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WrestleMania 31 results: Seth Rollins stuns WWE as he cashes in Money in the Bank contract to claim title from Brock Lesnar
Rollins appeared late on to seize his chance on one of the most memorable WrestleMania's ever
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Your support makes all the difference.It will go down as one of, if not the greatest WrestleMania of all time. From NWO's reunion, to The Rock teaming up with Ronda Rousey and Randy Orton's incredible 'RKO outta nowhere', nearly every match delivered a spectacle fitting of the Grandest Stage of Them All. But Seth Rollins saved the best for last.
Brock Lesnar was on the verge of ending the career of Roman Reigns, such was the beating he was delivering to the Royal Rumble winner - whose 'reward' was to face the Beast Incarnate. Within 30 seconds of the opening bell, Lesnar had already delivered his finisher, the F-5, but instead of pin Reigns he decided to toy with his prey.
Lesnar delivered suplex after suplex, with the Levi's Stadium crowd counting as each one saw Reigns land heavily on the canvas. Soon enough we were into double figures, and Reigns had only caused more problems for himself by busting Lesnar open with vicious punches and knees on the few occasions he was able to.
WrestleMania 31 - As it happened
The turning point came when Reigns countered Lesnar and through him head-first into the ring post, causing the reigning champion to split his head wide open as blood poured down his face. The former Shield member built momentum, delivering not one, not two but three Superman Punches and taking Lesnar down with a spear. Despite th attack, it was only good enough fro a two-count, and when Reigns went for another Superman Punch Lesnar countered to deliver a third and final F-5.
With both men laid out on the floor, the crowd was sent into a frenzy when Rollins' music erupted, and the self-proclaimed Future of the WWE sprinted to the ring to cash in his Money in the Bank contract, officially making the match a triple-threat.
Rollins pushed his former team-mate Reigns out of the ring and hit Lesnar with a curb-stomp. However, he was fully aware that Lesnar could well kick out of a pin, and went to deliver a second, only for Lesnar to catch him on his shoulders and prepare to deliver another F-5, this time to Rollins.
Reigns had recovered to the ring though, and as Lesnar turned with Rollins aloft, he was leveled by a spear that sent him out of the ring. Rollins seized his chance, and as Reigns recovered he hit a second curb-stomp to pin Reigns and be crowned the new WWE World Heavyweight champion.
The Undertaker returned for the first time in a year to try and banish the memory of the stunning defeat to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 with a win over Bray Wyatt, who has largely been credited with taking over the Phenom's mantle as the controller of the supernatural.
Taker started off as if he'd never been away, but he soon tired and Wyatt took full advantage of this to get on top. However, it was The Undertaker who would land the first telling blow, as he delivered a Choke Slam followed by a Tombstone Piledriver to his opponent. Wyatt survived though, and hit the Deadman with the Sister Abigail, but it was only enough for a narrow two-count.
In the end it was The Undertaker who delivered a second Tombstone Piledriver and ensured he got back to winning ways at WrestleMania.
The collision between two of the greatest names to have ever appeared in the ring lived up to its billing as Triple H and Sting fought out a classic. Sting looked on the ascendancy as nothing The Game could do appeared to have any effect on the former face of the WCW, but when D-Generation X arrived to help out their leader, it looked bleak for the Stinger.
That was until the unthinkable happened. The music of NWO suddenly hit and out came Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, former adversaries of Sting's back in WCW, but this time they were here to save him. When X-Pac handed Triple H a sledgehammer, Hall responded by passing Sting a baseball bat, and he promptly split the sledgehammer in half. This proved to by costly in the end, as the King of Kings used the broken head to take out Sting and win the match.
Afterwards, the two groups came together, with Triple H offering his hand to Sting in a mark of respect to the Icon.
John Cena won the United States Championship after he gained revenge over Rusev for the defeat at Fastlane. Cena looked to be on the ropes when Rusev locked in the Accolade, but the Leader of the Cenation powered out of it and hit the AA after a mistimed distraction from Lana to win the title and deal Rusev his first singles defeat in the WWE.
Daniel Bryan kicked off the night by clinching an action-packed seven-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship. Dean Ambrose thrilled the watching crowd with many high-risk moves, but he was taken out of the match after Luke Harper threw him out of the ring and through a ladder.
Dolph Ziggler also challenged late on, but Bryan would go on to knock his off the ladder with a headbutt to win the title from Bad News Bareet.
Randy Orton exacted revenge over Rollins as he claimed the spoils in their singles' matches early in teh night, although Rollins would go on to have a much bigger reason to cheer. Rollins looked to land a second curb-stomp on Orton, but the Apex Predator countered lovely to RKO Rollins and pick up the win.
Former rivals AJ Lee and Paige were able to work as a cohesive unit despite their past issues as they best the Bella Twins, Nikki and Brie.
In the two pre-show matches, Cesaro used his craft to help himself and Tyson Kidd retain the Tag Team World Championship titles over The Usos, Los Matadores and The New Day, while Big Show overcame the likes of Ryback, Kane and the surprise package Damien Mizdow.
Full Results:
Cesaro and Tyson Kidd DEF The Usos, Los Matadores and The New Day to retain World Tag Team Championship
Big Show wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Daniel Bryan DEF Bad News Barrett, Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Luke Harper and R-Truth in a seven-man ladder match to win the Intercontinental title
Randy Orton DEF Seth Rollins
Truple H DEF Sting
AJ Lee and Paige DEF the Bella Twins
John Cena DEF Rusev to win the United States title
The Undertaker DEF Bray Wyatt
Seth Rollins DEF Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns to win the WWE World Heavyweight title
More to follow...
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