WrestleMania 36 - Wikipedia

  WrestleMania 36 was originally scheduled to be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was relocated to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

Background

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WrestleMania is WWE's flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, having first been held in 1985. It was the company's first pay-per-view produced and was also WWE's first major event available via livestreaming when the company launched the WWE Network in February 2014. It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April.[3] It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four".[4] WrestleMania is ranked the sixth most valuable sports brand in the world by Forbes,[5] and has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.[6] Much like the Super Bowl, cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania.[7]

WrestleMania 36 was the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of Florida (after XXIV, XXVIII, and 33). The event featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, as well as NXT—although some NXT wrestlers had appeared in WrestleMania's previously annual battles royal, this was the first WrestleMania to promote the brand, following NXT becoming one of WWE's three major brands in September 2019.[8] National Football League (NFL) player Rob Gronkowski, who had recently signed with WWE, was announced as the host of WrestleMania 36.[9][10] Gronkowski last appeared for WWE during the WrestleMania 33 Kickoff pre-show in 2017.[11]

Parts 1 and 2 of WrestleMania 36 were sold as individual pay-per-views, with both available as a package deal.[12] For the first time, WWE announced that it would also offer the PPV as a digital purchase in the United States via FITE TV and the Fox Sports app (as an extension of Fox's broadcasts of SmackDown). ESPN, which does not normally air WWE programming, aired encores of previous editions of WrestleMania during the lead-up to the event to replace the NCAA women's basketball tournament that had been scrapped. "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd was the official theme song for the event.[13]

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

edit Main article: WWE ThunderDome

Announced on March 7, 2019, the event was originally scheduled to take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida solely on April 5, 2020, and was to air live.[14][15] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, other wrestling promotions began to cancel or postpone their shows in an attempt to prevent further spreading of the COVID-19 virus. This became true after the National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended its season after two of its players tested positive for COVID-19 which caused a massive ripple effect, effectively shutting down the vast majority of the sports world within five days.[16][17][18] In speaking with the Tampa Bay Times regarding how this outbreak could affect WrestleMania 36, WWE's Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said of this "The health and safety of not only our fan base, but also our superstars, really does come first ... We don't want to put anyone in a bad situation ever, regardless of the circumstance. Those are not risks worth taking". WWE's Executive Vice President of Special Events John Saboor further noted that they were constantly monitoring global events.[19][20] A meeting was held by Tampa officials on March 12 to determine the fate of WrestleMania 36; it was decided that the event would still proceed as planned, barring that the situation did not worsen in a week's time.[21] Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller further stated that if the situation was not any better by the following week, they would "pull the plug" on WrestleMania 36 if WWE did not do it themselves.[22] WWE then stated that they had a contingency plan ready in case the event was canceled.[23]

On March 16, WWE announced that the event would be held at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with only essential personnel in attendance, as with all other WWE weekly programs during this pandemic.[24][25][26] WWE then announced that WrestleMania 36 would be split into a two-night event, on April 4 and 5. The re-location effectively made it the third WrestleMania to be held in the city of Orlando, behind XXIV and 33. Many viewers also saw this as WWE taking an idea from New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)—who had their Wrestle Kingdom event on January 4 and 5 earlier in the year.[9] Marketing of the event subsequently emphasized the change in format, with the new tagline "Too Big for Just One Night".[27] WWE also produced a commemorative shirt reading "I Wasn't There", a spoof of their "I Was There" shirts of previous WrestleManias.[28]

It was then reported by PWInsider that WWE were pre-recording several episodes of their weekly programs (with the exception of the live broadcast of the March 23 episode of Monday Night Raw) for future broadcasts, as well as WrestleMania itself (marking the first WrestleMania to be pre-recorded rather than live), between March 21–26. WrestleMania tapings at the Performance Center were held between March 25 and 26.[1] It was reported that WWE had filmed post-WrestleMania episodes of Raw and NXT after production wrapped on WrestleMania, before taking a two-week break.[27]

