Anyone who has graced the stage, worked on set, or even entered between the ropes knows the saying, “The Show Must Go On.” Yet certain situations, such as the world we are currently living in, can make it damn near impossible. As we all know, nearly all of sports in their entirety have come to a screeching halt. WWE, regardless of how you may feel about the situation, has somehow forged on with their flagship event, the 36th installment of Wrestlemania.
Although the grandest stage of them all was noticeably less grand, I for one am tremendously grateful for any sort of big event in the realm of sports and sports entertainment. Many around the globe were able to hold online watch parties with their friends and loved ones as the Internet Wrestling Community shared their opinions about the show of shows. That being said, here are my honest thoughts on Wrestlemania 36 Night 1.
Wrestlemania 36 Night 1 kicks off with Stephanie McMahon addressing the audience during this difficult time. She addresses the situation head on, and says that it is the WWE’s commitment to provide a diversion whilst providing a sense of hope. In my mind, they did just that as I was able to watch with my friends via the interwebs and forget about reality for just a little bit. I for one super appreciated this honesty and sincerity from Stephanie.
Note: Before I get to the main part of Wrestlemania 36 Night 1, I HAVE to point out that Cesaro and Gulak had a pretty solid match during the Kick-Off Show. I’ve waited since Cesaro arrived in WWE for him to do his NO HANDED airplane spin and tonight he FINALLY did it. Major points here and great win by the Swiss Cyborg.
The main show kicked off with Lil’ Miss Bliss and Nikki Cross (sans a Bowling For Soup performance entrance of the song “Alexa Bliss”) against the Kabuki Warriors for the women’s tag team championships.
This was a really good match and got a lot of time. I will also say that despite the pre-taping, the show really does feel Live. Lots of tandem offense here including a Doomsday Device Variation from the Kabuki Warriors. Ultimately, Bliss and Cross pick up the win after a swinging neckbreaker and Twisted Bliss combo to become your NEW Women’s tag team champions.
Corbin and Elias was exactly what you expected. This is not my kind of wrestling match as I prefer a little more sizzle and a little less steak. (Very JR of Me) Elias gets the pre-match guitar shot AND a somewhat quick victory by hooking the tights. As our good pal Kriss Nunez says, “The most effective move in all of wrestling.”
It begins to feel just a little bit more like Wrestlemania when Becky rolls in on her “The Man” truck sporting her bling-ed out gold jacket. This would’ve been much more effective had we not seen the truck already a few times on on WWE TV. I did appreciate the smoke coming back for Becky as the only other entrance effects we got were the lasers.
I was sure Shayna Baszler was going to win this one in a hard fought battle BUT earlier in the day TMZ released a clip of Becky telling an autistic child that she would win for him which I absolutely loved – AND as my cousin Tim pointed out she did not kiss the belt before handing it to the referee — as many do before losing a belt in theory.
The match started out with hard hitting punches where you could actually hear the flesh getting slapped. That was pretty unique in itself, but Shayna took control early and almost locked in the Kirafuda clutch immediately. Surprisingly this match was fairly short as well and Becky gets the pin with a Kirafuda Clutch reversal into a surprise three count. This was very reminiscent of how Kairi Sane scored wins over Baszler. I am very shocked at not only the outcome, but the match itself after such a long, strong build up for Baszler!!
Another surprisingly short match was the Intercontinental Title match between Sami Zayn (c) and Daniel Bryan. Lots of outside hijinx at ringside amongst Nakamura, Cesaro, and Gulak. As expected these two worked well together but Sami gets a quick victory after a helluva kick.I’ll be honest.This match could of been so much more.
Next up was a really good triple threat (non-tag) ladder match for the tag titles between Kofi Kingston, John Morrison and Jimmy Uso. I actually really liked this match! Initially disappointed this was not a six man match (due to the Miz’s illness, get well Miz!!) I was pleasantly surprised by the action in the ring from this trio. Kofi shined as always with some innovative spots including many high flying maneuvers and even a springboard through the middle of the ladder. John Morrison reminded me why I liked him so much with a stellar performance that included a tight rope walking (from corner to corner) Spanish fly AND a Starship Pain onto a wedged ladder! This was a polarizing finish as many did not like it, but I actually thought it was clever.
