WWE WrestleMania 39 is coming up this Saturday and Sunday! Before the event takes place, let’s run down everything you need to know about the upcoming pay-per-view.
Who is scheduled for the card? How interesting does the show seem? What’s going to happen with all the matches?
Here is a full preview of WWE WrestleMania 39.
PPV EVENT INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, April 1, 2023 and Sunday, April 2, 2023
Start Time: 6 p.m. ET (kickoff), 8 p.m. ET (main show)
Location: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California
MATCH CARD, PREDICTIONS & HEAT INDEX ANTICIPATION LEVELS
(as currently advertised; card is always subject to change)
Temperature Scale = Scorching > Hot > Lukewarm > Temperate > Chilly > Cold > Freezing
Heat Index is my assessment of how interesting the segment is, including how excited I am for the match and how intriguing the feud has been. The hotter, the better. Scorching translates to not being able to wait to see it, while Freezing means I couldn’t possibly care less and think it will be awful.
UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
Heat Index = Scorching
Prediction: Cody Rhodes wins.
Thoughts: I haven’t been this excited for the main event of WrestleMania since Daniel Bryan’s WrestleMania 30 win. Keep it simple. Have Cody Rhodes win after The Bloodline tries to get involved, but Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and maybe someone else (ideal world, The Rock) make the save. If Roman retains just for a “gotcha”, I think that’s going to backfire on WWE massively.
SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: Rhea Ripley wins.
Thoughts: Lame feud built on WWE massively screwing things up several years ago. The only thing I have to say about this is that Rhea Ripley absolutely must win, and ideally, in a pretty decisive fashion. Anything less is a travesty and too much of a continuation of their bullshit “Ripley cannot beat Flair, for some reason” stuff. Mind you, even if Ripley wins here, it still won’t make up for how much momentum she lost every other time they’ve squared off. She took 20 steps back and this would be 5 steps forward—still in the negatives, but just not as much anymore.
RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: Bianca Belair wins.
Thoughts: It’s really a shame WWE didn’t structure this better. These two are fantastic. There’s a great potential feud to be told here. Instead, they phoned it in. This is yet again another “Shut up. The match will be good. Just ignore the next couple weeks and come back to us when its time for the bell to ring” type feuds. They’ve done quite literally nothing to try to give it a hook. If you’re brand new to watching, you would have no reason to be excited, because they’re banking entirely on everyone already knowing that Belair and Asuka are good and that’s it. Of course, they ARE good, so the match should be fine. But I don’t think this was the right type of build, nor even the right match as far as the marquee is concerned, for WrestleMania this year. It reeks of a backup plan. I’m 50/50 on who wins. I could see both scenarios making sense. But I’m currently leaning toward Belair so they say she has a trifecta of back-to-back-to-back wins at Mania.
SINGLES MATCH:
Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
Heat Index = Lukewarm
Prediction: Brock Lesnar wins.
Thoughts: This is a two-move match. Can Lesnar actually get Omos up for a German suplex and an F-5? That’s all we’re interested in seeing. And damn it…I do want to see it. I hate that I have to admit that. Granted, you’re not going to hear me say that this was a good build or at all what I would have booked for WrestleMania, but it at least has some sideshow attraction to it compared to how many other matches are bringing even less to the table.
UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Austin Theory wins.
Thoughts: After all that “you aren’t ready and you’ll still be a loser even if you happen to beat me” talk, combined with the United States title being on the line and my inability to think Cena is going to show up again to defend that title, this pretty much has to go to Theory. Cena winning by disqualification or count-out would be such a lame ending. Give Theory the win, even if it happens to be a little wonky with some tights being held or something. I’m holding out hope WWE doesn’t screw Theory over here like what happened with Money in the Bank.
SINGLES MATCH:
Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Seth Rollins wins.
Thoughts: These two are going to kill it. I have a feeling this will end up being the potential sleeper best match of the whole weekend (not just Mania, but ROH and NXT, too). I’m 100% on board with watching them do their thing. It’s as simple as that. As far as predictions go, Rollins winning to give the crowd another happy pop moment makes sense to me. But if they want to have Logan Paul win in order to have a potential title match down the line with Cody Rhodes, I could see an argument to that, too. I just think Paul could do that without having to win here.
SIX-WOMAN TAG TEAM MATCH:
Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky)
Heat Index = Temperate
Prediction: Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus win.
Thoughts: I’m glad this is a six-woman tag team match instead of trying to get singles matches out of this feud. Limiting Lita and Trish to some hot tags and not forcing them to wrestle entire singles matches on their own will be beneficial. This should be run of the mill, but people will mark out over the people involved. They’ll all have fun. It’s decent filler and I like everyone involved. I just happen to be over the Becky vs. Damage CTRL feud and I don’t think the in-ring action will be among the best on these two nights, so I can’t go as high as Lukewarm.
