Wrestlemania 36 - Part Two

By Steve Ward

WWE returned again this evening from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with night number two of Wrestlemania 36 - yes, I continue to number them. For whatever reason, WWE decided a few years back to leave the number off of Wrestlemania each year as if it dated the event and made it more antiquated. I personally respond to that by saying, “Doesn’t the Super Bowl still use the number system?” If nothing else, labeling this event as it should be, Wrestlemania 36, demonstrates the longevity of the company and it’s ability to continue to cater to it’s target audience. Nonetheless, now that I’m off my soapbox, this evening should prove like last night to offer some shocking moments - particularly in the title matches. This evening’s event offered eight matches on the main card highlighted by Brock Lesnar squaring off with Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.

NXT Women’s Championship

Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair

Winner: Charlotte Flair

Following her victory in this year’s Royal Rumble match, Charlotte was called out by NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and in a shocking turn of events accepted her challenge. This also marks the first time that an NXT title would be defended on the grandest stage of them all. Rhea Ripley came to bring the fight to Charlotte tonight but it wasn’t enough. Charlotte systematically dismantled the left knee of Ripley for the duration of the contest until she couldn’t withstand any more punishment. In the final moments of the match, Charlotte cinched in a figure four leglock that she was able to transition into the Figure Eight for the submission victory.

Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley w/ Lana

Winner: Aleister Black via pinfall

In a classic “we didn’t know what else to do with these competitors so we’ll book them against each other” match, Aleister Black looked to maintain his recent momentum against one of the worst utilized superstars in the company, Bobby Lashley. Lashley used his overwhelming strength to impose his will upon Black for the majority of the match, however, Lana proved to be the ultimate deciding factor. Lashley had Black on his shoulder poised to finish him when Lana ordered her “husband” to spear him. This proved to be Lashley’s fatal flaw as he was unceremoniously met with a Black Mass kick to the mouth which allowed Black to seal the victory.

Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler w/ Sonya Deville

Winner: Otis via pinfall

This match represented absolutely nothing other than revenge. After Dolph and Sonya sabotaged Otis’ Valentine’s Day date with Mandy Rose, Otis made it a point to take out his frustrations on Ziggler after the truth was recently revealed on Smackdown. Otis appeared poised to finish his quest for revenge with the Caterpillar until Sonya intervened and opened the opportunity for Ziggler to strike him between the uprights. Moments later, Mandy Rose made her way to ringside where she slapped the taste out of Sonya’s mouth and with referee Charles Robinson distracted, she slid into the ring and returned the favor to Dolph. Otis proceeded to execute the Caterpillar and solidify his victory.

Last Man Standing Match

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Winner: Edge

Following Edge’s miraculous return at the Royal Rumble after a nine year hiatus due to what was once thought to be a career ending injury, Randy Orton turned on and brutally assaulted Edge the following night on RAW. This violence only escalated a matter of weeks later as Orton again struck - this time with Edge’s wife, Beth Phoenix, as the victim. With all of the events that have transpired, it only seemed fitting that this would culminate in a Last Man Standing Match. Randy Orton wasted no time bringing the fight as he jumped Edge with an RKO Outta Nowhere and then another as soon as the bell rang. This would be the last of the action at ringside as the remainder of the bout spilled over into several backstage areas of the Performance Center. The Rated R Superstar was finally able to put The Viper down for the referee’s ten count after their backstage brawl escalated to the top of the trailer of a semi-truck. Edge delivered a spear to Orton and then utilized a pair of steel chairs to deliver a Conchairto to seal the deal.

RAW Tag Team Championship

The Street Profits vs. Austin Theory & Angel Garza w/ Zelina Vega

Winners: The Street Profits

In another questionable booking decision, The Street Profits defended their titles against the makeshift team of Austin Theory and Angel Garza. Austin Theory attempted a late pinfall on Angelo Dawkins when Montez Ford launched himself from the top turnbuckle onto Theory’s back allowing Dawkins to steal a pinfall.

Smackdown Women’s Championship Fatal Five-Way

Sasha Banks vs. Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Naomi vs. Bayley (c)

Winner: Bayley via pinfall

After belittling Paige recently on Smackdown Live, Bayley found herself defending the title against four other women certainly stacking the odds against her. Tamina, after imposing her will for much of the early going, was the first eliminated after the other four competitors ganged up on and dog piled on her for the pinfall. Naomi was the second eliminated after she tapped out to the Bank Statement applied by Sasha Banks. This presented another numbers game as Lacey was left to fend for herself against Bayley and her cohort Sasha Banks. Banks soon became the recipient of an inadvertent knee from Bayley leading to some infighting between the two. Lacey capitalized on this and knocked out Sasha Banks with a Woman’s Right allowing her to eliminate The Boss leaving us with our final two participants. Lacey seemingly was moments away from winning her first title after landing the moonsault, however, Sasha Banks reemerged and drilled Evans with a backstabber. Bayley then took advantage and finished off The Sassy Southern Belle to retain her title.

