Comparing WM31 and WM30. What was missing?

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

First of all, let's start with saying that WM31 was a very good event. Decent matches and segments from start to end, with every one bringing something different to the table. We had a great tag match, a battle royal with some drama, a ladder match for the extreme side of it, a pure wrestling match with Rollins and Orton, a "revival of the old" with HHH and Sting, Divas, Taker and Wyatt as the "mystique" forces, Cena and Rusev in the whole patriotic thing, and of course the main event fight with Lesnar and Reigns, which ended up with Rollins cashing in and getting the belt.

Last year, we had Bryan opening the event, we had 2 battle royals, Lesnar and Taker, and a fantastic main event.

If we have to rate the two events purely as events, I'd say that WM31 had better matches and overall rating. But if we wanna compare the two as Wrestlemanias, then I think WM30 would have the edge. What is the difference?

Wrestlemania is unlike any other event. It's not some PPV where you have some title match and then some other matches to please the crowd. It's the place where big pay offs happen, great moments take place that people remember forever. It's where legends arise. That was lacking in WM31. The whole attempt to have Reigns show himself really flopped, as pretty much (at least as shown by the WM crowd) no one got behind him. What other pay off was there? Nothing. Apart from Rollins cashing in, which was kinda built for a long time, there wasn't anything else.

Last year, we had Bryan for pretty much a whole year (before he even beat Cena at Summerslam), and the whole YES movement culminating in such a huge moment at WM30. Apart from the decent matches, we had this huge pay off, people were into it, people were hyped for Bryan finally beating the Authority.



So, in short, WM31 as a regular event was better than WM30, but as WRESTLEMANIA, it was lacking the special moment, that WM30 had with Bryan.

 

[Dragon Chief]

What are you smoking? WrestleMania 31 didn't have a special moment? Seth Rollins pretty much established himself as the top heel of the company and solidified his main-event status the same way DB did last year but as a face. Sting and Triple H had their moment as well by putting on a memorable dream match that will be remembered for years.

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

What are you smoking? WrestleMania 31 didn't have a special moment? Seth Rollins pretty much established himself as the top heel of the company and solidified his main-event status the same way DB did last year but as a face. Sting and Triple H had their moment as well by putting on a memorable dream match that will be remembered for years.

Rollins established as a top heel? He was already the top heel for some time now. And that wasn't the pay off. There wasn't a serious build about this. Nothing to make you wanna see this as much as you wanted to see Bryan last year. Or Chris Benoit at 2004 for example.

HHH and Sting? The match wasn't good, it's just that all the legends came out, but it wasn't the thing that most people were looking for either. At least, I didn't have the big storyline feel that I had last year. What was the pay off after Sting vs HHH? There is none. Same as Rollins cashing in. What's the pay off? You knew that eventually, he would cash in and win, it just happened at WM.

And if you really wanna compare moments, last year, we had the end of the streak. I'm not talking about special moments. Special moments happen in many big and non-big events. I'm talking about big pay offs, huge shocks, big stories culminating there. That's what WM is about. If I want a special moment, I will see some ladder match at the MITB PPV, or an extreme rules match at the next PPV.

 

[chicagokmc]

I'm sort of with Tiger on this one. WM 30 was basically the Daniel Bryan WrestleMania. It was about him and the Authority and him overcoming all odds to be the champion. That's ok I guess. But no one else really shined last year. Even the streak ending was more about Undertaker losing and how washed up he looked than it was about a great Lesnar accomplishment (and let's not rewrite history. at this time last year people were extremely skeptical about mercenary lesnar being around and being the one to end the streak. the thought was "why lesnar and why not person fill in the blank?"). This year you can at least say had several decent stories and wasn't just about one person. Starting with pre show, Big Show had his moment. Good for someone closer to the end of his career who has been on the short end of some ppv's. Orton had his moment, getting revenge against Rollins. HHH/Sting underwhelmed, but the handshake of respect at the end was a moment. We all knew Cena was going to win but Rusev's "streak" ending was sort of a moment. Undertaker perhaps being done and if so going out with a win was a moment even if their match was so so. And we've covered the main event where all 3 in various ways had moments. And circle back to last year's guy Bryan - this year another moment of sorts beating 6 guys to win a title he never had. I think this years WM was better scripted and more enjoyable.

