WWE WrestleMania 39 review: a tale of two fiercely divided halves make up a WrestleMania to remember for right and wrong reason…

Here we are people, the show of shows, the grandaddy of them all, the showcase of the immortals. Where streaks were crafted and heartbreakingly shattered. Where brothers figurative, literal and kayfabe have clashed. Where legends have been born, childhood dreams have come true and moments have been etched into history.

WrestleMania is always a show to see but the road to WrestleMania is not always a smooth ride. And this year was a journey that sometimes left much to be desired. As WrestleMania went Hollywood, 18 years after the last time it did (we even got new Superstars do the movies vignettes, best of which was a Bloodline Goodfellas sketch), this whole WrestleMania season has had more twists, turns and insanity than the wildest of thrillers! Some pathetic builds, some great stories, no stories at all, random match-ups, and where the hell is Bray Wyatt? Many factors have gone into this year’s show, some of which have been fires fanned by internet speculation and nonsense. But was it alright on the night?

After all many shows of years past have had similarly sketchy lead ups and resulted in a masterclass (WrestleMania 31 for instance). So, were stories finished? Were rivalries paid off? And was a new era truly born? Well, all I can say is that the WWE reached a point of no return on these two nights, and my god, the mayhem of wrestling news, twitter and the industry since, all seems to surround this two-nighter.

No doubt about it, the final WrestleMania before WWE was sold by Vince McMahon to UFC company Endeavour was a show many will talk about for a long time to come…and for many reasons. So here is what went down, hold on to your butts…

Night #1 – WrestleMania Saturday

Becky G sings America the Beautiful, and my word that WrestleMania, movie theatre inspired stage set-up is an all-time great Mania stage!

Kevin Hart opens things up with a rather fun promo package playing up the Hollywood angle and all of Night #1’s card!

WrestleMania Host The Miz and ‘The Dogfather’ Snoop Dogg open the show in the ring, they never mentioned Snoop at all in the build up and didn’t introduce him as a surprise, which was odd but hey, nice to see him.

1. WWE United States Championship Match

Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena

John Cena made a heartwarming entrance as a group of Make-A-Wish kids were gathered on stage, who all wished to be at WrestleMania. Lovely moment, Cena’s a good ‘un! However, despite that feel good moment, this was likely to go the despicable reigning champion’s way and it did, though the match was something of a disappointment. That said, thinking logically about it, Cena is elbow deep in filming schedules (hence his large absence through much of the build), so this was never going to be the dazzling 20+ minute showcase of old for Mr. Hustle, Loyalty and Respect. I admire the fact he even gave us a match at all. Yes, it could have been more, and the action was undeniably toned down for the sake of avoiding injury, which hurt it overall, but it was still fine, and it was nice to see Cena back on the Mania stage, as he did the business and fell, in very screwy fashion (biting, low blows, ref knock downs – the works!). Theory will likely need another big wig win if he is to step up to that next level though, but this gave him a huge bragging right all the same.

WWE Global Ambassador Titus O’ Neil joined commentary for the upcoming match, and he was brilliant!

2. Men’s Fatal-4-Way Tag WrestleMania Showcase Match

The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) w/ Valhalla vs. The Alpha Academy (Otis and Chad Gable) vs. Braun Strowman and Ricochet

This match may not have had much construction behind it going in but cor blimey what a blast it was, and really I’d have picked this to open the night instead. The action was non-stop, the spots were electrifying (Ricochet’s jaw-dropping shooting star press to the outside, Chad Gable’s german suplex and some glorious multi-man chaos moves, among many other moments). This was just great fun and truly a showcase for all these talented guys. In the end though a stomach winding double team saw the Profits pick up the win on Ricochet! I see big things for them (or at least one of them) this year.

Xavier Woods did his UpUpDownDown stuff to predict – using WWE 2K23 – the winner of this next match. He was accompanied by Tyler Breeze, Butch, Ridge Holland, Liv Morgan and this other chap…look I am not clued into this internet influencer stuff OK?!

