WrestleMania 36

WrestleMania 36 was the 36th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brand divisions — the first to promote the NXT brand. It was taped on March 25 and 26, 2020 and will air on pay-per-view and the WWE Network on April 4 and 5.
Originally scheduled to take place solely on April 5, 2020 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and to air live, WrestleMania 36 was relocated due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. The promotion announced plans to present the event from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando (where all other WWE programming has since originated), and other unannounced locations, each with no spectators in attendance, and for it to be the first WrestleMania to be broadcast across two nights and the second to be aired from multiple venues.
== Production ==
=== Background ===
WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship event, having first been held in 1985. 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.
The event was originally to take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Following the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, other wrestling promotions began to cancel some of their shows in an attempt to prevent further spreading of the COVID-19 virus. In speaking with the Tampa Bay Times regarding how this outbreak could affect WrestleMania 36, WWE's Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said "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.
On March 16, WWE announced that the event would be held at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando with only essential personnel in attendance, as with all other WWE weekly programs during this pandemic. WWE then announced that WrestleMania 36 would be split into a two-night event, on April 4 and 5, marking the first WrestleMania to be done over two nights. Former National Football League player Rob Gronkowski, who recently signed with WWE, was also announced to serve as the host of the event—Gronkowski last appeared for WWE at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.
=== Storylines ===
The show included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, 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 and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
Feeling as though no one 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 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. On the February 3 episode of Raw, Flair said 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 said that Flair should challenge her as she had beaten Flair, but Flair had never defeated her. Flair continued to delay giving an answer until after Ripley had defended her title at TakeOver: Portland on February 16. 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 the Rumble winner chose an NXT championship to challenge for with the title itself being the first NXT championship to be defended at the event.
At Elimination Chamber, a Raw-branded women's Elimination Chamber match will occur, featuring Natalya, Asuka, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, and NXT's Shayna Baszler. The winner will face Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania.
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 the challenge. The match was then scheduled for WrestleMania.
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 a retirement, he said he would not be appearing at the event, as 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, being a rematch of sorts from WrestleMania XXX in 2014.
At Super ShowDown, AJ Styles was a participant in a gauntlet match for the Tuwaiq Trophy. Final participant Rey Mysterio was ambushed backstage by Styles' O.C. teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, prompting Styles to declare himself winner by forfeit. The referee, however, gave Mysterio until the count of ten. During the count, 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 match. The following night on Raw, Styles goaded Undertaker by bringing up his wife Michelle McCool, blaming her for why Undertaker keeps coming back to wrestle. Styles then challenged Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania. A contract signing for the match was conducted the following week.
After being forced to retire in 2011 due to a severe neck injury, WWE Hall of Famer Edge returned at 2020's Royal Rumble event during the namesake match, where he had a brief reunion with Randy Orton; Edge eliminated Orton before his own elimination. On the following Raw, Edge said that he had questioned what if he could wrestle again, and explained that after a second neck surgery and determination, he was able to make his return and would be able to retire on his own terms. Orton then welcomed Edge back and suggested reforming their tag team, Rated-RKO, but turned on Edge and performed an RKO on him. After attacking Edge's neck with a chair, Orton smashed Edge's head between two chairs in a maneuver known as the "Conchairto", which Edge had made famous. Edge's wife and fellow Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix appeared on the March 2 episode to give a medical update on Edge. Orton interrupted and said that he attacked Edge to keep him home so he could continue to be a husband and a father. 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. Edge made his return the following week on Montel Vontavious Porter's talk show, the "VIP Lounge". Orton attempted to attack Edge, but Edge performed an RKO of his own on Orton. After Orton retreated, Edge performed the Conchairto on MVP as a warning to Orton. Edge then challenged Orton to a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania, which was made official.
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 the event, only winning one of the seven interbrand matches. Rollins criticized the Raw roster and again questioned Owens' loyalty who responded by performing a Stunner on Rollins. Owens then became the target of AOP (Akam and Rezar). Owens accused Rollins of being behind AOP's attacks, but Rollins denied the accusations, though he ultimately joined with AOP, turning heel. Rollins then began to call himself the "Monday Night Messiah" and recruited Murphy into his new faction with AOP; Rollins and Murphy eventually won the Raw Tag Team Championship together. At the Royal Rumble, Rollins eliminated Owens from the namesake match thanks to help from AOP and Murphy. Rollins and Murphy lost their title on an episode of Raw, and during a rematch at Elimination Chamber, Owens cost them their match and performed a Stunner on Rollins afterwards. The following night on Raw, Rollins challenged Owens to a match at WrestleMania, which was accepted by Owens the following week.
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; 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. On the March 6 episode, Otis apologized to Rose, who rejected the apology. Heavy Machinery then participated in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match, where they were eliminated by Ziggler and Roode. 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. Ziggler then challenged Otis to a match at WrestleMania and Otis accepted. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, a mysterious hacker appeared on the TitanTron during Ziggler's match with Tucker and revealed that Rose's tag team partner Sonya Deville had conspired with Ziggler to sabotage Rose's date with Otis.
