WWE put its championship belts on display at WrestleMania 31 like never before.
Sure, the Tag Team Championships were relegated to pre-show festivities, but even the fight over those belts was memorable on a strong card. Even better, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro are the perfect tandem of in-ring ability and mic work to lead the division.
Sunday’s other three title matches delivered, to say the least. Both “secondary” titles are now worthy of the main event, and the promotion’s top strap will be around each week thanks to the genius of one villain.
WrestleMania 31 Full Results
| Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal | Andre the Giant Memorial Trophy | Big Show |
| The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd | WWE Tag Team Championship | Cesaro and Tyson Kidd |
| Intercontinental Championship Ladder match | WWE Intercontinental Championship | Daniel Bryan |
| Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins | Randy Orton | |
| AJ Lee and Paige vs. The Bella Twins | AJ Lee and Paige | |
| John Cena vs. Rusev | WWE United States Championship | John Cena |
| Sting vs. Triple H | Triple H | |
| Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker | Undertaker | |
| Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar | WWE World Heavyweight Championship | Seth Rollins (MitB Cash-in) |
| PPV |
Biggest Winners
John Cena
Don Feria/Associated Press
While he didn’t receive the warmest welcome to the arena, John Cena left as one of the night’s biggest winners.
Not only did John Cena overcome one of the company’s most dominant heels in smart fashion, but he scored a victory for the country, too, as he made sure the globe knew after the match:
John Cena @JohnCena
#Merica
Corny? Maybe. But there’s something special about seeing John Cena with the strap that somewhat started it all for him all those years ago.
The idea now is the United States Championship is a main event feature, something all big names in the company will gun for each night.
Perhaps best of all, Rusev looked strong in the finish, too, losing off an inadvertent distraction. Josh Nason of the Wrestling Observer put it best:
Wrestling Observer @WONF4W
That was pretty much the perfect finish for Cena to win clean without hurting Rusev too much. Tremendous booking, fantastic match. #USTitle
Not that Rusev needs help—he doesn’t wear shoes, is physically imposing and rode into WrestleMania on a tank.
This is about John Cena, though. With the win, he gets to remain in the spotlight with a strap while not feuding for the top belt. As he always wants to do, he gets to help the company as much as possible, this time in a bit of a new way.
For John Cena, it all amounts to a major win.
Anyone in Pursuit of the Intercontinental Title
Don Feria/Associated Press
Daniel Bryan isn’t in the main event scene anymore, so he created a new one for himself to reside over Sunday by stealing the WWE Intercontinental Championship from six other superstars.
Through his ability to survive one of the night’s most violent affairs with bodies flying every which way off the top of ladders and outside the ring, Daniel Bryan created a WrestleMania moment for himself:
WWE @WWE
Your new #WWE Intercontinental Champion, @WWEDanielBryan!!! #YESYESYES!!! http://t.co/GRYo7V0aJW
Also for his legion of fans:
WWE @WWE
Over 70 thousand people celebrate @WWEDanielBryan’s #ICTitle win at #WrestleMania https://t.co/zWzoW2APGb
Even better, it generated serious out-of-company attention, starting at ESPN and spreading like wildfire:
ESPN @espn
YES! YES! YES! @WWEDanielBryan, inspiration to the @SFGiants, won another title at this evening’s @WWE #WrestleMania: http://t.co/roAIDRQsKp
So much for the strap being a secondary title.
Daniel Bryan won, but the real winners moving forward are the Superstars who will be gunning for the belt.
Former champion Bad News Barrett isn’t going anywhere and can only benefit from here if he continues to feud for the belt. The same applies to the up-and-coming Stardust.
So long as he remains on a singles spree, the gold could be a serious launching pad for the Lunatic Fringe Dean Ambrose, too. Also of note is former world heavyweight champion Dolph Ziggler, who is out of the main event scene but figures to be the No. 1 contender for the IC title at the moment.
It was Daniel Bryan who stood atop the ladder a winner Sunday, but he carried the midcard with him on the way up.
Seth Rollins
Now an orchestrator of one of WrestleMania’s most memorable finishes, Seth Rollins has reached the peak.
Sunday, Seth Rollins waited until Brock Lesnar beat on Roman Reigns to the point of sympathy from fans, then seized his moment just as things began to turn back in the challenger’s favor and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
For a brief moment, it appeared Rollins misjudged his lone chance. Brock Lesnar got up from a Curb Stomp and caught him in an F-5, only to have Roman Reigns make the unintentional save and eat the pin.
Seth Rollins has been carrying Raw and SmackDown for a quite a while now, so his winning the belt means big things for both him and the company. He’s already enjoying the many benefits of holding the promotion’s top belt:
Now for the bad news. Everyone will be coming after Rollins now. Leading the pack is former champion Lesnar, the man who beat the Undertaker’s streak and didn’t lose his belt in a convincing fashion Sunday.
Then again, maybe the above scenario is just what Seth Rollins wants. Belt in hand, the architect and destroyer of The Shield and creator of one of the most shocking endings in WrestleMania history figures to have something else up his sleeve now that he’s the main attraction.
