After a momentous Night One of wrestling, night two of WrestleMania 39 had even more anticipation from fans. There was some intrigue as to whether Bianca Belair could suffer her first WrestleMania loss and, in doing so, whether Asuka could pull off her first WrestleMania victory. Brock Lesnar vs. Omos promised a show. Edge and Finn Balor brought Hell in a Cell back to ‘Mania for the first time in seven years. And, of course, all eyes were on the main event as Roman Reigns defended wrestling’s top prize for the third consecutive ‘Mania, against Cody Rhodes. Along the way, there were a number of subtleties and facts that may have gone unnoticed.
9 Gunther was the first Intercontinental Champion to successfully defend at WrestleMania in over two decades.
There have been quite a few years where the Intercontinental Championship hasn’t been defended at WrestleMania, but when it has been, the champions don’t have a very good track record of success. In fact, prior to WrestleMania 39, the last time an IC Champion successfully defended his title was at WrestleMania 17, when Chris Jericho retained William Regal.
Gunther further made his case as an all-time great Intercontinental Champion when he held his own against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a show-stealing match on Night Two of WrestleMania this year.
8 A deceptively interesting statistical night for Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania
Even though Brock Lesnar is one of the most successful performers in WWE history, he’s actually had a checkered track record when it comes to winning WrestleMania matches. Coming into WrestleMania 39, he actually had an overall losing record, going 5-6 in previous ‘Mania matches. He was 0-1 when working the opening match of the card (WrestleMania 35) and 1-1 as a babyface based on his WrestleMania 19 win over Kurt Angle and his WrestleMania 38 loss to Roman. reigns.
So by beating Omos, Lesnar moved back up to a record of .500 both overall and in the opening bouts. Meanwhile, he’s ascended to a winning record as a face on The Showcase of the Immortals.
7 The Brood Gimmick offered a connection to Edge’s first appearance at WrestleMania
“Brood Edge” made his entrance at WrestleMania 39. The Brood harkens back to one of the earliest iterations of Edge in WWE. More specifically though, it was as a henchman of Gangrel in The Brood that Edge first appeared at WrestleMania when the trio descended from the roof to stand on top of ‘Mania’s first Hell in a Cell and help The Undertaker hang. to a fallen Big Boss Man.
That was Edge’s first WrestleMania. By Edge’s own account of wanting to retire within the next year, this was probably his last match at WrestleMania. As such, the combination of Brood and Cell offered a nice full circle feel.
6 Roman Reigns pulled off his seventh WrestleMania main event much faster than Triple H
WrestleMania 39 marked the seventh time that Roman Reigns had participated in the main event of WrestleMania. That tied him with Triple H for most WrestleMania main events of all time. The only fighter who arguably surpasses them is Hulk Hogan. (Hogan participated in an undisputed main event of seven of the first eight WrestleManias. After that point, his numbers are less certain as his impromptu world title match with Yokozuna technically closed out WrestleMania 9, but it’s hard to call it a proper main event. His matches with The Rock and Vince McMahon were arguably co-main events in the years that followed, but they didn’t close out their shows).
Reigns couldn’t match The Hulkster’s efficiency, but in main event seven of the ten WrestleManias he’s appeared in, that’s a much steadier clip than Triple H. The Game achieved main event status seven times in WrestleMania 32, but that was his twenty-first time fighting in The Showcase of the Immortals.
5 Both halves of a WWE power couple had similar roles
It’s no secret that Braun Strowman and Raquel Rodriguez have been a real-life couple for some time. It’s interesting to note that at WrestleMania 39 each of the two played a similar role.
On Night One, Strowman was the heavyweight along with the smaller, uber-athletic Ricochet in a losing effort in the Men’s Showcase. On Night Two, Rodriguez was the muscle along with the petite, athletic babyface, Liv Morgan. Neither of them emerged victorious.
4 The first WrestleMania Hell in a Cell match not involving the Undertaker
Night Two featured a collision between Edge and Finn Balor within Hell in a Cell. The history and talent between the two justified the epic setting. However, it’s worth noting that although this was the fourth Hell in a Cell Match to occur at WrestleMania, it was the first time that such a match at ‘Mania did not include The Undertaker.
The Undertaker faced The Big Boss Man inside the cell at WrestleMania 15, Triple H at WrestleMania 28, and Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 32. Edge is a gimmick veteran with three previous visits to the cell outside of WrestleMania; this was Balor’s debut in WWE’s biggest cage.
3 Shane McMahon almost reached his father’s age when they faced each other at WrestleMania
Shane McMahon had one of the strangest WrestleMania appearances of all time this year, pulling off a surprise match to take on his WrestleMania 35 opponent, The Miz.
Shane-O-Mac suffered an injury less than a minute into the impromptu match due to a Leapfrog gone wrong. The suddenness of the very public injury may have sparked in some fans memories of his father Vince’s double quadruple tear immediately attempting to enter the ring at Royal Rumble 2005.
Also, watching Shane work a WrestleMania match sparks thoughts of his first ‘Mania match 22 years ago, when he wrestled his father. As time passed, Shane is now only two years younger than his father for that father-son match, the same weekend as the second father-son ‘Mania’ match.
2 Ronda Rousey continues to have more success in tag teams than in individual action at WrestleMania
Ronda Rousey posted a .500 overall win-loss record at WrestleMania 39 when she picked up the submission for herself and Shayna Baszler. Fans may remember her impressive debut five years earlier, when she and Kurt Angle teamed up to defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
In both of The Baddest Woman on the Planet’s WrestleMania appearances between then and now, she ended up losing. First, she dropped the Raw Women’s Championship to Becky Lynch in the main event of WrestleMania 35, then she unsuccessfully challenged Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 38. So, to date, Rousey has won her matches of pairs and has lost his singles efforts at ‘Mania, though there are other ways to view his record as well. She has won non-title matches, but lost when she had gold on the line. She also lost when Flair was in the mix and won when she wasn’t.
1 Both Intercontinental Championship contenders had won world titles at WrestleMania before
Gunther brought the Intercontinental Championship to WrestleMania 39. In addition to an impressive title run to date, one of his biggest WWE credibility claims was his hour-plus run at the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble match.
Interestingly, both of his opponents, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre, were previous Royal Rumble winners, not to mention that both men had successfully converted their Rumble victories into world titles at WrestleMania (at 28 and 36, respectively).