Around the same time last year, I wrote a review on a Wrestlemania main event in which “The Tribal Chief,” Roman Reigns won. Fast forward a year later and Roman Reigns is walking into Wrestlemania 39, once again in the main event, and this time defending his WWE Undisputed Championship. Usually, in wrestling, fans get tired of the same champion, but this wasn’t the case here, even though Roman Reigns was going up against the all-popular, “American Nightmare,” Cody Rhodes. The fans in Los Angeles were split on who to support and were anxious for the bell to ring already. When the bell finally rang, we got one of the best Wrestlemania matches of all time!

The crowd was electric as it had been all weekend, which normally benefits the face (good guy) in Cody Rhodes. In typical Roman Reigns fashion, however, he quieted down the crowd by dominating Rhodes early on. Every time Rhodes had a chance at gaining momentum, Reigns’s cousin on the outside, Solo Sikoa, would cheat in order to help him. But Rhodes would finally have his moment when he put Reigns through an announce table. He would put on a string of moves, and when he finally looked like he had Reigns where he wanted him, Sikoa again interfered. This time the interference was noticed by the referee, and Sikoa was thrown out from the ring side, a moment that was match-defining. From that point forward, it was all Cody Rhodes, delivering big move after big move. But every single time Rhodes pinned Reigns, Reigns would kick out at 2 ¾, moments scary for a Reigns supporter like myself!

It wasn’t all one-sided, as Reigns would deliver a Superman punch, as well as a spear out of nowhere, but Rhodes kicked out at 2 ¾ as well. Rhodes would take back momentum, but then inadvertently take out the ref. This allowed Reigns’ other cousins, the Usos, to help him by taking out Rhodes. But Rhodes had backup of his own in Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, who both helped even the odds. Cody Rhodes was about to hit his finisher “the Cody Cutter” three times, but before he could hit it the third time and surely capture the victory, Reigns’s manager, Paul Heyman, distracted the ref, allowing the previously ejected Sikoa to attack Rhodes without the referee seeing. This allowed Reigns to spear Rhodes once again, and 1… 2… 3… later, Reigns retained his WWE Undisputed Championship.

This was a result that shocked me and clearly shocked all of the fans in attendance. It was seen as common knowledge throughout the wrestling community that this would be the moment when Reigns finally loses his WWE Undisputed Championship, especially to someone as deserving and of similar stature, as Cody Rhodes. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with the decision to have had Reigns win. I actually wanted him to win as he’s been a very entertaining champion and produces amazing matches, just like this main event. It was very surprising indeed, but sometimes the more surprising result makes the more notable matches, and this match was indeed very notable!