HELL IN A CELL MATCH:
Edge vs. Finn Balor
Heat Index = Temperate
Prediction: Edge wins.
Thoughts: Can this PLEASE be the end of this feud? It’s been an entire year. I haven’t felt like it had steam behind it for more than a few weeks sporadically over those 12+ months. Demon King Balor is overrated. He just wrestles the same basic style. It’s like giving John Cena a different colored pair of wristbands. Outside of the visual, it isn’t anything different. Hell in a Cell as a gimmick has been resting on the laurels of the late 90s. It hasn’t really been good in nearly 20 years. This is NOT going to be the amazing Match of the Year “great feud-ender” spectacle that it seems like it should be on paper. But I’m not going to be so harsh as to say that this gets into the Chilly, Cold or Freezing territory. I’m just over this and I don’t have high expectations. Edge’s return shouldn’t have wasted a full year on The Judgment Day. Prove me wrong. Make this so good that I can’t deny that it was all worth it. If you do, I’ll admit I had a faulty point of view.
SINGLES MATCH:
Dominik Mysterio vs. Rey Mysterio
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Dominik Mysterio wins.
Thoughts: How am I more into this match, which I don’t expect to be all that great, than so many other matches that have way more on-paper potential? I’ll tell you how. Because Dominik Mysterio has been far more interesting as a heel than as a babyface. It’s nowhere near a close race. I’m hoping Dom wins here. Some heels should win at WrestleMania and it means more if he picks up a cheap victory. This feud can continue (and should continue) into a match where Dom can take Rey’s mask.
WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
The Usos (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
Heat Index = Scorching
Prediction: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn win.
Thoughts: This may very well be the hottest match of the entire week on any of these pay-per-views. I’m 100% sold on it. I think it’ll be a fantastic segment with a triumphant new set of champions being crowned and one of those WrestleMania moments we can keep looking back on fondly.
WOMEN’S WRESTLEMANIA SHOWCASE FATAL 4-WAY TAG TEAM MATCH:
Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya and Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler
Heat Index = Freezing
Prediction: Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler win.
Thoughts: A meaningless, thrown-together at the last minute match wherein three of the teams aren’t even teams, and there are still some better wrestlers sitting the card out compared to some of the people competing? Nope. Can’t say I’m super thrilled about this. It isn’t even a No. 1 contender’s match, let alone for the tag titles, which it should be. Ronda and Shayna win because obviously. And no, even if Becky Lynch and Lita get randomly inserted in here, it still won’t make this jump up to that much higher of a hype value. At least it will serve a purpose, though, in getting the belts on a new team.
MEN’S WRESTLEMANIA SHOWCASE FATAL 4-WAY TAG TEAM MATCH:
Alpha Academy vs. Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Street Profits vs. The Viking Raiders
Heat Index = Temperate
Prediction: The Street Profits win.
Thoughts: While this suffers from some of the lameduck booking concepts as the women’s match, at least this one will undoubtedly be the better in-ring contest of the two. I could imagine any of the teams winning except for Alpha Academy, as Chad Gable is likely taking the pin to lose after some distraction shenanigans from Maximum Male Models.
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP TRIPLE THREAT MATCH:
Gunther (c) vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
Heat Index = Hot
Prediction: Sheamus wins.
Thoughts: These guys are going to beat the tar out of each other. Out of all the matches on this two-night lineup, this one feels the most foolproof to me. As in, I don’t think there’s a chance it fails to be a great contest. Gunther’s likely dropping the belt, since he won’t have to take a pin. But I could see a case for Drew or Sheamus winning by pinning the other. Since I ultimately do want Sheamus to win the title to be able to check that off his career bucket list, I’m rooting for him overall.
OVERALL PPV:
How excited am I for the event as a whole?
Heat Index = Hot
Thoughts: Despite how 1/3 of this is kind of crap and another 1/3 of it doesn’t have the build it should, the other 1/3 could be fantastic. WrestleMania just isn’t treated with the same care and attention to detail as it should be, anymore, for whatever reason. That’s a shame. But it is still WrestleMania. It is undeniable that there will continue to be more hype heading into this by sheer name value alone. So while I think this is far from the WrestleMania 39 that I would have fantasy booked in my head, I’m still excited for it.
What do you think is going to happen at WWE WrestleMania 39? Which matches are you most excited to see? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!
Also make sure to enter my 2023 Road to WrestleMania contest for a chance to win a Dusty Rhodes Funko Pop!
