WrestleMania 31 predictions: John Cena vs. Rusev

With WrestleMania 31 all set to invade Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California this coming Sun., Mar. 29, 2015, live on pay-per-view (PPV) and the WWE Network, it's time to go about making predictions for the biggest show of the year. The match card is filled out and the cSs staff of learned blowhards will give their best guess on who is going to emerge victorious this weekend.

But instead of doing this all in one post and giving you a wall of text and 3,000 words to read through, we'll give the top five matches their own post then cover the undercard.

Got it? Good. Up next:

John Cena vs. Rusev

The General: We were in this exact same position last year except "Rusev" was "Bray Wyatt." There were exactly zero good reasons you could come up with for Cena to win that match and there are exactly zero for this match. Cena won last year despite that fact, and he'll do the same this year.

Pick: John Cena

Sean Rueter: For my full "hot take" on this one, check out the last Like a House Afire. Shameless plug aside, I am expecting a slobberknocker that ends in LOLMURICAWINS. John goes on to main event house shows with the red, white and blue belt for a while and Rusev better get placed in another high profile program immediately. Otherwise, I retract my "hot take".

Pick: John Cena

Keith Harris: Although having Rusev beat John Cena twice in a row to create a super strong challenger for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion after WrestleMania (presumably Roman Reigns) is a smart idea, there seems an air of inevitability that the American patriot will stand tall in their rematch. After all, Rocky Balboa didn't lose to Ivan Drago! The fact that they put over Cena last year for no good reason, suggests that it will happen here too.

Pick: John Cena

Cain A. Knight: John Cena has bored me for years now, and nothing has changed on that front heading in to Wrestlemania 31. His story lines are all the same, his character never changes, and WWE is running out of heels to feed to him. He's as stale and predictable as it gets. I don't understand why WWE thinks John Cena is the right guy to end Rusev's undefeated streak. John Cena just doesn't need that notch on his belt, but I guess this is Cena's consolation prize for coming out of the three Lesnar matches without any championship gold. I expect these two guys to have a pretty good match but we all know this is sadly ending with CenaWinsLOL. I think I would actually prefer that Rusev wins after Lana throws powder in Cena's eyes, causing Hulk Hogan to come out and win an impromptu match for the United States Championship against the evil foreigner. That's how bored I am of John Cena.

Pick: John Cena

Joshua Gagnon: Inevitability, and hopefully, reverse psychology.

Pick: John Cena

Jason Martin: Rusev took a few dents thanks to shoddy angles and a poor choice of aligning him with Stephanie and Triple H for the Survivor Series tag match. He's been put back together fairly well since then, though the Fast Lane finish wasn't particularly good. He's undefeated, which does count, though he will become far more compelling once he loses, because at that point every big match he has becomes one that could go either way. We love dynasties, but we love them even more when we know the ruler can be defeated. The Yankees are fun to hate, but beating them and taking them down a peg...works. The Patriots fit into that category, along with any number of others. Any high-midcarder or even some main eventers that would face Rusev, up until WrestleMania, we pretty much knew the Bulga-Russian would leave victorious. I've wavered on this match, because there's value in Cena failing twice, but this is WrestleMania, and this is John Effing Cena we're talking about. I expect another good match, a futile attempt at interference from Lana, and a win for Cena, most likely a three count, not a tap out. The former would hurt much less than the latter, mainly thanks to the UFC culture of today, where giving up looks weak and pinned looks beaten on that one night after a hellacious battle. Could Rusev pass out? Sure. That wouldn't be the satisfying conclusion though, and ordinarily, WrestleMania is there as the annual reward to the fans, where most finishes actually work and are designed to leave fans in a positive mood. Bret/Austin was a much different animal, because of the plan after that finish and the pair involved. That isn't the case here. Expect the American flag to drop from the usual Russian flag apparatus as Cena holds up the United States Championship. Camera cuts to a wide shot, probably some fireworks. It should be a solid segment. Regardless of your feelings, Cena is one of the best big-stage performers in company history. He always brings it when the lights are brightest. He'll also make Rusev look good in the process. This won't be a burial, not by any means.

Pick: John Cena

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Those are our predictions, Cagesiders. What are yours?