3. Logan Paul vs. Seth “Freakin” Rollins

One of the best built matches this Mania season was upon us and from the gloriously spectacle-heavy entrances alone you knew this would be good! Logan Paul at his heelish best came in on a zip wire, accompanied by a dancing battle of his own ‘Prime’ branded energy drink (someone in a suit), while Seth Rollins came out as a conductor led the audience in chanting his theme song, and he was wearing a big red coat that made him look like a Flash Gordon villain! Marvellous. And the match was just superb, a back and forth, high energy clash, between the influencer d-bag (who really is – love him or hate him – a perfect fit for the WWE ring, he was awesome in there) and the all singing, all dancing drip-god architect. We even got a shock as YouTube star – and Paul’s mate – KSI was the man in the bottle outfit and interfered only to be mistakingly sent crashing through the announce table by his own “bro”. Rollins got the win in a brilliant match with a curb stomp. They just delivered an absolute belter together. Such fantastic entertainment. Loved every minute. Paul really is bloody impressive and truly at home in the ring, and Rollins is the modern day Mr. WrestleMania. What a fabulous match!

4. Six-Woman Tag Team Match

Damage Ctrl (Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai) vs. Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus 

Michael Cole said Trish Stratus had called this a generational clash, and that’s a great way to put it. The past, the present and the future were all represented here and they were all great! After making a comic book strip-inspired entrance with Becky Lynch, I found myself very impressed with Lita and Trish, who hung in there with the young guns and delivered some quite original moves and added to the overall pace of a fun feel good match, with head scissors, finishers and dives, alongside some back and forth action. I was genuinely unsure who was winning this one! A real feel good match, in which everyone looked good and built one another up. Becky hit a top rope manhandle slam to nail the ultimate victory for her team.

Bad Bunny joined the Spanish commentary team for this next match.  

5. Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio

You’ve got to give it to these guys, they have had a very slow building and effective feud, with the legendary Rey Mysterio really selling the emotion and young Dominik Mysterio breaking out into his own as a heel, who you wanted to see get a good slap! Well, ask and you shall receive, because this was awesome. They aired a brilliantly OTT prison vignette for Dominik, as he made his entrance in a police squad car, special shoutout to that fan who shouted “Holla, if you hear me”, after the car sirens blared out into the arena. Wearing his dad’s old Halloween Havoc mask Dom got hellish heat here, meanwhile we were all taken aback in the best ways by Rey Rey’s entrance, as he came out in a Snoop Dogg driven low rider, as the late great Eddie Guerrero’s theme filled the arena. Top notch! As was the match, a perfectly played father son story, with so many fist in the air moments and Michael Cole on fire on commentary. Dom even got the belt spanking he long deserved from his dad much to the capacity crowd’s delight. While Dom also got a slap from his mum at ringside and swilled his sister (also at ringside) with water. The cad! Dominik has raised his game to great heights this last year, and he and his dad delivered a tip top story-driven match, with special appearances by new LWO members Legado del Fantasma, Dom’s Judgment Day brothers and even Bad Bunny, who stepped in and stopped Dominik cheating his way to a win, leaving his dad to pick up the victory. Lovely stuff, right result, and a great Backlash tease at the end there! Bonus points for Rey’s Great Muta inspired mask too.

6. WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship

Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley

Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley did not really have much of a story to work off of this last few weeks, the history was there (with Ripley gaining retribution for that WrestleMania 36 loss) but WWE did not really do these ladies any favours with a lacklustre story. However, when that bell rang, my word, this was a main event calibre work of excellence. Three years on and not only did Charlotte and Rhea surpass what they did before, they unleashed one of the greatest matches of the entire Mania weekend. What a friggin’ match. Bone rattlingly hard hitting, jaw-droppingly exciting and with a perfect finish, as Ripley managed to deliver the Riptide from the top rope for the win, the title and the crown of the best women in WWE. Both women gave us their all and it was a memorable, bruising, war for gold and glory. A women’s championship classic. Awesome! Ripley is the one and Charlotte really is The Queen.

