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411’s WrestleMania 39 (Night Two) Preview
Image Credit: WWE
Hello 411 guys, gals, enbies, and everyone else! Welcome to 411’s WWE WrestleMania 39 Night Two preview! I’m Jeremy Thomas and I hope y’all enjoyed night one of the Grandest Stage of Them All. We’re not done though, as part two has plenty on tap including a Hell in a Cell match, a title match a year in the making and much more. Night Two may not have quite the buzz that the first one had due to the packing of Saturday’s show with Dom vs. Rey, the Tag Title match and more, but it still has a lot of potential and I’m excited for it. With all that said, let’s hop right in!
Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya & Shotzi vs.
Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville
Much like night one, we’re kicking off the preview with a WrestleMania Showcase match — this one featuring the women. Again, these are basically to get more people on the card, which frankly which I’m okay with because it also helps build a very lacking women’s tag team division a little bit. Or at least, it would in theory if any of these were particularly established teams. We’ve seen some of that with Morgan and Rodriguez, but Natalya and Shotzi have literally teamed together two times before now and Green & Deville is as thrown together as it gets. The thrown-together teams don’t have a lot of chance to win here, which brings it down to the slightly-established team of Liv and Raquel, or the one that has a bit of storyline behind them in Rousey and Baszler. Either of these duos could easily take home the win, but the focus seems to be stronger on Team MMA and WWE’s investment in Rousey alone makes that seem like the best prediction.
WINNER: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler
Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
What a wild booking. Brock Lesnar is the example of one of WWE’s big men who has always been able to deliver in the ring, and Omos is…certainly a big man. Now, that’s not saying that Omos doesn’t have the potential to surprise; after all, he and Braun Strowman put on a surprisingly solid match at WWE Crown Jewel last fall. But can he do it again, and can Brock help carry him across the finish line the way Strowman did? Lesnar and Strowman are different styles of power big men, and Strowman’s giant style matches often up better with Omos than the pure power style that Lesnar typifies in WWE. All that said, it isn’t like they’re going to have to work a marathon match. This will be quick and brutal, with Omos probably getting some manhandling offense in before Lesnar puts him away with an ungodly F5. There’s no reason why Omos needs to come out on top here, and it isn’t like a loss to someone like Lesnar hurts his mystique any. Brock picks up the win and goes home early with a few new suitcases full of cash.
WINNER: Brock Lesnar
Hell in a Cell Match
Edge vs. Finn Balor
Edge’s story with The Judgment Day has been going on for a year now, and Hell in a Cell feels like the right way to end it. The Judgment Day has overcome a shaky start to become a pretty decent stable in WWE, and part of that transformation involved the need to jettison Edge as its leader. Since then, Edge has been coming back again and again to battle his former proteges — but we always knew it was probably going to end here at the Grandest Stage Of Them All. And I do think this has to be the end of Edge’s rivalry with the group, because it’s been going on for quite a long time and approaching its expiration date. Balor is bringing the Demon for this match, that iteration of his character’s first match since it lost to Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules 2021. Speculation is high on a Brood return for Edge, which would be fantastic and would allow them to do all sorts of possible shenanigans. Edge and Balor work great in the ring together and I have no doubt that they’re going to deliver; ultimately, I do think Balor needs the win here more than Edge. A Balor win returns a bit of mystique to The Demon after that horrible Extreme Rules finish, and it completes Edge’s goal of helping the members of the Judgment Day come into their own. I wouldn’t be shocked by an Edge win, but I’m leaning Balor.
WINNER: Finn Balor
Intercontinental Championship Match
Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
Man, if any match has the potential to steal the show of WrestleMania 39 Night Two it’s this one. Gunther and Sheamus ad the best match of 2022 at Clash at the Castle. The two beat the living tar out of each other, and it was an absolute sight to behold. Normally with a match like that, adding another competitor isn’t a particularly good idea as it’s sure to dilute the action. That’ll happen even with a beast like Drew McIntyre, but that doesn’t mean this won’t be an absolute slugfest. Gunther is on a hell of a run as Intercontinental Champion at 296 days and counting, the third-longest reign of all-time and the longest since Honky Tonk Man’s legendary 454-day run in 1986 and 1987. He’s done a lot of good in terms of elevating the title, something many have aspired to do but few have accomplished. The big question is, does his reign continue or does it go to Sheamus, who has yet to add an IC Title reign to his resume? I love McIntyre, but he’s just in here to add intrigue and potentially take the pin. I can see a lot of benefit to both sides of this; Gunther can drop the title and move up the card, or he can defeat Sheamus and McIntyre for a win in his first WrestleMania match to continue building him toward the main event scene. This is probably the most difficult match of night two to predict and I could be entirely wrong, but I’m going with the champion retaining.
WINNER: Gunther (STILL WWE Intercontinental Champion)
Raw Women’s Championship Match
Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
It’s unfortunate that the build to Bianca Belair vs. Asuka has been so lackluster, because this match has a ton of potential. Belair has been soaring as the Raw Women’s Champion and of course Asuka is a badass in the ring, so these two should be able to tear the house down. But there isn’t much heat at all on this match, in part because they haven’t done enough to really establish Asuka’s dark side. As a result, I don’t think there’s much mystery about the result. Belair’s title reign has been too strong and there is no reason for her to lose the title in what shouldn’t have — but has — been a bit of a throwaway match on the show. These two are going to deliver a great performance in the ring, but Asuka’s Kana persona just hasn’t been established enough for a win here and so the champion will retain.
WINNER: Bianca Belair (STILL Raw Women’s Champion)
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match
Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns has seemingly been written in the stars since Rhodes returned at WrestleMania 38. Cody’s arrival in WWE was one of the biggest stories in early 2022, and his star just rose that much further when he worked a Hell in a Cell match against Seth Rollins with a torn pec. Rhodes picking up the win there pretty much established him as Reigns’ destined opponent, to the point that people didn’t even complain too much when he got the nod over the fan favorite of Sami Zayn. It helps that the build to this has been pretty fantastic, with both sides referencing legacy and family in their stellar promos building the bout.
The big question here is, who wins? Reigns has to lose at some point; he’s held the Universal Champion for an astounding 945 days and the WWE Championship for literally one day under a year. The amazing thing is that Reigns has been able to stay on top for that long and the storyline hasn’t lost any of its fire, nor does it seem stale. But if it goes much longer, it will. Reigns has run through every challenger WWE has had to throw at him, and there really isn’t anyone left who is able to perform right now. You could make an argument that they could go full circle and have Jey Uso turn at last, but I don’t know that WWE is ready to put Jey in that position. Cody’s storyline about finishing his story has the emotional heft, and he has the fans behind him here. If there was ever a time to go with the title change, it’s here and while they may always surprise us all, I do think that we have a changing of the guard at last.
WINNER: Cody Rhodes (NEW Undisputed WWE Universal Champion)
And that’s all we have for WrestleMania 39 Night Two! It’s a strong finish on paper to the show that began on Saturday, and has a couple matches with the potential to be absolute blasts. Thanks once again for reading and remember that we will have live coverage of the show courtesy our own Scott Slimmer right here on 411mania.com. Now I’m out of here; Bobby Lashley is still looking for a WrestleMania opponent and I don’t want it to be me…
