10 Fascinating Facts About WWE In 2015
3. First ‘Mania In 13 Years Without A 20+ Min Match
WrestleMania 31 marked the first edition of the famous supershow series to feature zero matches that exceeded 20 minutes in length since ‘Mania X8 in 2002. The longest bout on the night was Triple H beating Sting in 18:36. For reference, the longest at X8 was The Undertaker beating Ric Flair in 18:47.
Every event in between those two had at least one match lasting longer than 20 mins.
It's not like Hunter to keep it that brief. 'The Game' enjoyed a lengthy scrap on the biggest show of the year, so the relative brevity of his bout vs. Sting likely owed to the latter's lack of ring shape. The Stinger hadn't wrestled since working for TNA in January, and he hadn't been in a match as long as the Trips one since October 2013.
A lot of Sting's TNA matches were shorter than you might imagine/remember. Even 'Mania 31's main event pitting Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns went 16:43. Of course, the MITB cash in from Seth Rollins padded things out a bit there, but it was still pretty rapid.