Austin Theory was interviewed backstage and said, “Do you believe in Theory now?”.

Snoop Dogg and The Miz were in the ring to announce tonight’s attendance of 80,497, until Snoop suggested it would have been great to have Miz in a match. Hint Hint…

7. The Miz vs. Pat McAfee

Out came a returning Pat McAfee, who goaded The Miz, alongside the crowd, Snoop then made the match and hey presto! This was fun enough at the time but considering what would eventually happen the next day, in hindsight this was a wasted opportunity for something more substantial and interesting. This was just a filler segment really, as McAfee picked up the win thanks to NFL’s George Kittle. Shrug.

8. WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship Match

The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

I am not sure why Lil Uzi Vert (whoever that is) came out to do part of The Uso’s entrance but there you go, anyway, this was bound to main event the evening and was the first tag title main event match in WrestleMania history. SamiZaynia and KOMania were certainly runnin’ wild tonight, for a rather magical match that was a longtime coming. Across 24 thrilling minutes, this match was a beautifully told story and not only a perfect climax to The Usos’ 600+ day reign, bu a conclusion to this story of defiance, rekindled friendship and redemption. It was so well told and fiercely fought, with Cole even dropping an El Generico line on commentary! An intense, heart racing battle of brotherhoods, blood and soul, and seeing Sami pin Jey in the final gruelling Helluva kick-heavy moments for the rapturous win was just the mighty icing on the cake. An emotional climax to a mostly terrific night leaving you so ready for tomorrow! A sight to see.

Overall, Night 1 was one hell of a WrestleMania, a night of great results, storytelling and spectacle. Bring on Night 2…yeah…about that…

Night #2 – WrestleMania Sunday

Jimmie Allen sings America the Beautiful to open things up.

Kevin Hart opens things up with another good promo package revealing in the cinematic nature of it all and Night #2’s card!

WrestleMania Host The Miz and ‘The Dogfather’ Snoop Dogg opened things up in the ring again, hyping up the evening.

9. Brock Lesnar vs. Omos w/ MVP

This was the spectacle encounter and on that front it certainly delivered. We have seen The Beast face giants before but this was fun for what it was. A brief but enjoyable, as Big E would say, battle of big meaty men slapping meat. Lesnar sold like crazy to make Omos look like an absolute monster, and while I think the wrong man won as Lesnar laid Omos out with just one F5, Lesnar sold his opponent in his facial expression at the end of the match alone. No masterclass here but what it needed to be to open things up.

10. Men’s Fatal-4-Way Tag WrestleMania Showcase Match

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya and Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville

This 4 Way was not a patch on the men’s but it did at least nearly get going at points with Shotzi, Chelsea Green and powerhouse Raquel Rodriguez getting the best standout moments. But, in the first instance of a jinxed night, this match was undeniably marred by injuries past and present. Ronda Rousey did nothing at all in the match and seemed pretty much like she was not really cleared for action, while her partner Shayna Baszler seemingly injured her foot in the match. And yet, these two badass women were always the clear choice victors, so it kind of left a sour taste seeing them pick up the armbar tap out win after not even being a part of the match. All very unfortunate on a booking front and on the injury mishap front.

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner Bobby Lashley came to the stage, lifted his trophy and that was as far as his presence went this weekend. No special return, no replacement match and despite some cheeky teases, no Bray Wyatt. All very soul-shattering, especially for Bobby I am sure, who deserved a back up story for the show! Why no LA Knight?!! Which was supposedly planned but scrapped, simply idiotic. He deserved better.

