{"id":156489,"date":"2023-04-02T15:05:26","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T20:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=156489"},"modified":"2023-04-02T15:10:28","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T20:10:28","slug":"wwe-wrestlemania-2023-night-one-hits-misses-theory-vs-cena-flair-vs-ripley-owens-zayn-vs-usos-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/04\/02\/wwe-wrestlemania-2023-night-one-hits-misses-theory-vs-cena-flair-vs-ripley-owens-zayn-vs-usos-more\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE WRESTLEMANIA 39 NIGHT ONE HITS &amp; MISSES: Theory vs. Cena, Flair vs. Ripley, Owens &amp; Zayn vs. Usos, more."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1250255709\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE WRESTLEMANIA 39 NIGHT ONE HITS AND MISSES<br \/>\nAPRIL 1, 2023<br \/>\nENGLEWOOD, CA AT SOFI STADIUM<br \/>\nAIRED ON PEACOCK, 8:00 p.m. EST, 7:00 a.m. CST<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Michael Cole and Corey Graves<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>U.S. Championship Match: Austin Theory (champ) defeats John Cena to retain.<\/h4>\n<p><strong>MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You always wonder what the \u201cpart-timers\u201d are going to give when they come back for matches. John Cena has been that part-timer for almost six years now, and things did not get off to a great start with his match against Baron Corbin at SummerSlam 2017. Fast forward to last night, and things have not changed. I thought this match while not terrible, was dull and did nothing for Austin Theory other than get him a win \u201con paper\u201d against what the current announce team fancies as the \u201cgreatest of all time.\u201d Whether you agree with that sentiment is for another day.<\/p>\n<p>In so many words Cena made it a point to say Theory was screwed even if he beat him. Well, he did beat him, but visually tapped out after a ref bump. Then he used a low blow and hit A-Town Down for the win. That\u2019s not a statement win. Now, they could want to have a situation where the crowd chants \u201cyou tapped out\u201d come Monday in an effort to fuel anger in Theory and bring out an even more aggressive side, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the plan. I think they wanted to protect Cena because he\u2019s a legend, to which I ask why? Is he wrestling again soon? Are there plans for him to pursue that 17th world championship? I don\u2019t think so, and thus there\u2019s no reason to protect Cena.<\/p>\n<h4>Showcase Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Match: Street Profits (Montez Ford &amp; Angelo Dawkins) defeat Braun Strowman &amp; Ricochet and Alpha Academy (Chad Gable &amp; Otis) and The Viking Raiders (Erik &amp; Ivar) (w\/Valhalla) with Titus O\u2019Neil guest commentator.<\/h4>\n<p><strong>HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I liked this match more than I wanted to before I discussed it with Greg Parks on Wrestling Night in America last week. I wasn\u2019t looking forward to it, but I wasn\u2019t dreading it either. As they got going, I found myself enjoying it. Chad Gable getting the German Suplex on Braun Strowman was a great spot. The \u201cTower of Doom\u201d spot where Ricochet dove off the top onto the Raiders, Otis, and Montez Ford was creative and fun to see. Finally, Angelo Dawkins stopping the Strowman Express was eye opening. I loved Titus sounding genuinely happy a fellow football player got in a move like that.<\/p>\n<p>I was surprised to see the Profits win. Greg and I had talked about the winner likely getting a tag team title match even though it was never the reward of the match. I can\u2019t see the Profits facing new champions Kevin Owens &amp; Sami Zayn, so we\u2019ll see what the win does if anything.<\/p>\n<p>Coming out of this match I have two key questions. Where do the Profits go considering there\u2019s been talk of them splitting up and if that\u2019s the case, was this win their \u201cswan song\u201d and we\u2019ll see them publicly wish each other luck and go their own way? In addition, are there bigger plans for Chad Gable considering he got that big spot on Braun? Sometimes when these things happen, they\u2019re just a spot, but we\u2019ll see how things go for him.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1621090850\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Seth \u201cFreakin\u2019\u201d Rollins defeats Logan Paul<\/h4>\n<p><strong>HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t want to feel this way, but I like Logan Paul the wrestler. I look forward to what he\u2019s going to say and do in the ring. He just gets it, and it\u2019s amazing how quickly he\u2019s picked it all up. Watching this I felt like I was watching a legitimate professional wrestling match. I\u2019ll take criticism for this, but I enjoyed this more than I enjoyed Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville at last year\u2019s show. It does help that Seth Rollins is his opponent. Like him or not, and I know a lot of people don\u2019t, the guy knows what he\u2019s doing in there. Paul has had the benefit of working with him, Roman Reigns, The Miz, and Rey Mysterio in his time here thus far.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know if he reveres these guys, but Paul doing Hangman Page\u2019s Buckshot Lariat and CM Punk\u2019s Go to Sleep is interesting. Doing a version of Antonio Inoki\u2019s Octopus Stretch (and Michael Cole pointing it out by name) was cool too. It tells me Paul is studying other wrestlers and I\u2019m all for that. I could have done without KSI getting involved, but it was cool having him film Paul\u2019s dive on to Rollins only to have Rollins get out of the way while pulling KSI onto the table.<\/p>\n<p>I am curious about future use of Paul. I thought there was a shot he could win here, but I\u2019m glad the regular wrestler got the win. I think fans are intrigued enough by his presence that winning or losing matches aren\u2019t going to matter.