WrestleMania 39 (2023): One Brilliant Saturday, One Brutal Sunday Ending, and a Weekend That Aged Better Anyway

Cena's entrance with Make-A-Wish children creates a bigger emotional moment than the match ever finds. Theory controls most of the eleven minutes, Cena works a reduced version of his familiar comeback and the crowd supplies the significance the wrestling rarely creates. The generational premise is stronger than the actual exchange.

A referee bump allows Cena to make Theory tap in the STF without a decision, after which Theory lands a low blow and A-Town Down to retain. The finish protects Cena and gives Theory the résumé line of beating him at WrestleMania. What it does not provide is the sense that Theory has changed level because of it.

The men's Showcase understands that eight wrestlers and eight minutes should not be asked to tell a complicated story. Instead it turns size, speed and impossible-looking collisions into a sprint. Chad Gable suplexing Braun Strowman, Strowman's splash and Ricochet's dives give the match a highlight reel without making it feel like random warm-up drills.

The Street Profits win when Angelo Dawkins gets his knees up on Ricochet's Shooting Star Press and Montez Ford drops From the Heavens onto Ricochet's back. The finish is spectacular enough to justify the whole concept. This is exactly what a low-stakes WrestleMania showcase should be.

Paul's WrestleMania match confirms that the celebrity-wrestler label is already becoming too small for him. He moves with Rollins confidently, understands when to slow down and uses the damaged right hand as both weapon and vulnerability. Rollins gives him enough space to look dangerous without letting the match become an exhibition for the newcomer.

KSI's reveal inside the Prime mascot suit gives the interference a WrestleMania-sized joke, then Rollins turns it back on Paul by pulling KSI onto the announce table before Paul's Frog Splash. A superkick counters the Coast-to-Coast attempt and the Stomp finishes Paul. The match is polished, funny and athletic without confusing celebrity involvement for the point.

The six-woman tag is more reunion showcase than competitive peak, but everyone understands the assignment. Damage CTRL isolate the legends, Becky Lynch carries much of the structural load and IYO SKY provides the movement whenever the match needs a sudden change of speed. The crowd is happy to see Lita and Trish Stratus rather than demanding a technical classic.

The closing sequence gives every veteran a recognizable beat before Lynch counters Bayley's middle-rope Bayley-to-Belly into the Manhandle Slam. It is good, busy WrestleMania wrestling with a predictable ending. The match is pleasant enough to watch and easy enough to forget.

The Mysterios turn a family feud into exactly the kind of theater WrestleMania is built for. Dominik arrives in a police vehicle after months of pretending his brief jail experience turned him into hardened criminal royalty, while Rey enters in a lowrider with Eddie Guerrero's music. The entrances establish the emotional argument before father and son touch.

Dominik abuses the family at ringside, The Judgment Day interfere, the Latino World Order answers and Bad Bunny removes the chain before it can decide the match. Rey hits the 619 and Frog Splash for the victory. The interference is extensive, but every person involved belongs to the story, which makes the chaos feel earned instead of borrowed.

Ripley and Flair start more patiently than the crowd expects and then spend the second half making the restraint look intelligent. The bumps become larger, the near falls become more credible and the physicality escalates without losing the championship at the center. Flair's willingness to take violent landings gives Ripley's power offense genuine consequence.

The final sequence is excellent. Flair attempts to create offense from the top, Ripley drives her face into the ring post and hits an avalanche Riptide for the title. Ripley avenges the WrestleMania 36 loss and leaves as a made main-event star after one of the strongest women's matches in WrestleMania history.

The McAfee surprise is WrestleMania filler with enough celebrity energy to avoid becoming offensive. George Kittle's involvement gives the stadium a recognizable local-sports beat, while McAfee supplies the athleticism the segment needs. The Miz exists exactly as the host who deserves to be embarrassed.

McAfee wins after Kittle's interference and a Punt. The match is too short and too incidental to grade as meaningful wrestling, but it succeeds as a palate cleanser before the tag-title main event. Its best feature is knowing when to end.

The Night 1 main event takes months of Bloodline storytelling and reduces it to one question: can Sami Zayn survive Jey Uso long enough to save himself and his friend from the family that consumed him? The Usos control long stretches, repeatedly superkick Zayn and become more desperate as he refuses to stay down. Owens' table crash leaves Sami isolated at exactly the point the audience most fears another Bloodline victory.

The final act is nearly perfect. Owens returns, the challengers survive the 1-D, and Zayn eventually delivers three Helluva Kicks to Jey while Owens prevents Jimmy from saving him. The third kick is not move repetition; it is an exorcism.

