WWE WrestleMania 31: Full Predictions for Each Champion at Event

Despite a bit of a strange buildup, WrestleMania 31 offers a chance for WWE to crown new champions, build up young stars and elevate under-appreciated titles.

The focus, of course, goes to the main event featuring the WWE World Heavyweight Championship—a showdown between Brock Lesnar and the upstart Roman Reigns.

Last year's path to WrestleMania centered around Daniel Bryan's climb up the ladder. Lightning doesn't strike twice, though, with Reigns' quick climb seeming to split fans right down the middle.

With apparent plans backfiring and the memory of Lesnar becoming the "1" in 21-1 fresh on the minds of fans, even a lackluster build can't dash the intrigue and excitement surrounding the promotion's straps.

WrestleMania 31 Card and Predictions

Match	Stipulation	Predicted Winner
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal	André the Giant Memorial Trophy	Curtis Axel
The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd	WWE Tag Team Championship	Cesaro and Tyson Kidd
Intercontinental Championship ladder match	WWE Intercontinental Championship	Daniel Bryan
Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins		Seth Rollins
AJ Lee and Paige vs. The Bella Twins		The Bella Twins
John Cena vs. Rusev	WWE United States Championship	John Cena
Sting vs. Triple H		Sting
Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker		Bray Wyatt
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar	WWE World Heavyweight Championship	Brock Lesnar

Predictions for Champions

Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, WWE Tag Team Champions

As fun—and weird—as it would be to see Los Matadores run around with the tag team straps, go ahead and eliminate the chances of that right off the bat.

The fact is that Tyson Kidd and Cesaro just took the straps in February, and it's hard to see them giving them up so soon.

As talented as Big E and Kofi Kingston are on an individual level, The New Day is in a weird spot when it comes to fan reception and isn't a believable champion right now. The Usos are but don't need the straps again so soon, will remain over and Jey is reportedly battling a shoulder injury, per F4WOnline (h/t Wrestling Inc).

That leaves the current champs. Cesaro, winner of the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, deserves the push. Tyson Kidd, one of the promotion's top in-ring performers and critical piece of Total Divas, does too.

Prediction: Tyson Kidd and Cesaro retain title.

Bad News Barrett, WWE Intercontinental Champion

Bad news for Bad News Barrett—he's not walking out of WrestleMania 31 with his belt.

His inability to keep the belt itself despite his champion status speaks enough to his status in Sunday's match. He has little momentum and too many credible, hotter superstars litter the match.

Now, an aging R-Truth isn't what the Intercontinental Championship needs. Neither is Luke Harper, the man of few words who might have bigger problems down the road depending on what happens with Bray Wyatt.

This leaves Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Stardust and Daniel Bryan. There's no wrong answer, although Stardust would be a strange twist. If one had to guess, Dean Ambrose will be back on Seth Rollins' tail soon as opposed to defending a title.

Dolph Ziggler seems due, but keep in mind the promotion will want to put the strap on the most popular superstar to elevate it to main event status should Lesnar retain and not appear at every pay-per-view.

In other words, this points to Bryan winning the title and defending it each week, although a loss wouldn't prohibit any of the other six names from continuing to feud for it. Bryan just makes the most sense as the guy who walks out of the year's biggest event with it.

Prediction: Daniel Bryan becomes intercontinental champion.

Rusev, WWE United States Champion

The logic above applies to the title clash between Rusev and John Cena as well. 

Again, if Lesnar retains, makes random appearances and only defends his title at the biggest pay-per-views, the company needs this strap on headlining acts so that the United States Championship is a bigger draw.

Cena winning, of course, accomplishes this.

Make no mistake—Rusev is main event material and in this for the long haul, but the bad guys rarely win at WrestleMania. Cena's looked weak in recent weeks, too, lending momentum to the thought that he'll overcome the odds and bring the title back where it belongs.

For now.

Prediction: John Cena becomes United States champion.

Brock Lesnar, WWE World Heavyweight Champion

Had Lesnar waltzed onto the SportsCenter set a few days back and declared himself ready to return to the Octagon, this would be a whole lot different.

He didn't, though:

Can Reigns still win the strap? Sure, but his odds are as slim as those of teams facing the Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA tournament at this point.

The push for Reigns hasn't gone as planned. Some sense he's too green to headline WrestleMania, let alone carry the promotion's top title on his own. Perhaps there's something to the notion, as his promos and in-ring work don't seem of main event level just yet.

No matter where fans stand with Reigns, though, Lesnar picking WWE over UFC is a big deal. Part-timer or not, the decision makes him a hero no matter how hard the company wants fans to vilify him.

Lesnar is going to retain the belt, even if The Authority, Seth Rollins on a cash-in of his Money in the Bank contract or even The Rock—to set up a WrestleMania 32 encounter—interferes. WWE has a good thing going with Lesnar and the title feeling like a major attraction, and it has the pieces in place to elevate other titles.

It's the best move for Reigns, too, as his budding skill set will only improve with more time to work and win over fans instead of seeming to act as an insurance policy.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar retains WWE World Heavyweight Championship.