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Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: What are you most excited for at this year's WrestleMania? I'll be honest with you, ladies and gentlemen; this is probably as much for me as it is for you. Over the years, I've earned the reputation for being critical of those that are overly critical. I embraced that, seeing no reason for me to provide another voice on the internet that condemned WWE's product more than celebrated it. I wrote about what I liked and, for the most part, left what I did not like to be dissected by my peers. How I've been able to stay so focused on the positive really boils down to one word: WrestleMania. It fuels my passion for the wrestling business every year. Each of us has a reservoir tank for our sports entertainment enthusiasm. Typically, my tank stays above the halfway line. Royal Rumble and WrestleMania fill it nearly to the brim. The months after Mania find the tank going back toward half full, Summerslam bumps it up to maybe 3/4, then it falls back to half full, and then the cycle repeats. Last summer's John Cena title reign, as those of you who follow my work can vouch for, depleted my tank to its lowest point in a decade or longer. I invested less in wrestling from July 1, 2014 to October 1, 2014 than I think I had since pre-InVasion. So, I was truly in need of my annual Mania-Rumble surge. The strange thing about this Mania Season is that it isn't surging my interest. The tank is still hovering around 50%; and that 50% feels unsavory because I'm used to my interest peaking right about now. The Road to WrestleMania TV product has been as lackluster as I can ever remember it. As badly as I want to be stoked for the biggest show of the year, I'm having a hard time fully embracing it. WWE Raw and Smackdown are creatively spinning their wheels, leaving me to get myself excited if at all possible. This article is my attempt at pumping myself up for Mania. I'm going to spend the next two thousand or so words strapping on my positivity helmet and plucking out the good things for each match. If it manages to wake up a dormant wrestling enthusiast inside of you, too, then that's just swell. We can celebrate together. The Ladder Match We begin with the focal point mid-card match for the Mania 31 card: the tribute to the first Money in the Bank Ladder match at Mania 21. Money in the Bank has become one of the most important nights on the wrestling calendar thanks to a group of hungry talents taking it upon themselves to create something special a decade ago. Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, and Dean Ambrose understand the importance of history and will try to make the most of their chance to recreate the MITB magic while fighting for the IC title. Perhaps they can help resurrect the prestige of the belt to a level where it can be sustained. Luke Harper, Cody Rhodes, and Wade Barrett all have the considerable talent necessary to aid in the cause of the popular trio. This multi-man saga all really started with Ambrose wanting to add his name to IC title lore. Without the Ladder match, he would not have as good an opportunity to keep up with his former Shield brethren at Mania. Winning the IC title to end a stacked Ladder match is a far greater achievement than his presumed alternatives. I'll be rooting for Ambrose so that we may look back on Mania 31 as a night when all three Hounds justified their places for future Show of Shows glory. The overall talent involved leads a happy-go-lucky pundit to believe that this Ladder match could give its peers from Mania history a run for their money as the best ever. At the very least, it will be a thoroughly enjoyable viewing experience. The Mid-Card Focus on the mid-card has not been lacking this year. There will be other bouts outside of the Ladder match that allow the non-headlining acts to potentially shine. The Brass Ring Club (Tyson Kidd and Cesaro), along with the Usos and the rest of the tag team division, appear poised to put their stamp on the San Fran extravaganza (though to what extent remains to be seen). Mania with Cesaro and the Usos on the main card would be nice, that's for sure. There's also the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal to consider. If it makes the main card and avoids getting bumped to the pre-show, then a returning Sheamus could make it look good. The Celtic Warrior gets a bad rap. He's a talented performer in need of a resurgent push. Ryback would be another favorite, one would imagine. Damien Sandow may find a nice payoff to his lengthy angle with Miz during the match, as well. Could he win the coveted trophy? Whoever does, here's hoping that the follow-up is handled better in 2015 than it was in 2014. The Divas Tag The Divas have certainly been given more to work with in 2015 than 2014, when they were all tossed into the infamous Fatal Fourteenway. This year, they're getting a tag team match to