Cody Rhodes Defeating Roman Reigns And 5 Smart Booking Decisions

WrestleMania 39 Saturday was a rousing success, with a crowd of more than 75,000 on a night filled with fantastic in-ring action. But WWE isn’t done just yet—not by a long shot.

A second night of WrestleMania 39 awaits, with another sellout crowd and a number of huge matches slated for the show, including Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed Universal Championship as well as Asuka vs. Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s Championship.

WWE knocked it out of the park on Saturday, with stellar matches likeCharlotte Flair, vs. Rhea Ripley, Seth Rollins vs. Logal Paul amd The Usos vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Can WWE keep the momentum going?

Here are five smart booking moves WWE must make on WrestleMania Sunday.

MORE FROM FORBESWWE WrestleMania 39 Results: Kevin Owens And Sami Zayn Defeat The Usos As The Bloodline Begins To CrumbleBy Blake Oestriecher

Bianca Belair Loss Leads To Character Change

Bianca Belair is a tremendous performer but has been pushed incredibly strongly for more than two years now. One of the things that made the “Super Cena” version of John Cena and the babyface version of Roman Reigns hard to truly cheer for is that they rarely lost and often ran roughshod over the rest of the roster without any real character development.

Now, Belair is entering that very same category. While her in-ring performances remain elite, her promos haven’t improved while her character has undergone virtually no significant changes. The blame for that should be shared by the creative team and Belair, who should be improving more as a talker at this stage of her career.

Belair’s mediocrity on the microphone has made her WrestleMania feud with Asuka completely forgettable, and though the two stars are likely going to put on a great match at Mania, she needs to do more than just wrestle at a high level or else WWE runs the risk of her character growing even staler. The best way to start to reshape Belair’s character is for her to lose to Asuka, face some rare adversity and start to make some minor tweaks that prevent her from growing as monotonous as she has been.

Edge Puts Over Finn Balor

The Hell in a Cell match between Edge and Finn Balor, expected to be the blowoff to their rivalry, is essentially a tossup. Betting odds indicate there is no clear favorite while the booking of this lengthy feud also suggests that either ending—a Balor or Edge win—would be fitting.

Questions remain, however, about Edge’s contract status and whether he could wind up in AEW, with “The Rated R Superstar” saying he could have wrestled “elsewhere” and indicating that he’s not necessarily a WWE lifer despite the fact that he sure seems like one.

With a cloud of mystery surrounding Edge and with Balor being the younger star, it’s Balor—portraying his almost invincible “Demon” character—who should win at WrestleMania 39. Not only does Balor need the win more, but it’s likely that he’s going to be around WWE much longer than Edge will, with the latter indicating that retirement is drawing near.

Sheamus Makes History

One of the best things Triple H has done since taking over WWE’s creative process is elevate the midcard titles, especially the Intercontinental Championship. At WrestleMania 39, three of SmackDown’s biggest stars—Gunther, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre—will battle in what should be an instant classic for a secondary championship that is starting to feel like a major one once again.

The way this match is shaping up, two things seem destined to happen: Sheamus making history and Gunther dropping his title without being pinned. A triple threat match provides WWE with the perfect opportunity for Sheamus to pin McIntyre and win the lone title that has alluded him throughout his Hall of Fame caliber career.

Sheamus has been adamant about his desire to win the IC title and become the “Ultimate Grand Slam Champion,” and if he does so by pinning his friend McIntyre, that’s the best way to ensure that Gunther—who has been amazing on the main roster—can move on to bigger and better things.

Brock Lesnar Does The Honors But Only If He’s Leaving

Brock Lesnar’s contract status is a mystery, and it isn’t confirmed one way or the other whether “The Beast” will be sticking around after WrestleMania 39.

That might explain why Lesnar, who’s traditionally been involved in the world title picture at major pay-per-views, is instead in a midcard match against Omos, who really hadn’t been featured much on Raw prior to this rivalry. It’s certainly worth noting, however, that Lesnar reportedly rejected a match with Bray Wyatt but approved a bout with Omos, so there could be something to it.

This clash of two titans sure seems to be building up to Lesnar winning by hitting a ridiculously impressive F5 on the 400-plus-pound Omos, but the only way Lesnar should win this bout is if he’s sticking around immediately after Mania. If he’s leaving for any amount of time, however, Omos should get the win to establish him as a potential force in WWE’s main event scene in the absence of Lesnar.

Cody Rhodes Slays Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns has been world champion for well over two years. It’s time for that to change.

With Reigns reportedly slated for a lengthy break after WrestleMania 39, The Bloodline seemingly on its last legs and Cody Rhodes developing into a big draw for WWE, the stars are undoubtedly aligning for Reigns to drop the titles that have turned him into one of the greatest heels in pro wrestling history.

WWE reportedly has as much as a year of long-term storylines planned out after WrestleMania 39, and that should involve the once dominate Bloodline absolutely falling apart. With The Usos losing their tag team titles on night one of WrestleMania, step one is complete.

Step two is Rhodes defeating Reigns clean and The Bloodline spending the next year trying to regroup from monumental losses that ultimately lead to a full-blown implosion.