Roman reigns supreme at WWE WrestleMania 39: 5 takeaways
Roman Reigns shocked the WWE Universe by retaining his Universal Championship belts against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39. Photo: @AdamGoldberg28
Wrestling's biggest night of the year, WrestleMania 39, has ended and surprisingly Roman Reigns has retained the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship belt against Cody Rhodes in the main event. 'The American Nightmare', Rhodes, had to walk out empty-handed as fans looked shocked and unable to digest the fact that he had lost the match.
Also, Edge finally defeated Demon Finn Balor in the Hell in a Cell match, putting an end to their rivalry. Also, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are the new Undisputed Tag Team Champions.
As most of the storylines that were being built up for some time have come to an end with WrestleMania 39, Monday Night Raw’s episode on April 3 will reveal the further plans of the company.
The result of matches also give us a few hints on the future bookings of the company.
Here are five takeaways from WrestleMania 39.
1. Cody Rhodes not yet ready for the title belt
The return of Cody Rhodes to WWE in last year’s WrestleMania 38 was a breather for the company. Since his Royal Rumble victory, it looked like the company was now ready to install him as a champion.
Even his performance in the ring with nearly back-to-back victories against Seth Rollins ensured that he got the roars from fans.
But at WrestleMania 39, Rhodes lost the bout to Roman Reigns while it was highly expected that Reigns would drop the title belt to Rhodes and there will be a loud roar from the fans as Cody Rhodes became the champion.
Rhodes' loss means that the company doesn’t want to risk its ratings knowing the massive popularity Roman Reigns has. Second, it thinks that Cody Rhodes still needs to spend more time in the company before he gets to hold two title belts at the same time.
2. No key surprises
Annoyingly, WrestleMania 39 was without surprise returns of any superstar. Over the years, fans have seen the likes of Jeff Hardy, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and last year, even Cody Rhodes returning at the WrestleMania.
However, this time around, there were no returns except for a dud appearance by Shane McMahon who ultimately tore his quad in the ring while trying to jump inside the ring against The Miz.
Shane McMahon’s return hardly electrified the stadium like the previous returns did, and his injury inside the ring killed the momentum further.
In the end, WrestleMania 39 ended without a surprise for the fans.
3. Edge still has time in WWE
A loss for Rated-R Superstar clearly meant that his days in the company were over and that it was time for retirement. Many wrestling observers too felt the same, thinking Edge would put over Demon Finn Balor and lose the match.
But the company put its faith back in the veteran of the game and scripted Edge’s victory inside Hell in a Cell, underlining that he has considerable fire in his belly.
However, Edge, who doesn’t look in the best of the shape, might not be involved in any storyline until Backlash, which is in May; or SummerSlam, which happens in August. He might make sporadic appearances but might not wrestle on a weekly basis.
4. Brock Lesnar not to be seen for a long time
Pitting Lesnar against Omos at WrestleMania 39 was a boring idea. It was perhaps at the behest of Lesnar, who wanted to sign off from the company for some time after his brief feud with Omos.
Nevertheless, Lesnar, expectedly, won the match and walked off the ring. Since Lesnar’s storyline with Omos is over, the company might not book him into another storyline unless there's a big event.
There are chances that Lesnar will not be seen in the ring for the next two months and that he might come back for SummerSlam or for a WWE event in Jeddah in May. But for now, he looks done with WWE matches in the ring.
5. WWE has no face except Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns's third consecutive victory at WrestleMania 39 proves that the company has no credible face at this point.
For the past three years, Reigns has been main-eventing WrestleManias and this time too, he walked out as the winner, third time in a row.
Ever since John Cena stepped back, WWE has struggled hard to establish a face of the company. It tried with Roman Reigns as a babyface at first, but it failed miserably.
Then the company tried Roman Reigns as heel since 2021, and the plan worked wonders. With Paul Heyman on his side, Reigns is undoubtedly a big deal for WWE.
With no Cena, AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk or Jeff Hardy, the company is left with only Reigns as the face of the company as of now.