strut their stuff. The Bellas, especially Divas Champion Nikki, have been firing on their most entertaining cylinders as of late. AJ Lee and Paige make very good foils. Due to the title situation dating back to a year ago with the AJ-Paige feud plus the spotlight on Brie and Nikki and Nikki's individual title feuds with AJ and Paige, there is some actual meat and potatoes to the Divas match at Mania. More so than any other since Mania 22? I'd say so. We can only hope for a result even half as good as that one. It's certainly a step in the right direction for the division, as the long-term television push each has received in the last 12 months has far eclipsed what the females have garnered in similar situations since Trish Stratus retired. The 5 Headlining Matches Long-term storyline development is one of the hallmarks of a WrestleMania feud. Each of the top 5 feuds on this year's card features the positive results of smart booking. Brock Lesnar has been booked as strong as any wrestler ever has since last year's Mania. Rusev's progression has been textbook in its execution. The Authority has provided a modern template for how to intelligently book the top heel faction in wrestling, with the likes of Triple H and Seth Rollins greatly benefiting. Bray Wyatt is a rare example in the last decade of how to make a regular roster member into a special attraction. The saving grace of this Mania - one without the benefit, thus far, of supremely intriguing short-term build - may well be the crafting of the characters involved in the long-term. Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton Rollins vs. Randy Orton could be a tremendous match. RKO finally took part in a Mania classic a year ago, but he had to share the credit with two other people. Can he get his first one-on-one classic this year? He should have a suitable dance partner in the Architect. I cannot think of many first singles opponents for Rollins on the grand stage that are more suitable than the Viper. Something about their two styles suggests to me that they will have outstanding chemistry in the ring. Their personas have certainly shown chemistry on-screen. Unpredictability will help in this affair, as strong cases could be made for each man winning. If Rollins loses, it might strengthen the argument to be made for him cashing in his MITB contract after the main-event. Personally, I believe Rollins should stand tall. This should be a night when the youth movement serves up a dose of the future and announces the arrival of the next generation with resounding performances. I halfway expect Rollins vs. Orton to be the match everyone is talking about when the night is over amidst stiff competition from other young lions looking to make their marks. Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker To what extent will Bray Wyatt leave his mark? That is one of the more intriguing questions for Mania 31. He has carried the entire story with Undertaker. He has done all of the promo work and provided all of the talking points. So, for me, Bray's work will be the sight to see in the match, outweighing the other dominant question heading into the bout, which is whether or not the Deadman has anything left in the tank. Can Taker perform at "Streak within the Streak" levels again or should we expect more of the same from last year? Wyatt vs. Taker could easily steal the show if the Phenom is on form. Yet, again, it's all about Wyatt. How will he be booked? Strongly, one would assume, but will he win? It's the same debate as last year with Wyatt. To the victor go the spoils of history. Unequivocally, beating the Deadman is bigger and better than looking great in defeat against the Deadman. I believe he should win, just as I believed that he should have won last year. Wyatt bringing Taker's record to 21-2 makes the Eater of Worlds an instant candidate to main-event WM32. Can he still achieve that status with a loss? Is that even something to be thinking about? I think that it is. It's going to be a race for that spot from the moment that the post-Mania Raw sets the stage for the next few months. Wyatt has amassed a tremendous amount of credibility in his short career. Beating Taker would put him over the top. Rusev vs. John Cena for the US Championship Rusev's rematch against Cena seems to have a fairly obvious result. The Golden Boy will be the Golden Goose for the USA against the Bulgarian Brute. Rusev's dominant undefeated run will come to an end. The match that achieves the result is the greater source of intrigue. It should be a tremendous match and is my current leading candidate for the night's showstealer. Their work together at Fast Lane was outstanding, with Rusev particularly finding a gear we'd yet to see from him in a mostly mid-card career prior to. If his first bout with Cena was an indication of his main-event potential, then maybe he shouldn't lose. Perhaps, instead, he should continue winning so that his eventual first