WWE’s 25 Greatest Pay-Per-Views of All Time
By Tim Sherry
credit: wwe.com
19. Wrestlemania 31
Going into Wrestlemania 31, there was definitely some concern that the biggest show of the year would be a disappointment. When you look at the card, on paper, it didn’t seem all that impressive. Between the U.S. title being contested in a bit of a stale feud between Rusev and John Cena, a tag match featuring The Bella Twins, another match that had virtually no build up between The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt, and Roman Reigns in the main event, it’s easy to see why a fan would be skeptical.
But that’s why they wrestle the matches, right? Wrestlemania 31 exceeded expectations and then some. The opening match was a fantastic 7-way ladder match that saw everyone’s hero, Daniel Bryan, capture the strap. That was followed up an ultra-heated chess match between Randy Orton and Seth Rollins which ended in yet another one of the coolest RKO’s of all time. After that was the much-awaited showdown between Triple H and Sting where wrestling fans were treated to a major blast from the past as D-Generation X and the NWO made appearances. The next few matches stumbled a bit, although the Cena/Rusev match was solid.
And then the main event. What a spectacle it turned out to be. Reigns, everybody’s favorite whipping boy, didn’t seem like he stood a chance against Brock Lesnar, a guy that at the previous SummerSlam, ran roughshod over John Cena over the course of 16 minutes to win the WWE Championship. But shockingly, Reigns was game. He took a tremendous beating but kept coming back, even laughing at some points. But just when it seemed like, “The Big Dog” had a chance, Rollins reemerged and cashed in his MITB briefcase which touched off a 220 day title reign that carried the company for the remainder of the year. Wrestlemania 31 proved the point that the biggest shows aren’t always about just stacking the card but performing at your best when the chips are on the line.