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| Will fans leave WrestleMania 31 at Levi's Stadium the same way Sharks fans left the Stadium Series game? |
The WrestleMania moment. It's talked about every year leading up to the Super Bowl of wrestling. Daniel Bryan and 70,000+ fans chanting "YES!"...the shocked fan after the Undertaker became 21-1...The Rock and Hulk Hogan face-to-face...Stone Cold raising that WWF title in the air for the first time....Shawn Michaels stealing the show again...
Every year, we have an idea about what that moment or image will be and we wrestling geeks even get goosebumps thinking about it. But what will it be this year that will forever be burned into our brains?
A. Roman Reigns defeating Brock Lesnar in the main event with the crowd on its feet chanting Roman's name.
B. Sting giving the Scorpion Death Drop to Triple H.
C. John Cena being the first person to ever defeat Rusev.
D. The Undertaker making a triumphant return to defeat Bray Wyatt.
E. Daniel Bryan…oh wait, he doesn't even have a match.
Fittingly, the answer is F...none of the above. Because up to this point, nothing is deemed worthy for that WrestleMania moment.
Let's examine.
BROCK LESNAR VS ROMAN REIGNS
Who is the face? Who is the heel? Triple H said in his podcast interview with Stone Cold that kayfabe is dead. But the blame for kayfabe being dead should lie squarely on the shoulders of WWE. They do such a poor job of depicting who is the heel and who is the face that nobody knows who to boo and nobody knows who to cheer.
When Roman Reigns (who didn't turn heel even though he was supposed to) beat Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, there was no big reaction. No big cheer, no vicious boo. People enjoyed the close to five star match and just accepted the result.
It was like the kid yelling, "Good game, good effort," to Lebron James a few years ago in the NBA playoffs.
If Reigns goes over Lesnar in about a month's time, the reaction will likely be the same. Is that what you want to remember as your lasting image of WrestleMania 31?
JOHN CENA VS RUSEV
Again, is John Cena really fighting for the United States title? Is Rusev really on the level where he should be fighting the true face of the franchise on its biggest stage?
BRAY WYATT VS UNDERTAKER
Yes, it's nice to see the Undertaker come back and give it a go, but is Bray Wyatt the guy? Bray Wyatt has completely flatlined since he started his feud with Cena about a year ago. The hope was working a program with Cena and Chris Jericho could shoot him towards main event status. But for some reason, Wyatt has felt flat for almost the better course of the last year. And with no true momentum, we have to believe he is worthy to face the Undertaker in one of The Deadman's final matches.
DANIEL BRYAN VS ?????
Part of the frustration which comes with Bryan losing to Reigns is what else is for him to do? The original leaked plan was to fight Sheamus, but that would be greeted with a big "nobody cares!" Dolph Ziggler provided minimal interest when he challenged Bryan to a match over Twitter. Yes, the two would put on a great match, but their only real storyline is "Two wrestlers who can wrestle better than most of the company, wrestling each other, because creative had no idea what to do with us." And unless that is referenced in their feud, it would end up being nothing more than a match fit for a Madison Square Garden house show.
STING VS TRIPLE H
There may be some excitement surrounding Sting's first match in the WWE, but like all the other matches slated, this doesn't feel organic and more like putting Sting in a match for the sake of putting Sting in a match. There was no explanation from Sting as to why he came into WWE, why he wants to fight Triple H, why he wants to do anything. In WCW, he had a backstory because he was the backbone of WCW and an nWo invasion rubbed him the wrong way. He showed up mysteriously during nWo segments to display his disdain for what Hulk Hogan and friends were doing. But this isn't WCW, and for him to randomly show up to fight Triple H doesn't seem to connect.
Maybe this year's WrestleMania moment will be for the first time in recent memory that WrestleMania won't have a moment.
Note on Levi's Stadium: I attended the Sharks vs Kings Stadium Series Game Saturday night and the venue is beautiful. What they did for an outdoor hockey game was spectacular and the place should be just as great if not better come WrestleMania time. But so far, this stadium hasn't seen many great moments for fans...The 49ers didn't make the playoffs and the Sharks lost the game. Some even joke it's cursed. Hopefully WrestleMania will buck the trend.
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| The Sharks played the Kings at Levi's Stadium. The hockey rink will be replaced by a wrestling ring in about a month. |
Do you feel there is a WrestleMania moment to be had? Or will there be no WrestleMania moment? Tell us what you're thinking in the comments below!
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