Firefly Funhouse Match

John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt

Winner: The Fiend???

Before John Cena was able to declare his absence from Wrestlemania this year, The Fiend intervened and posed a challenge which the 16-time champ aptly accepted. The match was declared a Firefly Funhouse Match - one that nobody had a clue what it would entail heading in. This ended up being a glorified montage of WWE and WCW pop culture references along with a brief history of Bray Wyatt and John Cena that concluded with The Fiend taking Cena down with the Mandible Claw as Bray Wyatt counted the pinfall.

WWE Championship

Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. Drew McIntyre

Winner: Drew McIntyre via pinfall

Drew McIntyre’s long journey to the main event of Wrestlemania became a reality after he derailed Brock Lesnar’s torrid elimination streak on his way to winning this year’s Royal Rumble match. Tonight he stepped toe to toe with The Beast, this time with the top prize in sports entertainment on the line. Lesnar’s efforts to manhandle McIntyre were briefly stunted as he answered with a Claymore Kick. This motivated Lesnar as he proceeded to take Drew to Suplex City and delivered three consecutive F5s - all of which were followed by failed pinfall attempts. Brock’s fourth F5 was reversed by McIntyre who answered with three consecutive Claymore Kicks - the last of which allowed him to stun the champ as he pinned him in front of a speechless Paul Heyman.

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Wrestlemania 36 - Part One

By Steve Ward

In a time devoid of the vast majority of professional sports, the WWE (and AEW) have continued to satiate the desire for entertainment to their loyal fan bases as they have consistently aired all of their weekly programs absent of any fans. The “Showcase of the Immortals” began this evening with part one of Wrestlemania 36 from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. This year’s event has been billed “Too Big For One Night” and hence the reason it has been divided into two evenings making it one of the most unique Wrestlemanias since Wrestlemania 2 - when some of you may recall the event emanated from The Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY, The Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, IL, and The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, CA with each venue having it’s very own main event.

One could deduce that this year’s show had been divided into two evenings because there is no NXT Takeover event being held and to limit the amount of personnel in the Performance Center but leave it to WWE and their publicity team to put a positive spin on the event. While I would not expect the superstars to put any less effort forward from a physical standpoint, the biggest question would be how they would react to the dynamic of no fans in attendance. Sure, many of the wrestlers have likely performed in a high school gymnasium in front of 15 people in the early stages of their careers, but to be someone who feeds of off crowd reaction and uses it drive their performance this could certainly be disconcerting - if not eerie.

Nonetheless, I still feel like a kid again when this weekend comes around each year and look forward to two great nights of live entertainment because I can only watch so many classic ballgames on MLB Network.

Kickoff Show

Cesaro vs. Drew Gulak
Winner: Cesaro via pinfall

Cesaro disposed of Daniel Bryan’s newfound running mate Drew Gulak as he executed a no-hands airplane spin to seal the pinfall victory.

Main Card

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) (c)

Winners: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross via pinfall

Bliss and Cross appeared to be in dire straits for the majority of this bout. Bliss was disposed of at ringside for a significant portion of the match allowing the Kabuki Warriors to have their way with her - even executing a modification of The Doomsday Device. Cross was able to stave off defeat long enough to turn the tides as late in the match she executed a spinning neck breaker on Sane as Bliss conveniently made her way back to the ring apron. Cross tagged Bliss back in as she scaled to the top turnbuckle and landed the Twisted Bliss to crown new champs.

King Corbin vs. Elias

Winner: Elias via pinfall

There was a great deal of speculation as to whether Elias would even participate in this match after Corbin had launched him off of a balcony one week ago on Friday Night Smackdown. Not only did he show up but rode the momentum of a Jeff Jarrett-esque guitar shot to Corbin’s head prior to the start of the match.

RAW Women’s Championship

Becky Lynch (c) vs. Shayna Baszler

Winner: Becky Lynch via pinfall

Following an absolutely dominant performance where she defeated five other women to become the number one contender at last month’s Elimination Chamber pay per view, the Queen of Spades went toe to toe this evening with The Man for her title. This was an extremely physical contest with an abundance of strikes thrown by each superstar. It appeared Baszler was about the fulfill the prediction of many and win the title as she cinched in the Kirifuda Clutch, however, Becky rolled over while Shayna’s shoulders were still pinned down and miraculously stole a pinfall to retain her title.