Owens and Zayn win the titles and end The Usos' 622-day SmackDown Tag Team Championship reign. WrestleMania gets the happy ending, but the ending works because the match makes everyone suffer for it. This is one of WWE's greatest tag-team matches and one of WrestleMania's best main events.

Lesnar and Omos open Sunday with a match designed around one visual: Brock Lesnar finally lifting the larger man for the F-5. Omos controls early with basic power, Lesnar sells enough to make the size difference matter and nobody pretends the match requires twenty minutes. The simplicity is a feature.

Lesnar lands three German suplexes and finally the F-5 for the pin. Five minutes is exactly the right amount of time for this idea. It is limited wrestling, efficiently delivered.

The women's Showcase has the same structural problem as the men's version and much less momentum. Eight wrestlers rotate through short sequences without enough time for any pairing to become the match's identity. Rousey's physical limitations also keep one of the nominal stars away from most of the action.

Rousey enters late and submits Shotzi with the armbar. The finish is logical and the match is professionally executed, but there is little reason to remember how the teams reached it. This feels like WrestleMania roster inclusion more than WrestleMania necessity.

Gunther, McIntyre and Sheamus wrestle as though the safest route to WrestleMania immortality is simply to hit one another harder than anyone else on the weekend. The match has almost no decorative movement. Chops, forearms, Brogue Kicks, Claymores and powerbombs become the grammar.

The brilliance is in the interruptions. Sheamus appears to have McIntyre beaten, McIntyre steals Sheamus' opportunities, and Gunther repeatedly arrives at the exact second required to preserve the championship. The champion never disappears long enough to make the match feel like two challengers sharing a ring around him.

Gunther finally splashes Sheamus to break a pin, powerbombs Sheamus onto McIntyre and then powerbombs McIntyre for the retention. The finish is violent, clean and decisive. This is among the greatest Intercontinental Championship matches WWE has produced.

Belair and Asuka work an excellent athletic championship match in the difficult position after the Intercontinental Championship classic. Asuka's counters and mist threat give Belair something more dangerous than a simple power matchup, while Belair's strength lets nearly any submission become a lifting sequence. The crowd takes time to recover but the wrestling remains sharp.

The finish is especially good. Asuka avoids the K.O.D. and catches Belair in an armbar, only for Belair to lift her while trapped and complete the K.O.D. for the pin. It is a clean, impressive retention even if the feud never develops the emotional intensity the work suggests it could.

This is less a wrestling match than an emergency response. Shane McMahon returns, tears his quadriceps almost immediately and leaves WWE with a live WrestleMania segment suddenly missing its wrestler. Snoop Dogg recognizes the problem faster than almost anyone could reasonably expect.

Snoop punches The Miz, hits the People's Elbow and gets the pin. Grading the wrestling seriously would miss the point, because the achievement is improvisation rather than execution. As a match it is poor; as live television problem-solving it is remarkable.

Edge and Bálor bring appropriate aggression to a feud that has lasted long enough to justify the Cell. Chairs, kendo sticks and tables keep the match violent without sending the wrestlers outside the structure, while Bálor's Demon presentation gives the bout a visual identity. The purple Cell itself is less intimidating than the wrestlers are.

A ladder thrown by Edge legitimately cuts Bálor, forcing a medical pause and changing the planned rhythm. Bálor later attempts an elevated Coup de Grâce from the wall and crashes through a table, allowing Edge to finish with a con-chair-to. The match is good and memorable, though Edge winning remains a debatable conclusion to the feud.

Reigns and Rhodes spend most of the main event producing the match everyone hoped would end the title reign. Rhodes takes Reigns through a patient opening, survives the Spear and Guillotine, and steadily turns the crowd's expectation into certainty. Reigns remains exceptional at making a long match feel like the champion is choosing when the real fight begins.

The interference becomes increasingly familiar. Solo Sikoa attacks before being ejected, The Usos return after the referee goes down, Owens and Zayn make the save, and Rhodes reaches the point where two Cross Rhodes appear to have finally cleared the path. Then Heyman distracts the referee, Solo returns and the Samoan Spike creates one last Spear.

Reigns retains and SoFi Stadium goes from anticipation to disbelief. The match before the finish is excellent enough to deserve an A, and the eventual WrestleMania XL payoff proves WWE had a destination rather than a dead end. Still, the final mechanism is too similar to previous Bloodline escapes to feel worthy of the moment on its own.