WWE Wrestlemania 39 Recap Night 1

Baby faces dominate, Theory retains U.S. Title, Owens and Zayn defeat Usos for tag team titles, Ripley wins Smackdown Women’s Championship 

Every year for the last four decades, millions of wrestling fans around the world have either gathered around their televisions or bought tickets to be in the building to witness greatness unfold before their very eyes. The ‘showcase of immortals, the professional wrestling spectacle known as WrestleMania, took over the Hollywood grounds and Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles, California, to put on another Mania for the ages, and indeed this year’s lived up to the hype. After 2022’s WrestleMania 38, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the year following was filled with immense story building to help make WrestleMania 39’s matches that more entertaining.  

The two-night event left fans exhausted, overjoyed, and sometimes speechless. The almost forty-year-old event brought the WWE universe to their feet time and time again giving the fans another roller coaster ride of WrestleMania. In this review we will look back and discuss the biggest matches and moments that made or broke this year’s Mania.  

Night 1:  

United States Title Match: John Cena vs. (C) Austin Theory 

Saturday night kicked off the ‘Super Bowl of Sports Entertainment’ by beginning with the United States Championship match as young upcoming superstar, Austin Theory, finally had his match against the ten-time world champion, John Cena. After calling out Cena on numerous occasions claiming it was time for Theory to make the WWE universe believe in him once and for all, Theory got what he asked for and the bell rang. Although Cena’s put on countless memorable performances at Mania, this one was not one of them.  

The ring rust of Cena showed as Theory was able to maneuver his way past the veteran superstar in the Mania match kickoff. Cena was able to hit signature moves such as the five-knuckle shuffle and submission hold, the STF, yet while the referee was distracted, Theory took the opportunity to low-blow, the former three-time United States champion, and hit Cena with the A-town down, giving Theory the win. This disappointing outcome was a bit of bummer to kick off WrestleMania 38, yet it makes sense for Theory to hold on to the title as Cena is on his way out of the business and Theory is just getting started.  

It’s very clear that the content creators behind the story telling of the WWE see Theory as the ‘next big thing’ as they should, since the twenty-five-year-old supplies many of the traits a future stud superstar would possess. As shocking as it was to see Cena lose to the inexperienced Theory on the ‘Grandest Stage of them All’, the fact is Cena’s constant presence on Raw just isn’t happening anymore and Theory’s story needs to be pushed more than Cena’s already written legacy. This bout was quick yet entertaining to see the ‘then vs now’ match happen under the brightest lights but could’ve used a greater story build up.  

Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins vs. Logan Paul 

One of the biggest stories of the weekend climaxed with a high-flying and brutal match as Rollins and Paul finally squared off. Rollins’ constant problem with the social media star was his feelings that Paul was simply using his platform in the WWE to only help himself, and not better the status of the company, when Rollins has always been a huge advocate for putting the company first. Paul’s self-centered ego makes for a perfect heel as the story line began back at the rROYAL RUMBLE when Paul tossed Rollins out of the ring, crushing the WWE veteran’s goal of headlining WrestleMania against the ‘Head of the Table’, Roman Reigns. Paul would later make matters even worse for Rollins inside the Elimination Chamber when he ambushed U.S. Title chamber match, ruining Rollins’ goals once again.  

The story leading up to the match gave much to be excited about as inexperience was facing off against experience. The aerial entrance of Paul was one for the ages as he ziplined his way to the ring over the WWE Universe, yet it was no match for Rollins’ roaring entrance as 81,000 packed in Sofi Stadium sang the beloved, ‘woaahh, ohhh, ohhh’ chant through Rollins’ slow walk all the way to the ring. The two competitors traded blows right away as the bell rang. Paul’s surprisingly advanced ring work shocked many in the crowd once again as the inexperienced WWE superstar showed the world that he can go toe to toe with the best in the business. The match had fans on their feet as the two would perform high-octane moves on each other leaving carnage outside the ring. No reaction was greater than the top rope leap of Paul, crashing his body through the Spanish announcers table with close friend and PRIME energy drink mascot, KSI.  

Paul created a WrestleMania moment of his own with the death-defying maneuver leaving the crowd in awe. Rollins would later pin the social media guru, yet Paul continued to prove to the WWE universe that he can entertain the masses. It was the right decision to let Rollins pin the inexperienced Paul since Rollins has much greater care and respect for the company than Paul does but many left the stadium thinking, wow, that man (Logan Paul) left everything on the line for his WrestleMania moment. It will definitely be interesting to see what the story writers have in store for Paul in the future, who made this match one of the most exciting matches of the whole weekend.  

Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio 

Rey Mysterio embarked on a legendary weekend that started on Friday night when the forty-eight-year-old veteran was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. The ceremony inducting Mysterio was followed by a heart-felt speech by the luchador legend, yet Dominik left the celebration in the middle of his father receiving the prestigious honor. This beef started months prior due to the toxic brainwashing of Dominik that was inspired by ‘The Judgment Day’ tag team. After manipulating Dominik, The Judgement Day forced Dominik to turn on his own father causing the current bad blood between the father-son duo. Rey refused to hit Dominik until he began to take his foul behavior towards their own family, in his mother Angie and sister Aalyah.  

Rey’s entrance paid homage to Los Angeles as he was accompanied by WrestleMania host, Snoop Dogg, in a low-rider and followed up with a tribute to the late Eddie Gurrero, playing his “I lie, I cheat, I steal”, entrance music. It was a great culmination of giving the Latino community of the WWE universe something to be proud of, as well as seeing Dominik rise to such an important caliber within the business to share a match on the grandest stage of them all with his beloved father.  