In an interview with TV Guide, WWE's Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development and part-time wrestler Triple H explained that the "unique", pre-recorded nature of the event gave them the opportunity to experiment with new production elements and settings (as opposed to being confined to the ring), such as the "Boneyard" and "Firefly Fun House" matches, which were done as cinematic matches.[29] The Boneyard match was filmed at a custom-built set on location in the Orlando area (about a 40-minute drive away from the Performance Center),[30] while the Firefly Fun House match segments were all taped at Titan Towers in Stamford, Connecticut, using props and set pieces from their storage facility.[31] In lieu of a live performance of "America the Beautiful" to open the show as per tradition, a montage of performances of the song from past editions of WrestleMania was shown instead.[27]

Changes in participation

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The card underwent changes due to injuries and issues that arose related to the ongoing pandemic. Triple H confirmed that due to the circumstances, nothing would be held against any of the wrestlers who missed the event. He also stated that all of the talent competing were there in a voluntary capacity. However, this had already been planned before the changes in format and location brought about from the pandemic.[32]

WrestleMania's annual battles royal, the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal, were not scheduled to occur at WrestleMania 36 to limit the number of wrestlers in the ring at the same time.[33] Roman Reigns, who was at an increased risk for COVID-19 due to being in an immunocompromised state from his previous struggles with leukemia, requested to be removed from his match against Goldberg and WWE honored the request;[34][35] Braun Strowman (who was last seen at Elimination Chamber on March 8, and was not originally planned to be on the WrestleMania 36 card) was selected as Reigns' replacement in the match.[36][37] Andrade, who was scheduled to team with Angel Garza to face The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) for the Raw Tag Team Championship,[38] was removed from that match due to an injury and was replaced by NXT's Austin Theory.[39] Additionally, it was reported that The Miz had contracted an illness and was pulled from the WrestleMania card;[39] this turned the planned tag team triple threat ladder match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship[40] into a triple threat ladder match between Jimmy Uso, Kofi Kingston, and defending champion John Morrison.[41][42] Dana Brooke was originally advertised to be a part of the SmackDown Women's Championship elimination match, but she was taken off the card after reportedly being put into precautionary quarantine; Rey Mysterio was also reported to be in precautionary quarantine, but he had not been advertised for a match, though was reportedly going to face Andrade for the United States Championship.[43]

Storylines

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The event comprised a total of 19 matches divided across the two nights, including one match on each night's Kickoff pre-show and one dark match on the second night. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands,[44][45] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, and NXT.[46]

Main event matches

edit   2020 Men's Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship in the main event of Part 2.

Feeling as though nobody deserved an opportunity to challenge him at the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania, Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar decided to enter himself into the men's Royal Rumble match as entrant number one.[47][48] Lesnar dominated the first half of the match until he was eventually eliminated by Raw's Drew McIntyre, who would go on and win the match, thus earning himself a world championship match of his choosing at WrestleMania.[49] The next night on Raw, McIntyre announced that he would challenge Lesnar for the WWE Championship at the event.[50] At Super ShowDown, Lesnar retained the title against Ricochet, keeping him as the defending champion against McIntyre at WrestleMania.[51]

  The Undertaker faced AJ Styles in a cinematic Boneyard match—the main event of Part 1—in what was later revealed to be the final match of The Undertaker's career.

At Super ShowDown, AJ Styles was a participant in the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy gauntlet match. Final participant Rey Mysterio was ambushed backstage by Styles' O.C. teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, prompting Styles to declare himself the winner by forfeit. The referee gave Mysterio until the count of ten, during which, the camera cut backstage, showing that Gallows and Anderson had been attacked by The Undertaker, making a surprise return. Undertaker then made his entrance, taking Mysterio's place, and performed a Chokeslam on Styles to win the match and the trophy.[51] On the following Raw, a disgruntled Styles mocked Undertaker for still wrestling and issued a warning.[52] The Undertaker then appeared at Elimination Chamber and cost Styles his No Disqualification match with Aleister Black.[53] The following night on Raw, Styles taunted Undertaker by bringing up his wife Michelle McCool, blaming her for why Undertaker keeps coming back to wrestle, while also calling Undertaker by his real name, Mark Calaway. Styles then challenged Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania.[54] A contract signing for the match was conducted the following week.[55] Styles then challenged Undertaker to a Boneyard match,[38] and Undertaker accepted, cutting a promo akin to his "American Bad Ass" gimmick (circa 2000–2003).[56]

