WrestleMania 36

Production

Background

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. 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". WrestleMania is ranked the sixth most valuable sports brand in the world by Forbes, and has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. Much like the Super Bowl, cities bid for the right to host the year's edition of WrestleMania.

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. National Football League (NFL) player Rob Gronkowski, who had recently signed with WWE, was announced as the host of WrestleMania 36. Gronkowski last appeared for WWE during the WrestleMania 33 Kickoff pre-show in 2017.

Parts 1 and 2 of WrestleMania 36 were sold as individual pay-per-views, with both available as a package deal. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. WWE then stated that they had a contingency plan ready in case the event was canceled.

Storylines

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, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, and NXT.

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. 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. The next night on Raw, McIntyre announced that he would challenge Lesnar for the WWE Championship at the event. At Super ShowDown, Lesnar retained the title against Ricochet, keeping him as the defending champion against McIntyre at WrestleMania.

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. On the following Raw, a disgruntled Styles mocked Undertaker for still wrestling and issued a warning. The Undertaker then appeared at Elimination Chamber and cost Styles his No Disqualification match with Aleister Black. 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. A contract signing for the match was conducted the following week. Styles then challenged Undertaker to a Boneyard match, and Undertaker accepted, cutting a promo akin to his "American Bad Ass" gimmick (circa 2000–2003).

After winning SmackDown's Universal Championship at Super ShowDown, 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. 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. Triple H also confirmed the report in a March 29 interview on ESPN's SportsCenter. 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.

Event

Part 1

During the WrestleMania 36 Kickoff Part 1 pre-show, Drew Gulak faced Cesaro. The climax saw Cesaro perform a U.F.O. on Gulak, followed by winning the match by pinfall.

The actual pay-per-view portion of Part 1 opened with a special statement from Stephanie McMahon and a performance of "America the Beautiful", which was edited together from multiple performances of the song from previous WrestleMania events. Host Rob Gronkowski began hyping WrestleMania. He was joined by his friend Mojo Rawley.

In the first match, The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. In the end, Cross performed the Purge on Sane followed by Bliss performing a Twisted Bliss to win and become the first two-time champions in the title's history.

Next, Elias faced King Corbin. In the end, as Corbin attempted a pin on Elias with his legs on the rope, the referee noticed it and voided the pinfall; Elias then performed a roll-up on a distracted Corbin, who was arguing with the referee, to win the match.

After that, Becky Lynch defended the Raw Women's Championship against Shayna Baszler. In the closing moments, as Baszler applied the Kirifuda Clutch on Lynch, Lynch countered into a roll-up to retain the title.

In the fourth match, Sami Zayn, accompanied by Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, defended the Intercontinental Championship against Daniel Bryan (accompanied by Drew Gulak). In the first half of the match, Zayn refused to face Bryan and continuously scurried away from him. Bryan would run after Zayn only for Cesaro and Nakamura to get in his way. This led to Gulak getting involved and temporarily taking out Cesaro and Nakamura. As Zayn wanted a countout victory, Bryan brought Zayn back into the ring and eventually started to perform his offensive attacks on him. In the end, Cesaro and Nakamura recovered and attacked Gulak. As Bryan attempted an aerial attack on Zayn, Zayn performed a Helluva Kick in mid-air to retain the title.

Next, the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was defended in a Triple Threat Ladder match. The match was originally scheduled as a tag team Triple Threat Ladder match in which The Miz and John Morrison were to defend the titles against The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston), but due to the Miz falling ill, the match was contested between Morrison, Jimmy, and Kingston, each representing their respective team. In the end, all three competitors together, who were atop ladders, managed to unhook the gold hook with the titles still intact. After a scuffle, Jimmy and Kingston performed a headbutt on Morrison, who fell down atop a ladder wedged between the rope and a second ladder. As Morrison fell, he grasped the title belts, unhooking them as he fell, thus Morrison retained the titles for himself and the Miz.

Part 2

During the WrestleMania 36 Kickoff Part 2 pre-show, Liv Morgan faced Natalya. In the end, Morgan pinned Natalya with a roll-up to win the match. This was Morgan's first WrestleMania win in her WWE run.