WWE Intercontinental Championship

Daniel Bryan w/ Drew Gulak vs. Sami Zayn (c) w/ Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura

Winner: Sami Zayn via pinfall

Cesaro and Nakamura proved to be the difference in this contest. Late in the bout, the two of them laid waste to Drew Gulak which prompted Daniel Bryan to take them out with a suicide dive. With Zayn still seemingly down for the count in the ring, Bryan climbed to the top turnbuckle but as he dove at Zayn he was unceremoniously met with a version of the Helluva Kick allowing Sami to retain his title.

Triple Threat Ladder Match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship

Kofi Kingston vs. Jimmy Uso vs. John Morrison

Winner: John Morrison 

Yes, you read that correctly. This bout was for the tag team championship, however, only one member of each team participated after The Miz fell ill, and obviously with the current global climate, was not able to compete. As the closing moments of the match approached, all three competitors found themselves at the top of two ladders propped below the titles hanging in the balance. All three men had their hands on the titles as they were detached and as they struggled for possession, Morrison fell down onto another ladder that was propped up by the ring ropes and one of the ladders in the ring. By dumb luck, he fell with the titles in tow solidifying a successful defense.

Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

Winner: Kevin Owens via pinfall

Following his open defiance of Seth Rollins and his collective of AOP and Buddy Murphy for several weeks, Kevin Owens finally earned his shot at redemption and his Wrestlemania Moment tonight. Rollins dominated the bout early but wasn’t able to put Owens away. Owens then caught Rollins with the Pop-Up Powerbomb but The Monday Night Messiah escaped the pinfall and rolled out of the ring. Rollins then made his way to the timekeeper’s area with Owens in tow, grabbed the ring bell, and struck KO with it leading to a disqualification. This outcome wasn’t acceptable to Owens who proceeded to call Rollins a bitch and challenged him to a no disqualification match which he readily accepted. This second match didn’t last long as Owens laid Rollins out across the announce table and ascended to the top of the Wrestlemania sign just behind it. Owens then jumped from the top of the sign and put Rollins through the table. The two then returned to the ring where Owens dropped Rollins again with the Stunner to earn the pinfall.

WWE Universal Championship

Goldberg (c) vs. Braun Strowman

Winner: Braun Strowman via pinfall

Following weeks of buildup of a title clash between Roman Reigns and Goldberg, The Big Dog was removed from the card due to health concerns stemming from his recent bout with leukemia. In stepped a formidable foe in “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman - a man who previously had no match scheduled on the card to much surprise. Goldberg slipped out of an early power slam attempt by Strowman and executed four spears in a row, however, when he attempted The Jackhammer, Braun reversed it with a power slam. Braun then executed two more power slams and finished things off with a running power slam to quite frankly provide the shock of the night as he pinned the Hall of Famer to earn his first ever Universal Championship.

Boneyard Match

The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles

Winner: The Undertaker

Following The Undertaker’s surprise appearance at WWE Crown Jewel in February where he cost Styles his victory in a gauntlet match, The Phenomenal One has made it a point to call out the Deadman time and time again until tonight’s match came to fruition. This match did not take place inside of the Performance Center, but rather at an undisclosed outdoor location made up to look like a graveyard. AJ Styles arrived in a hearse whereas The Undertaker tapped into his old American Badass persona from the early 2000s and rode in on a motorcycle. After Undertaker had dumped Styles into an open grave, Gallows and Anderson made their presence known as they arrived with several “druids.”

The Undertaker laid waste to all of the robed individuals and as he was gaining the upper hand on Gallows and Anderson, Styles reemerged to crack what appeared to be a piece of concrete over The Phenom’s head. Styles proceeded to verbally belittle The Undertaker for several minutes until he cracked a shovel over his back and threw him into the open grave. As AJ boarded a John Deere in order to bury him, a rejuvenated Undertaker emerged behind Styles and proceeded to lay waste to both him and his OC cohorts. Moments later, Styles also became the recipient of a vicious choke slam off the top of a shed/barn-like structure. Styles proceeded to beg for forgiveness until The Undertaker kicked him into the open grave and used the John Deere to bury him. Apparently this was a buried alive match (I say apparently because no stipulations were established beforehand) so with Styles put away, the Deadman jumped back on his motorcycle and rode off into the night to bring night number one to a close.

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