After a momentous Night One of WrestleMania, Night Two of WrestleMania 39 had all the more anticipation from fans. There was some intrigue about whether Bianca Belair might suffer her first WrestleMania defeat and, in so doing, if Asuka might achieve her first WrestleMania victory. Brock Lesnar vs. Omos promised a spectacle. 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 the top prize in wrestling for the third straight ‘Mania, opposite Cody Rhodes. Along the way, there were a number of subtleties and factoids that may have flown under the radar.
9 Gunther Was The First Intercontinental Champion To Successfully Defend At WrestleMania In Over Two Decades
There have been quite a few years when the Intercontinental Championship was not defended at WrestleMania, but when it has been, the champions don’t have a very good record of success. Indeed, prior to WrestleMania 39, the last time an IC Champ successfully defended his title was all the way back at WrestleMania 17, when Chris Jericho retained over William Regal.
Gunther further made his case as an all-time great Intercontinental Champion when he fended off Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a show-stealing match on Night Two of this year’s WrestleMania.
8 A Deceptively Interesting Statistical Night For Brock Lesnar At WrestleMania
Despite Brock Lesnar being one of the most successful performers in WWE history, he has actually had a checkered record when it comes to winning WrestleMania matches. Coming into WrestleMania 39, he actually had a losing record overall, 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 victory over Kurt Angle and WrestleMania 38 loss to Roman Reigns.
Related: 10 Biggest Wrestlers Brock Lesnar Faced, Ranked By SizeSo, in beating Omos, Lesnar moved back up to a .500 record both overall and in opening bouts. Meanwhile, he moved up to a winning record as a face at The Showcase of the Immortals.
7 The Brood Gimmick Offered A Connection To Edge’s First WrestleMania Appearance
"Brood Edge" made his entrance for WrestleMania 39. The Brood harkens back to one of the earliest versions of Edge in WWE. More specifically, though, it was as a henchman for Gangrel in The Brood that Edge first appeared at WrestleMania when the trio descended from the ceiling to stand atop ‘Mania’s first Hell in a Cell and help The Undertaker hang a fallen Big Boss Man.
That was Edge’s first WrestleMania. From Edge’s own account about wanting to retire in the year ahead, this was likely his final WrestleMania match. As such, the combination of the Brood persona and Cell offered a good bit of a full circle sensation.
6 Roman Reigns Attained His Seventh WrestleMania Main Event Much Faster Than Triple H
WrestleMania 39 marked the seventh time Roman Reigns main evented WrestleMania. That tied him with Triple H in the rankings of the most WrestleMania main events of all time. The only wrestler who arguably tops them is Hulk Hogan. (Hogan main evented an undisputed seven out of the first eight WrestleManias. After that point, his numbers are less certain as his impromptu world title match with Yokozuna technically closed WrestleMania 9 but is hard to call a proper main event. His matches with The Rock and Vince McMahon were each arguably co-main events in years to follow, but did not close their shows.)
Reigns couldn’t match The Hulkster’s efficiency, but in main eventing seven out of the ten WrestleManias he has appeared at, that’s a far steadier clip than Triple H. The Game achieved seven-time main eventer status at WrestleMania 32, but that was his twenty-first time wrestling at 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 alongside the smaller, uber-athletic Ricochet in a losing effort in the Men’s Showcase. On Night Two, Rodriguez was the muscle alongside the smaller, athletic babyface, Liv Morgan. Neither of the two emerged victorious.
4 The First WrestleMania Hell In A Cell Match To Not Involve The Undertaker
Night Two featured a collision between Edge and Finn Balor inside Hell in a Cell. The storyline and talent between the two justified the epic setting. It is worth noting, though, that though this was the fourth Hell in a Cell Match to occur at a WrestleMania, it was the first time such a match at ‘Mania didn’t include The Undertaker.
Related: The Best WWE Hell In A Cell Match Every Year For The Last 10 YearsThe 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 veteran of the gimmick with three previous non-WrestleMania visits to the Cell; this was Balor’s debut in WWE’s largest cage.
3 Shane McMahon Has Almost Caught Up To His Father’s Age When They Clashed At WrestleMania
Shane McMahon had one of the strangest WrestleMania appearances of all time this year, making a surprise run-in to confront his WrestleMania 35 opponent, The Miz.
Shane-O-Mac suffered an injury less than a minute into the impromptu match off a leap frog gone wrong. The suddenness of the very public injury may have sparked memories for some fans of his father Vince’s double quad tear immediately on trying to enter the ring at Royal Rumble 2005.
Moreover, seeing Shane work a WrestleMania match at all provokes thoughts of his first ‘Mania match 22 years ago, when he wrestled his father. With the passage of time, Shane is now just two years younger than his father was for that father-son match, the same weekend as the second-ever father-son ‘Mania match.
2 Ronda Rousey Continues To Be More Successful In Tag Team Than Singles Action At WrestleMania
Ronda Rousey pulled up to .500 win-loss record overall at WrestleMania 39 when she picked up the submission for her and Shayna Baszler. Fans may remember her impressive debut performance five years earlier, when she and Kurt Angle teamed up to defeat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
Related: WWE’s Mishandling Of Ronda Rousey Has Made Her Lose Her Star PowerIn The Baddest Woman on the Planet’s two WrestleMania appearances in between then and now, she wound up losing. First she dropped the Raw Women’s Championship to Becky Lynch in the main event of WrestleMania 35, then unsuccessfully challenging Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 38. So, to date, Rousey has won her tag matches and lost her singles efforts at ‘Mania, though there are other ways of looking at her record, too. She has won non-title matches, but lost when there was gold on the line. She has also lost when Flair was in the mix and won when she wasn’t.
1 Both Challengers For The Intercontinental Championship Had Won World Titles At WrestleMania Before
Gunther carried the Intercontinental Championship into WrestleMania 39. In addition to an impressive title run to date, one of his bigger claims to credibility in WWE was his hour-plus run in the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble.
Interestingly enough, both of his opponents, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre were past Royal Rumble winners, not to mention that both men had successfully converted their Rumble wins into winning world titles at WrestleMania (at 28 and 36, respectively).