The actual pay-per-view portion of Part 2 opened with Rhea Ripley defending the NXT Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair. In the climax, after a back-and-forth match, Flair forced Ripley to tap out to the Figure-Eight Leglock to win the title for her second time, and the first time since NXT TakeOver in May 2014. Flair also became the first wrestler to win an NXT championship before and after NXT became one of WWE's three main brands.

Next, Aleister Black faced Bobby Lashley, accompanied by Lana. In the end, as Lashley attempted a spear on Black, Black performed a Black Mass on Lashley to win the match.

Afterward, Otis faced Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Sonya Deville). In the closing moments, as Otis attempted to perform the Caterpillar on Ziggler, Deville distracted Otis on the ring apron, which allowed Ziggler to attack Otis with a low blow from behind. Mandy Rose then came out and attacked Deville. With the referee distracted, Rose performed a low blow on Ziggler. Otis then performed the Caterpillar on Ziggler to win the match. Following the match, Otis and Rose shared a kiss in the ring.

In the fourth match, Edge faced Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match. As Edge waited for Orton to make his entrance, Orton disguised as a cameraman attacked Edge from behind with an RKO. Orton then attacked Edge with a second RKO and a camera, but Edge rose to his feet. Edge and Orton then fought in the Performance Center's gym area, where Orton placed Edge's arms in a sling and proceeded to attack him. As Orton attempted to attack Edge with a weight, Edge performed a dropkick on him. The two then fought back to the ringside area, where Orton threw Edge into a barricade off a raised platform. After fighting throughout the Performance Center, they eventually fought atop a production truck in the backstage area where Edge performed a spear on Orton and Orton performed an RKO on Edge. In the end, Edge applied a sleeper hold on Orton, who passed out on a chair. A conflicted Edge then performed the Conchairto on Orton. Edge won the match after Orton was unable to answer the referee's 10 count.

Reception

The event was highly positively received by fans and received positive reviews from critics. While most argued that the event suffered from both a poor lead-up and the absence of a live audience (partly due to most of the wrestlers being removed from the event shortly before its filming, mostly in relation to the pandemic, including Roman Reigns, The Miz, Andrade, and Dana Brooke, who were all slated to defend or challenge for championships) many felt that the event exceeded expectations, with both critics and fans largely praising the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches as the best of the event for their uniqueness and over-the-top tone (and in the case of the latter, its inventiveness and humor). The male world title matches were criticized for their short lengths and overuse of finishing moves.

Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports gave the event a positive review, acknowledging that "many fans were understandably hesitant to believe WWE could deliver a spectacle deserving of the WrestleMania title, but somehow the company pulled off the seemingly impossible by delivering two nights of compelling wrestling without tens of thousands of fans in attendance". He ranked the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches as the best for Part 1 and 2, respectively, noting that in contrast to previous attempts by WWE to "recreate Matt Hardy's 'Broken Universe' magic", the first "nailed the execution by striking the right balance between tense action and over-the-top presentation", and the second was described as "indie psychological horror movies brought to professional wrestling."

Randall Colburn of The A.V. Club gave the event a B−. While praising WWE for making the most out of its "weirdest WrestleMania of all time", particularly the Boneyard match, he did point out that most matches suffered from its poor lead-up and lack of live audience, stating notably that Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler's match was "a listless and too-short battle that, when you consider the response both performers tend to extract from crowds, might have shifted into another gear in a packed stadium". He also cited examples of "shoddy storytelling", noting that it "[was] great that Braun Strowman beat the snot out of Goldberg, but it might have resonated more if the company hadn't just had the 53-year old Goldberg destroy The Fiend, a heretofore untouchable star, during a PPV in Saudi Arabia—and, you know, done anything with Braun over the past few years".

