5 Best WrestleMania 36 Moments

WrestleMania 36 was truly a special event. It brought the world of wrestling together during a time of great uncertainty and helped put everyone’s minds at ease for the weekend. No matter your thoughts on WWE going ahead with the annual event, you’ve got to give credit and respect to everyone involved in making WrestleMania 36 happen. It might not have been the most grandiose, nor will it be breaking any historical records, but it certainly delivered a lot of exciting WrestleMania moments that will forever live in the hearts and minds of wrestling fans worldwide. 

WWE tested the waters with a lot of experimental stuff this year, introducing new cinematic-style matches that took the action out of the ring and into whimsical, supernatural plains. It’s definitely something that some critics won’t be able to enjoy, but I for one thought that this was the most fun wrestling has been in quite some time. Not only that, but we saw some cracking in-ring performances all round, from the returning ‘Rated R Superstar’ to the litany of champions and challengers that all stepped up to create their own WrestleMania legacy. 

In this piece, we run down our 5 best WrestleMania 36 moments, cutting down the seven hour spectacle to just a few, short entries. Make sure you drop your own favourite WrestleMania moments in the comments below and celebrate what truly was the most unique WrestleMania to date.

 

5. ‘Rated R’ Return

‘The Rated R Superstar’ collided with ‘The Viper’ in Edge’s first official singles match since returning at the Royal Rumble event. The two former friends and partners battled all across the WWE Performance Centre for their coveted Last Man Standing match mid-way through the second night. What occurred was possibly the most emotionally charged, brutal contest in recent memory, going the distance in a strong 30+ minute bout.

Of course the action couldn’t be maintained within the squared circle, the two rivals took the audience on a tour of the PC, which was all conveniently littered with various weapons for the two blood-enemies to utilise against one another. The devious Orton would get the better of Edge for the first half of the match, wearing him down to the point where fans started to question whether or not Edge was worthy of a return after all. Naturally, the heroic former champion mounted a successful comeback that took them on top of a production truck, where Edge would finally put down Orton for the ten count after a vicious con-chair-to.

From start to finish, Orton and Edge had the audience in the palms of their hands. They are masterful story-tellers who should both be given credit for their incredible WrestleMania contest.

Can we also acknowledge why there was a purple hand chair in the parking lot?

 

4. A Beautiful Day in the Firefly Funhouse

A ‘match’ that left many perplexed, scratching their heads, yet astonished at the Funhouse bonanza between Bray Wyatt and John Cena. A very different take on storytelling in pro-wrestling, as Bray Wyatt took the leader of the Cenation on a retrospective of his career. Wyatt’s maniacal aim was to break down John Cena, the man, show him his true colours and ‘undo’ the crushing loss Bray sustained at WrestleMania six years ago.

John Cena was in his element here, hamming it up and putting over Bray Wyatt’s new edgy character. For a fan that’s slightly more clued in than others, they would have had a great time seeing Wyatt torment Cena, throwing back to classic moments from Cena’s career and adding his own twist on them. It was surreal, to say the least.

Plenty of little Easter eggs and cameos to keep all wrestling fans entertained while they witness the dismantling of one of WWE’s greatest assets. I’m not sure if we can consider this a big win for Wyatt, after all, this was the furthest thing from a wrestling match we’ve seen at WrestleMania since Goldust/Roddy Piper from XII. But it was something special nonetheless, something that I’m sure wrestling fans will be talking about for decades to come.

 

3. Kevin Owens gets his WrestleMania moment

Kevin Owens has competed at four separate WrestleMania events, but hadn’t quite managed to pick up his own WrestleMania moment. Seth Rollins started utilising this as a way of making Owens seem like the underdog coming into their one-on-one match during Night 1. At first, their battle seemed like it was ripped right out of an episode of Monday Night RAW, but I’m sure everyone will agree with me when I say that the two former Universal Champions truly turned things around when the No Disqualification rule was invoked. 

Owens was suddenly in his element, and started plotting a Shane-O-Mac inspired spot to finally ensure his name would be etched into the history books. After leaving a motionless Seth Rollins on the announcers table, KO took to the outside, where he scaled the oversized WrestleMania sign, conveniently placed just behind Michael Cole & JBL.

