WrestleMania Rumored Matches for WM31

[Snowman1]

You know, I think Kane and Show could be used better. Yes, they're treated as roadblocks, but as you said, they're up in the card. What's a roadblock like them for a main eventer that has already beaten them multiple times? If they were working with guys lower on the card I think it would be more effective.
If everything went according to plan I think it would've been similar, now that you mentioned it. Maybe the crowd would be more accepting of Reigns but I could still see people complaining about DB not being in the ME. But, yeah, it would've been the same situation with the intensity turned down.

The more I think about it, the more I agree. It would have been the same. Even if Bryan gets completely destroyed, that will just get the fans more behind him, and with all the darkhorses not getting a kayfabe inch, the match will seem as obvious and "inevitable" as the pointless-feeling 2013 Rumble (except for Shadow in the back yelling "Ambrose has a chance, dammit!") , and the booking of the match itself will still be such horse shit

Still, imagine yourself as one of Vince's right hand men - not Pat Patterson, but another one - and he comes up with this whole concept before WM30 of building up Brock to put Roman over as the next "guy"... Other than saying "why do we need just one guy lol" would any of us throw it back in his face? I sure wouldn't have. Reigns was over as hell until the Rumble.

 

[The GOAT]

I truly believe this whole plan was concocted BEFORE Wrestlemania 30. That's why the Streak was broken and this Lesnar warpath went on... But what if it was Bryan that got totally buttfucked at Summerslam? Would it have removed Bryan as a possible Rumble winner and made the crowd even more accepting of Reigns's win, or would the inevitability of "the chosen one" get him even more heat?

Add in the Survivor Series match, where Roman Reigns would have got Ziggler's big moment (and looked... pretty badass doing it? Not as much but shhhh we wouldn't know that). He'd be the guy who somewhat ended the Authority so there's more of a reason to cheer him. He would have had more ring time too, which could mean either more experience or more exposure.

Barring the myriad of other dominoes that would have fallen, how would the Fumble at the Rumble changed?

Bryan vs Lesnar for the championship at Summerslam and Night Of Champions would have been a lot better and would have made a lot more sense storywise than it did with Cena. Cena did little to piss off The Authority (outside of the obligatory "we hate you because you're a babyface who isn't one of us", which I guess by pro wrestling standards is more than enough, but still) to the point where they'd be willing to work with a former nemesis of their's just to see the title removed from him, whereas with Bryan, he would have been feuding with them for a whole year by that point and already long earned their wrath. Plus, Lesnar gets heat for crushing the people's champion Bryan, and I honestly believe that by the time the Rumble happens, the fans would have been satisfied enough with seeing Bryan get his run at the top with the title that they wouldn't be in such a fever pitch to see him win it over anyone else, and Reigns' popularity wouldn't suffer as it did.

As for Survivor Series, Roman Reigns would have probably been the sole survivor as you said since that puts him over and further helps establish his legacy at the event as well (sets the record of eliminations in 2013 and then ostracizes The Authority from power in 2014... similar to how his legacy at the Rumble looks with him setting the record of eliminations in 2014 and then winning the whole match in 2015.) Although I wonder where that might leave Sting's debut, but that's an almost slightly different topic to delve into.

 

[Leo C]

The more I think about it, the more I agree. It would have been the same. Even if Bryan gets completely destroyed, that will just get the fans more behind him, and with all the darkhorses not getting a kayfabe inch, the match will seem as obvious and "inevitable" as the pointless-feeling 2013 Rumble (except for Shadow in the back yelling "Ambrose has a chance, dammit!") , and the booking of the match itself will still be such horse shit

Still, imagine yourself as one of Vince's right hand men - not Pat Patterson, but another one - and he comes up with this whole concept before WM30 of building up Brock to put Roman over as the next "guy"... Other than saying "why do we need just one guy lol" would any of us throw it back in his face? I sure wouldn't have. Reigns was over as hell until the Rumble.

Yeah, I honestly don't think it's bad to put Reigns at this position, especially if we go back a little while before the looney tunes promos, the injury and that Rumble reaction. I myself would've picked Ambrose or Ziggler if I had the time to build it but it's not like it's a terrible thing to push Roman like this.

 

[CFCrusader]

Part of the reason why this sucks is because Lesnar vs Bryan is a much better option than Lesnar vs Reigns. The fans would care more about the former, and chances are, there would be more buzz going into the event like last year and the top face in the main event would actually be getting cheered.

Ambrose > Reigns, who still wrestles in the Shield vest and with the Shield theme. Little character development until Royal Rumble and with several people the paying fans cheer louder for. Reigns has improved, but I wouldn't say he's at the level where WWE can really say "he's the top guy!" and then basically try to bury every other face in the Rumble. Now they're apparently putting most of the faces in the IC ladder match and not only do we not get Mizdow vs Miz, but there's no sign of actually getting Stardust vs Goldust because apparently it's a better choice to put them in a ladder match instead of 10 minutes resulting in Goldust's epic goodbye and the return of Cody Rhodes.