All three competitors bring down the hook that is holding the belts at the same time as they exchange confused looks. Morrison is able to outsmart the others but unhooking the belts (can we lose the Velcro though?) and falling into the ring to retain titles. Again, I really liked this.
We could’ve even gone an even more interesting route with all three becoming tag champs with a freebird rule, and being super confused on who to feud with. That could’ve been something fresh, but really good as is.
A match that I wasn’t too pumped for turned out to be pretty good. “The Monday Night Messiah” Seth Rollins took it to Kevin Owens early with several flying knees and Falcons Arrows on the apron. Lots of missed finisher attempts throughout until Rollins literally rings KO’s bell, with well … the ring bell. This causes a DQ victory for Owens and he is not okay with it. Owens challenges Rollins to an immediate NO DQ match and we are back in! Owens steals the show by climbing the Wrestlemania 36 sign and jumping off it onto Rollins through the table.
For those keeping score at home THIS was a Wrestlemania moment. These are the moments and statements that I was expecting more of based on the current situation, and Kevin Owens stepped up. More of this tomorrow night please. Not necessarily crazy stunts, BUT Wrestlemania caliber moments that can still be made. Right now Owens, Cesaro, and the trio of ladder match competitors are in the lead.
The match ends with a Stunner by Owens for the much anticipated victory. As our very own “Enforcer” Matt Widdis says, this match should’ve been for a belt,” but I think KO is clearly next in line for a World Title here.
Shock of the night goes to Strowman vs. Goldberg in which a NEW Universal Champion was crowned. Goldberg hit four spears out of the gate, the first of which didn’t even knock Strowman down. Strowman answered with five powerslams and just like that became the Universal Champion. I have very mixed feelings about this. Many are saying this is two years too late. I feel that Strowman definitely earned the right to become a top guy, but the timing is super confusing. Regardless, Congrats to the New Champ on another Wrestlemania Caliber moment.
As expected the final match of the night goes to the long awaited Phenom vs. The Phenomenal One that the boys and I have been clamoring for on the podcast for three years. I think this was another very polarizing match as the Internet Wrestling Community and MANY active wrestlers absolutely loved this match. I’ll say this. The production of this match was fantastic from the scenery to the soundtrack. This was cool. This was different. Hell, we even got Biker Taker back, riding along to Metallica instead of Limp Bizkit.
Styles faked us out entering in a casket driven in by a hearse. Again, phenomenal (no pun intended) production. There was A LOT of dialogue in this one which was different. Lots of “Old Man(s)” and “Boy(s)” exchanged between the competitors. We even got druid appearances, Gallows & Anderson, and as expected a buried alive type match.
Lots of prop spots here with a chokeslam off a roof through wooden palettes and AJ hitting Taker with a Tombstone. Not the move, but a LITERAL Tombstone. At one point AJ has Taker in the cemetery plot but somehow Taker appears behind him. Taker even hits the Kane-esque Pyro to show his power before Burying AJ alive. Taker unveils a tombstone for AJ before hitting some pyro and riding off into the … moonlight. Styles’ hand can be seen reaching out of the dirt.
As I said, this was a phenomenal project and something different. Perhaps this was even needed as the musical score to the match added A LOT. This polarizing factor online is the argument over whether this match was epic or cheesy. I will say it was a little bit of both, but not the MATCH I had wanted between Taker and Styles all these years. This was fun, BUT in my mind we still haven’t had an AJ Styles versus the Undertaker wrestling match. This was a B-Movie, but somewhat necessary.
All things considered Wrestlemania 36 Night 1 fun show. I really wanted to see how innovative the E would get without having a crowd, but they in no way really filled that void with other wrestlers, backstage watch alongs, or something creative. I feel there was something that could’ve done here as we’ve seen other organizations pull it off. I wanted to see a few more performers step up not only move wise but with their gear, as only a few had Wrestlemania caliber gear. I know I’m nitpicking, but I’ll call this one down the middle. I had a lot of fun and witnessed a handful of surprise moments. In the words of Daniel Bryan, “I. AM. GRATEFUL.”
Tune into to Night Two of Wrestlemania Sunday 4/5 on The Network at 7pm
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