Predicting The Quality Of All 13 WWE WrestleMania 39 Matches
Will Cody Rhodes Vs. Roman Reigns enter the all-time WrestleMania pantheon...?
The rule of WrestleMania is that one match over-delivers, and one match under-delivers.
Working backwards to argue this point...
At WrestleMania 38, Edge Vs. AJ Styles worked an arrogant, near-silent match under the mistaken belief that the fans gave a sh*t about the spaces between the moves. Sami Zayn Vs. Johnny Knoxville was a significantly better match in terms of layout and entertainment value. A year earlier, Rhea Ripley and Asuka worked a glorified TV match, while Shane McMahon Vs. Braun Strowman - despite the worst build of any big WrestleMania match ever - was just stupid enough to work. 'Mania 36 barely counts.
At 35, nothing over-delivered, particularly, but the Triple Threat Winner Take All match underwhelmed badly. Stephanie McMahon worked a considerably better match at 'Mania 34 than AJ Styles. At 33, that bastard Vince McMahon was proven right: Goldberg Vs. Brock Lesnar pissed on Chris Jericho Vs. Kevin Owens. At 'Mania 32, Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose was the opposite to the WrestleMania 13 spiritual sequel many expected it to be, while the Women's Triple Threat was an unreal triumph that might have saved the perception of women's wrestling on the main roster. Everybody who watched NXT knew they had it in them, but Vince didn't watch NXT.
WrestleMania 39 looks like a very fun and very dramatic spectacle on paper - but which match is going to underwhelm...?
NB - this list also includes matches that are all but certain or heavily rumoured to be happening.
13. Brock Lesnar Vs. Omos
Brock Lesnar is a man who wants to go home early instead of going on late at WrestleMania, and is very selective over who he faces, much less who he puts over.
You have to be realistic over what he wants to do, because what he wants to do, more often that not, is the bare minimum. What constitutes as the bare minimum this year is actually more fascinating than the bare minimum of the last few years.
This is optimism very much measured against a curve, but at least the fans aren't in for a Paul Heyman formula finisher spam sprint. That layout is brutally tedious. It's so redundant in 2023. Luckily for those disillusioned with it, Omos can't run, much less execute a sprint match, so this will instead unfold in two very basic stages.
1) Brock Lesnar will struggle to lift Omos for a German suplex.
2) Brock Lesnar will then succeed in hitting Omos with a German suplex.
As basic as that reads, it will be a fantastic spectacle that a WrestleMania crowd, especially, will eat up. It's Hogan Vs. André, only not as huge - but in an equaliser, the sight of Omos taking a terrifying bump will be awesome in the strictest definition of the word.
This is the match that will over-deliver.
Predicted Star Rating: ★★★