Wrestlemania 36 Results and Review
Night 1
Cesaro vs Drew Gulak
The first match on the show was a nice amuse-bouche to begin the night. The two guys put on a nice, technical match to set the tone for the rest of the night. The guys went back and forth before Cesaro put Drew away with the UFO. To my knowledge, this is the first time Cesaro has used that since he’s been with WWE.
Winner: Cesaro
Wrestlemania proper opened with a nice message from Stephanie McMahon followed by a compilation of past “America The Beautiful” performances throughout the years. Then, we got the big Wrestlemania intro video. This came across kind of strange but would have probably been better had they done the show at Raymond James Stadium. The pirate theme of the video didn’t make much sense coming from the PC.
Gronk opened his hosting debut by coming out to say a few words. Mojo Rawley joined Gronk on the stage and they both looked like Eric Nies knockoffs from 1992 hosting The Grind on MTV. They were both fine but I was glad they were used sparingly throughout the nigh.
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs Kabuki Warriors (c) – Women’s Tag Team Championship
The first match on the main show was Alex and Nikki vs Kabuki Warriors. These women went all out to set the night off on the right foot. They were hitting each other hard and were entertaining us as they did it. I think the empty arena has really helped the Kabuki Warriors as they vocally work. All of that stuff can be lost when you have a sold out Wrestlemania. By the end of the match I was really pulling for Kabuki Warriors. I just think they are awesome together. I wonder if Kairi was originally going to have a big entrance at Raymond James?? You would think the Pirate Princess would have had some kind of big entrance at the pirate Wrestlemania. Anyway, it was a good match and a nice start to the show.
Winners: Alexa and Nikki
King Corbin vs Elias
By no means was this match any good but Elias looked not bad. This is one of the best matches I have seen out of Elias. It went pretty long considering neither of these guys are very great. Elias eventually won by holding the tights after a rollup.
Winner: Elias
Shayna Baszler vs Becky Lynch (c) – Raw Women’s Championship
I had picked Baszler to come out victorious but I was wrong. It might have been for the better since the immediate future of WWE is uncertain after Raw. Having Baszler as champion is a better idea if you can build her up while keeping her hot in the mind of the fans. Becky was the safe bet and I honestly don’t hate that they went that way. These two had a slugfest while trading submissions throughout the match. Becky eventually ended up winning in when rolled through a Shayna submission for the pin.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn (c) – Intercontinental Championship
This was not the match I pictured when I saw these two were paired together. They had their role on the show and obviously a good match was not that role. The match was there for entertainment with no stress on their work rate. The match was over after Sami hiut Bryan with a Helluva Kick.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Jimmy Uso vs Kofi Kingston vs John Morrison (c) – Smackdown Tag Team Championship
This was original a tag ladder match but changes were made and it was never really explained. It is rumored that Miz was sick at the time of the taping so an audible was called. It is also rumored that this led to Roman Reigns backing out of the show as well. This match is when the show really started to pick up. These three went all out in front of no fans. I can’t believe how difficult that must be for them. Whatever they did to power through the match it worked. Morrison had an impressive spot where he walked across the ropes unassisted from one turnbuckle to another. Very impressive!! They were even able to end the match in a fun and unique way. All three guys were fighting for the belt and as Morrison was knocked off the ladder he pulled the belt with him.
Winner: John Morrison retains for Miz and Morrison
Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins
This was another really good match on the show. I had previously speculated that I wasn’t sure if they would put on a good match. I knew they had the ability to but I wasn’t sure if they could. Man, I was wrong again. The two battled initially until Seth hit Owens in the head with the ring bell. As Seth was walking to the back Owens convinced Seth to come to finish with a No DQ match. The two battled a little bit longer until then Kevin hit Seth with the ring bell and knocked him onto the announce table. Kevin then climbed to the top of the Wrestlemania sign and put Seth through the table with a Senton Bomb. Kevin then dragged him back into the ring and finished him with a Stunner.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Braun Strowman vs Goldberg (c) – Universal Championship
They announced on Friday’s Smackdown that Braun would be Roman’s replacement at Wrestlemania. They didn’t really give a reason or anything. It just kinda happened. Braun won and the match was only 2 minutes long. That was actually the best part about the match. Thankfully, Goldberg is not champion anymore.