11. WWE Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match

Gunther (c) vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus

For me this might have been the best match of WrestleMania 39, in fact it might have been the match of the year so far. This was a no nonsense, chest-welting, in-ring violent ballad of brutality! Starting off heavy, with the breath-taking chops, the impact never ceased and all three men did not need shenanigans, interference of gimmicks, they just knocked seven shades out of each other. This was just something else. The commentary team (Corey Graves, Michael Cole and Titus O’ Neil) were like fans themselves, lost in the brilliance of it all. These three warriors are going to be feeling this match for, well, forever! What an absolute battleground, at one point every man looked like they would win. Though Gunther would extend his record modern day IC title reign, by powerbombing Sheamus onto Drew McIntyre’s back and then hitting another powerbomb on Drew for the 1-2-3 win. Pure wrestling beauty. With near falls, arena-echoing shots and maximum effort from all three of these warlords. Pour yourself a drink lads, you bloody deserve it. Match of the night hands down. And for my money match of the weekend. You stole the show guys. Banger after banger again.

12. WWE RAW Women’s Championship Match

Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuke 

Asuke made a very colourful entrance with multiple Empresses swarming the stage in a  Russian Doll-like sequence, while Bianca Belair had a young Dance Group known as the Divas of Compton, including a very talented young contortionist (and there’s a story there with that young lass that I won’t discuss here but needless to say Bianca is a class act). Now, the match. Coming off of arguably the worst feud (well, there wasn’t one really) going into this year’s WrestleMania, I was never in any doubt that this one would be very good when it got in the ring and indeed it was. Admittedly the edge was taken off by the Smackdown women’s championship match the night before but Bianca and Asuke delivered a mostly enjoyable title match here. I thought Asuke was winning I must say but Bianca extended her year long title run further. Hopefully these two have more battles to come. As I feel the best is yet to come.

And suddenly things turn awkward, after a night of highs (IC Title, Bianca/Asuke) and lows (Fatal-4-Way, Lashley being dissed, no surprises despite Nick Khan and Triple H bigging that up, and the odd unusual booking decision), we were about to kick into gear here and this is where Vince McMahon’s hand was felt (more on this later). Snoop Dogg and The Miz announced the oddly higher attendance for the night in 81,395…and then they got into an exchange over being surprised…wait, this is it, who was it? The Fiend? LA Knight? Bobby? A legend? “Here Comes The Money”.

13. The Miz vs. Shane McMahon

Out came Shane McMahon to an unexpected reception, and it was rather flattening as a viewer, and would sadly only get worse. Snoop made the match and Shane went for a leapfrog and his knee gave out. I hope he is ok going forward but this was unfortunate on every front, and even had it gone right, it would have still been a real disappointment. As Shane was attended to, an audible was clearly called and Snoop smacked The Miz…

14. The Miz vs. Snoop Dogg

…Bang straight into a match and Snoop would lay out Miz with a People’s Elbow for the win. This was all a disaster. Fair play to Snoop for jumping in and trying to salvage it, a class act for sure. But this seemed booked in a way doomed to fail, even without injury. Why on earth it happened, especially after Miz’s impromptu match the day before, god only knows! Repetitive, nonsensical, mayhem.

15. Hell in a Cell Match

Edge vs. “The Demon” Finn Balor

What a video package these two got! And it continued with the entrances, as Russell Crowe (yes, the real one) delivered a speech in a devilish apocalyptic vide specifically for this match, all in aid of promoting the new film The Pope’s Exorcist (which has been superbly marketed). Then the stage was alight in flames and blood, as “Brood” Edge rose from the flames with devil wings and a reflective crystal skull mask, backed by Slayer’s “South of Heaven”. Before Metalingus and his standard entrance kicked in. Wow. Entrance of the weekend for sure! But a close second was “The Demon” Finn Balor’s, as he emerged from the mist, old theme intact, with purple smoke canisters! What a set up for the match. Now, about that. 

