Philadelphia wrestling fans, personalities predict WrestleMania 31
I gathered the brightest wrestling minds in Philadelphia to predict the biggest event on the wrestling calendar, WrestleMania.
This blue-ribbon panel includes three writers, two radio personalities, one former WWE creative team member and a man that was privileged enough to actually walk down the aisle at WrestleMania - in Philadelphia no less.
Our all-star panel includes myself; Nick Kayal of 97.5 The Fanatic and philly.com; Spike Eskin of SportsRadio 94WIP; Nick Piccone of BleedPhilly.com and PhillyVoice.com; Mark Whited of Wrestledelphia.com; former WWE creative team member and Philadelphia native Andrew Goldstein and former WWE and ECW star The Blue Meanie.
What you will see below is our predictions for all of the signed matches for WrestleMania 31. There are seven of us, which means there will be a majority prediction and that will be reflected under each match. The lone exception to this will be the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which features a bunch of people.
After you read all of the predictions for each match, I will provide a breakdown of the votes.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Blue Meanie: Roman Reigns
Spike Eskin: Brock Lesnar
Mark Whited: Roman Reigns
Andrew Goldstein: Brock Lesnar
Nick Piccone: Roman Reigns
Nick Kayal: Brock Lesnar
Vaughn Johnson: Brock Lesnar
Voting breakdown: Brock Lesnar 4, Roman Reigns 3
Majority prediction: Brock Lesnar
Triple H vs. Sting
Blue Meanie: Sting
Spike Eskin: Sting
Mark Whited: Sting
Andrew Goldstein: Sting
Nick Piccone: Sting
Nick Kayal: Sting
Vaughn Johnson: Sting
Voting breakdown: Sting 7, Triple H 0
Unanimous prediction: Sting
WWE Intercontinental Champion - Bad News Barrett (c) vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Stardust vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper vs. R-Truth
Blue Meanie: Daniel Bryan
Spike Eskin: Dean Ambrose
Mark Whited: Dean Ambrose
Andrew Goldstein: Daniel Bryan
Nick Piccone: Daniel Bryan
Nick Kayal: Dolph Ziggler
Vaughn Johnson: Bad News Barrett
Voting breakdown: Daniel Bryan 3, Dean Ambrose 2, Dolph Ziggler 1, Bad News Barrett 1
Majority prediction: Daniel Bryan
WWE United States Championship - Rusev (c) vs. John Cena
Blue Meanie: Rusev
Spike Eskin: Rusev
Mark Whited: John Cena
Andrew Goldstein: John Cena
Nick Piccone: Rusev
Nick Kayal: Rusev
Vaughn Johnson: John Cena
Voting breakdown: Rusev 4, John Cena 3
Majority prediction: Rusev
The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt
Blue Meanie: The Undertaker
Spike Eskin: The Undertaker
Mark Whited: The Undertaker
Andrew Goldstein: Bray Wyatt
Nick Piccone: Bray Wyatt
Nick Kayal: The Undertaker
Vaughn Johnson: The Undertaker
Voting breakdown: The Undertaker 5, Bray Wyatt 2
Majority pick: The Undertaker
Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins
Blue Meanie: Randy Orton
Spike Eskin: Seth Rollins
Mark Whited: Randy Orton
Andrew Goldstein: Seth RollinsNick Piccone: Randy Orton
Nick Kayal: Randy Orton
Vaughn Johnson: Seth Rollins
Voting breakdown: Randy Orton 4, Seth Rollins 3
Majority pick: Randy Orton
AJ Lee & Paige vs. The Bella Twins
Blue Meanie: AJ Lee & Paige
Spike Eskin: AJ Lee & Paige
Mark Whited: AJ Lee & Paige
Andrew Goldstein: The Bella Twins
Nick Piccone: AJ Lee & Paige
Nick Kayal: AJ Lee & Paige
Vaughn Johnson: AJ Lee & Paige
Voting breakdown: AJ Lee & Paige 6, The Bella Twins 1
Majority prediction: AJ Lee & Paige
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Blue Meanie: Curtis Axel
Spike Eskin: Titus O'Neil (picked with his heart)
Mark Whited: Damien Mizdow
Andrew Goldstein: Sheamus
Nick Piccone: Ryback
Nick Kayal: Sheamus
Vaughn Johnson: Damien Mizdow
Voting breakdown: Sheamus 2, Damien Mizdow 2, Titus O'Neil 1, Ryback 1, Curtis Axel 1
Majority picks: Sheamus & Damien Mizdow
WWE Tag Team Championship - Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (c) vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos vs. The New Day
Blue Meanie: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
Spike Eskin: The Usos
Mark Whited: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
Andrew Goldstein: The Usos
Nick Piccone: Tyson Kidd
Nick Kayal: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
Vaughn Johnson: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
Voting breakdown: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro 5, The Usos 2
Majority pick: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
Final analysis: I'm surprised that we only had one unanimous prediction and that one wasn't the John Cena-Rusev match. I thought for certain all seven members of the panel would go with Cena there, but instead, the majority of us chose Rusev.
The slim margin between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns is also a little surprising given that most of these predictions were made before the news of Lesnar re-signing with the WWE became public. I personally was going to go with Reigns, but Lesnar's announcement made me change my mind.
I'm not surprised at all that Sting was unanimously picked to defeat Triple H, as it's pretty hard to imagine Sting losing his first-ever match in a WWE ring.
Outside of Sting earning all seven votes, the only other lopsided outcome was with AJ Lee and Paige-Bella Twins match with AJ Lee and Paige earning six of the seven possible votes. I personally thought the results for the divas match would have been a little tighter.
Since there are so many options to choose from in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, it would have been virtually impossible for us to unanimously pick one person or have one person land the majority of the picks.
The tag team title match was pretty lopsided as well with five of the seven votes going to Tyson Kidd and Cesaro … and that's a fact.