Winner: Braun Strowman
AJ Styles vs Undertaker – Boneyard Match
This “match” was phenomenal. By phenomenal I mean it was one of the best things they’ve ever done. By “match” I mean it’s not in the style you think of when you think WWE style matches. It was cinematic and different than pretty much anything they’d ever done. This took what Matt Hardy had started with the Broken Universe and took it to another level with their production value behind it. Undertaker was cool again. He was American Badass crossed with The Phenom. I truly think this could have extended Undertaker’s career another five years. It felt like a mini-version of a Quentin Tarantino movie. If you haven’t seen this match you need to go out of your way to find it. Now. Go find it.
Winner: Undertaker
Night 2
Charlotte Flair vs Rhea Ripley (c) – NXT Women’s Championship
Few women in WWE can match the size of Charlotte Flair but Rhea is one that can. Usually Charlotte makes her opponents look tiny by comparison. These two had a very stiff and sold very well for each other. Charlotte always performs well on the big stage and Rhea appears to be able to hold her own as well. Charlotte tapped Rhea out for the win. Charlotte is moving to NXT where she could have some fresh feuds with Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and the list goes on and on. Is Rhea moving to Smackdown or will she try to win her belt back? I guess we where we go from here.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Bobby Lashley vs Aleister Black
I do not care for Bobby Lashley. I just don’t connect with him. Nothing against him or black but this match was boring. At least they did the right thing and put Black over. Black won after hitting Lashley with Black Mass.
Winner: Aleister Black
Otis vs Dolph Ziggler w/ Sonya Deville
This match was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be and pretty much exactly what it should have been. This match really suffered from the lack of a crowd. If they had a crowd it would have gone crazy when Mandy came out and attacked Sonya. It was a good moment for Otis at the end when he got the girl and he deserved the win. I’m excited to see where they go from here in the feud. It should be an inter-gender match hopefully at Summerslam but I don’t know if they can keep it going for that long unless they take a little hiatus after Wrestlemania.
Winner: Otis
Edge vs Randy Orton – Last Man Standing Match
This was the match I was looking forward to the most. It had the best build for any match on Wrestlemania. Randy and Edge were both been in the buildup. The match however came up short for me. It was way too long. I kind of got back into it near the end but they lost me through a big part of the match. Maybe it would have been better with a crowd but I don’t know. I also could have done without Randy trying to hang Edge from a cable for a weight machine. Not really a good look. I’m glad Edge is back and hopefully he will get a match in front of a crowd soon so that he make up for Wrestlemania. Edge won when Randy was immobilized following a Con-chair-to on top of a production truck.
Winner: Edge
Angel Garza and Austin Theory vs The Street Profits (c) – Raw Tag Team Championship
This match was good. One thing I can say for sure is that Montez Ford will be huge star one day. He has athleticism and charisma for days. When he gets more seasoned and puts it all together he will be unstoppable in the ring. The Street Profits won the match but were attacked by Theory and Garza following the match. Bianca Belair ran out to attack Zelina Vega and make the save for the Street profits. It looks like Bianca may have been called up to the main roster. Maybe Charlotte was swapped for Bianca?
Winner: Street Profits
Sasha Banks vs Lacey Evans vs Naomi vs Tamina vs Bayley (c) – 5-Way Elimination Match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship
The final three in the match were Lacey, Sasha, and Bayley. Lacey knocked Sasha out with the Women’s Right and pinned Sasha while Bayley did nothing to help. Lacey and Bayley went back and forth a little bit until Sasha returned to attack Lacey and give Bayley the win. I was waiting on Sasha to attack Bayley but it never came. Sasha ended up leaving the ring as Bayley celebrated her victory.
Winner: Bayley
John Cena vs Bray Wyatt – Firefly Fuhouse Match
I’m not really sure what this match was but I loved it. It was like a crazy, independent horror movie. They re-enacted John Cena’s debut, Thugenomics Cena came back, and Cena even joined the NWO. It wasn’t as good as the Undertaker match last night but it was still pretty friggin’ great. Definitely check this match out if you can.
Winner: Bray Wyatt…I think
Drew McIntyre vs Brock Lesnar (c) – WWE Championship
This match was very short. Drew kicked out of 3 F5s and it took 4 of his Claymores to get the pin fall. Drew winning wasn’t the same with no crowd. It’s a shame his title win happened under these circumstances. I’m still happy for Drew and I’m looking forward to see where we go from here.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Overall this was a good Wrestlemania, especially considering the circumstances. You can tell these men and women went out and performed like they were in front of 80,000 people. The two cinematic matches were both incredible. I’m hoping we get more of this in the future. I do worry, however, that WWE might beat this idea to death as they tend to do with things. Hopefully, they can use these ideas sparingly and only when it makes sense. Even though this was a different Wrestlemania experience than normal I am looking forward to the WWE future.
-Blake the Snake
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