==Event==
====Pre-show====
During the pre-show, Cesaro faced Drew Gulak. The climax saw Cesaro perform a U.F.O. on Gulak followed by a pin to win the match.
====Preliminary matches====
The actual pay-per-view opened with The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) defending the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross. In the end, Cross performed The Purge on Sane followed by Bliss performing a Twisted Bliss to win the title.
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 pin. Elias then performed a roll-up on Corbin to win the match.
After that, Becky Lynch defended the WWE Raw Women's Championship against Shayna Baszler. In the closing moments, as Baszler applied the Kirifuda Clutch on Lynch, Lynch countered into an roll-up to retain the title.
In the fourth match, Sami Zayn (accompanied by Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura) defended the WWE 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 in to the ring and eventually started to perform his offensive attacks on him. In the end, Nakamura and Cesaro recovered and attacked Gulak. As Bryan attempted a Slam on Zayn, Zayn performed a Helluva Kick in mid-air to retain the title.
Next, the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship was defended in a triple threat ladder match. Due to the absence of John Morrison's tag team partner, The Miz, the match was contested between Morrison, Kofi Kingston (representing The New Day) and Jimmy Uso (representing The Usos). In the end, all three competitors, who were atop ladders, managed to unhook the gold hook with the titles still intact. After a scuffle, Kingston and Jimmy 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 titles eventually unhooking them, thus Morrison retained the title.
After that, Kevin Owens faced Seth Rollins. The match ended via a disqualification win for Owens, as Rollins attacked him with the ringside bell. Owens then taunted Rollins to face him again in a no disqualification match. During the match, Owens attacked Rollins with the ringside bell and performed a diving elbow drop off the WrestleMania sign. In the end, Owens performed a Stunner on Rollins to win the match.
In the penultimate match, Goldberg defended the WWE Universal Championship against Braun Strowman. As Strowman attempted a Running Powerslam on Goldberg, Goldberg countered and performed three Spears for a nearfall. Goldberg then performed a fourth Spear on Strowman. In the end, as Goldberg attempted a Jackhammer on Strowman, Strowman countered and performed four Running Powerslams on Goldberg to win the title.
====Main event====
In the main event, The Undertaker faced AJ Styles in a Boneyard Match which was contested in an undisclosed location resembling a graveyard. The only way to attain victory was to bury your opponent in a grave. Styles emerged from a casket while Undertaker arrived in his American Badass Persona (circa 2000-2003) riding a motorcycle. The two fought throughout the graveyard and in a warehouse. Halfway through the match, Styles' O.C. teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson appeared in an attempt to assist Styles, but The Undertaker fought them off. The Undertaker then fought a couple of druids before Styles gained the upper hand again. Styles threw The Undertaker in the grave but as he was preparing to drop dirt on The Undertaker to bury him and win, The Undertaker appeared behind Styles and started to attack him. The Undertaker and Styles fought all over the graveyard and atop the warehouse rooftop. The Undertaker performed a Tombstone Piledriver on a druid and threw Styles off the rooftop. The Undertaker then threw Styles into the grave, started the tractor and dumped all the dirt in the grave to win the match. Following the match, as the camera panned on the grave, Styles' hand was sticking out from the grave, while Undertaker then departed on his motorcycle.
===Part 2===
====Pre-show====
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.
====Preliminary matches====
The actual pay-per-view 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 a second time – and the first time since NXT TakeOver in 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.
After that, 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. Deville's tag team partner, Mandy Rose, came out and attacked Deville. 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 was waiting for Orton to make his entrance, Orton who was disguised as a cameraman appeared and performed an RKO on Edge. Orton attacked Edge with a second RKO and a camera, but Edge rose to his feet. Orton and Edge then fought in the Performance Centres' 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. 
The Firefly Fun House match between "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and John Cena was billed by Wyatt as a fight between Cena and himself. Cena made his entrance in the Performance Center, but was then transported to the fun house. Cena was then transported to spots referencing time periods of his career (such as his debut on SmackDown and his early "Doctor of Thuganomics" gimmick), and a spoof of Saturday Night's Main Event, interspersed with promos accusing Cena of being a bully who did not have to work for his achievements like Wyatt did. After reminiscing about his defeat against Cena at WrestleMania XXX, with Wyatt appearing as his old Wyatt Family self, Wyatt and Cena suddenly appeared in a ring, where Cena reversed out of an attempted Sister Abigail by Wyatt, and was (as in that previous match) coerced into using a chair against him. However, as he did so, Wyatt disappeared, and Cena was suddenly transported to an episode of WCW Monday Nitro—entering to a New World Order (nWo) entrance and in nWo gear, acting as "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan with Wyatt acting as Eric Bischoff. In the ring, Cena tackled Wyatt, but after a fury of fists, Wyatt suddenly disappeared and was replaced by the Huskus the Pig Boy puppet. The Fiend then snuck up from behind, and finished Cena with a Sister Abigail and the Mandible Claw, with Wyatt's normal self counting the pin.
