Although Wrestlemania 36 wasn’t built up to be a big show this year because of the COVID-19 virus and no fans, this was hands down one of the best Wrestlemania’s we’ve had in a long long time. Today I will be doing my specialty and that is providing you with my rankings of every single match that happened at Wrestlemania. I will also be including if my prediction from my last article was correct or not to show you how I did. Let’s get started.
#16
Elias vs King Corbin
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This match was I believe second on the card for the first night of Wrestlemania and I was hyped because I thought they were going to be a little more creative with it. Instead, it was your typical match with not a lot of build brought to it. Elias came out uninjured for some reason and proceeded to give Corbin the beat down and give him the win for the night. Gronk and Mojo being involved would have been great, but instead, Elias just picked up the victory.
#15
The Kabuki Warriors vs Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This match started the night off for the first night Wrestlemania and proved once again that I am the king of predicting the Women’s Tag Team Title matches as I was right again with Bliss and Cross winning the titles. It wasn’t the greatest match as it did get boring at times, but seeing these two regain the titles made it a little better to enjoy.
#14
Aleister Black vs Bobby Lashley
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This one didn’t do much in terms of storytelling, but in my mind had some decent action in it. It was an easy match to predict though considering there was no way they would have had Black lose to Lashley. Lana actually cost Bobby Lashley the match after he hit the Dominator because she wanted to see the spear. When Bobby went for it, Black hit the Black Mass and pinned him for the three count.
#13
Bayley vs Sasha Banks vs Naomi vs Lacey Evans vs Tamina
Fatal Five-Way Elimination Match
Smackdown Women’s Championship
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This match had the promise of a decent one but failed to capitalize on the amount of potential given to it. I know eventually, they will give me a really good Bayley vs Sasha match, but it wasn’t last night and my heart shrunk a little bit. Sasha ended up coming to help Bayley in the end, even though it looked like we were going to get that brawl I’ve wanted for so long, but instead, Sasha helped Bayley retain her title.
#12
Becky Lynch vs Shayna Baszler
RAW Women’s Championship
Prediction Correct?: No
This was hands down the most confusing match finish in the entire card, and I was so pissed about it. It was decent action with Becky actually getting a lot of the strikes and momentum in before Shayna started her path of destruction. To my surprise, Shayna put Becky in the Coquina Clutch only for Becky to roll over get the surprise pinfall on Shayna. This was awful as everybody hoped Shayna would not only win but for it to be more of what it was.
#11
Sami Zayn vs Daniel Bryan
Intercontinental Championship
Prediction Correct?: Yes
I went in hoping that they would treat Sami Zayn like a wrestler, and they just didn’t he was only striking and taking cheap shots at Bryan when he could. He spent most of it taking moves from Daniel Bryan to his body or running away from him out of the ring. In the end, my prediction was correct, but man did this just not stand out all on the card.
#10
Goldberg vs Braun Strowman
Universal Championship
Prediction Correct?: No
This match was what I expected it to be aside from the finish. It was a straight-up finisher fest of spears and power slams from these two. The finishers didn’t even look like they made much of an impact either which was a little sad to see. Braun actually got the victory and was able to hoist his first-ever main championship. So the finish made the match better, but other than that, it still didn’t deliver much.
#9
Otis vs Dolph Ziggler
Prediction Correct?: No
While my prediction of a sad night for Otis didn’t come true, it was still nice to see the finish the way it was planned out. Dolph was joined by Sonya Deville and not Mandy Rose at ringside and Otis went it alone against the Showoff. Sonya distracted the referee allowing Ziggler to hit a low blow on Otis. However, Mandy showed up and attacked Deville while also giving Dolph a low blow as well. Otis hit the caterpillar and pinned him and had a wonderful moment carrying Mandy up the ring kissing her.
