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With WWE WrestleMania 34 almost upon us, we are taking a look at five things you might not know about recent ‘Mania events.
In this article, we focus on WrestleMania 31 – a show best-remembered for Sting’s WWE in-ring debut and Seth Rollins’ dramatic Money In The Bank cash-in during Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns.
The event also saw Daniel Bryan win the Intercontinental title in a ladder match, while John Cena became the first man to defeat Rusev via pinfall or submission to win the United States title.
#5 It was AJ Lee’s final weekend with WWE
After CM Punk’s dramatic WWE exit in January 2014, it seemed only a matter of time before AJ Lee – Punk’s then-girlfriend and now his wife – would follow him out of the company.
In the end, she remained part of WWE for another 14 months, receiving “CM Punk” chants during most of her segments and matches, before it was surprisingly announced in April 2015 that she had retired.
The announcement on WWE’s official website simply stated: “AJ Lee (April Mendez) has decided to retire from in-ring competition with WWE. We wish AJ the very best.”
That means WrestleMania 31, where she teamed with Paige to defeat Nikki & Brie Bella, was her final weekend in WWE, with her last match coming a day later on Raw when she teamed with Naomi and Paige to defeat Natalya and the Bellas.
#4 Steve Austin wasn't a fan of John Cena's version of the Stone Cold Stunner
John Cena has added a number of new moves to his wrestling repertoire in recent years, including the Springboard Stunner, which he first used during his match against Rusev at WrestleMania 31.
While the athletic move was brilliantly executed, it wasn’t enough to defeat Rusev, who kicked out after a 2-count, and Cena would go on to win with an Attitude Adjustment.
Speaking on his Steve Austin Show podcast, Austin – the creator of the stunner – said he didn’t have a problem with Cena using a variation of his famous finisher, but he felt the move should have been used to get a 3-count, not a 2-count.
#3 Seth Rollins found out he was winning the WWE title on the day of WrestleMania
The most memorable moment of WrestleMania 31 was when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money In The Bank contract during the Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns match to win the WWE Championship.
Such a huge moment and storyline would surely need weeks of planning and all three men involved must have known well in advance how the match was going to finish – or so you would have thought.
The Wrestling Observer and PW Insider reported at the time that Rollins only found out he would be winning the title at the start of the segment with The Rock, Ronda Rousey, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, which was less than two hours before the match.
#2 Seth Rollins convinced Randy Orton to do the Curb Stomp-RKO move
One of the greatest finishes to a WrestleMania match came when Randy Orton countered a Curb Stomp to hit Seth Rollins with an RKO in the second match on the card at WrestleMania 31.
Speaking to Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho, Rollins said he came up with the memorable finish to the match and revealed that Orton was unsure if they should go ahead with it after failing to execute the move properly during a few practices.
On the day of WrestleMania, they were set to go with a different finish. However, as Rollins tells it, Orton “always plays it safe” but he decided to take the risk in the hope of creating a ‘WrestleMania moment’, which they certainly did!
#1 Bray Wyatt and The Undertaker didn't interact before their match
The build to Bray Wyatt vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31 centered around Bray’s repeated attempts to make “The Deadman” accept his challenge of a match at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
‘Taker didn’t make a single appearance on WWE television during the month-long build to the match, and Bray revealed in an out-of-character interview shortly before 'Mania that he had never actually met his opponent (with the exception of one time as a child).
Asked on the Cheap Heat Podcast how much interaction he had with ‘Taker before the match, Bray said: “Zero. No joke, zero… That’s 100 percent legit. It doesn’t get any more exciting.”