 

[OYDK]

Wrestlemania is unlike any other event. It's not some PPV where you have some title match and then some other matches to please the crowd. It's the place where big pay offs happen, great moments take place that people remember forever. It's where legends arise. That was lacking in WM31.

I don't know if I completely agree with this; the first part yes, but as for pay-off's, I think Mania 31 had it's fair share. In a perfect world, every feud would end at Wrestlemania and WWE would start anew the next night on Raw... but that doesn't happen. Mania needs to be used to advance feuds in a big way as well. Hence why people like HHH and Cena won. HHH will probably have a large role in the next "big" program going forward and this Cena/Rusev feud can now continue. As for pay-offs, we saw Daniel Bryan win the IC title, Orton pinned Rollins, Taker pinned Wyatt, Cena became U.S Champ, and honestly, the payoff for the title match for me personally, was Seth Rollins becoming WWEWHC. Was the payoff Reigns winning it? In most fans eyes no. Was the payoff in Lesnar winning? Not at all. So I'd say all in all, it was a night that left most happy.

The whole attempt to have Reigns show himself really flopped, as pretty much (at least as shown by the WM crowd) no one got behind him. What other pay off was there? Nothing. Apart from Rollins cashing in, which was kinda built for a long time, there wasn't anything else.

The smarks were never going to get behind Roman Reings. Lesnar can drive his car down to the ring, and run Roman Reigns over, and the smarks would still cheer Brock. However, once Reigns began to fight back, you could hear his fans reacting. The only reason it seemed like the whole crowd was shitting on Reigns was because half the crowd (smarks) never stopped booing. Rollins cash-in has been the biggest pay-off waiting to happen for the last 8 months or so imo.

So, in short, WM31 as a regular event was better than WM30, but as WRESTLEMANIA, it was lacking the special moment, that WM30 had with Bryan.

If we have to rate the two events purely as events, I'd say that WM31 had better matches and overall rating. But if we wanna compare the two as Wrestlemanias, then I think WM30 would have the edge. What is the difference?[/QUOTE]

I guess the special moment think is subjective because as I mentioned above, Rollins winning was historic. Mania 30 and 31 were both great Manias, probably two of the top ten of all time, but again which is better is subjective. I would have to go back and watch them back to back to really compare.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

From an overall perspective, I thought WrestleMania XXX was a stronger show in some respects but last night's show was a strong outing in my opinion.

I thought WrestleMania XXX had a much stronger overall build up than last night's show. The stories for WrestleMania XXX were far stronger in my eyes and were just a lot more tangible. I think WrestleMania XXXI was more of a spectacle in the sense that there was more celebrity involvement and a heavy use of nostalgia at various points. While some may have loved the heavy nostalgia, I merely thought it was okay. While it was cool to see The Rock & Ronda Rousey in a WWE ring, I was also kinda turned off in that both Triple H & Stephanie looked like a couple of bitches. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see heels get comeuppance, but there was part of it that felt like so many other past celebrity moments where wrestlers are made to look like chumps.

Going into WrestleMania XXXI, I wasn't all that invested in the top matches of the show, partially due to the different way WWE built they up this year and partially because I just wasn't into some aspects of the matches. Sting vs. Triple H had a nostalgia factor and the novelty of this being Sting's first ever WWE match. Taker vs. Wyatt was clouded by doubt over Taker's condition and a sense of why he was returning since the streak was over. Lesnar vs. Reigns just wasn't a compelling story on TV, the build was utterly lackluster and there'd have been no interest had it not been for Paul Heyman. The match itself was great, don't get me wrong, but the build up left a lot to be desired.

Aside from a strong build for the top matches, there also wasn't that big "feel good" moment involved in any of the top matches. Probably the biggest feel good moment of the night happened at the beginning of the main card with Daniel Bryan winning the Intercontinental Championship. While there were definitely some genuine WrestleMania moments, I felt most of the major moments had more to do with celebrity spectacle and nostalgia. That's not really a bad thing, don't get me wrong, but I think it could've had more of an impact with me had the build been stronger.

