Wrestlemania 39 Night 1 Results: It’s called “The Grandest Stage of Them All” for a reason

 

A strong case could be made for the biggest star of Wrestlemania weekend being the Wrestlemania stage itself. I’d seen pictures of it under construction online a few days ago but when Austin Theory came out during his entrance, I was so glad I wasn’t watching the event in person.

 

No offense to the 80, 471 people who were in attendance but the cameras do an outstanding job showing you just how MASSIVE the stage and ramp are. I will be looking forward to seeing if it will be involved in Sunday’s matches in particular. I think the ramp itself might be the longest Wrestlemania ramp ever constructed because it’s in a football stadium. The ring is about where the 50-yard line would be on that note.

One of the things that sets Wrestlemania apart from the other PLEs is almost everyone gets a special entrance as they’re introduced. In recent years we’ve started seeing more of both sides in each match getting a special entrance. For example Logan Paul used a zip line–a reference to his status as an internet celebrity–while a conductor came out for Seth Rollins’ entrance to literally conduct the audience.

As a reminder, NXT Stand & Deliver was that afternoon. WWE takes over whatever city they’re in akin to when the NFL takes over for the Super Bowl and the NBA takes over for its All Star Weekend. I hope Boston gets to host Wrestlemania again in my lifetime on that note. Boston hosted Wrestlemania 14 (1998) which I attended in person.

 

Now, let’s get to the match results:

• U.S. Champion Austin Theory def. John Cena
• The Street Profits win Mens’ Tag Team Wrestlemania Showcase
• Seth Rollins def. Logan Paul
• Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus def. Damage CTRL
• Rey Mysterio def. Dominik Mysterio
• Rhea Ripley def. Charlotte Flair to become the new Smackdown Women’s Champion
• Pat McAfee def. The Miz (impromptu match made on the spot)
• Main Event: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens def. The Usos to become the new WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions

…Except for the Mens Tag Team Match and the main event, all of the match outcomes were pretty easy to guess in advance. It’s easy to see most of the matches on Night 1 were likely already set in advance. Bobby Lashley’s Wrestlemania status is not currently known as a reminder. There is rampant speculation now former NXT Champion Bron Breakker could be be brought in as Lashley’s surprise Wrestlemania opponent. If that is the case, it could be a hell of a match.

Speaking of Hell. If you paid attention during wide shots, you could see the Hell in a Cell structure hanging from the top of the stadium. I’m pretty sure we can expect the other members of The Judgement Day to somehow get involved in that match. I’m counting on Beth Phoenix or Mia Yim getting involved if Rhea Riply’s around.

It was heavily teased Trish Stratus was going to turn on Lynch and Lita either during or after their match with Damage CTRL. That ended up not happening. Either WWE changed those plans, it will happen on RAW or that was never planned. I hope it’s the latter personally but that’s just me.

Triple H addressed Charlotte’s criticism of her match with Rhea Ripley not being made the main event for Night 1. He plainly stated the reason the Tag Team Championship match was made the main event was because of the longterm storytelling behind it going back almost 12 months. I think if it hadn’t been announced until hours before ‘Mania started, it wouldn’t have felt controversial to some. Triple H also seemed to dispute some reporting by the dirtsheets that implied Flair/Ripley would be Night 1’s main event for “political reasons” as in because it was a Women’s Championship match.

As for the match itself, it’s a contender for match of the year. They stole the show, I’ll just put it like that. It was EPIC and main event worthy to say the least. As it happens, it was announced online Charlotte is stepping away to train for a bodybuilding competion. Her absence this time probably won’t be that long and when she does return, she’ll be going for her record-tying 16th title reign.

Getting to the main event. Is this the beginning of the end of The Bloodline? We’ll know for sure if Cody Rhodes is able to beat Roman Reigns but at the very least, the Usos’ dominance over the Tag Team division is now over. We’ll have to wait and see if that also holds true for Roman Reigns tonight!

 

Breaking News:

UFC’s parent company Endeavor Group has reached a deal to purchase WWE Sunday afternoon for over $9 Billion. The fact that the deal was finalized during Wrestlemania weekend speaks to how serious both sides were about getting this done. Vince McMahon was in Los Angeles for the weekend and the company’s sale is reportedly the talk of everyone backstage.

As a reminder, Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey are both UFC Hall of Famers. Matt Riddle and Shayna Baszlet also spent time in UFC. This is to say nothing of UFC legend Daniel Cormier being involved with WWE last year. There’s also the fact Connor McGregor has talked about wanting to cross into WWE for almost a decade. Now it’s much easier for him to do that.

The purchase is mutually beneficial. For Endeavor, their media reach now extends to NBCUniversal (Peacock and USA Network), WWE Network (outside the U.S.) and FOX. WWE gets access to UFC’s backlog and now has the resources to massively expand its podcast programming. In case you haven’t noticed, the only WWE Podcast still getting new episodes right now is After The Bell.

The sale is expected to be officially announced by both sides Monday but I’ll watch the press conference after Wrestlemania Sunday to see if Triple H mentions it. I don’t expect him to say too much but I’ll be shocked if no one asks him about it.

 

 

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