David Bixenspan of Slate heavily criticized the lead-up to the event, stating that "[The wrestlers], in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, looked significantly more like they were doing bad playacting and play-fighting than they usually do. Others decided to play to a crowd that wasn't actually there. ... the WWE style—with its emphasis on overwrought capital–P 'performance,' over-rehearsed matches, and flowery mannerisms—looked more like a parody when staged in front of zero spectators. Still, expectations for this WrestleMania were low, albeit with some minor optimism over the show being divided up into two nights instead of the marathon one-night slogs of recent years". However, he stated that after two lackluster opening matches, the card from Lynch vs. Baszler onward then comprised "very physical matches [which] made the best of the setting, and with most of the matches fitting that bill, [Part 1] was really strong overall", although he found Part 2 much weaker, stating that Edge vs. Randy Orton was "glacially slow, and it appeared to somehow be edited out of an even longer match", and that Lesnar vs. McIntyre felt "more like a formality than anything cool, because it was so paint-by-numbers". Slate considered the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches to be the best matches.

Aftermath

In late-April, it was revealed that WrestleMania host Rob Gronkowski had come out of his NFL retirement, where he was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was later revealed that Gronkowski exercised a release clause in his WWE contract in order to return to the NFL, and he dropped the 24/7 Championship to R-Truth in a segment on the June 1 episode of Raw. Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer noted that before his release, Gronkowski was scheduled to work a match at SummerSlam as well as WWE's Saudi Arabia show later in the year. He also said that the release was "mutual".

In May, a five-part documentary series about The Undertaker began airing on the WWE Network called Undertaker: The Last Ride. The documentary series chronicles The Undertaker's career from 2017 to 2020 and his decision on when he should retire, which he previously believed was going to be his match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33. In the final episode that released on June 21, Undertaker stated that he had nothing left to prove and had no desire to step in the ring again, feeling that his match with AJ Styles was the perfect ending to his 30-year career, thus making his WrestleMania 36 match with Styles his final match. However, he did not rule out the possibility of a potential one-off match, depending on the situation. Undertaker also revealed that he did not make a full return to his American Bad Ass gimmick at WrestleMania 36. Instead, it was a combination of his Deadman persona, the American Bad Ass, as well as his real life self; the latter due to how personal Styles' promos were against Undertaker. The Undertaker's official retirement ceremony later occurred at Survivor Series on November 22, which also celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut in WWE, which occurred at the 1990 Survivor Series.

Raw

The following night's episode of Raw showed the "hidden WrestleMania main event", in which Drew McIntyre retained the WWE Championship over Big Show roughly 25 minutes after McIntyre had defeated Brock Lesnar to win the title.

Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch praised Shayna Baszler regarding their WrestleMania match and stated that Baszler knew where to find her if she wanted to face off again. The following week, Baszler won her qualifying match to compete in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match.

Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) faced Austin Theory and Angel Garza (accompanied by Zelina Vega) in a rematch for the titles where the champions retained once again, though by disqualification, thanks to Vega. Bianca Belair again came out after the match, and challenged Vega to a match which ended in a no-contest. A six-person mixed tag team match ensued with The Street Profits and Belair defeating Theory, Garza, and Vega.

Charlotte Flair boasted about defeating Rhea Ripley and becoming a two-time NXT Women's Champion, though said that Ripley was "okay". Ripley returned on the May 6 episode of NXT to save Io Shirai from a post-match beat down after Flair had retained the title against Shirai due to disqualification. This ultimately set up a triple threat match between the three women at TakeOver: In Your House.

On the April 13 episode, Seth Rollins stated that by losing to Kevin Owens at WrestleMania, he had been crucified and now he had truly risen (buying into his "Monday Night Messiah" gimmick). He later attacked WWE Champion Drew McIntyre following the latter's match with Andrade. He subsequently set up a title match for Money in the Bank.

On the May 11 episode of Raw, both Edge and Randy Orton made their first post-WrestleMania appearances. Orton stated that at WrestleMania, the better man won but questioned whether or not the better wrestler had actually won. Noting that the Royal Rumble and Last Man Standing matches were non-traditional matches, Orton challenged Edge to a normal singles match at Backlash, which Orton won. During the match, Edge legitimately tore his triceps. After recovering from his triceps tear, Edge returned at the 2021 Royal Rumble, where he and Orton entered at number one and two, respectively. The two brawled at ringside, and Edge injured Orton's leg, taking Orton out for the majority of the match. Orton returned in the closing moments of the match where he attempted to eliminate Edge, however, Edge countered and eliminated Orton to win the men's Royal Rumble match. Orton then faced Edge in a rubber match the following night on Raw, where thanks to a distraction by Alexa Bliss (as part of a storyline between Orton, Bliss, and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt), Edge defeated Orton, putting an end to their rivalry.