 

[Snowman1]

Yeah, I honestly don't think it's bad to put Reigns at this position, especially if we go back a little while before the looney tunes promos, the injury and that Rumble reaction. I myself would've picked Ambrose or Ziggler if I had the time to build it but it's not like it's a terrible thing to push Roman like this.

That's the thing: when you put yourself in Vince's shoes, outside of an ACTUAL vocal minority, there's no real reason to believe Roman was going to be a disaster.

I wonder how they could have saved this WM. Can't really be bothered to talk about the card like CFCrusader just did

 

[CFCrusader]

That's the thing: when you put yourself in Vince's shoes, outside of an ACTUAL vocal minority, there's no real reason to believe Roman was going to be a disaster.

I wonder how they could have saved this WM. Can't really be bothered to talk about the card like CFCrusader just did

They didn't give him any big singles matches to prove that he is capable of doing it at 'Mania, except for I think Randy Orton and apparently that wasn't even that good. Plus, his mic skills aren't great - I would've thought that's a red light. Not quite disaster but I can't see why Vince would want to do it so soon.

It mindboggles me how 2 months on from RR 2015, I still post about the same thing and get so angry.

 

[Prince Bálor]

To answer to @CFCrusader's post above... Reigns has had a chunk of good matches. i.e. against Orton, ADR, Harper, Rollins and Bryan. He's very capable of putting on a good match, they just gotta pair him with the right guy, he certainly isn't gonna have a good match with the likes of Show and Kane.

Now, I've said this before and I'll say it again...
Had they not eliminated DB the way they did at the Rumble (not just DB, but DZ and Ambrose, too) perhaps Reigns would've been accepted a tad bit better.

And it wasn't even his fault, the dude was just doing his job.
I'm obviously a huge DB fan and didn't have a problem with Roman winning, but let's be reasonable here, Reigns getting booed out of the building was so unfair, plus I don't think anyone would've declined Vinnie Mac's offer to be the next big thing, by first winning the Rumble and then headlining Mania and winning the WWE-WHC.

- This is something I've been thinking about for a while now, though.
Ever since winning the Rumble, Reigns hasn't been getting all cheers, he's always had a fair share of boos, but the thing is... Knowing that Lesnar's most likely leaving after post-WM Raw episode and if he decides to shit on Reigns at WM (because he isn't being paid enough money), the smarky WM crowd will get fully behind Reigns and his popularity will only become bigger.

 

[Snowman1]

They didn't give him any big singles matches to prove that he is capable of doing it at 'Mania, except for I think Randy Orton and apparently that wasn't even that good. Plus, his mic skills aren't great - I would've thought that's a red light. Not quite disaster but I can't see why Vince would want to do it so soon.

It mindboggles me how 2 months on from RR 2015, I still post about the same thing and get so angry.

The two easiest things to question are the Cena and Rusev and Orton vs Rollins feuds. Why did Cena and Rusev have their first match at Fast Lane? It's not a big deal now. Why is Orton back in the Authority?

 

[Prince Bálor]

The Rusev/Cena feud feels kinda forced, it basically started like 'Don't get in my face while I'm being interviewed, boi'.
Cena had to stay relevant, so that's why they're feeding him Rusev at Mania. I'd rather create a new star at Mania (like Ryback, for instance) by having him defeat Rusev than an established megastar like Cena doing that job. But I get it, Cena defeating Rusev will bring relevance to the US title, so I guess that's alright.

Orton's back in The Authority for one reason and one reason only, to make his turn on Rollins even sweeter. I feel like they should rekindle that feud this Monday.

 

[The GOAT]

The Cena/Rusev feud will likely continue after Wrestlemania since the two of them are booked as the headline feud for the European tour, so I wouldn't be so sure that Rusev won't just win the title right back from Cena in the rubber match the following month at Extreme Rules. Not that them fighting for a third time is a guarantee of Rusev regaining the championship or anything, but it does strike me as a plausible way that WWE might book something like this - having Rusev walk away from the feud with the title and a 2-1 record over Cena, but also making sure that Cena's one victory over him happens at Wrestlemania where it'll mean the most with the largest number of people watching. Plus, the longer Cena goes without losing at Wrestlemania, the more it'll mean when someone does finally beat him there again (I'm sure Reigns vs Cena with Cena "passing the torch" is their desired title match for Wrestlemania 32, but needless to say, I don't see that one happening anymore.)

 

[Leo C]

To answer to @CFCrusader's post above... Reigns has had a chunk of good matches. i.e. against Orton, ADR, Harper, Rollins and Bryan. He's very capable of putting on a good match, they just gotta pair him with the right guy, he certainly isn't gonna have a good match with the likes of Show and Kane.

Now, I've said this before and I'll say it again...
Had they not eliminated DB the way they did at the Rumble (not just DB, but DZ and Ambrose, too) perhaps Reigns would've been accepted a tad bit better.

And it wasn't even his fault, the dude was just doing his job.
I'm obviously a huge DB fan and didn't have a problem with Roman winning, but let's be reasonable here, Reigns getting booed out of the building was so unfair, plus I don't think anyone would've declined Vinnie Mac's offer to be the next big thing, by first winning the Rumble and then headlining Mania and winning the WWE-WHC.

