WWE News: Final Card And All Official Matches For ‘WrestleMania 31’ — Major Match Change Announced With No Explanation
After Monday Night Raw, everything seemed in place for WrestleMania 31, but SmackDown still needed to happen on Thursday. As nothing happened to add to the event, there was a major change made to one match on the card and there was no real explanation as to why it happened either.
After SmackDown ended, which was virtually a recap show, there were no big additions or subtractions from the card. Earlier in the evening though, the big change was announced by Michael Cole on WrestleMania Today.
WrestleZone reported that the second annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal has now been pushed off the main card. It will now take place at some point on the WWE Network that is set to run for two hours prior to the start of WrestleMania 31.
Many fans have been looking forward to the big battle royal, and there was no real explanation as to why it was moved. Now, it joins the Fatal Four-Way Match for the WWE Tag-Team Titles on the pre-show, and puts just seven matches on the main card.
It is possible that the winner of the Battle Royal could get a singles match or something of some kind on the main WrestleMania 31 card, but that has yet to be determined. WWE has confirmed the move though, and the Kickoff stars at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on Sunday.
The Andre the Giant Battle Royal will happen during the second hour beginning at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. There will be 20 superstars in the match, and they are also set in place.
The Miz, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Fandango, Adam Rose, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young, Big Show, Kane, Erick Rowan, Damien Mizdow, Sin Cara, Goldust, Heath Slater, Mark Henry, Konnor, Viktor, and the winner of the NXT mini-tournament will take part in it.
UPDATE: Hideo Itami has won the NXT mini-tournament at WrestleMania Axxess and will compete in the battle royal.
Anything can happen this Sunday, and that includes the possible rumors floating around for a gigantic angle happening in the main event. Brock Lesnar just re-signed with WWE for three years, and rumor has it that a new program is already in the works, but we shall see.
The final card for WrestleMania 31 is as follows.
- WWE World Title: Brock Lesnar (C) vs. Roman Reigns
- Sting vs. Triple H
- Intercontinental Title Ladder Match: Bad News Barrett (C) vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Stardust vs. Luke Harper vs. R-Truth
- Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins
- Bray Wyatt vs. The Undertaker
- The Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee & Paige
- United States Title: Rusev (C) vs. John Cena
- Kickoff – Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
- Kickoff – Tag-Team Title Match: Brass Ring Club (C) vs. The Usos vs. A New Day vs. Los Matadores
WrestleMania 31 is less than two days away now, and the final card is set. There is no real reason as to why the battle royal was moved, but hopefully there will be a good reason and payoff for it in the end. Seven matches line the main card and two others come on the Kickoff Show so be ready for all the action this Sunday.
[Images via WWE]