SmackDown

On the following episode of SmackDown, Bray Wyatt interrupted new Universal Champion Braun Strowman after the latter's match. Wyatt reminded Strowman that it was he who brought him to WWE with his old Wyatt Family stable. Wyatt, who had lost the title to Goldberg at Super ShowDown, then stated he wanted his title back and Strowman accepted the challenge, which was scheduled for Money in the Bank, though against Wyatt's normal self instead of The Fiend.

Also on the following SmackDown, Tamina pointed out the fact that Bayley nor any other competitor in the fatal five-way elimination match actually beat her and challenged Bayley to a singles match for the SmackDown Women's Championship. Bayley agreed if Tamina could defeat her friend Sasha Banks, which Tamina subsequently did the following week to earn the title match at Money in the Bank. On the April 24 episode, Evans defeated Banks to qualify for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match due to an untimely assist from Bayley. The following week, Tamina's backstage interview was interrupted by Banks, and she and Bayley attacked her until Evans made the save. On the May 8 episode, Evans and Tamina defeated Banks and Bayley with Tamina pinning Bayley.

On the following SmackDown, new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross retained their titles in a rematch against The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane). Since only one member of each team competed for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania, The New Day's Big E suggested that the other team members should face off in a triple threat match for the titles. The match occurred the following week, in which Big E defeated Jey Uso and The Miz to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for a record eighth time for The New Day.

Also on the following SmackDown, Heavy Machinery's Tucker faced Dolph Ziggler in a rematch from the SmackDown prior to WrestleMania in a losing effort; Otis and Mandy Rose were absent that night. The following week, Sonya Deville called out Rose to clear the air between them. An emotional Deville stated that Rose was the most selfish person she had met. Deville also stated that she was the better wrestler and Rose was nothing more than eye candy. Ziggler then came out and stated to Rose that she could not deny the chemistry between them. Deville attacked Rose, which prompted Otis to come out and attack Ziggler. On the May 1 episode, Otis defeated Ziggler again to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match. Also that same episode, Rose lost her Money in the Bank qualifying match due to a distraction from Deville, who attacked Rose after the match. The following week, Deville defeated Rose. Rose and Deville would continue feuding until SummerSlam, where Rose defeated Deville in a no disqualification loser leaves WWE match.

Further effects of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic had further effects on WWE following WrestleMania. Raw, SmackDown, 205 Live, and pay-per-views continued to be broadcast from the Performance Center until August before relocating to Orlando's Amway Center with a new virtual fan viewing experience called ThunderDome—they then moved to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida in December and then Yuengling Center in Tampa in April 2021. Mid-year, 205 Live began doing their tapings in conjunction with NXT. Broadcasts of NXT were done from its home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida until October when NXT was relocated to the Performance Center, rebranded as the Capitol Wrestling Center, NXT's version of the ThunderDome and an homage to WWE's predecessor, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. Furthermore, WWE released several talent due to budget cuts as a result of the pandemic. These included Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, Rusev, Drake Maverick, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Heath Slater, Eric Young, Rowan, Sarah Logan, No Way Jose, Mike Chioda, Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, EC3, Aiden English, Lio Rush, The Colóns (Primo and Epico), and Cain Velasquez, and many other behind-the-scenes employees. However, following his loss in the final of the interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament, Maverick re-signed with the company, and it was reported that WWE had reached out to some of the other released talent, though for lower pay than their previous contracts.

While WrestleMania 37 was initially announced for SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, in October 2020, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE would consider relocating the event to Raymond James Stadium in order to allow for in-person attendance at a reduced capacity, which was not possible under California's health orders; Florida lifted those restrictions in late-August 2020. WWE officially announced the move on January 16, 2021, and it was the first WWE event to have ticketed fans in attendance during the pandemic with a limited capacity of 25,000 spectators for each night and with COVID-19 safety protocols in place. WWE then returned to live touring in mid-July.

Results