#8
The Street Profits vs Austin Theory and Angel Garza
RAW Tag Team Championships
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This match had more action then I thought it was going to be and because of that action it deserves the half-way point on the list. It was crisp, clean, and it had points in the match where you thought Theory and Garza might have won the belts. Overall it was good. The finish was even better with Garza and Theory attacking Ford and Dawkins with Vega getting her licks in too only for Bianca Belair to come out and give the Street Profits the hand they needed.
#7
Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This match almost sucked so bad as it “ended” originally with a Rollins disqualification that gave Owens the win. However, Owens called Rollins a coward for taking that way out and challenged him right afterward to a No Disqualification match which had Owens jump off of the Wrestlemania sign onto Rollins and which eventually led to the pinfall victory for Owens and finally gave him his Wrestlemania moment.
#6
Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair
NXT Women’s Championship
Prediction Correct?: No
This was the best women’s match of the night and it was well deserved. It was a long match with a lot of build up and a lot of story-telling with Rhea’s leg injury in this match. Overall, very well done, but I am a little disappointed that Charlotte won, but I get it. I’m just afraid that Rhea’s momentum was just ripped out from under her. We will see if she can get the title back from the Queen.
#5
John Morrison vs Kof Kingston vs Jimmy Uso
Triple Threat Ladder Match
Smackdown Tag Team Championships
Prediction Correct?: No
This match turned into a single triple threat ladder match because the Miz was out. This then made sense to take out Jey Uso and Big E from the match. Even with the men taken out, this match was hands down a dark horse candidate for match of the night. The number of spots and risks this match took and the finish overall made this match amazing. Although my Usos didn’t win the titles, it was still an incredible match with a lot of action and an awesome finish.
#4
Drew McIntyre vs Brock Lesnar
WWE Championship
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This match made a huge impact on Lesnar because Drew was the first one to kick out of the F-5 after a count of just one. After that, Lesnar gave him two more F-5’s and Drew still kicked out. It took three Claymore kicks after that from Drew to slay the beast and gain his world championship in the WWE. The reason this is much higher than Goldberg vs Strowman is because this meant so much more and it had a little more action and emotion in it.
#3
Edge vs Randy Orton
Last Man Standing Match
Prediction Correct?: Yes
Overall, this was an awesome match with a lot of spots and a lot of emotion put behind it. The only thing about this match that almost made it not be in the top three was the match time in general. This match was a little too long and the commentary whispering didn’t help it, but if you forget about those things and just watch these two creating magic then you realize it was an incredible moment with Edge getting his revenge on Orton.
#2
John Cena vs “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
Firefly Fun House Match
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This was the most entertaining moment of all Wrestlemania. This was the craziest thing I have ever seen in wrestling period. What was thought to be a match turned into reliving all of Cena’s worst moments and fears in his career. From his bad debut, to his bodybuilding phase, his bad rap career, almost hitting Bray with the chair at Wrestlemania 30, the constant need from the fans to turn him heel, and finally his possibility of retirement. This was amazing, but it wasn’t much of a match so I can’t put it at the top.
#1
The Undertaker vs A.J. Styles
Boneyard Match
Prediction Correct?: Yes
This was the closing match of the first night of Wrestlemania and to me, this was the best match of the entire card after watching it all. We got to see the return of the American Badass riding in on his motorcycle and just him and A.J. slugging it out at a remote farm/cemetery. This was essentially a buried alive match but they didn’t want to call it that with all of COVID-19 going on. The O.C. and a bunch of druids got involved, but in the end, Undertaker was victorious. We also got the best match of Mania and this amazing moment when Taker was in the grave and appeared out of nowhere behind Styles.
So overall, ladies and gentlemen I finished with an 11/16 with my matches. While this is only 68% it is hard to predict these matches, but I am happy that I only messed up the winners of five matches and honestly it should have been four. I am not forgiving the way that Lynch vs Baszler match turned out. Thank you guys and I am hoping to see you for Wrestlemania 37.
thoughtsfromthebench.com 