<\/p>\n<h4>Six-Woman Tag Team Match: Women\u2019s Tag Team Champions Becky Lynch &amp; Lita and Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley &amp; Iyo Sky &amp; Dakota Kai)<\/h4>\n<p><strong>HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I thought the match was fine for what it was, and I give it a hit mostly because we didn\u2019t get the somewhat rumored Trish Stratus heel turn. This match needed to just be a feel-good win for the legends teamed up with whom I still see as the current top woman on the main roster, and it was just that. Maybe that happens down the line, and they do a Trish vs. Becky match (at SummerSlam?).<\/p>\n<p>Both Lita and Trish got the right amount of ring time to feel like being in this match mattered. They weren\u2019t just there for the sake of being there and got in their \u201cgreatest hits.\u201d Becky getting the pinfall was the right decision.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m curious to see the fate of Damage CTRL moving forward. They just seem like jobbers to the stars, get their heat back, job to the stars again, repeat. It\u2019s a shame because they\u2019re all good talents, especially Iyo Sky.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1579796539\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Rey Mysterio defeats Dominik Mysterio<\/h4>\n<p><strong>HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the entrances. They\u2019re in on this hardened criminal bit with Dominik. What did he spend, like a day in \u201cjail?\u201d The absurdity of him talking about it on TV and having the cops bring him into the arena made it so ridiculous that it was overall great. Rey\u2019s entrance with Eddie Guerrero\u2019s music? I wasn\u2019t crying. I have allergies this time of the year. All kidding aside, Viva La Raza my friends. What a moment.<\/p>\n<p>Now let me get one thing out of the way. I know WWE has these advertisements they do, and I understand the business end of it. They couldn\u2019t do this deal with Cinnamoji Toast Crunch with another match? This is a grudge feud. I don\u2019t know what match is appropriate for this, but this one wasn\u2019t it.<\/p>\n<p>Like others on the show, the match went the way it needed to go. Now in the ring I don\u2019t think Dominik has picked it up as fast as Logan Paul but he\u2019s still good. It\u2019s more about his character and what he brings to the table overall. He\u2019s that punk-ass, unlikable \u201ckid\u201d you want to see get his comeuppance, and that happened here in this match. Going back to him taunting his sister and mother as he did on Smackdown to set up this match was a nice touch. Throwing the drink in Aaliyah\u2019s face and Angie, the mother eventually slapping him in the face was expected and worked well. You knew Judgment Day would get involved as well as Legado Del Fantasma and eventually Bad Bunny who was doing commentary with the Spanish announce team. I like that the involvement was just enough and set up a potential match with some combination of Rey and\/or Bad Bunny and Legado Del Fantasma vs. Judgement at the Backlash show in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n<p>There was debate over whether Dominik should go over, but I\u2019m glad they went with Rey. Dominik doesn\u2019t have to win over his dad right now. That could come later. His character work is enough, but we\u2019ll see how things go for him once he moves away from them feuding.<\/p>\n<h4>Smackdown Women\u2019s Championship: Rhea Ripley defeats Charlotte Flair to win the title.<\/h4>\n<p><strong>HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I thought this match would be good heading into the show, even if I thought the build wasn\u2019t all that great. I didn\u2019t think it would be this good though. There are very few matches from the modern WWE I\u2019d want to rewatch. This is certainly one of them.<\/p>\n<p>The match started out a bit slow and the crowd felt flat, but I sense that was by design. Once they Ripley hit Riptide for a near fall that\u2019s when I felt it got going. You got Natural Selection from Charlotte, which has won matches for her including for this same title at SummerSlam 2018. Another Riptide attempt was blocked. Later I thought Charlotte oversold on a German Suplex and that\u2019s when she landed straight onto her face. Then we got the Moonsault. I\u2019ve wished Charlotte would stop doing that but, as they say it is what it is. Todd Martin mentioned on the VIP post-PPV round table that it reminded him of a Japanese-style hard hitting match. I\u2019m inclined to agree as the same thought crossed my mind watching.<\/p>\n<p>We then moved to the part of the match where we got believable near falls and submission attempts including a Cloverleaf from Ripley and a Figure Four from Charlotte. She couldn\u2019t convert it to her signature Figure 8. Ultimately, Ripley hitting Riptide off the ropes was a nice spot and I\u2019m glad the victory was clean without the involvement of Judgment Day. Seeing Charlotte genuinely happy for her opponent at ringside was a pleasant surprise.<\/p>\n<p>It will be interesting to see how things shake out moving forward especially since Ripley and Dominik are still aligned in the heel faction Judgment Day. If I\u2019m watching that match in a vacuum, I\u2019d have no idea. Does that faction start to fall apart and if so, how do they tell the story? What\u2019s next for Charlotte? I like how there are things to look forward to coming out of this match that will make it worth tuning in to the weekly television.<\/p>\n<h4>Pat McAfee defeats The Miz<\/h4>\n<p><strong>MISS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the placement of this that makes it a miss. I understand they want to save the crowd energy for the main event, and they spent a lot during the Charlotte vs. Ripley match and thus this was the \u201ccool down.