Undercard matches

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After winning SmackDown's Universal Championship at Super ShowDown,[51] WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg appeared on the following night's episode of SmackDown and issued an open challenge by stating his catchphrase, "Who's next?" Roman Reigns interrupted and had a stare down with Goldberg before accepting his challenge, which was subsequently scheduled for WrestleMania.[57] Just before the event, however, Reigns requested to be removed from the match for being at an increased risk for COVID-19, as he was in an immunocompromised state from his previous health issues with leukemia; Reigns himself confirmed the report and stated that WWE honored the request.[35][34] Triple H also confirmed the report in a March 29 interview on ESPN's SportsCenter.[32] Five days later on the April 3 episode of SmackDown, Braun Strowman was announced as Reigns' replacement in the match, making this the first WrestleMania since WrestleMania XXVIII where Reigns was not featured.[37]

At the Royal Rumble, Raw's Charlotte Flair won the women's Royal Rumble match to earn herself a women's championship match of her choosing at WrestleMania.[49] On the February 3 episode of Raw, Flair stated that she had defeated the women's champions of both Raw and SmackDown and had held those titles multiple times. She was then interrupted by Rhea Ripley, the NXT Women's Champion—a title that Flair had only held once during NXT's infancy in 2014. Ripley declared that Flair should challenge her as she had defeated Flair, but Flair had never beat her.[58] Flair continued to delay giving an answer until after Ripley had defended her title at TakeOver: Portland on February 16.[59][60] After Ripley retained her title at the NXT event, she was ambushed by Flair, who accepted Ripley's challenge for a match at WrestleMania, marking the first time that a Royal Rumble winner chose an NXT championship to challenge for with the title itself being the first NXT championship to be defended at the event.[61]

Prior to Survivor Series, a rivalry began between Raw's Becky Lynch and NXT's Shayna Baszler. At the event, Baszler won the non-title brand supremacy triple threat match between the three brands' women's champions by submitting SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley. An irate Lynch attacked Baszler following the match and put her through an announce table.[62] After losing the NXT Women's Championship,[63] Baszler appeared as the thirtieth entrant in the women's Royal Rumble match, finishing as the runner-up.[49] Following Lynch's title defense on the February 10 episode of Raw, Baszler ambushed Lynch and bit the back of her neck, thus reigniting their feud.[60] Baszler was then entered into Raw's women's Elimination Chamber match at the namesake event where she single-handedly eliminated all of her opponents to win and earn herself a Raw Women's Championship match against Lynch at WrestleMania.[53]

John Cena, who had last appeared during Raw Reunion in July 2019, made his return from hiatus during the February 28, 2020, episode of SmackDown to address his role at WrestleMania. Seemingly announcing his retirement, Cena declared he would not be appearing at the event, stating that WrestleMania spots should be earned. As Cena gave a farewell salute to the audience from the stage, the lights went out. When they illuminated, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared behind Cena. The Fiend then pointed to the WrestleMania sign, signaling a challenge to Cena, who simply nodded in acceptance. A match between the two was then scheduled for the event. This was the second the two fought each other at WrestleMania after WrestleMania XXX in April 2014.[57] On the March 27 episode, Wyatt challenged Cena to a Firefly Fun House match,[64] and Cena accepted.[37]