 

[No Count Pup]

WrestleMania 31 left WWE in better shape than WrestleMania 30. Rollins and Reigns are made men. The midcard titles mean something again.

WWE now has three exciting heavyweight divisions. When was the last time we could say that?

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Why worry about what it didn't have? It didn't have Austin but it had the NWO facing DX in a surprise... it had Rhonda hopping the barrier, apparently without Dana White's permission. It had the first ever Mania cash in...

This show was a REBOOT of WWE from the ground up. You now have 4 titles held by workhorses, not just one mid-card title. You saw as close to PG-14 come back as we're likely to get...bats and hammers, blood and it wasn't done for nostalgia's sake... it showed it's viable.

You got to see Sting in the WWE, so what if he lost? Even Brock lost one on the way back in...and he'd been in before. You got to see Nash tear a quad (or a brilliant rib on the IWC), Hall take a bump... It was way better than 3 guys hogging the ring for a full half our like last year.

Only thing this didn't have was Chris Jericho... real shame he wasn't involved in some way, be it the ladder match or even framing that whole segment with Steph/Rhonda/Rock as the Highlight Reel, rather than using Trips twice.

 

[The Perfect Max]

Hmm. I can understand people saying that WrestleMania XXX was the better event, but I think I actually preferred WrestleMania 31 overall. The feel of last nights event was different than the year before, and I think that's because the event featured a lot of potential for the future of the company. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt among others were in big time matches and it felt good to watch the future go at it.

The closing match and the way in which events transpired was quite frankly fantastic from my point of view. Lesnar and Reigns exceeded my expectations and it was booked pretty damn well. Reigns I felt proved quite a lot out there without doing a whole lot, and Rollins standing tall at the end of the ramp was quite the visual for me.

This is one of those events that I think leaves WWE in much better position going forward, and that, in a few years, a retrospective look at the event may benefit it's overall impact as a WrestleMania show. There are now three legit, important titles going forward and it leaves things as very exciting for the future.

 

[bioshock]

When is the last time we been excited about the WWE, US and IC title coming out of Wrestlemania? 2/3rds of those belts usually aren't defended at Mania and they usually get lose in the shuffle, cant say that now. So thats a huge plus.

I think the cash in at that end kind of equals what Bryan did to a point. The MITB has been long drawn out, and we have all wanted to see a Mania cash in since Edge first wont the MITB #1 all the way to Ziggler last year. And that Rollins is finally champion is a HUGE deal. There is one top title right now in the WWE, no WHC out there to share that spotlight. So this could really be the start of a whole new era.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

IMO WrestleMania 31 was easily the better event. I enjoyed both, but to say WM31 had no "WrestleMania moments" is absolutely absurd. It had more moments than any recent Mania, including the first ever NWO/DX confrontation, a Rock return that led to UFC Mega-star Ronda Rousey getting into the ring, Cena returning to his roots winning a title that previously hadn't been defended at WM in years, and the first ever Money in the Bank Cash-In in WrestleMania history. This mania had a little bit of something for everyone, as opposed to last year which was pretty much completely dedicated to Daniel Bryan. This year, I'd say the roster as a whole pretty much come out looking better (besides Wyatt and the IC losers) but last year you had Bryan and MAYBE Lesnar (who someone pointed out wasn't a supported decision when it happened).

Cena fans left happy, as an Orton fan I was happy, my brother who stopped watching in 2002 was incredibly happy with HHH/Sting, and the new generation looked bright as the show ended with Seth Rollins proudly holding the top title in pro wrestling. There was literally something to take away for every segmented demographic of the WWE audience.