\u201d It\u2019s 11:00 (eastern) at night though. We\u2019ve sat there for three hours already. You get enough time in between matches for the Peacock commercials, plus they had a musical act lined up for the Usos entrance. This wasn\u2019t terribly offensive, but it wasn\u2019t necessary either.<\/p>\n<h4>Undisputed Tag Team Championship: The Usos (Jimmy &amp; Jey) (champs) vs. Kevin Owens &amp; Sami Zayn<\/h4>\n<p><strong>HIT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know what to say about one of the greatest WrestleMania main events I\u2019ve seen in my lifetime. Unlike what we\u2019ve seen in WWE for some time, this was the culmination of a story that\u2019s been told for a long time. This goes back all the way to when Sami started interacting with the Bloodline following last year\u2019s WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t point that it took eight years for the Usos to get on the main card of a WrestleMania. They debuted in May of 2010, but didn\u2019t get on the main card until WrestleMania 34 in 2018. They made appearances on various pre-shows in previous years. Kevin Owens main evented night one of last year\u2019s show against \u201cStone Cold\u201d Steve Austin and as I pointed out earlier, Sami Zayn lost to Johnny Knoxville last year. Let us not forget that there was a possibility of Owens and Zayn leaving WWE early last year. I can\u2019t think of whom I\u2019d want to see involved in this story other than these gentlemen and their staying in the company is an underappreciated factor.<\/p>\n<p>As far as the match it was everything you could have wanted. There were several near falls early, which I wish they would avoid because it\u2019s not believable the match would end so early, but it\u2019s a small quibble at best. The interaction with Sami and Jey Uso was great and I liked hearing Jey yell \u201cyou were a brother\u201d and \u201cyou never should have left the Bloodline.\u201d That tells me the story is not over and there\u2019s more to come with Jey. He knows Sami was right about Roman all along, but he\u2019s still conflicted despite siding with his family. Later in the match I enjoyed the crowd chanting \u201cOle\u201d and Michael Cole saying El Generico would be proud. It continues to be refreshing hearing announcers talk about characters outside the WWE bubble.<\/p>\n<p>I liked Sami hitting three Helluva Kicks to get the pin. It mildly reminded me of Ultimate Warrior hitting five spears on \u201cMacho Man\u201d Randy Savage at WrestleMania VII to win that match. Here\u2019s the thing. These are two guys that for the most part have been involved in mid-card comedy throughout their WWE tenure. Owens had his Universal Championship run and they\u2019ve each had runs with the U.S. and Intercontinental titles. They\u2019ve worked side by side and against each other. They\u2019ve never been in a story this important to the promotion that their match was clearly the match to have in the main event of a WrestleMania, a match for the tag team championship. Think about that! Would you ever expect such a situation to take place in the WWE? It was great to see them get the win but also be so genuinely emotional after the match. If you follow Sean Radican on Twitter, @sr_torch, he pointed out how he saw these guys when they were on the independent scene, and nobody wanted to give them a chance.<\/p>\n<p>Good promotions are about top stars but let\u2019s not forget the \u201cdance partners.\u201d What these guys bring to the table cannot be quantified. They\u2019ve excelled at whatever they\u2019ve been asked to do. Let\u2019s not dismiss the Usos. They looked like a main event act and gained so much even in losing. As I said earlier, this is far from over, but you have the right players in place for some great storytelling moving forward. We still have Roman vs. Cody, and what happens there will tie into what happened tonight!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hits 6<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Misses 2<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Closing Thoughts<\/h4>\n<p>I think I pretty much hit everything I wanted to say in terms of the matches. Overall, this show was engaging and just got better as the night went on. It goes to show you when done right, pro wrestling can be a great thing especially when it serves the fans. WWE has a loyal audience and it\u2019s great to see when we are rewarded for paying attention.<\/p>\n<p>With that said, the hits have it and this report is adjourned. I will be in the building for night two so my report will be an in-person perspective rather than a match-by-match hits &amp; misses. This will be my first WrestleMania in person so I\u2019m quite excited.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Thank you for reading!<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3258065597\"><div id=\"pwtor-560802697\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE WRESTLEMANIA 39 NIGHT ONE HITS AND MISSES APRIL 1, 2023 ENGLEWOOD, CA AT SOFI STADIUM AIRED ON PEACOCK, 8:00 p.m. EST, 7:00 a.m. CST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR Announcers: Michael Cole and <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2023\/04\/02\/wwe-wrestlemania-2023-night-one-hits-misses-theory-vs-cena-flair-vs-ripley-owens-zayn-vs-usos-more\/\" title=\"WWE WRESTLEMANIA 39 NIGHT ONE HITS &amp; MISSES: Theory vs. Cena, Flair vs. Ripley, Owens &amp; Zayn vs. Usos, more.\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":156353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,52,28,27,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2023\/03\/FsRghElWYAIa7ty.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156489"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156492,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156489\/revisions\/156492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}