Tag: wrestlemania 39

Update on what led to Roman Reigns defeating Cody Rhodes at WWE WrestleMania 39

Posted on by Ian Carey

An update is available regarding what led to Roman Reigns defeating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39.

On Monday, Brandon Thurston of Post Wrestling posted an article citing text messages revealed in court filings, including an exchange between Vince McMahon and Nick Khan that indicated McMahon was involved with creative plans for WrestleMania in 2023.

This was discussed by our own Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on the post-Raw edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer mentioned that it was actually Roman Reigns who first pitched the idea of Rhodes losing their first WrestleMania match.

Meltzer said:

“It was Roman Reigns’ call. I mean, Vince had to approve it, but Roman Reigns was the one who went to Vince with the idea and pitched the idea that it would be better, it would be more meaningful if he didn’t win the first time, we build to a bigger one the second time and explained it.”

“I think Heyman with Reigns did that. I think they were very persuasive. The argument’s very strong with the benefit of hindsight that they were right because the second year was much bigger than the first year. But Vince made the call and Levesque was on board with the call but Vince was the one who made the call.”

“Vince was the one who had final say at that point. He had final say the whole time. He was the chairman of the board again or whatever. He was in charge of the company and he remained having the final say even though Levesque was ‘in charge of creative.'”

WWE officially merged with the UFC in September 2023 to create TKO Group Holdings. McMahon was named executive chairman of the new company up until he resigned in January 2024 in the wake of the allegations in Janel Grant’s lawsuit.

A clip of Meltzer and Alvarez’s discussion on Wrestling Observer Radio is available below:

Mercedes Mone says she planned to return to WWE at WrestleMania 39

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Mercedes Mone almost returned to WWE last year.

In her Mone Mag newsletter, Mone revealed that she planned on returning to WWE in 2023 at WrestleMania 39. However, she decided against doing so after she got an invite from Tony Khan to attend last year’s AEW All In at Wembley Stadium:

The funny thing is that before last year’s All In, I attended an LA Rams game at the new Sofi stadium in LA. Kev and I were, of course, on the field for it – that’s just how we roll. It was fun, but in the back of my head, I kept thinking, ‘This is where WrestleMania is going to be.’ It’s an enormous, beautiful stadium in the tinsel town, the city of Angels. How could Snoop’s first cousin and a member of the Mandalorian cast NOT be here? Thus, at the end of the game, I leaned over to Kev and said, “I need to be here for Mania.” And at that time, that’s truly how I felt and what my plan was.

I had planned on returning to WWE for WrestleMania in LA. That was, of course, before Tony invited us to see the show. Mind you, there were no discussions of signing with AEW. Zero. Tony, Kev. and I had texted as friends, but it was just a casual invite. I wanted to go not out of curiosity or to kick the tires but honestly because I love wrestling. To this day, when I have the time, I still watch the Indy shows. I really continue to have that much passion for it.

When she attended in All In, she said that her mind changed, and decided on joining AEW: 

So, loving wrestling as I do, I knew it would be fun to watch. Also, deep down, I knew going there would help to support my fellow workers and the rival organization. As talent, we really need additional outlets. Having only one ticket in town serves no one but that one ticket. And even still, that one ticket tends to do better when it’s got someone to compete with. The fans also lose out as much as the talent when there are no alternative promotions. It was about halfway through the show that my mind changed. When I knew AEW was the place to be. The fact that they got 80k rabid and passionate fans to attend an event that wasn’t Mania blew me away. It made me excited for wrestling in a way I had not felt in a long time. By the end of the show, getting way ahead of ourselves as my Advocate Kev admits to doing so often, we were planning the very entrance you’ll see this year!

Mone went on to debut for AEW in March, appearing at AEW Big Business. She has picked up two titles since then, winning the TBS title from Willow Nightingale at Double or Nothing and defeating Stephanie Vaquer to win the NJPW Strong Women’s title at Forbidden Door. She is set to defend the TBS Championship against Britt Baker at All In this Sunday.

WOR Video: How close were we to The Rock vs. Roman Reigns?