After being forced to retire in 2011 due to a severe neck injury, WWE Hall of Famer Edge returned at the 2020 Royal Rumble during the namesake match, where he had a brief reunion with Randy Orton; Edge eliminated Orton before his own elimination.[49] On the following Raw, Edge explained how he was able to make his return. Orton then welcomed Edge back and suggested reforming Rated-RKO, but turned on Edge and performed an RKO on him, thus turning heel in the process. After attacking Edge's neck with a steel chair, Orton smashed Edge's head between two steel chairs in a maneuver known as the "Conchairto", which Edge had made famous in the past.[50][60][65] Edge's wife and fellow Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix appeared on the March 2 episode to give a medical update on her husband. Orton interrupted and said that he attacked Edge so that he would remain at home and continue his role as a husband and a father to their children. He then blamed Phoenix for the attack, claiming that she allowed Edge to get back in the ring. Phoenix slapped Orton, who in turn performed an RKO on her.[52] Edge returned the following week on Montel Vontavious Porter's (MVP) talk show, the "VIP Lounge". Orton attempted to attack Edge, only for Edge to perform an RKO of his own on Orton. After Orton retreated, Edge performed the Conchairto on MVP twice as a warning to Orton.[54] Edge then challenged Orton to a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania,[55] and Orton accepted.[38]

At Survivor Series, Seth Rollins served as the captain of Team Raw for the men's Survivor Series elimination match, but questioned Kevin Owens' loyalty to the team due to Owens appearing at NXT TakeOver: WarGames; Raw suffered a devastating loss at Survivor Series, only winning one of the seven interbrand matches.[62] Rollins criticized the Raw roster for their poor performance and again questioned Owens' loyalty, who responded by performing a Stunner on Rollins. Owens then became the target of AOP (Akam and Rezar).[66][67] Although Owens accused Rollins of being behind AOP's attacks, Rollins denied the accusations, though he ultimately joined with AOP, turning heel.[68] Rollins then began to refer to himself as the "Monday Night Messiah" and recruited Murphy into his new faction with AOP; Rollins and Murphy eventually won the Raw Tag Team Championship together.[48] At the Royal Rumble, Rollins eliminated Owens from the namesake match thanks to help from AOP and Murphy.[49] Rollins and Murphy lost their titles on an episode of Raw,[52] and during a rematch at Elimination Chamber, Owens cost them their match and performed a Stunner on Rollins afterward.[53] The following night on Raw, Rollins attacked Owens after an eight-man tag team match.[54] On the March 16 episode, a match between Rollins and Owens was scheduled for WrestleMania.[55]

On the Survivor Series Kickoff pre-show, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) participated in an interbrand tag team battle royal that was won by Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode;[62] the two teams entered into a feud following the event. Also during this time, Otis started a romance with Mandy Rose. On the February 14 episode of SmackDown, Otis had a scheduled Valentine's Day date with Rose; however, Ziggler arrived first and stole the date, causing Otis to walk away heartbroken.[69] On the March 6 episode, Otis apologized to Rose, who rejected the apology.[70] Heavy Machinery then participated in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match, where they were eliminated by Ziggler and Roode.[53] On the March 20 episode of SmackDown, Ziggler distracted Otis during his tag team match by showing pictures of him and Rose together, enraging Otis, which caused Heavy Machinery to get disqualified, thus costing them another title opportunity.[71] Ziggler then challenged Otis to a match at WrestleMania and Otis accepted.[64] On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, a mysterious hacker (later revealed to be Mustafa Ali) appeared on the TitanTron during Ziggler's match with Tucker and revealed that Rose's Fire and Desire tag team partner Sonya Deville had conspired with Ziggler to sabotage Rose's Valentine's date with Otis.[37]

On the March 6 episode of SmackDown, King Corbin was interviewed backstage about his plans for WrestleMania 36, but was interrupted by Elias.[70] The following week, Corbin lost his match after Elias played his guitar, causing a distraction.[72] On the March 20 episode, Corbin interrupted WrestleMania host Rob Gronkowski, which brought out Elias to perform a song about Corbin. Elias then tossed Corbin from the ring, and Gronkowski advocated for a match between the two at WrestleMania 36,[71] which was made official on March 23.[38]