I honestly think the OP is primarily upset because the last 8 months of WWE programming hasn't been "OK we're giving Rollins the belt" the same way last year's programming was clearly doing that for Daniel Bryan. He doesn't seem to have much respect for the value of surprises, which is why this show may have fallen flat for him. I prefer the surprises (when they make sense) and thought that last night's show couldn't have been booked better. Predictability ruins the experience for me, and is the main reason why I can't put WrestleMania 29 as one of my favorite Manias despite the awesome card. So all in all 30 was good, but IMO 31 was better and appealed to a wider demographic

 

[Elchicano15]

I'm going to have to go with this year being the stronger one. I had mentioned in an aftermath thread that this easily was better then last year's. Yes, last year was the focus on Daniel Bryan and the Yes Movement which was awesome but I think we only had like 1 or 2 titles on the line last year and as cool as it was to see Hogan host and The Rock and stone cold come out I felt we could have had an opening match right after the "Welcome To Wrestlemania" vibe.

Moving the ATGMBR at the preshow this year was a smart choice and I hope they do it going forward. We had 4 titles on the line. 3 title matches only made the main card this year but still. I like when I watch Mania I have the traditional opening match, and almost all the championships on the line. We also witnessed the very first cash-in at Mania. I think we all knew one day it was going to happen at the big event, we just weren't sure which Mr MITB it would be.

 

[#1druid]

I think we can't really review it in a historical perspective just yet. They were both great. However people who might have felt great about Cesaro's great win at the time are saying "Yeah, but nothing happened with it." Or Bryan getting hurt so shortly after etc Maybe some of those awesome moments from last night will lose their shine if they aren't capitalized on. I can tell you I thought I would be hatewatching mania and I came away feeling pretty good. My only complaints are Rusev not taking more than one finisher and the handshake spot after the triple h match. Personally I was at Mania 30 and had that feel good moment live so it shines a little brighter but time will tell. Rollins' moment is a feel good moment for a lot of people but he is technically a heel so I don't know if it counts. Both great shows and I think they were both rescued by the fans. I'm excited for raw for the first time since the night after summerslam so something was definitely done right.

 

[Stan Hansen]

This event had several 'special' moments and general big time moments.

Rusev established himself as a big time heel. His crowd reaction at the beginning of the match when he was being announced (legitimate heel reaction) was nice to see. Not many heels get booed in wrestling these days. Rusev was hated by a lot of that crowd in that moment, he's got charisma, he's big and athletic, he's going to be a big player in WWE in the future.

Rollins cashing in was a huge moment.

Sting, everything about him, was a HUGE moment. That was history unfolding before our eyes. The end of the match and interaction with him and HHH was awesome. I couldn't exactly see what was said but I thought I saw Sting tell HHH that "this was awesome" and HHH say something back along the lines of "You want it again? You want it again?" as in do you want this feeling again? The feeling of being in front of 70,000+ on the grandest stage of them all? I'm confident we have not seen the last of Sting in a WWE ring. He seemed revitalized being out there in front of those people. That was special.

Back to Rusev, his entrance was AWESOME. As was Sting's, HHH's, and the scarecrow's with Bray.

I thought the Diva's match was one of the better matches, with actual wrestling, we've seen on a main roster PPV in ages.

Cena vs Rusev was a good match.

Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar whooped some serious ass. It was a great old school match and they both put on a show. Roman did himself well last night and Brock, while looking human, is pure entertainment. Him being signed for 3 more years was an astronomical signing for WWE and it's future. I hope they put in him some different feuds this time around and handle him a bit better. He is pure money.

Then you had Rousey and the Rock. That interaction with Steph and HHH was a great little moment and continued planting the seeds for HHH vs Rocky at WM32 in Jerry's World. Either it being mixed tag (I don't see Dana White being okay with this) or Rousey in Rocks corner with Steph with HHH.

The show was overall a good showing for WWE and showcased both it's older wrestlers and it's younger wrestlers nicely.

 

[FromGlasgow]

Personally I prefered this years Wrestlemania I think it was the best one for a long time, Last years had it moments like Daniel Bryan winning the world title and ending of Undertakers streak but overall this year was more enjoyable to watch.

 

[kadroan]

It was a great show. The crowd was actually better than last year's. I was at WM XXX last year. After Taker lost, the crowd killed the Divas match and it hurt the Cena/Bray match too.