Five years later, WrestleMania 31 is still the greatest installment of the modern era

From historic title changes to a slew of “WrestleMania moments,” WWE WrestleMania 31 has stood the test of time over the past five years.

It’s that time of the year again when the never-ending debate from fans regarding the greatest WWE WrestleMania ever is resurrected. WrestleMania 17 leads the list for many and rightfully so, but one installment that stands out as being the best of the modern era is WrestleMania 31.

This past Sunday marked the five year anniversary of the event and it’s as entertaining now as it was then. While not as historically significant as WrestleMania 30, the card for WrestleMania 31 was terrific from top to bottom and exceeded all expectations despite its lackluster build.

There haven’t been many pay-per-views, let alone WrestleMania events, in the last decade that have left WWE fans overly satisfied, but WrestleMania 31 was the exception. Five years later, let’s look back at what made this show so special.

For what it’s worth, that year’s road to WrestleMania was hardly anything special. In fact, fans prepared for the worst following the lackluster Royal Rumble and Fastlane events that preceded the pay-per-view.

That played a part in this WrestleMania being as well-received as it was. No one thought it would be such a complete card and or that there would be an abundance of variety among the matches.

It was a rare WrestleMania to happen almost entirely in the sunlight, and while that did hurt the mystique of the entrances for the entrances of Sting, The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt, it had a different feel to it than any other installment in recent memory.

Following a solid albeit unspectacular Kickoff show, the main card kicked off with an incredible Intercontinental Championship Ladder match featuring seven of WWE’s brightest names at that point. Daniel Bryan capturing the gold was a fitting way to open the event considering his WWE World Heavyweight Championship victory closed out WrestleMania one year earlier.

WWE kept the pace moving with an underrated undercard gem between Randy Orton and Seth Rollins. Their feud had been beautifully built over the last year and culminated in a super fun match that was won by Orton, only after one of the most amazing RKOs you’ll ever see.

Interestingly, the best built bout of the night ended up being the weakest: Triple H vs. Sting in a No Disqualification match. There was plenty of excitement for Sting’s WWE in-ring debut, but aside from some shots of nostalgia, the highly anticipated encounter wasn’t what it could (or should) have been.

Triple H and Sting were never going to have a five-star mat classic, and to be fair, the quality of the contest wouldn’t have been much of an issue had Sting actually won. There was no reason for him to lose and The Game attempting to make amends with him afterward made even less sense.

If nothing else, the crowd ate up the returns of D-Generation X and The New World Order and was electric for all the action.

Meanwhile, the women’s tag team match pitting The Bella Twins against the unlikely duo of AJ Lee and Paige was enjoyable for the few minutes it was given. What viewers didn’t know at the time that this was actually Lee’s swan song of sorts, as she announced her retirement from the ring a mere five days later.

This tag team affair also started the trend of WWE devoting more time to the ladies and making their matches more meaningful. One year later at WrestleMania 32, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch stole the show with the tremendous Triple Threat for the brand-new WWE Women’s Championship.

As WrestleMania 31 rolled on, John Cena challenged the undefeated Rusev (who entered in a breath-taking tank) for the United States Championship. It was refreshing to see Cena compete for a midcard title at WrestleMania for the first time in over a decade, so while the outcome was never in doubt, Cena’s victory did much more to legitimize that belt than if Rusev retained.

That moment led to the leader of the Cenation restoring prestige to the star-spangled prize and making it the most important piece of hardware in WWE in 2015. The match itself was decent (and marked the beginning of the end of the Rusev and Lana partnership for a short period), but Cena winning at WrestleMania had never felt more appropriate.

The drawn-out segment with Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, The Rock and Ronda Rousey that followed Cena vs. Rusev unfortunately hurt ‘Mania’s momentum but at least left fans with an unforgettable image of Rock and Rousey standing tall over The Authority.

The seeds were planted for Rousey wrestling for WWE that night, and although it took a little longer than expected, The Baddest Woman on the Planet was finally able to give Stephanie her comeuppance three years later on the grandest stage of them all.

In the event’s final hour, The Undertaker returned after a year-long hiatus and looked better than he had in several years. His match with Bray Wyatt was nothing remarkable, but it did allow The Deadman to find his footing again and bounce back from his devastating defeat to Brock Lesnar the year prior.

Speaking of The Beast Incarnate, he had more buzz than just about anyone else coming into this show. He was fresh off re-signing a new three-year deal with WWE and, as a result, his WWE World Heavyweight Championship clash with Roman Reigns wasn’t so predictable anymore.

Their bout had a big fight feel and fans watching from home could feel the (unwarranted) animosity the audience in attendance had for Reigns as he made his way to the ring. Before the bell even rang, everyone was aware they were going to witness a war for the ages.

Sure enough, they did not disappoint.

What was projected to be a boring mess (akin to Lesnar’s WrestleMania match with Goldberg in 2004) turned out to be an absolute masterpiece. Lesnar wasted no time in taking the fight to Reigns, going so far as to lay him out with a powerful F5 in the opening minute of the matchup.

Reigns had an answer for everything Lesnar dished out and refused to stay down for the three count. That fourth F5 likely would have been what did him in, but before fans could find out, Seth Rollins’ entrance music blared throughout Levi’s Stadium and caused the crowd to erupt.

He was cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase during the WrestleMania main event and making history in the process.

The best part about those closing moments to the match were that it could have ended any which way. Rollins could have very well decided to cash in the contract and lost, allowing Reigns to pin him instead of Lesnar to clinch the championship.

The drama and suspense surrounding the finish was what made it one of the strongest in the event’s illustrious history. Regardless of how they felt about Rollins winning the gold, no one in the audience could believe what they just saw, and that shock value provided the perfect cliffhanger to an overall outstanding WrestleMania.

Between Rollins, Cena and Bryan becoming champions, Sting stepping inside a WWE ring for the first time, Undertaker returning while AJ Lee took her final bow, Rousey and Rock having their WrestleMania moment, and Orton delivering an RKO of a lifetime, it’s hard to argue against WrestleMania 31 being the benchmark for success when it comes to all installments of the Show of Shows going forward.