There was so much I liked about this match, it certainly lived up to its name! Weapons aplenty (all strangely painted??) and some good moments but tragedy struck as Edge flung a ladder at Finn and it genuinely bust his head wide open, requiring on the spot stitches. This was obviously necessary but it did highlight a major issue in this match…bringing back The Demon at all. Already devalued by that Roman Reigns Extreme Rules 2021 atrocity, seeing The Demon need medical attention at face value was always going to gut the vibe and disrupt the flow but credit to Finn for finishing the match (and even starting it, as he apparently went in with an injury). Things obviously had to be condensed after this injury, though he got a Cell wall table spot in. Before Edge won with the conchairto! Again, I don’t mind Edge winning but him beating The Demon felt unwise. It might have worked had Edge – as rumoured – been accompanied by Gangrel and there been Judgment Day interference and whatnot, but a clean defeat of The Demon again jarred, and booking wise may have been the persona’s death knell. I enjoyed the match in part but injury, booking and the limitations of wrongly using a gimmick, brought it down a big notch. It was all rather mad looking back, and I appreciated the effort here, though in the grand scheme of things, bringing The Demon back was not the best call, all things considered.  

A triumphant Bianca Belair was interviewed in a celebratory moment.

This year’s Hall Of fame inductees Rey Mysterio, The Great Muta, Stacy Keibler, and the families of Andy Kaufman and Warrior Award recipient Tim White respectively, were all on stage for all their deserved moment. 

16. WWE Undisputed Universal Championship Match

Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns w/ Paul Heyman

On a night short on major surprises, for many this marked the worst one of all, though I actually expected the outcome, as I have declared that Roman is inevitable. This was what the whole two nights have led up to but on a messy evening of good, bad, unfortunate and odd, this was arguably what this whole WrestleMania will be remembered for. After a long sprawling war, with finisher kick outs, a lot of Roman taunting, Usos and KO/Sami interference and Solo being kicked out, we were left with champ and challenger but rather than “finishing the story”, we got a returning Solo costing Cody Rhodes the win and Roman hitting a spear and the pinfall. The air collectively left the arena, and in a rather awkward way. A rubber chicken at one point was thrown in the ring, and really that describes the whole main event. WWE chickened out. Frightened of pulling the trigger, in order to chase the 1,000 day reign accolade for this run. The fallout since this decision has proved to typify one of the most problematic and eventful week’s in wrestling history. The show was over, and for all the hype, this was really the same old story. Good match I suppose but the ending is inevitable and it is getting hard to keep caring. Roman is not losing those titles, in fact I am starting to think he’s retiring as champion, whenever that may be. As we speak, there really are no contender’s left. I wasn’t angry, I had accepted this long ago but WWE had a chance to deliver the surprise they promised here and didn’t. All we got on this night was Shane McMahon in that department.

Overall, Night 2 was a mess, and since it happened, the whole purchase/selling of WWE has resulted in Vince McMahon’s (who these days is looking like an Indiana Jones baddie with that ‘tache and hair dye) curious return to creative control (sorry, “having the final say”), resulting in the worst Raw after Mania in years and a viral s**tstorm. Full respect to all the man has accomplished in the past but his time in creative capacities ought to be done. Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 does not eclipse the first Night’s power, and there were some highs that stopped it from going down the black hole (IC Title match, moments of HIAC, Bianca/Asuke) but already a flawed night, the laziness of its final act, and absence of real surprise, brought things down a great deal. We will all be talking about this night for some time and not in a good way, as it ushers in an era where we feel to be stepping back rather than forward. Especially after the era progression night one offered.

And that was WrestleMania 39, a tale of two very different halves biting at each other. One a brave new step forward and one a jarring push back. Such a hard WrestleMania to rate because Night 1 set up a potential blinder and its sequel had promise but what ultimately followed was at odds with itself, marred by misfortune and lumbered by clear creative loggerheads, as WWE and those within it at a managerial level, seem to be right now at crisis point. Fans were visibly unhappy, and later vocally, and after the very bad Raw that would follow the next night doubling down, as we head to Backlash in Puerto Rico next, I have no idea what awaits us, and not in a particularly positive way. These are strange times, and not how I expected the weekend to end up. That all said, I still found enough to enjoy to conjure a positive rating, because realistically, how could I not after some of the gems rescued from this creative tornado?! Plus, it didn’t leave me as spiritually broken as WrestleMania 37’s Night 2, so there is that. But where (w)we go from here, who knows?