WWE WrestleMania 39 Night 2 Review and Match Ratings

Brock Lesnar def. Omos

In my predictions column, I had Brock Lesnar defeating Omos in under 5 minutes. I don’t have the official March time on me, but I’m sure I came close. This was more or less what I was expecting. Omos gets all of his big moves in, only for Brock to get the F-5 while selling some kind of injury. Omos isn’t quite there to get the rub from a guy like Brock yet, but I’m sure he’ll get there. For what I was expecting and for what it needed to be, this was passable. **1/4

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

The winner was obvious from the jump. Compared to the men’s, this was significantly less engaging with spots taking a good deal of time to set up. I really don’t have many takeaways from this match. We wanted this to be a clusterf*ck, and it wasn’t. Unfortunate, but I suppose it wasn’t actively bad. There were some dives. We had our double Sharpshooter spot. You know. It was what it was. **1/4

Gunther (C) def. Sheamus and Drew McIntyre – Intercontinental Championship

Lord, have mercy. I literally have no words for what an absolute spectacle this was. Gunther and Sheamus were generational performances just as a one-on-one match. But then you add the element of Drew McIntyre in the mix, and you have a legendary Intercontinental Championship match for the ages. Even as I’m typing this, I just don’t have the words to describe how absolutely incredibly well one this was. It was three of the most physical superstars in the WWE just beating the ever loving shit out of each other.

But what I also love is that you can tell WWE was teasing the fact that Sheamus could actually win the title that eluded him, but Drew, his “friend”, wasn’t having it and screwed him. This may lead to a future feud between the two, but just the transitions, the near-falls, the intensity of the chops, the thirst for battle. This match was in heavy contention for the best match of WrestleMania, and I think they have a bit of a case.

Not only is this one of the best Intercontinental matches in WWE history, it’s one of the best matches in WrestleMania history. PERIOD! Gunther has already set such a ridiculously high bar, he should probably never lose the title. There’s always next time, Sheamus. What an effort. What a war. What a battle. The prestige of the Intercontinental Championship is back. *****

Bianca Belair (C) def. Asuka – RAW Women’s Championship

I hated the fact that this match had to be the one to follow up that banger, but you cannot dispute that they went out there and tried their damndest, and boy did they put on a pretty damn solid match. It was pretty much a battle of Bianca Belair’s power going up against Asuka’s technical prowess, and it was really a pretty sight. I especially loved that spot on the outside with Belair powerbombing Asuka’s lunch out.

I’ve always that Bianca and Asuka have had some sneaky good chemistry with each other, and I highly doubt that this match will be end of their feud together. And I will gladly take a double portion of these two fighting each other. Very, very good stuff here for sure. Not on the level of Ripley/Charlotte, but they more than nheld their own. Another major win for the women’s division at WrestleMania. ****1/4

Edge def. “Demon” Finn Balor – Hell In a Cell Match

Certainly a lot to digest here. A lot will disagree with the winner and that Finn should have gotten the win in this match. But at the end of the day, in the sense of the story, it made complete sense for Edge to win and finish the story that he himself started it many ways. I very much liked this Hell In a Cell match because it was what it needed to be at the atmosphere was set engagingly. The tone was set with the entrances, which just infused a great energy into the match.

And then you have the actual match, with the non-colored cage hanging over their heads. An endless succession of weapons. Finn getting legitimately busted open and trying to actually kill Edge by going through the top of the cell through a table. It actually turns out that Edge improvised Finn getting busted open by pretending to look underneath he ring for more weapons that he hasn’t used before Finn was cleared to go, which I thought saved the match because it was an awkward moment in terms of ruining the pacing.

I thought this was everything that Hell In a Cell should be, and I thought Edge’s desperation to put away Finn for good at the end was the icing on the cake. It was great stuff. We saw Edge’s veteran savvy combined with Finn’s intensity, and this was the perfect way to end Edge and The Judgement Day’s feud. Well done for both sides. ****1/4

Roman Reigns (C) def. Cody Rhodes – Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

Man, there will be an exorbitant amount of takes on this one. What I will say are a few things. In my predictions column, I was sure to state that I was significantly less confident that Roman would lose to Cody as I was that Kevin and Sami would defeat The Usos. But I did predict that The Bloodline would lose everything. Because it was a perfect atmosphere wasn’t it? The Usos losing. Solo getting ejected. Cody handed his belt to the late Jon Huber’s son and loving his family before the match begun. Everything was in the making for a Cody win. But if Roman has proven anything, it’s that he is where dreams come to die. Edge thought he was going to get his moment at WrestleMania two years ago. Drew McIntyre thought his moment was at Clash at the Castle. Sami thought his moment was going to come at his home in Canada. And they all have fallen.

Do I have an issue with Roman retaining? Absolutely not. You know why? You just have to listen to what Triple H said. Roman retaining the championship against Cody isn’t the end of the story. It’s the end of a chapter. A lot of people operate under the belief that WrestleMania is where things end. Do you forget Monday Night RAW is in less than 24 hours? Cody’s journey to WrestleMania is over, but his journey to claim what he believes to be his birthright is not. Cody winning the championship tonight would have been a happier, more satisfying ending. But Roman retaining on a night after his brothers lost the tag championships presents an interesting paradox. Roman was approaching 1000 days as champion, and I always felt in the back of my mind with him being so close, there’s no way WWE won’t let him crack it being so close. If anything, it adds an interesting wrinkle to The Bloodline’s story. How does Roman reconcile his retaining of the championship with The Usos’ failure? Where does Solo interfering on Roman’s behalf affect things?

Honestly speaking, I understand if people take issue with it. WrestleMania is supposed to be the show of conquering heroes and happy endings. This wasn’t a happy ending. But it isn’t the end of the story and there’s more to come, and I for one cannot wait to see where the story goes. As far as the match goes, it was everything a WrestleMania main event should be and more. If we’re being honest, it’s probably a top 5 WrestleMania main event of all time. It was outstanding. The ebbs and flows. Every move and purpose.

The entrances were just big-time and presented a big match, larger than life feel. The near falls. Kevin and Sami coming out, making you think that Cody would win. And of course, there’s the heartbreak of Roman retaining the championship and the look of despair in the crowd, a complete 180 of last night. You contrast the scene of Sami and Kevin celebrating their championships with Cody’s look of absolute shock with Roman celebrating in the background. If you ask me, it actually makes for a better story long term. WWE has told a marvelous story with The Bloodline, and while I certainly thought this would be the night where everyone loses everything, it turns out The Bloodline’s story is just getting started. Let’s go. ****3/4

Conclusion:

Here’s the bottom line. WrestleMania 39 is one of the greatest shows WWE has ever produced, and I’m going to go on record and say right now that there is an argument to be made that when you combine both nights, this was the greatest WrestleMania in the history of the event. Yes, better than WrestleMania 17. Better than 19. Better than 20 or 21. Everyone’s opinion is different, but I just do not recall a WrestleMania that had so many high-quality performances. And not just the performances. The production. The music. The presentation. The entrance ramp. The engagement of the crowd.

I just don’t have the words for how amazing this show was from start to finish. Even the matches that weren’t all that great weren’t actively bad. Every man and woman performed at a high level, and everybody from the stage crew, to the producers of the matches, to the special performances from the dance groups and musicians and of course, the performers, ought to be commended for putting on a WrestleMania weekend that will never be forgotten.

Needless to say, WrestleMania 39 gets an infinite amount of thumbs up. It was a love letter to WWE fans and one of the greatest spectacles in the history of professional wrestling.

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