Posted on by F4W Staff

Was The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 ‘locked in’?

The Rock claimed that during an interview with Pat McAfee that the match was locked in. However, on Wrestling Observer Radio Friday night, Dave Meltzer said it was not.

“It was never locked in,” Meltzer said.

“It was the favorite match. It was going to be in Los Angeles…late in the year, he basically pulled out, it was a schedule thing,” Meltzer continued.

While The Rock in the interview said ultimately they decided not to do the match this year, he did tease that Philadelphia may be the time and the place where it happens.

“I know he talked about Philadelphia…the ball’s in his court,” Meltzer said. “If he has the time, and with the strike, he may have the time.”

But if the strikes in Hollywood ends before WrestleMania, The Rock could become an extremely busy man. Meltzer said that anything involving The Rock wrestling at WrestleMania is contingent on what his schedule permits. But at the end of the day, The Rock does want to do the match.

“Does he want to do it? One hundred percent yes…he loves pro wrestling.”

The Rock: WWE WrestleMania 39 match vs. Roman Reigns was ‘locked’ in

Posted on by Ian Carey

The Rock says a match between him and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 was, at one point, “locked” in. 

The Rock told Pat McAfee on Friday that he met with Vince McMahon and Nick Khan in early 2022 and agreed to face his cousin in SoFi Stadium the following year. However, Rock says he didn’t just want to do a match, he wanted to do something unprecedented that would change the industry, but they never nailed down what that would be. 

“The Rock headlining WrestleMania with Roman Reigns, SoFi Stadium, that was locked,” Rock said. “We were doing it.” 

“In the beginning of 2022, Nick Khan – who we know, very good friend for years, he’s the man – he was very instrumental in bringing Vince and I together. We all flew to LA, we met, we sat.”

“We started talking about the potential of what this match could be between myself and Roman Reigns headlining WrestleMania at SoFi and we shook hands and we hugged right there, all three of us at the table and said, ‘Let’s do this.'”

“So, then we had a year to really think about this. The North Star thought was, ‘Okay, let’s not do something good, let’s not do something great, let’s do something unprecedented.'”

“We can have the match but the bigger thought was what can we do for the fans of this business that we love where WrestleMania isn’t the end of something, it’s actually the beginning of something bigger?”

When McAfee pressed Rock on why they weren’t able to make the match happen, Rock said they couldn’t determine what the “something bigger” would be. 

“We got really, really close but we couldn’t actually nail what that thing was. So, we decided to put our pencils down. Then we agreed, ‘Hey listen, there’s a merger coming up, eventually, that will happen, there’s WrestleMania in Philadelphia…’ I’m saying that’s a potential too, I’m open. But again, let’s figure out what that is because the fans deserve something just incredible and unprecedented, and not only that, but I also want to deliver to the locker room and the boys and the girls back there who are working their asses off. What can we do to put them in a position where they are part of something that is a new change, an era in this world of pro-wrestling?”

The Rock hasn’t wrestled since defeating Erik Rowan in an unadvertised six-second match at WrestleMania 32. His previous match before that was when he dropped the WWE Championship to John Cena at WrestleMania 29. 

WWE touts record-breaking economic impact of WrestleMania 39 in LA

Posted on by Ian Carey

WWE says WrestleMania 39 generated $215 million for the Los Angeles region. 

The company revealed the findings of a study conducted by Applied Analysis on Wednesday, noting that WrestleMania 39 broke the record set last year of $206.5 million in economic impact for the Dallas region. 

According to WWE, 161,892 fans attended the two-night show, which the company is calling the “highest-grossing and most-attended event in WWE history.”

WWE.com: posted other highlights from the study: 

Key highlights from the study include:

  • By continuing to broaden the week’s schedule of events, out-of-town visitors stayed an average of 4.1 nights in Los Angeles.
  • More than half of attendees traveled to Los Angeles from outside of southern California, with 15% of attendees traveling in from international markets.
  • Visitors had an annual average income of more than $100K. 

