WrestleMania 39 is in the books and it will surely go down as one of the most memorable for several reasons.
Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles drew 161,892 fans over the course of two days. Let’s recap the top moments from the weekend.
‘The Story Continues’
Roman Reigns is still the champion.
In a shocking end to WrestleMania, Reigns retained his Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship over challenger Cody Rhodes in what will likely only be remembered for the result, despite it being an exceptional match.
Reigns defeated Rhodes in a match that lasted almost 35 minutes following interference from Solo Sikoa. The crowd was stunned when the referee’s hand counted to three. Fans in attendance were firmly on Rhodes’ side and when he lost, the shock and awe extended from the crowd and throughout the entire wrestling community. It felt as though this was the conclusion to Cody’s story, clawing back to WWE after leaving to make himself a bigger star. Instead, as Triple H noted in the press conference afterwards; “the story continues.”
Best Women’s Matches in WWE History
Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship while Bianca Belair defeated Asuka to retain her Raw Women’s Championship.
Both matches should be considered two of the greatest women’s matches in the history of the company, and perhaps even all of women’s pro wrestling history.
Charlotte and Ripley set the bar on night one with one of the more physical bouts to ever take place at ‘Mania. Night two saw Belair and Asuka carve out their own WrestleMania moment with a match just as good as the previous evening, despite the expectations.
When Charlotte is put into a big match, she delivers, and WrestleMania Saturday was no exception. Saturday she passed a torch of sorts, handing over the mantle of best women’s wrestler on the planet to Ripley, who grabbed the baton and took off with it. Ripley should now be considered not just the greatest women’s wrestler in the world, but one of the overall greatest wrestlers on the planet, and her first championship reign beginning at WrestleMania cements that point.
However, do not discount Belair. Now champion for a full calendar year, Belair delivered another exceptional match with one of the top talents in the world, in the form of Asuka. Belair has defeated Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and, now, Asuka in three consecutive WrestleMania championship matches.
These were the two greatest women’s matches in WWE history. Rank them in whichever order you like.
A Canadian Flare to Night One
Night one of WrestleMania ended with a very proud moment for Canadian wrestling fans. Standing in the center of the ring, with both the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championship belts raised above their heads, were a pair of long-time friends from Quebec.
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are champions.
Zayn, a native of Montreal, and Owens, a native of Marieville, Que., concluded a terrific narrative by teaming up to take down The Usos in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday. Zayn and Owens, both real-life and on-screen life-long friends, first worked on the independent scene together in and around Montreal over 20 years ago before setting out to conquer the wrestling world together. The capturing of the tag titles together at WrestleMania is about as perfect a conclusion as you can get (although their time as WWE wrestlers is far from over).
The victory was also celebrated by those who followed the steps of the former El Generio and Kevin Steen through the ranks of the independent wrestling scene to the top of the mountain.
Their match against The Usos, real-life brothers themselves, was as strong as it could get, with the emotions surrounding Zayn and Owens carrying a large portion of the match. It was a perfect crowning moment for night one of ‘Mania.
A Ladder’s Edge
Orangeville, Ont., native Edge was victorious for a second consecutive WrestleMania, this time picking up a victory over Finn Balor in a Hell in a Cell match.
The match was packed with weapons usage. In fact, Balor suffered a massive gash on the top of his head after Edge hurled a ladder at him from close range. The damage was so severe that the referee had to temporarily stop the match to patch up Balor. While that was happening, Edge started loading the ring with more weaponry.
Eventually, Balor tried to hit his coup de grace from the middle of the cell but missed, leading to Edge ending the match with a con-chair-to. It was violent but also quite a bit of fun.
It’s great to have Edge back in these big matches because he always delivers.
Like father, like son
Night one of WrestleMania saw WrestleMania host The Miz hold an impromptu match against former commentator Pat McAfee, with McAfee scoring the victory thanks to help from San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.
Night two saw The Miz square off in another impromptu match, although this one didn’t end as planned.
Shane McMahon returned after more than a year away from being on-screen and proceeded to tear his quad trying to leapfrog over The Miz. Although the injury was serious, it was quite hilarious in the context of remembering that Shane’s father, Vince, did almost the exact same thing 18 years earlier at the 2005 Royal Rumble.
Vince was 59 when he tore both quads, while Shane is 53-years-old. The unscripted moment will go down as one of the funniest moments in WrestleMania history.
A New Era
One of the biggest storylines of WrestleMania weekend had nothing to do with the in-ring product, but rather with a rumoured sale of WWE.
CNBC reported on Sunday that Endeavor, the parent company of UFC, is in advanced talks to purchase WWE and the agreement was announced Monday morning.
The new combined company, valued at an estimated $21.4 billion, will see Endeavor holding a 51 per cent controlling interest and WWE retain 49 per cent.
WWE has been run by the McMahon family for its entire 70-year history. Now, though, the transfer of power will go to Endeavor, with Ari Emmanuel serving as CEO of the new combined company while Vince McMahon will serve as executive chairman.
There is no sense speculating what it will mean for the wrestling product, but Nick Khan will remain president of the wrestling side of the business, which has seen a major uptick in popularity, particularly on the television ratings side, since last summer. Dana White will continue as president of UFC.
“Together, we will be a $21+ billion live sports and entertainment powerhouse with a collective fanbase of more than a billion people and an exciting growth opportunity,” McMahon said in a statement following the announcement.
Full WrestleMania Results
Night One
· Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens def. The Usos (C) to win Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
· Pat McAfee def. The Miz
· Rhea Ripley def. Charlotte Flair (C) to win SmackDown Women’s Championship
· Rey Mysterio def. Dominik Mysterio
· Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus def. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai)
· Seth Rollins def. Logan Paul
· The Street Profits def. Alpha Academy, Viking Raiders and Ricochet & Braun Strowman to win Men’s Fatal Four-Way WrestleMania Showcase
· Austin Theory (C) def. John Cena to retain United States Championship
Night Two
· Roman Reigns (C) def. Cody Rhodes to retain Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
· Edge def. Finn Bálor in a Hell in a Cell Match
· Snoop Dogg def. The Miz (after Shane McMahon was unable to compete)
· Bianca Belair (C) def. Asuka to retain Raw Women’s Championship
· Gunther (C) def. Drew McIntyre and Sheamus to retain Intercontinental Championship
· Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler def. Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan, Shotzi & Natalya and Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville in a Women’s Fatal Four-Way WrestleMania Showcase
· Brock Lesnar def. Omos