loss can benefit a rising star instead of the embodiment of the establishment. Rusev could potentially do wonders for the burgeoning career at the top of Roman Reigns. If the expected result holds and Cena represents the USA in victory, then it will be interesting to see what becomes of Rusev and how his character gets tweaked. Rumors have been swirling that he could be involved in the summer's main-events. In order for that to be maximally effective, Cena needs to put him over strong more than once; Rusev may lose at Mania, but he needs to emerge as the feud's superior star. Will Cena do that? The quality of the next match that determines it will surely be amongst Mania 31's finest. Sting vs. Triple H Expectations on match quality could not be much more uncertain than they are for Sting vs. Triple H. Sting has had tremendous matches in his career, notably battling Ric Flair, Vader, Rick Rude, and Cactus Jack to resounding critical acclaim back in the day. That was 20 years ago. There's just no precedent for this. How could anyone really know what to expect? TNA does not count, in my opinion, because he has had so much time to prepare for this one match against Trips that surely it will play in his favor come Mania. He's also recreated arguably his most successful storyline for a modern audience, hopefully offsetting any issue created by his sporadic appearances. Will the live crowd invest? I'm cautiously optimistic that Sting's fans will come out in droves and go bananas for him when he finally steps foot to wrestle in a WWE ring. In 1997, Sting's feud with the New World Order was supposed to come to a glorious end, but WCW mishandled it and it was one of the worst matches that I've ever seen. This is a chance for Stinger to right that wrong. I'm sure Trips and WWE will relish the opportunity to do something well that WCW so notoriously botched in the Monday Night War. I'm assuming that Trips will take the fall for that reason, though if you've followed the Game's history, it seems awfully strange to think that he will allow himself to go winless since Mania 29. Can you imagine the cries of burial if HHH won? Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship Finally, there is the main-event. I fully expect that it will be the coronation of Roman's Reign at the top of the mountain. Some are holding out hope for a Brock Lesnar retention, but the best case scenario for people that do not want to see Reigns end the night as champion is Seth Rollins cashing in after Roman wins the title. There is no other point to this match than to transfer Brock's credibility to a new star. Reigns is that star. It is not the classic way to go about what they're doing; that is a given at this point. On the other hand, not using this opportunity to make someone would have been a colossal missed opportunity of epic proportions, rendering the end of the vaunted Streak pointless. This had to happen. I understand and appreciate that. Now, Reigns truly has his work cut out for him at Mania. He's got to make himself believably victorious over the unbeatable Brock Lesnar. To say the least, I'm excited to see him try. If we take a step back and look at what WWE has needed to do in order to present a single man worthy of taking down the Conqueror, then WWE has ticked off several boxes with Reigns. The man needs to be a gifted athlete. Check. The man needs to be able to defeat a wrestler with a variety of styles, both strong, agile, and resilient. Check. The man needs to have a winner's edge gained from a multitude of factors be it genetics, past athletic pedigree, or hubris. Check. The greatest challenge is for Reigns, himself, to walk that aisle in San Fran, step into the ring with the most dominantly booked athlete in the history of the WrestleMania Era, and look amazing in winning the title. I expect a match overbooked to delight and the utilization of every trick in the book. In my mind's eye, I envision a match that brings comic books to life; not in the sense of character, mind you, but in regards to physical battle. Call it Hollywood without the special effects. In The Avengers, there is a scene in which Ironman fights Thor in a manner that could only be contested by men described as “super.” I want to see that translated to a wrestling ring. That is what this situation calls for. Brock's opponents have done everything short of use dynamite in the last year to try to bring him down and nothing has worked. I want to see a new style of main-event used only this once and never used again; a fight that feels otherworldly. Do you remember the first time that you saw the Triangle Ladder match? I want to see that mindset translated to a standard, one-on-one contest. This is the Battle of San Francisco. This is the Battle for Middle Earth. This is the spirit of 300 Spartans channeled into a wrestling match. Whatever the mind can conceive can be achieved. BELIEVE THAT!
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