The company says WrestleMania has generated more than $1.2 billion in cumulative impact for cities hosting the event since 2016. 

WWE has been consistently promoting its record-breaking events in recent months. In July, the company touted Money in the Bank 2023 from the O2 Arena as the highest-grossing arena show in company history. WWE also announced earlier this year that WWE Backlash from Puerto Rico in May was the highest-grossing Backlash event in company history. Similarly, WWE says February’s Elimination Chamber in Montreal also broke the all-time gate and viewership record for Elimination Chamber events. 

Steve Austin respects Cody Rhodes more after WWE WrestleMania 39 loss

Posted on by Ian Carey

Steve Austin is adamant that Roman Reigns beating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39 was the right call. 

Austin appeared on Busted Open Radio on Thursday and echoed sentiment previously expressed by Paul Heyman and Dustin Rhodes that Cody beating Roman would not have increased his popularity. 

Austin said:

Cody beating Roman would not have gotten Cody over anymore. As a matter of fact, it might have worked against him.

Austin continued to say that Cody winning the title at WrestleMania 39 would have been “cliche.” He doesn’t believe the time was right to take the title off of Reigns. 

Roman’s on fire right now and one of these days it’ll be time to take that belt off him and put it on somebody else but you don’t make Cody by taking the belt off the right guy at the wrong time. 

He continued:

I just think it was so storybook, it would have been so cliche to put the belt on him. Has he earned the opportunity to be there? Yeah, but would he have been the right guy, right now, trying to take out Roman Reigns? I just think not. Roman is so on fire and so money right now. Cody’s going to be there. To me, it made me respect Cody more. When you’re down there looking at the lights and you know that story is going to be completed one of these days but it ain’t going to be right here and it was for the right reasons and the reason is it was business. 

Cody was a -800 favorite to defeat Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 39. While many were surprised at the result, our own Dave Meltzer reported shortly after the event that Roman retaining was “always the plan.”  

Cody has since moved into a storyline with Brock Lesnar that started on the Raw after Mania and will continue at Night of Champions on May 27. Reigns will team with Solo Sikoa to challenge WWE tag champions, Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens on the same show. 

WrestleMania main event rematch set for next WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A rematch of the main event of night one of WrestleMania 39 is set for the April 28 WWE SmackDown. 

As announced on this week’s episode, Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens will defend the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against The Usos on next week’s SmackDown. 

The Usos addressed the match in a promo on Friday’s show, promising to bring gold back to The Bloodline. Zayn and Owens defeated The Usos on night one of WrestleMania 39 to win the Undisputed Tag titles.

Next week’s SmackDown also kicks off the 2023 WWE Draft, which begins next Friday, April 28, then continues on the Monday, May 1 edition of Raw.

The Usos and Solo Sikoa vs. Zayn, Owens, and Matt Riddle has been announced for WWE Backlash on Saturday, May 6. Sikoa defeated Riddle in a no DQ match on Friday’s SmackDown in the show’s main event. 

Next week’s SmackDown lineup: 

WWE SmackDown, Friday, April 28 —

  • Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens defend against The Usos
  • WWE Draft begins

Steve Austin explains why he didn’t wrestle at WWE WrestleMania 39

Posted on by Ian Carey

Steve Austin says he turned down multiple offers from WWE to perform at WrestleMania 39. 

Austin told Sports Illustrated that he met with the company about wrestling on the show but said he could not commit, feeling as though he wouldn’t have enough time to get in shape.

“I haven’t spoken to this, but I’ll give you the story,” says Austin. “I met with some people from WWE. We talked about the possibility of me wrestling at WrestleMania 39. The biggest thing in my mind was the presentation and what kind of match it was going to be. Going back to 38, the way the KO thing was presented—I love KO—I turned that down three, four, five times until the creative finally came to what it ended up being. I didn’t want it constructed as a real match, per se. I needed something that could turn into one, and it did, but I think that’s why we got away with it. The Dallas crowd was very receptive. I hadn’t been around, so the timing was right.“

