WrestleMania 31: Preview, full card and five reasons to watch

WrestleMania 31 is slated to go down on Sunday, and while the road to WWE’s biggest show of the year has arguably been bumpy, it’s smoothed out in the last week thanks for these five reasons.
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Last week, pro wrestling fans fretted over what seemed inevitable knowing that former UFC heavyweight champion Lesnar’s contract with the WWE ended the day after this year’s WrestleMania. Certainly, no matter what Lesnar’s “advocate” Paul Heyman said, WWE would not script the story to allow Lesnar to retain the belt over the arguably underqualified challenger Roman Reigns, who WWE has been pushing on reluctant fans like a lawnmower on sand.

With the promise of several more years with Lesnar, though, the main event actually seems exciting now. Lesnar has a real shot (as he should — he’s the “Beast Incarnate” after all) and Reigns now has a chance to propel himself to the level WWE thinks he’s already at. To do that, in this writer’s opinion, he’ll either have to lose valiantly or win dirtily. For dramatic purposes, I’d almost prefer the latter, but I think the odds of that story being booked are low.

All the former NXT talent!

For those with the WWE Network, the promotion’s weekly showcase of its NXT developmental league wrestlers, is a must-watch. Not only do the story lines make sense in the one-hour program, but the action in the ring tends to be more exciting, too. Yeah, pro wrestling is “fake,” but the athleticism is very real, which might be why it’s cool to realize that so many of NXT’s up-and-comers have arrived.

In all but one of the eight matches set for WrestleMania 31, former NXT stars (names italicized) are involved:

    Big E and Xavier Woods, who form two-thirds of The New Day with Kofi Kingston are in the Tag Team Championship match against Los Matadores, The Usos, and Cesaro and Tyson Kidd
    Current NXT star Hideo Itami will join NXT alums Adam Rose, Erick Rowan, and Konnor and Viktor of The Ascension in the 20-man Andre the Giant Battle Royale.
    NXT’s first champion Seth Rollins is taking on Randy Orton
    Paige is teaming up with AJ Lee to take on the Bella Twins
    Rusev is taking on John Cena for the U.S. Championship
    Bray Wyatt is facing The Undertaker.
    Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper are vying with five others for the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match
    And, of course, Roman Reigns is taking on Brock Lesnar in the main event.

The only match that doesn’t involve NXT alumni is the match featuring two dudes over 45 — Triple H and Sting, which brings us to the third to watch WrestleMania this year.

STING.

Yes, Sting is 56 years old. Who cares? He still paints his face. He still wears a duster and, until he steps into the ring on Sunday, he’s still the most famous pro wrestler alive who’s never been in WrestleMania. He’s going up against 45-year-old Triple H and the two both come to the squared circle with weapons and scripted chips on their shoulder. Sting has a baseball bat and Triple H has a sledgehammer. What’s there not to love?

Hooray, the women’s WrestleMania match might actually get the time it deserves this year!

WWE’s women’s division, which is stupidly named the “Divas” division, is getting better thanks to more focused talent and what’s hopefully becoming a less sexist script. This hopefully means, unlike in 2013 when the women’s match was cut to save time, the female performers this year — Paige, AJ Lee, and Nikki and Brie Bella — will get the screen time they’ve rightfully earned.

The Undertaker, obviously.

No WrestleMania is truly complete without The Undertaker, who’s set to appear in his 23rd iteration of the pay-per-view on Sunday. This year’s appearance comes with a lot more questions than it has in the past, however. For one, WWE hasn’t let us see The Undertaker since he lost for the first time last year against current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, so we have no idea what kind of shape the 50-year-old is in.

Even more curious, though, are the possible outcomes of his match against Bray Wyatt, whose character is a supernatural Southern cult leader. The build-up between Wyatt and Taker (or the spirit of Taker, maybe, since he hasn’t appeared on screen) hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been good enough to make one wonder if Wyatt could be the second person to beat Taker at WrestleMania and, if so, whether that means Wyatt, who, like Taker, derives his power from fears, could become Taker’s heir apparent.

Or maybe Taker will just kick his butt.

The action starts Sunday at 7 p.m. EDT on WWE Network or pay-per-view. The pre-show will air before that starting at 6 p.m.