- This is something I've been thinking about for a while now, though.
Ever since winning the Rumble, Reigns hasn't been getting all cheers, he's always had a fair share of boos, but the thing is... Knowing that Lesnar's most likely leaving after post-WM Raw episode and if he decides to shit on Reigns at WM (because he isn't being paid enough money), the smarky WM crowd will get fully behind Reigns and his popularity will only become bigger.

Will a smarky crowd get behind Roman Reigns? Highly, highly doubt that. I could see them booing him out of the building and marking out for Brock, though.

The two easiest things to question are the Cena and Rusev and Orton vs Rollins feuds. Why did Cena and Rusev have their first match at Fast Lane? It's not a big deal now. Why is Orton back in the Authority?

Well, I guess they wanted Rusev to get the first win and Cena to get his one back later and we know Cena can't submit like that at WM, Rain. We know.
And Orton is in the authority because... I guess the simpler, most effective storyline of him just coming back and hunting down Seth even if it meant walking through hell and back until he wins with an RKO at WM is just not as good as Randy tricking them and pretending to be a bad guy (in fact, costing other dudes wins such as Reigns and benefiting the authority) while the authority is, I guess, stupid enough to buy it.

 

[Prince Bálor]

Will a smarky crowd get behind Roman Reigns? Highly, highly doubt that. I could see them booing him out of the building and marking out for Brock, though.

I'm not claiming it'll happen, but it's a possibility.

 

[CFCrusader]

I'm not claiming it'll happen, but it's a possibility.

I bet they'll cheer for Lesnar. Truth is, Reigns isn't ready to be the top guy in a lot of people's opinions and chances are in those crowds, a lot of people would rather see guys like Bryan, Ambrose and Ziggler headline as they're so much better. Lesnar will be a face vs Reigns, but Rollins' reaction should he cash in is likely to be the best.

I don't mind the Rusev-Cena stuff, it was likely to happen like that, after Cena did that to Wyatt (but Rusev won't look as bad).

Rollins-Orton is stupid right now but it's improving, I guess. Orton going crazy would work if Authority had heels who we care about, imagine him going crazy on Rollins, Sheamus and Samoa Joe (just imagining the possibilities of another badass in that group) but then again, I can't have too many nice things.

 

[The GOAT]

Reigns getting cheered is without a doubt the least likely reaction that I'd expect in this match, no matter what. I think if the crowd decides to shit on Lesnar over the fact that he's leaving after Wrestlemania (which would be dumb of them to do in my opinion, but whatever), it's likely that we'll just see a repeat of what transpired with Brock and Goldberg at WMXX where the fans just decide to shit on the whole thing altogether. That, or they'll just chant Daniel Bryan's name the whole time.

I'd personally love to see the crowd alternate between chanting "Let's Go Lesnar!" and "Roman Sucks!", like the way they do with the traditional "Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks!" chants. Except both chants in this case would be anti-Roman.

 

[Prince Bálor]

I bet they'll cheer for Lesnar. Truth is, Reigns isn't ready to be the top guy in a lot of people's opinions and chances are in those crowds, a lot of people would rather see guys like Bryan, Ambrose and Ziggler headline as they're so much better. Lesnar will be a face vs Reigns, but Rollins' reaction should he cash in is likely to be the best.

I don't mind the Rusev-Cena stuff, it was likely to happen like that, after Cena did that to Wyatt (but Rusev won't look as bad).

Rollins-Orton is stupid right now but it's improving, I guess. Orton going crazy would work if Authority had heels who we care about, imagine him going crazy on Rollins, Sheamus and Samoa Joe (just imagining the possibilities of another badass in that group) but then again, I can't have too many nice things.

Let's be honest here, nobody's truly ready when they're being pushed for the first time.
Orton wasn't ready back in 2004 and look at him now, he's one of the best performers in the company.
Would I prefer Bryan, Ambrose or DZ over Reigns? Yes, 'cause I like those guys more. But hey, it's not up to me.

Reigns will only develop more as time passes by. The only guy who can stop Reigns is Reigns himself.

I have no problem with Reigns becoming the next big thing for now, but I also don't want him to become the next Cena and be THE top guy for the next 10 years and to be constantly burying talent.
WWE has a bunch of great talent like Bryan, Ziggler, Ambrose, Owens, Balor, Rollins, Zayn, Wyatt, Cesaro who could be top guys. They don't have to rely on Reigns completely like they've been doing with Cena. Having all those guys I've mentioned plus Reigns in the ME spot would be better than just having one guy and one guy only as the top guy.

- Cena/Rusev stuff is way too predictable, but okay. It's been a long time coming, anyway. Cena's the cure for the midcard's curse, so... Let's see how that one plays out.

- I was a bit surprised about Rollins/Orton and how they didn't rekindle that feud when Orton returned like 3 weeks ago. Hope they do it tonight and set up a match for Mania.