Choke's Wrestlemania XXXI Season End Extravaganza - Who to pick up last minute, predictions, and more!
Posted by: choke Mar 27, 2015 | 1674 views | 1 comments
Season Wrap up
Wow, did that season fly by or is it just me? It could be just that my new job which has prevented me from doing as many stories as I'd like to has been keeping me busy, or maybe it's because the drama of whether or not R-Truth could successfully steal the IC Title kept me so intrigued throughout the last few months. Okay so it was the former.
I won't bore you with a wrap-up of everything you already saw or know. Okay I'll bore you but just for a bit.
Biggest surprises of the season: Bad News Barrett coming in 5th off the strength of carrying the IC title all season. Paige coming in 7th without a title and without any seemingly captivating storyline. Kidd/Cesaro being 10/11 with their somewhat surprising tag title reign. Mercury/Noble posting more points than Kane, the Miz, Mizdow, Harper, or Brock Lesnar. Natalya posting more points than John Cena, Bray Wyatt or Randy Orton (wait what? is this one real?)
Biggest disappointments: Seth Rollins not cashing in the case (yet) and coming in a dissapointing 12th. As mentioned above, two wrestlers considered to be points powerhouses, John Cena - 20th and Bray Wyatt - 23rd. Miz and Mizdow not having a lengthy tag titles run end up 28th and 32nd respectively. Lastly, where is Sheamus besides holding down the bottom of the wrestlers list with 0. Say it aint so Fella!
Wrestlemania Predictions:
1. Pre show: 4 way tag team title match. Cesaro Kidd vs The Usos vs Los Matadores vs New Day. Alright first I'm gonna rule out Matadores and New Day. I find it hard to believe the WWE will reward either of those teams with the tag straps on the biggest stage of them all (okay, it IS the preshow, but still). I really thought the Usos might be out of this match after hearing of Jey's (?) injury, but now that they're back in, I'm going to say the Usos win the tag belts back. I think the right move is to keep them on Kidd and Cesaro, but I just have a feeling they'll go back to their tried and true champs here.
2. Pre Show: Andre the Giant Battle Royal: I won't even waste my time running through all the entrants. The ones being discussed the most seem to be Ryback, Mizdow, Kenta (from NXT) and my pick, a returning Sheamus. With all the hype over his return over the last several months, I just find it hard to believe he won't be on Mania. Like why even hype him if he's not going to return in a big spot? Then the others people are hyping, outside of maybe Kenta which would be an interesting surprise, just seem boring and predictable. RYBACK? Come on. Mizdow wouldn't be so bad because I actually enjoy his character and in-ring ability, but I don't really think he needs a win here. Then again, the last winner got buried for 9 months straight afterwards, so maybe no one needs this.
3. IC title Ladder Match: BnB, Ambrose, Ziggler, Bryan, Harper, Stardust, R-Truth. First off let's scratch R-Truth. 6 months ago, I would have considered Stardust or Harper, but WWE has successfully killed any momentum they might have going in. I think BnB's run should be over here, so I'll eliminate him next. That leaves us with Bryan, Ziggler, and Ambrose. With all the Ziggler/Bryan hype they've been giving us, and Ziggler pinning Bryan on Raw, it feels like it will come down to those two. Lots have been rumoring that they'll give Bryan the IC and Cena the US and eventually have them wrestle to unite them. That at least sounds interesting, though I'd much rather the belts stay with up and coming wrestlers and not guys who should be wrestling for the top title or nothing at all. All that being said, I'm going to roll with that scenario and say Bryan wins the IC title. I've also seen a prediction of Sheamus destroying Bryan after he wins it and that being the first feud, which also sounds like a reasonable setup. Kind of a shame that a year removed from experiencing the dream of all WWE wrestlers, that Bryan is now in this position.
4. Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton: This should be a good match as both guys can bring it in the biggest stages, but storyline wise not sure why we should care anymore. I've seen most predicting Rollins, but I think it makes more sense to have Orton win here, then have Rollins successfully cash in the near future setting up Orton as one of his first opponents after.
5. Rusev vs John Cena for the US Title: I dont think Rusev has a chance. He just OBLITERATED Cena on Raw, and got a SUBMISSION victory over him at the last PPV. I find it insane people would even question whether Cena wins here. He will. This is a big reason why I predicted Bryan to win the IC, because I feel so confident in the Cena win.
6. AJ & Paige vs the Bella Twins: This is a toss-up, but since the title isnt in any way in play here, I think AJ & Paige are the likely winners to set up some sort of title match in the future between Nikki and whoever pins her. It can really go either way because clearly the WWE still doesn't care about this division. I gotta say though, these are the 4 I want to see in the ring at any moment if I had a choice, so I'm happy with it.
7. Bray Wyatt vs Undertaker: Another no brainer to me like the Cena/Rusev. The Undertaker just lost his first Mania match last year, and some people think he might lose this year? I find that insane. Then again I would have said the same at people thinking Lesnar might beat him last year. Still, I stand by my story, Undertaker starts a new win streak Sunday.
8. Sting vs HHH: Most seem to think this is 100% Sting's to win. I tend to agree.
9. Reigns vs Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship: It's exciting again! Thank God Lesnar re-signed with the WWE, otherwise this would be one of the worst Mania main events in quite some time as far as just pure obiviousness. Now that Lesnar has signed? Coin flip, and I love it. Then afterwards you still have the Seth Rollins possibility? Love that too. A couple of weeks ago I was so down on this Wrestlemania, but now I gotta say the WWE has won me back. Every match truthfully has some bits of intrigue or just pure athleticism (or okay, hot Divas to look at) that make me want to see the result. And this is the perfect finale for it all. Ultimately I'm going to go with Lesnar to retain here, and no Seth Rollins cash-in until either the following RAW or sometime soon after.
LAST MINUTE PICKUPS/DROPS
So it's two days before Mania, and you're only 40 points behind 1st. You need some moves and you need them fast
PICK UP
1) Undertaker/Sting: They were useless all season, and they're all but guaranteed points Sunday. Catch the rest of your league sleeping
2) Sheamus: Seems likely to make an appearance at Mania, and if he wins that Battle Royal? Big Risk for a big reward.
3) AJ/Paige/Bellas: I'd rather have any of these 4 Divas vs someone in the Battle Royal that I didnt think had a chance to win like the Miz
4) HHH/Luke Harper/Stardust/R-Truth/Matadores/New Day: When all else fails, grasp for straws
DROP
1) Rowan, Miz, Goldust, Konnor, Viktor, Natalya: Very small chance of points with these
2) Kane/Big Show: Might be worth holding onto just because they tend to do well in Battle Royals with eliminations, but at 3 points an elimination and being a longshot to actually win the match, they've got to eliminate quite a few people to make up for not having someone in a match that they can earn 20+ points for.
See you for the Summerslam season!