WrestleMania 39 review: McMahon looms on wrestling’s star-studded biggest night

WrestleMania, the biggest event in the history of professional wrestlers, almost acts as the State of the Union address. This is where Wrestlemania 39, which has been the industry’s most prominent company for decades, stands today and what it wants to be in the future. And if Sunday night’s WrestleMania 39 is any indication, it aims to go much, much bigger and flashier, even if the ingredients that make it worth watching at all are right there doing their best in front of us.

Vince McMahon (executive chairman and majority shareholder of WWE) watches over the entire event. In the early summer of 2022, he’d “retired” from the role amid a storm of controversy and an investigation To alleged hush-money payments he’d made. Then, in January 2023, he’d inserted himself back into the job, and revealed he’d signed a contract to lock him in for the next two years. McMahon was previously in charge of all creative decisions at WWE. His son-in law, Paul Levesque, the former Triple H wrestler, has been given the job. But allowing another person to run his baby has never been McMahon’s style, and so rumors run rampant that he casts a large shadow in that regard, too.

As the WWE moves closer to potential buyers (CNBC reported recently that UFC parent Endeavor Group is close to signing a deal), more attention is being paid to their presence in popular culture. This year’s theme is WrestleMania Goes Hollywood (the second time it’s used that, having previously adopted the tagline in 2005’s Show of Shows), and there’s a cavalcade of the closest thing WWE can muster to star power. To name a few celebrities that stopped by in some form: Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Maria Menounos, Stephen A. Smith, Greg Miller, Kevin Hart, Becky G, Jimmie Allen, Bad Bunny, Snoop Dogg, Russell Crowe, George Kittle, Lil Uzi Vert, and Pat McAfee. Most attention went to Logan Paul (a YouTuber and OK wrestler), with his highly publicized match, which was interrupted by KSI.

WWE had a full-blown public relations campaign with Paul. They were spouting praise after praise about his accomplishments and barely stopping for breath. Paul has been the subject of some very serious backlash against his content. But, you can see that WWE is trying to do double duty and make Paul look bad in the WWE family-oriented universe. While not recalling the YouTube video where he filmed a suicide victim, it is clear that WWE wants to help him.

Photo: Unique Nicole/Getty Images

Photo: Unique Nicole/Getty Images

While WrestleMania has always stuck out thanks to its inclusion of guest stars, this year was particularly noticeable in WWE’s eternal effort to not just be known as a giant wrestling company, but as an entertainment mainstay. Hammering on the “Goes Hollywood” aspect pushes a wider audience to view it as more than just the largest name in its niche (“See! Celebrities adore us, too. Not just a ton of wrasslin’ fans”), even if it achieves little more than goofy camp. This hollow glitz must coincide with what pro wrestling is best known for, other than the actual wrestling.

Luckily for fans of the company, a few of the marquee matches actually had solid buildup and were rooted in a handful of long-running storylines: The main events of Saturday and Sunday night built upon the implosion of The Bloodline, a powerhouse stable and family of wrestlers that’s the closest thing the WWE has gotten to a cohesive and compelling unit in almost a decade.

Saturday’s event saw Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, longtime friends/rivals/frenemies who (in a rare WWE occurrence) are allowed to build upon their pre-WWE pasts, taking on the Bloodline’s Usos for both top tag-team titles. And Sunday’s had Bloodline leader Roman Reigns (a former member of The Shield, that last cohesive and compelling unit) defeat Cody Rhodes to retain both top WWE singles titles. Everyone has history with one another here, and allowing Sami, WWE’s best modern underdog character, a heartwarming win with Owens lets WWE bask in the glowing adoration of their hardcore fans for once. It also temporarily lets us ignore the fact that, from an emotional standpoint, Zayn’s story of bonding and betrayal with The Bloodline would’ve found a much greater conclusion with him unseating Reigns as champion.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

One of WWE’s most unsteady stables is the villainous Judgment Day, a group of wrestlers the WWE is unsure how to handle. Although the threat they present to the larger roster changes every minute, WWE is able to predict outcomes that provide at least some emotional satisfaction. Judgment Day member Rhea “the internet wants me to step on their face” Ripley took the Smackdown Women’s Champion from Charlotte “I’m usually the champion” Flair.

Rey Mysterio actually spanked Dominik his whining child for his crimes against his family. Dominik was lured by Rhea to The Judgment Day and then a bright Cinnamon Toast Crunch advertisement threatened to blind anyone who looked at him from the ring. The current Judgment Day leader Finn Balor was defeated by Edge in a Hell in a Cell match. Edge is a WWE veteran. Although that was disappointing, the matchup between two men who have worked so hard to create a Gothic/Horror aesthetic was great.

Look, if you’ve never watched WWE or a WrestleMania before, but do know what basic storytelling in fiction is, all of this sounds like I’m patronizing you. “Be amazed! A narrative that had buildup… has a conclusion! Ooooh! Ahhhh!” But WWE has a grand habit of dropping the ball on these things, or making bizarre choices in the eleventh hour. Bobby Lashley (MMA fighter) and Brock Lesnar (main-eventers), have had some questionable wins. However, Lesnar lost a match at Mania and was forced to win an uninspiring victory against Omos. (It’s hard to take Brock seriously as the “little guy” when he’s an actual former UFC champion.)

Lashley and Bray Wyatt were haphazardly thrown into a fight, but Wyatt was suddenly dropped from the cards for unknown reasons. So Lashley was left to celebrate a win he’d had on an entirely different show by standing on the stage while the audience clapped in slight confusion. Podcast host Pat McAfee lost to Wrestler The Miz and Snoop dogg on different nights. John Cena fell to Austin Theory, an ambitious heel. This was expected but somewhat strange after Cena made his entrance with Make-A-Wish Kids to cheer him on.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

There was some very solid wrestling on the card that didn’t have the long-form storytelling oomph: Bianca Belair and Asuka proved why they’re some of the best female wrestlers of all time, and a three-way bout between Gunther, Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus turned their chests into raw hamburger. The classic WWE format meant regular WWE viewers were always waiting for the backlash. There was every kind of good and some completely dubious. It’s a weird way to enjoy something.

It can be hard to convince people that pro-wrestling is for them. If someone isn’t into it, it’s very hard to sway them even with the most ardent proclamation of “No, but this match is, like, REALLY good.” WWE seems to know this, and as such, on the cusp of a purchase that will secure McMahon’s future but could mean anything for his talent, it’s overloaded with desperate appeals for the mainstream. How much of that is Vince’s doing is unclear right now, but it does no favors to the wrestlers, the people who deserve the spotlight the most.