WrestleMania 31 start time, preview and live discussion

WrestleMania 31 is finally here. The show takes place today in Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA, and while the lead-up to the biggest WWE event of the year has seen many highs and lows, there appears to be a lot of anticipation for the show right now. This was likely spurred by WWE getting one of the main event wrestlers, Brock Lesnar, to re-sign with the company and throw the result of his bout with Roman Reigns into doubt.

I'll provide a brief preview of the show here, and this will serve as Bloody Elbow's live discussion post for the event. The show goes live at 5pm ET/2pm PT with a two-hour pre-show featuring two matches, and the main show kicks off at 7pm ET/4pm PT with seven scheduled matches. You can watch the main show on the WWE Network (subscription necessary), or on pay-per-view.

Pre-Show

Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Big E) vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos - Fatal 4-Way for WWE Tag Team Titles -  Your basic "let's get as many people on the show as possible" match. The Brass Ring Club (Kidd and Cesaro) won the belts in February and are likely to retain here.

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal - The winner of this gets a big trophy. Woo. It's another way to get a lot of guys on the show. The only good story going into this was the four-man NXT tournament over the last few days that allowed Hideo Itami (the former Kenta) to get a shot in the battle royal. Expect a couple of surprise entrants and some fun action (battle royals are always entertaining).

Main Show

AJ Lee & Paige vs. Nikki & Brie Bella - The Bellas have improved immeasurably as workers over the last year or so and this has the ability to be a pretty good match. It might get a spot of death on the card though, following a big-spot match like the IC title bout or Rollins/Orton.

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton - This is an authority off-shoot angle with Orton as the good guy. Rollins is an incredible worker and Orton can step up his game against good opponents, so this could be a show-stealer. I'd expect Rollins to win, especially if he intends to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase later in the night...

Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match: Bad News Barrett (c) vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper vs. Stardust vs. R-Truth - The plunder match of the night, which used to be reserved for the Money in the Bank match. Expect a lot of crazy action and insane bumps. Bryan is likely going over here, but there's a small chance Ziggler could as well.

United States Championship Match: Rusev (c) vs. John Cena - This is a long-term feud that allowed Cena to work in a featured program outside the main event. Rusev is actually a pretty good worker and this should be a decent match, but I'd be shocked if Cena didn't get the win.

Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt - Is this the Undertaker's last match? We say that every WrestleMania. The Undertaker's WM winning streak was ended at the hands of Brock Lesnar last year, so there are a lot of ways the WWE could take this match.

Sting vs. Triple H - Sting's big WWE moment. He's 56 so don't expect lots of action, but he's still a good storyteller in the ring and HHH can still go. Still, there's no reason to believe Sting would lose here.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns - Lesnar announcing that he's staying with the promotion earlier in the week makes this match a lot more interesting. If Lesnar was leaving, he'd be dropping the title to Reigns for sure. The fans have been kind of hostile in regards to Reigns' mega-push, with some not feeling he's ready for it. So Lesnar retaining the title is a definite possibility. if the WWE wants to stick to their guns, they could put Reigns over no matter how badly the fans react to it. There's also the third possibility - no matter who goes over, Seth Rollins cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase and leaves as the champ.

Join us here to discuss the show!

(For comprehensive coverage and fallout from WrestleMania 31, head over to our pro wrestling brethren at Cageside Seats.)

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