But to do a proper match, I’d have to be in off-the-charts shape. I told them, and this is the exact truth, I said, ‘Guys, I’m just fixin’ to go into production on this show, Stone Cold Takes on America, and until we start production, I don’t know what my life looks like. I can’t commit.’ Sure enough, there were technical issues before we finished. I was supposed to finish a month before we did. There’s no way, with the schedule I was doing—driving an RV all over God’s creation, doing all I was doing—that I would be ready. I had two 30-pound dumbbells, a 45-pound sandbag, and a 25-pound kettlebell. Working 15 hours a day, then getting in a 30- or 40-minute workout, that doesn’t get you ready for WrestleMania. And I was really protected at WrestleMania 38. This time, that wasn’t going to be the case. That was a true statement: Until this show was over, I couldn’t commit.”

Our own Dave Meltzer noted in January that Austin turned down several potential matches at the event. 

Meltzer said:

“As far as Austin goes, Steve might be at the show. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. He might do something on the show, but he did in fact turn down wrestling at the show.

He was offered [Brock] Lesnar, he was offered Roman Reigns. He could have named his opponent if he wanted to do it with anybody else, but he did not choose to wrestle on the show.”

Austin also told NBC Los Angeles in the lead-up to WrestleMania 39 that he would not be wrestling on the show. He said that while he loves his relationship with WWE, his “days in the ring are done.”

A&E’s Stone Cold Takes on America premieres Sunday, April 30, 2023. The show follows Austin as he travels around the country in an RV and accepts challenges from fans. 

A description of the series reads:

Austin hits the road in his RV, accepting challenges from fans that push him out of his comfort zone, and make up for lost time. Through archival footage from classic WWE moments and his own stories, the series weaves together Austin’s old and new life—both filled with incredible feats and his unique point of view—as he celebrates and learns from new experiences how only “Stone Cold” Steve Austin can.

Steve Austin says he ‘loved’ the finish to Roman Reigns vs. Cody at WWE WrestleMania

Posted on by Ian Carey

Steve Austin thought the ending to Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 was “magnificent.” 

Austin spoke with Sports Illustrated recently and discussed Reigns’ defeat of Rhodes on the show. 

He said:

“I’m going all-in. To me, they got it just right.

I was wondering how they were going to do this match. They built it perfectly. I told my wife, ‘I think they’re going 30 [minutes].’ They ended up going just over 34, and it was a classic. I loved it, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I texted a couple people who were involved, and I sent a one-word text: Magnificent.”

The finish of the match saw Solo Sikoa return to ringside after having been ejected earlier. He hit Rhodes with a Samoan Spike and Reigns followed it up with a spear for the win. 

Austin continued to say that he loved how the match came to a conclusion. 

“I loved the finish,” Austin said. “I loved all of it. Roman is so good right now. The story was there—Cody coming back from injury, coming back into the fold after he left from AEW, and putting himself in the position he’s in now, overcoming all this adversity as part of one of the most famous wrestling families that’s ever been in the business, and trying to finish the story against Roman.

“I watched both nights of WrestleMania 39 very intently. To me, you can’t take that belt off Roman right now. You want to get it to Cody somehow, someway, some time—but now’s not the time.”

Austin continued to speak about the outside interference at the end of the match, saying:

“Just thinking about that finish, I thought it was definitely the right call. I loved the outside interference. You didn’t know what was coming next. That spike to the throat, for me, it was money.”

The finish to Reigns vs. Rhodes has been a frequently debated topic since the conclusion of WM39 night two. Paul Heyman told Ariel Helwani earlier this month that he feels Rhodes is a bigger star as a result of the loss. Heyman noted that the reaction to Cody on the Raw after WrestleMania “was louder than the response last week to Cody Rhodes.”

Cody’s older brother Dustin told Busted Open Radio earlier this week that he also enjoyed the finish to the match, saying, “They are making him pay for it now, they are making him earn it and I like that, I do. I like that because once you put the title on him, where are you going?”

VIDEO: The debate over Cody Rhodes’ loss continues

Posted on by F4W Staff

Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez had more thoughts on Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania loss.