‘The Prizefighter’ yelled out “How about this for a WrestleMania moment” and without hesitation, delivered one hell of a senton from what seemed like over twenty feet in the air. This was the first time that Night 1 seemed like a WrestleMania, with superstars going the distance to make sure their match would be remembered. Even though the two had to follow an above-average ladder match, featuring the likes of John Morrison and Kofi Kingston, making himself seem like even more of a daredevil was quite the challenge that I’m sure KO shrugged off.

The emotion, the moment, the aftermath of Seth Rollins gasping for air, it all came together to make Kevin Owens’ first WrestleMania win that much sweeter. 

 

2. Drew McIntyre meets his destiny

Over a decade ago, Drew McIntyre was selected by Vince McMahon himself to be the future of the WWE. The downfall of his career has been well documented, but what’s even more telling is how dedicated McIntyre became to evolving as a wrestler and returning fresh for a huge run towards achieving his destiny. At WrestleMania 36, he did just that in the main event of the two night show.

Taking everything Brock had to offer, McIntyre proved resilient and delivered four huge claymores to ‘The Beast’, putting him down for three in a truly emotional moment. WWE can still put together an inspiring victory for wrestling fans. It’s great seeing years of hardship and build finally have a payoff for the superstars that fans are dying to see make it. 

Drew McIntyre has not only claimed his first major WWE title but also made history by becoming the first Brit to win a WWE Championship. An incredible feat for UK fans and performers alike, proving that the sky is the limit for superstars contracted to NXT UK, and those still fighting to achieve their dreams, just like Drew McIntyre did.

A fantastic WrestleMania moment to see out a truly unique event.

 

1. Boneyard Brilliance

This truly was a stroke of genius from WWE. Inspired by Matt Hardy’s Broken saga, The Undertaker and AJ Styles took their grudge match to the confines of a Boneyard, where they’d do battle for 15+ minutes in something that barely resembled an actual wrestling match, but provided more entertainment than any other on the card. If anything, this shows that both The Undertaker and AJ Styles are two of the greatest storytellers in the business. ‘Taker, despite being openly criticised for being way past his prime, put together one of his most compelling battles of all time against ‘The Phenomenal One’.

From the get-go, fans were caught off-guard by the magnificence re-emergence of ‘The American Badass’, who rode into the Boneyard on his signature steel horse, donning his iconic mono bandanna as he readied himself for a fight. Styles, also dressed in street clothes, took one hell of a beating from Biker-Taker in the opening segments, bumping like crazy for a man his senior.

Eventually, Styles would turn things around with the help of The O.C and some rogue druids. Styles got the upper hand and started wearing down ‘The Deadman’, showing that he couldn’t hang with the younger, more talented roster of today. The combination of Undertaker’s mannerisms and the cinematic soundtrack helped turn this from being a slightly cringey affair into something truly emotional. One thing we can always credit Taker for is knowing how to generate genuine emotion out of wrestling fans, from when the streak was broken, his retirement to return and now the last gasps of a beaten down old man. Truly powerful stuff.

Of course, Undertaker’s supernatural side started to break through the ‘Badass’ and he managed to rejuvenate himself for a huge comeback. Taking the battle to the rooftops, Undertaker fought off Gallows, Anderson and Styles, putting together spots eerily reminiscent to some of his finest moments. I was personally hoping for a cameo from Kane, but seeing Taker launch Styles off the top of the shack with a chokeslam was more than enough for me.

Undertaker left Styles buried underneath a mound of dirt, who knows what this could mean for ‘The Phenomenal One’ going forward, hopefully he won’t return as some sort of hillbilly zombie. But seeing The Undertaker in such a spectacle was exactly what keeps wrestling fans coming back for more WrestleMania. This was glorious; a true Hollywood-style battle between two titans of pro-wrestling. I can’t wait to see if the Boneyard match comes back for a sequel next year, especially with WWE taking WrestleMania back to LA.

This is what I’ll remember WrestleMania 36 for.