Rollins not winning cleanly, a fatal four-way match was scheduled for Payback where Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Orton went for the title. Ambrose and Reigns were given title shots after beating Rollins on consecutive Raw shows. Rollins then defended the title against Ambrose at Elimination Chamber due to Ambrose stealing the title two weeks before the event. Rollins again retained at Money in the Bank after being demanded by The Authority to win without any form of assistance. The following night on Raw, Brock Lesnar would then return to face Rollins in the main event of Battleground, and their match ended with Lesnar winning by disqualification after interference from The Undertaker. On November 4, during a match against Kane at a WWE live event in Dublin, Ireland, Rollins tore the ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus in his knee while attempting to execute a sunset flip powerbomb. The injury required surgery and it was expected to take Rollins out of action for approximately six to nine months. As a result, Rollins vacated the WWE World Heavyweight Championship the next day, ending his reign at 220 days.
On the Raw after WrestleMania 31, Bryan defeated Dolph Ziggler for his first successful title defense; however, after the match, Bryan and Ziggler were attacked by Barrett only for Sheamus to return and chase off Barrett before attacking Bryan and Ziggler. Bryan faced Sheamus on that week's SmackDown and lost the match by count-out when Barrett interfered. During the match, Bryan hit his head on the announce table and suffered an unplanned cut on his forehead which caused him to bleed and later acquired stitches for the wound. Two weeks later on SmackDown, Daniel Bryan teamed up with United States Champion John Cena and defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Tyson Kidd via submission in what turned out to be Bryan's final televised match. Following the April 14 SmackDown taping, WWE pulled Daniel Bryan from wrestling on the remainder of WWE's touring of Europe as a "precautionary measure". Bryan's scheduled title defense at Extreme Rules on April 26 against Bad News Barrett was later cancelled as Bryan was "medically unable to compete". Less than a week later, WWE stopped advertising Bryan from all future live events or television tapings.
Results
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal qualifying tournament
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Qualifying Tournament was a tournament at WrestleMania Axxess for a spot in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.