On Wrestling Observer Radio Tuesday morning, Meltzer mentioned that both Dustin Rhodes and Paul Heyman had brought up the idea that if Cody had won at WrestleMania, what would be next?

“He’d be defending the title against Brock Lesnar on [Backlash]!” Meltzer exclaimed. “He can defend against Lesnar. He can defend against Lashley. He can defend against Roman Reigns.”

Meltzer also brought up names such as Solo Sikoa and Sami Zayn. Meltzer mentioned that with Reigns as champion, the list is significantly smaller.

“Essentially there’s probably about four times as many things that Cody can do, plus he’s going to be there more than Roman Reigns,” Meltzer said.

“Yeah, you name some things Roman can do, there’s already things we’ve already seen,” Alvarez said. “So if you want to talk about what new things would we see with Roman as champ, well, there’s nothing unless they turn Solo Sikoa or Jey Uso.”

Alvarez brought up the point that people also had asked who MJF would feud with if he were to turn babyface, mentioning people can always be turned to feud with one another, such as the Blackpool Combat Club.

Wrestling Observer Radio: WWE/UFC merger, WrestleMania 39 fallout

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

Dave Meltzer and I are back for a new Wrestling Observer Radio going over all the news in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

We discuss the following:

  • Dave’s story on the WWE acquisition and merger with UFC under Endeavor
  • WWE’s history with UFC
  • Reaction to WrestleMania 39 night two
  • Paul Heyman’s quote about Cody Rhodes being a bigger star after losing
  • Sponsorship revenue possibly being more than the gate soon
  • Tony Khan’s big bet for Wembley Stadium
  • AEW hiring Adam Hopkins
  • Kota Ibushi and AEW
  • AEW Dynamite ratings
  • Predictions for the UFC 287 main event

The full video is available for video subscribers at https://video.f4wonline.com/.

Click Here to Listen

Roman Reigns defeating Cody Rhodes at WWE WrestleMania ‘was always the plan’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Roman Reigns retaining the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39 wasn’t a late decision.

In the new edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that Reigns defeating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39 “was always the plan.”

“Reigns winning was always the plan, although it was kept secret and almost nobody knew,” Meltzer wrote.

Reigns defeated Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 39 night two this past Sunday. The finish of the match involved interference by Solo Sikoa. As Rhodes was on the verge of ending Reigns’ run as champion, Sikoa gave Rhodes a Samoan Spike while Paul Heyman had the referee distracted. Reigns then got the victory after giving Rhodes a spear.

Heyman said in an interview with Ariel Helwani that be believes, following Rhodes’ loss at WrestleMania, Rhodes is a bigger star than he was before:

That’s what you want, a challenger to come out a bigger star than he would have been if he had won the championship because then where do you go from there? What’s the story to tell? Now you know the story, it’s Cody’s redemption. He’s coming back from what was just taken from him, from the defeat he suffered that he didn’t deserve to have inflicted upon him. 

Reigns denied Rhodes a rematch on the Raw after WrestleMania 39. There was supposed to be a tag match with Rhodes & Brock Lesnar facing Reigns & Sikoa instead, but Lesnar attacked Rhodes and beat him down before the match ever got started.

Meltzer also reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Reigns isn’t expected to wrestle at WWE’s Backlash pay-per-view in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday, May 6.

“Reigns will not be on the San Juan card, or at least that wasn’t the plan on Monday, but he will be doing other major events over the next few months,” Meltzer wrote.

Auschwitz Memorial calls WWE ‘shameless’ for image used in match promo

Posted on by Ian Carey

The Auschwitz Memorial Museum is not happy that an image of the concentration camp was used in a video to promote Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 39. 

An image of the camp appeared as b-roll footage in the video when it aired during the WrestleMania pre-show. It accompanied Dominik talking about having spent time in prison. However, an edited version with the image removed aired during the main card. 

A social media post from the Auschwitz Memorial Museum Twitter account on Wednesday said it’s hard to call the image being used an “editing mistake” and said that exploiting the camp “insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz.”

The fact that Auschwitz image was used to promote a WWE match is hard to call “an editing mistake”. Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz.