====Main event====
In the main event of Part 2, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre. McIntyre started off with a Claymore Kick on Lesnar for a nearfall. Lesnar performed three German suplexes and an F-5, but McIntyre kicked out at one. Lesnar then performed two more F-5's, both of which again resulted in nearfalls. In the end, McIntyre countered a fourth F-5 attempt with three more Claymore Kicks on Lesnar to win the title.
==Match Preview==
Kabuki Warriors vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross 	Preview
Elias vs. King Corbin 	Preview
Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler 	Preview
Sami Zayn (c) vs. Daniel Bryan 	Preview
Triple Threat Ladder Match 	Preview
Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins 	Preview
Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman 	Preview
A.J. Styles vs. The Undertaker 	Preview
Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair 	Preview
Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley 	Preview
Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis 	Preview
Edge vs. Randy Orton 	Preview
Street Profits vs. Austin Theory & Angel Garza	Preview
Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match 	Preview
John Cena vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt 	Preview
Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre 	Preview
==Results==
===Saturday April 4th===
;
;
*Kickoff Show: Cesaro defeated Drew Gulak (4:25)
*Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) (c) to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship (15:02)
*Elias defeated King Corbin (8:52)
*Becky Lynch (c) defeated Shayna Baszler to retain the WWE Raw Women's Championship (8:31)
*Sami Zayn (c) (w/ The Artist Collective (Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura)) defeated Daniel Bryan (w/ Drew Gulak) to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship (9:16)
*John Morrison (c) defeated Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso in a Triple Threat Ladder match to retain the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (18:39)
*Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins by disqualification (9:59)
*Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins in a No Disqualification match (5:22)
*Mojo Rawley defeated R-Truth (c) to win the WWE 24-7 Championship
*Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg (c) to win the WWE Universal Championship (2:11)
*The Undertaker defeated A.J. Styles in a Boneyard Match (18:15)
--------------
===Sunday April 5th===
;
;
*Kickoff Show: Liv Morgan defeated Natalya (6:23)
*Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley (c) to win the NXT Women's Championship (20:27)
*Aleister Black defeated Bobby Lashley (w/ Lana) (7:16)
*Otis defeated Dolph Ziggler (w/ Sonya Deville) (8:10)
*Edge defeated Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match (37:08)
*Rob Gronkowski defeated Mojo Rawley (c) to win the WWE 24-7 Championship
*The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) (c) defeated Austin Theory & Angel Garza (w/ Zelina Vega) to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (6:23)
*Bayley (c) defeated Sasha Banks and Lacey Evans and Naomi and Tamina in a Fatal Five Way Elimination Match to retain the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship (19:27)
*"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena in a Firefly Fun House match (13:00)
*Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) to win the WWE Championship
*Dark Match: Drew McIntyre (c) defeated Big Show to retain the WWE Championship (6:55)
:*
==Fatal-Five Way Eliminations==
No.	Eliminated 	Eliminated by 	Method 	Time
1 	Tamina 	Bayley, Lacey Evans, Naomi & Sasha Banks	Pinfall 	6:35
2 	Naomi 	Sasha Banks 	Submission	10:20
3 	Sasha Banks	Lacey Evans 	Pinfall 	13:25
4 	Lacey Evans	Bayley 	Pinfall 	19:27
5 	Bayley 	Winner 	Winner 	Winner
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Michael Cole 
*John Bradshaw Layfield 
*Byron Saxton 
*Tom Phillips 
*Carlos Cabrera 
*Marcelo Rodríguez 
;Pre-show Panel
*Corey Graves
*Peter Rosenberg
;Pre-show correspondents
*Renee Young
*Booker T
*Mark Henry 
*Christian 
;Hosts
*Rob Gronkowski
*Mojo Rawley 
*Titus O'Neil	
;Interviewers
*Kayla Braxton
*Charly Caruso
;Ring announcer
*Greg Hamilton 
*Mike Rome 
;Referees
*Drake Wuertz
*Rod Zapata
*Jessika Carr
*John Cone
*Danilo Anfibio
*Charles Robinson
*Shawn Bennett 
*Darrick Moore 
*Eddie Orengo
==See also==
*WrestleMania
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*Event gallery
*WWE Hall of Fame 2020
==DVD release==
* WrestleMania XXXVI on DVD
==External links==
* WrestleMania XXXIVI Official Website
* WrestleMania XXXVI Pre Show Night 1 on WWE Network
* WrestleMania XXXVI Pre Show Night 2 on WWE Network
* WrestleMania XXXVI Night 1 on WWE Network
* WrestleMania XXXVI Night 2 on WWE Network
* WrestleMania XXXVI Pre Show Night 1 at CAGEMATCH.net
* WrestleMania XXXVI Pre Show Night 2 at CAGEMATCH.net
* WrestleMania XXXVI Night 1 at CAGEMATCH.net
* WrestleMania XXXVI Night 2 at CAGEMATCH.net
Category:WrestleMania
Category:2020 pay-per-view events
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:Events with Ladder matches
Category:Events with No Disqualification matches
Category:Events with Last Man Standing matches