I just got back from night two of WrestleMania 39, and while it wasn’t as good as night one (read those takeaways here), there were still a lot of stand-out moments. The main event between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes lived up to its potential. Gunther, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre put on an absolute banger, and many of the other matches worked pretty well too, most prominently Bianca Belair and Asuka and Finn Bálor and Edge.
Fans will be talking about all of it for the next year, but there are some major takeaways that need to be discussed earlier rather than later. So, let’s just focus on the absolutely huge ones for right now. Here are my five biggest takewaways from night two of WrestleMania 39.
Bianca Belair Can’t Be Pleased With That Crowd Reaction
Bianca and Asuka put on a really solid match. Depending on how you feel about Edge and Finn Bálor, I assume it was everyone’s third or fourth favorite of the night. That might not live up to the incredibly high stakes Bianca was hoping for, but it’s still another WrestleMania W for the EST, who is now 3-0 and has put on really good matches every time. Unfortunately, there are some reasons for her to be frustrated though. The crowd was very heavily rooting for Asuka and on a few occasions, even booed Bianca.
The question is why. Did they boo Bianca because they felt like this was Asuka’s big chance to get a push or did they boo Bianca because they’re sick of her winning and want to see some adversity and/ or a slight change to her character? I’m not really sure. WrestleMania fans are more plugged into the bigger picture than your average SmackDown crowd. So, this doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but at the same time, if I were Bianca Belair, I’d probably want to have some conversations about tweaking things up a little bit or at least being very thoughtful with who she feuds with next. You can’t be a babyface and establish a pattern of getting rooted against.
Lots Of Fans Are Questioning Why Certain Wrestlers Weren’t Used And Rightfully So
The WrestleMania card is always a very hotly debated topic, and this year, the questions are even louder thanks to a few rather interesting decisions. Most prominently, WWE decided not to use Bobby Lashley who is, by pretty much any definition, one of the ten biggest stars in the company. The original plan was for him to wrestle Bray Wyatt, but after that program went south under mysterious circumstances a few weeks ago, fans were waiting to see how the writers would adapt. Well, it turns out they had him win The Andre The Giant Battle Royal on SmackDown and just didn’t use him for WrestleMania, apart from a segment where he was introduced and waved at the crowd.
Also left on the cutting room floor was LA Knight, who is rapidly getting over with fans in a big way. When he was eliminated from the aforementioned Andre The Giant Battle Royal, there were very loud boos, as it was clear he was the favorite among fans in attendance. Rumors swirled online that maybe he would get something to do during the main card, but that never ended up happening. Instead, in addition to the previously announced card, we got two impromptu Miz matches. The first one was against Pat McAfee (with interference from George Kittle), and the second was against a combination of Shane McMahon and Snoop Dogg.
It was obvious someone was going to beat The Miz up given he was hosting WrestleMania, but many fans are confused why that role didn’t go to Lashley or LA Knight or why the second match happened at all when the time could have been given to one or both of them.
Triple H Is Not Gonna Change Titles For The Sake Of Changing Titles
We got a few title changes at WrestleMania with Rhea Ripley and Sami Zayn/ Kevin Owens winning, but a lot of the champions retained. Over the last six months or so, it’s become very clear that Triple H doesn’t want to play musical chairs with the championships. If someone is a good fit to hold the title, it seems like he’s going to keep the title on that person until there’s a better option to win it. That might sound like common sense, but promoters often fall in love with creating big, shocking moments, and one of the best ways to do that is by beating a champion.
Gunther, Roman and Bianca are all in the middle of extraordinary title runs. All three had very credible challenges who were over with the crowd, and all three held on to their titles. Roman is pushing three years. Bianca is officially over a year, and Gunther is the longest serving Intercontinental Champion this century. It doesn’t feel like that would have happened in WWE just a few short years ago. So, every superstar should be put on notice, that if you want to win a belt, you better be a really appealing option.
Gunther Is A Future World Champion
Has Gunther had a bad match in WWE yet? The Intercontinental Triple Threat absolutely slapped and ended with Gunther’s first WrestleMania victory. It wasn’t a squash match. All three men looked really good, but Gunther clearly came out looking the strongest. He also got a badass intro from Ludwig Kaiser, and while the fans respected his heel-ness and rooted against him, there were also a lot of applause breaks out of respect for how good he is in the ring.
I don’t know when Triple H will pull the trigger and move Gunther to the main event scene, but whenever that happens, there is a good chance he will win gold at the highest level quickly. Everything he does just looks fantastic, and it’s been awhile since WWE had a truly great monster heel that can brutalize people. I don’t think we’ll see him against Roman Reigns in the near future, but the main event push is coming at some point.
Roman Reigns Is Still The Biggest Star In Wrestling
WWE could have let Cody finish the story. They could have created an incredible feel good moment in which the son of Dusty Rhodes reached the mountaintop his father never could. It would have been a moment played in WrestleMania montages for decades to come, but instead, they elected to keep the title on Roman Reigns. Many of the fans inside the arena were furious, but the case to keep the belt on Roman is pretty strong too, which I outlined before 'Mania. He’s the biggest star in the entire company and in the wrestling business as a whole, and he was involved in the best storyline in the history of wrestling over the last year.
Cody played a part in that story, to be clear, but it was mostly a shoehorned in part the last three months. He wasn’t involved in any of the storyline’s biggest moments, and ultimately, his story just wasn’t as compelling as continuing the one Roman is actively telling. Fortunately, it would be a shock if he didn’t get another chance down the road. Maybe this loss will fuel him to add a new dynamic to his character that will make him even stronger and more popular. Then, when they meet again, maybe he’ll be the obvious option at that point. We’ll just have to wait and see, but for now, it’s still Roman Reigns’ industry. Acknowledge him.