Paul Heyman believes Cody Rhodes is a bigger star after WWE WrestleMania 39

Posted on by Ian Carey

Paul Heyman believes that Cody Rhodes came away from WrestleMania 39 a bigger star than he went in as. 

Rhodes was defeated by Roman Reigns at the event in a match most figured he was likely to win. However, Heyman recently told Ariel Helwani that he believes fans are now more passionate toward Rhodes than they were before. He also compared Roman’s title run to the Undertaker’s streak. 

Heyman said:

I like the fact that everyone walks in now thinking this is the last title defense. And I experienced this before with something I had a hand in ending, which was the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania. And every year, you sat there and you said, ‘Oh no, this is it’ and during the match, the audience is actually anticipating and salivating for this to be the moment that they get to witness the historical three count on the Undertaker to which the streak would finally end. And then, of course, when Undertaker would defend the streak, they’d sit there, ‘oh yeah, I don’t want to see this’ and they can’t wait for the next chapter and then it finally ended and the audience was shocked because they thought they would see it, they thought they would see it, they thought they would, no, they didn’t get to see it. And this was year after year after year and then they finally got to see it.

I think that’s the same thing with Roman Reigns’ title defenses now. You hope this is the one, you think this is the one, you’re sure this is the one. You watch the match happening and you know this is the one and then it turns out not to be the one. ‘Oh man, I can’t wait to see the next chapter.’ 

Heyman believes that Rhodes’ story would have nowhere to go if he won the title at WrestleMania 39. He said the story now is about Cody’s comeback and redemption. 

Heyman continued:

The response tonight to Cody Rhodes, which was louder than the response last week to Cody Rhodes, which was a response more passionate tonight for Cody Rhodes, which was a response of an audience that believes in Cody Rhodes this week more than they did last week when they hung their hopes into dreams on him and he didn’t disappoint them, we disappointed them. We took that away from Cody Rhodes. Roman Reigns took that away from Cody Rhodes and the audience. They blame Roman Reigns for it and they appreciate how close Cody came and they know, now, they know the next time Cody Rhodes steps in the ring with Roman Reigns, this will be the one. That’s the business, that’s the business at it’s very best. That’s promotion at its very best, that’s storytelling at its very best. 

That’s what you want, a challenger to come out a bigger star than he would have been if he had won the championship because then where do you go from there? What’s the story to tell? Now you know the story, it’s Cody’s redemption. He’s coming back from what was just taken from him, from the defeat he suffered that he didn’t deserve to have inflicted upon him. 

Heyman would continue to say that fans thought it was the right moment for Roman to be defeated in Montreal at Elimination Chamber, and in Wales at Clash at the Castle. He said he also heard the same thing about last year’s SummerSlam and John Cena going for his 17th world title. Making fans believe that each title defense is the last is just good business, he says. 

“That’s the promotional business,” Heyman concluded.

WWE says WrestleMania 39 was most successful event in company history

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is touting that WrestleMania 39 was the most successful event in company history.

In a press release issued on Monday morning, WWE stated that WrestleMania 39 was the highest-grossing event in the history of the company, setting new records for viewership, gate, sponsorship, merchandise, and social media. This was the fourth straight year of WrestleMania being a two-night event and the second where there were no COVID-19 crowd restrictions.

“Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 33 percent, just one day after Night 1 of WrestleMania 39 surpassed the existing global viewership record by 28 percent,” WWE wrote.

“WrestleMania 39 generated a gate of more than $21.6 million, breaking the previous record by 27 percent, with 161,892 in attendance at SoFi Stadium over the two nights.”

WWE generated more than $20 million in sponsorship revenue for WrestleMania 39, which was more than double the previous record. Merchandise sales were up 20 percent from the previous record.

Social media metrics were up 42 percent from last year’s record, with WWE claiming that they had over 500 million views and 11 million hours of video consumed over Saturday and Sunday.

WrestleMania 39 was held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. In 2024, WWE is heading to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia for WrestleMania 40. It will be another two-night event.