The match did not disappoint as Dominik and Rey put on a great show. As sad as the story line may seem, it was a beautiful moment for the Mysterio family as both father and son had reached the mountain top of wrestling entertainment. Dominik splashed water on sister Aaliyah, when Rey knocked him down and sent him back in the ring. This matchup carried so many emotions and felt so real due to the family’s ability to portray the realness of these fictional situations. Ringside announcer and world renown recording artist, Bad Bunny fortunately saved the day from ‘The Judgement Day’s’ plan for Dominik to use a steal chain against his father when Bunny took the chain away from Dominik’s hand, setting up the distraction for Rey to hit the 619 and finish the match.  

WrestleMania is a night about story line’s reaching their ultimate concussions and climax, in which this one most certainly did. Kudos to the WWE for giving their fans a remarkable ride of a storyline but also honoring the legendary family that is the Mysterio’s and hopefully giving Dominik future opportunities to make a name for himself.  

Smackdown Women’s Championship match: Rhea Ripley vs. (C) Charlotte Flair 

The Judgment Day was not done representing after the Dominik match as Rhea Ripley would contend for the SD Women’s title later that night. After winning the women’s royal rumble match, Ripley challenged veteran champion, Charlotte Flair, for her gold as the ‘Showcase of Immortals’. Flair’s immense WrestleMania experience made this match intriguing considering Ripley’s recent rise to the top of the food chain in the women’s division but also facing a distinguished champion giving the match an even feel.   

Not only did the match impress but stole the show. Although it was not the last match of the night, it felt like a ‘big fight feel’ as announcer Michael Cole would say and had the WWE Universe biting their nails in anticipation to see who would come out victorious. Ripley was up for the challenge, constantly trading blows with the champion and even dominating the match at some points shocking the crowd. Flair was not going to go down easy as she kicked out of numerous two count pin falls causing the young Rhea Ripley to wonder what was necessary to take down Flair. Ripley would later have to pull out all the stops and perform her trademark   full-nelson slam in WrestleMania fashion by slamming Flair off the top turnbuckle causing the crowd to jump out of their seats. The royal rumble winner pinned Flair, winning the Smackdown Women’s Championship and sealing her WrestleMania moment amongst the other greats in WWE history.  

The WWE has been pushing for women to take a greater role in pay per view main events and did a great job with this one. It is always a great viewing experience for wrestling fans to be rewarded with a royal rumble winner, winning it all, at WrestleMania, paying off a upwards climb to the mountaintop which they did for Rhea Ripley. Ripley’s journey to defeating the veteran champion Flair gave fans a refreshing face to see reign supreme over Smackdown but also acknowledged the fans eagerness to see a story end in triumph for such a booming young WWE character such as Ripley. Bravo for another memorable main event that came from women talents who are continuing to shine harder on WWE’s grandest stage.  

Main Event: Unified Tag Team Championship match: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. (C) The Usos 

The story of Sami Zayn against the Bloodline (The Usos, Solo Sikoa, Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman) may not have ended the way fans wanted it to, considering Zayn lost to Reigns for the WWE Unified Championships at Elimination Chamber, yet this tag team match partnered with longtime friend and fellow wrestler, Kevin Owens, certainly held its own as a night one main event. Zayn and Owens realized if they can’t rip down the ‘Head of the Table’, Reigns, himself, they could at least try and steal the tag team titles from the long-time champions, Jey and Jimmy Uso.  

This would not be an easy task for Owens and Zayn as they were looking to dethrone the Uso’s who were holding the tag titles for over six hundred days, but nothing was going to stop the determined blue-collar wrestlers who started at the bottom and have made it too far to not go home victorious. WWE fans around the world were ready to see the Usos be challenged by a legitimate threat to take over the tag titles for a longtime and finally received one.  

This match was thrilling and beyond exciting. The Usos were able to dominate early with quick tags and wearing out Zayn by ganging up on him using multiple tag team maneuvers which we’ve seen the champs do to so many challengers before them, but Zayn found life. The crowd errupted as Zayn dragged his body across the ring in desperation as Owens was tagged in and the momentum shifted towards the challengers. Owen’s brute strength and anxious energy was on full display as he was able to deliver multiple ‘pop-up’ powerbombs to the champs evening the playing field. The match would go back and forth as the Usos were able to come back and land numerous combined super kicks and ‘One-D’ power slams to Zayn and Owens, yet it would not be enough to put them away. The match came to a standstill as both teams stared at each other ready to end the match once and for all, as Owens was heard yelling “lets finish it” to his partner Zayn before trading blows with the champions. Zayn would later land three straight ‘helluva kicks’ to defeat the Usos, crowning new unified tag team champions. 

Zayn and Owens feud with The Bloodline would end in stunning fashion with the new tag team champs celebrating a long-awaited victory as the WWE universe showered them in song by singing along to the chant in Sami Zayn’s entrance music. All was right in the world as one half of The Bloodline was defeated, and the blue-collar good guys came out on top giving the fans the desperate change they were begging for. The story of Zayn and Owens coming to this climax of ending WrestleMania, holding the tag team titles high above their heads, was extremely satisfying after looking back on how far they’ve truly come in this industry to be rewarded under the brightest lights.  

Night one of WrestleMania 39 exceeded many expectations as the card lived up to its full potential with countless WrestleMania moments that we will look back on for centuries to come. The recap of night two will be posted soon only at spotlifeasia.com. For future WWE content and more, visit spotlifeasia.com for all updates.