WWE WrestleMania 39 match grades and takeaways: WWE drops the ball as Roman Reigns beats Cody Rhodes

WWE WrestleMania 39 Night 1 grades

United States Championship: Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena

Austin Theory needed to win this match to help elevate him into a legitimate main event star. Facing off against John Cena, on paper, would have helped them with that. The thing is, the match overall was basic, and rather bland. To make matters worse, Theory didn’t look strong with the win. Cena had him visually submitting to the STF, but the referee was knocked down. So, Theory hit Cena with a low blow, then one A-Town Down to get the win. A disappointing match to open up the show.

Match Grade: D

Fatal 4-Way Tag Team WrestleMania Showcase match: Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar)

This match should have opened up WrestleMania 39. It was a fun, chaotic match with memorable spots. Chad Gable hitting the 6-foot-8, 344-pound Braun Strowman with a rolling German Suplex. A wicked Tower of Doom Spot. Angelo Dawkins hitting Strowman with a vicious Pounce at ringside. Ricochet hitting a springboard Shooting Star Press outside the ring. The Street Profits picked up the win, and should be getting a Undisputed WWE Tag Team championship match.

Match Grade: B+

Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul

Logan Paul once again showed that he was destined for professional wrestling. It certainly helps that he got to face off against one of the top wrestlers in the game in Seth Rollins. Paul had fellow social media personality KSI (dressed in a Prime Hydration drink costume) attempting to help him put Rollins through an announce table, but the former multi-time world champion outsmarted them in entertaining fashion. Rollins pulled KSI onto the announce table just as Paul jumped off the top rope for a Frog Splash. Rollins was able to kick out of a Go to Sleep and Frog Splash, then countered a cross-ring dropkick attempt by Paul with a midair superkick, following it up with a Curb Stomp to pick up the win. A very fun match, as expected.

Match Grade: B+

Becky Lynch, Lita and Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky)

Another fun match, which saw Damage CTRL really put up a fight against Becky Lynch and WWE Hall of Famers Lita and Trish Stratus. Despite the impressive effort, Damage CTRL once again failed to win a big match on a premium live event. Really felt like they were due here. Putting that aside, it was a really good match. Stratus shined in the match.

Match Grade: B

Rey Mysterio vs. Domink Mysterio

Dominik Mysterio right here has shown that he can be a legitimate star. He has embraced his role as a despicable, bratty heel when facing his father, Rey, and it really garnered a visceral reaction from the crowd. It certainly helped that he threw a drink in the face of his little sister, Aalyah, who was sitting ringside next to their mom, Angie. Dominik had some help from his Judgment Day friends in Finn Balor and Damian Priest, but they were fended off by the newly formed Latino World Order (LWO) of Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro). Dominik attempted to hit Rey with a steel chain, but rapper Bad Bunny, who was sitting at ringside, ripped it out of his hands. That allowed Rey to hit a 619 and a Frog Splash to pick up the win over his son. This feud is far from over, but this was a great, story-driven match.

Match Grade: A

SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley

It truly is a shame that the build to Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley wasn’t that great, because this would have gone down as one of the best main event matches in WrestleMania history had it been scheduled to go on last. Ripley unleashed some nasty-looking moves, such as a German Suplex that threw Flair on her face, to Flair countering a Riptide into a tornado DDT, to the top-rope German Suplex by Ripley. Yet, Flair showed how difficult it is to defeat her in a match. Ultimately, it was Ripley who got the win, after slamming Flair’s face into the top of the ring post, and hit a top rope Riptide to pick up the victory and the SmackDown Women’s title. A tremendous match.

Match Grade: A+

Pat McAfee vs. The Miz

This was an impromptu match made before the main event. The Miz claimed that no one responded to his open challenge for WrestleMania. That is when former NFL punter and SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee approached the ring to answer it. The Miz tried to back out, but co-host Snoop Dogg made it official. The Miz tried to escape, but San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle stopped him with a huge clothesline. McAfee got the win with a punt. The match was what it was. Nothing special.

Match Grade: D

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) vs. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

The Sami Zayn-Bloodline story has reached its conclusion, seemingly. This was a tremendous tag team match that not only featured great wrestling, but some fantastic storytelling. Zayn was getting pummeled with superkicks by the Usos, but he showed off his resiliency each time, even though it looked like he was knocked out cold. Zayn even kicked out of the 1D, which the commentary reminded the viewing audience that no one had kicked out of that finishing move by the Usos. Ultimately, Zayn and Owens got the better of the Usos, as Owens knocked Jimmy out of the ring, while Zayn hit three Helluva Kicks to pick up the win and to end the Usos’ 622-day reign as Tag Team champions.

Match Grade: A+