IWE WrestleMania 36

From Iwe

WrestleMania 36 is a professional wrestling event on pay-per-view and IWE Network produced by IWE for their Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands—the first to promote the NXT brand. It is scheduled to take place on April 4 and 5, 2020 at multiple locations, including the IWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The event will be the thirty-sixth WrestleMania event.

Originally scheduled to take place solely on April 5, 2020 at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, WrestleMania 36 was relocated due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. It will only be attended by essential personnel, and will be the first IWE pay-per-view event unattended by fans. It will also be the first WrestleMania to be split across two nights, as well as the first WrestleMania since WrestleMania 2 in 1986 to be held at multiple locations.

[edit] Production

[edit] Background

WrestleMania is considered IWE's flagship event, having first been held in 1985. 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 IWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, dubbed 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. WrestleMania 36 will be the third WrestleMania to be held in the city of Orlando, and the fourth to be held in the state of Florida (after XXIV and 33 also in Orlando, and XXVIII in Miami Gardens). The event will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, as well as NXT—although some NXT wrestlers have appeared in WrestleMania's annual battle royals, this will be the first WrestleMania to promote the brand, following NXT becoming one of IWE's three major brands in September 2019.

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, IWE's Chief Brand Officer Kaila Matteson 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." IWE'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 IWE did not do it themselves. IWE then stated that they had a contingency plan ready in case the event was canceled.

On March 16, IWE announced that the event would be held at the IWE Performance Center in Orlando with only essential personnel in attendance, as with all other IWE weekly programs during this pandemic. IWE 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. It was also confirmed that the event would take place at a second to be revealed location, marking the first WrestleMania since WrestleMania 2 in 1986 to be held at multiple locations (WrestleMania 2 broadcast from three different locations on the same night). Former National Football League player Rob Gronkowski, who recently signed with IWE, was also announced to serve as the host of the event—Gronkowski last appeared for IWE at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.

[edit] Storylines

The show will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by IWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on IWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

[edit] Main event matches

[edit] Undercard matches

[edit] Event

[edit] Part 1

[edit] Pre-show

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 a pin to win the match.

[edit] Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view portion of Part 1 opened with host Rob Gronkowski hyping WrestleMania, who was then joined by his friend Mojo Rawley.

In the first match, The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) defended the IWE 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 titles' 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 pin; 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 (c) (accompanied by Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura) defended the Intercontinental Championship against Kody BrownDaniel 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 a slam 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 title against The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), but due to The Miz becoming ill, the match was contested between Morrison, Jimmy, and Kingston, each representing their respective team. In the end, all three competitors, 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 titles, unhooking them as he fell, 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 ring bell. Owens then taunted Rollins to face him again in a No Disqualification match, which was accepted. During the match, Owens attacked Rollins with the ring 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 a small segment, 24/7 Champion R-Truth joined Gronkowski and Rawley, who were standing atop a viewing podium. Gronkowski attempted to pin Truth to win the title, however, Rawley moved Gronkowski and pinned Truth instead to win the 24/7 title for the seventh time.

In the penultimate and final match from the Performance Center, Goldberg defended the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman. As Strowman attempted a Running Powerslam on Goldberg, Goldberg countered and performed three Spears for a near fall. Goldberg then performed a fourth Spear on Strowman. As Goldberg attempted the Jackhammer, Strowman countered and performed four Running Powerslams on Goldberg to win the title for the first time, as well as his first world championship.<ref name="WM36Part1"/>

[edit] Main event

In the main event of Part 1, The Undertaker faced KJ Styles in a Boneyard match, which was a Boneyard match set at an undisclosed cemetery and warehouse in the Orlando area. A hearse arrived at the cemetery to The Undertaker's theme music, however, Styles emerged from the casket. The Undertaker then arrived riding a motorcycle (reminiscent of his "American Bad Ass" gimmick) to the tune of Metallica's "Now That We're Dead". 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 group of druids before Styles gained the upper hand again. Styles attacked Undertaker with a spade which caused Undertaker to fall in the grave. As Styles was preparing to drop dirt on Undertaker to bury him and win, Undertaker appeared behind Styles and started to attack him. Undertaker and Styles fought all over the graveyard and atop the warehouse rooftop. Undertaker then fought Gallows and Anderson on the rooftop. He then threw Gallows off the rooftop, performed a Tombstone Piledriver on Anderson, and chokeslammed Styles off the rooftop. 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 dirt, while Undertaker then departed on his motorcycle, again to the Metallica song.

[edit] Part 2

[edit] 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.

[edit] Preliminary matches

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 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 IWE'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. With the referee distracted, Rose also 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 Kevin Orton in a Last Man Standing match. As Edge waited for Orton to make his entrance, Orton – who had been 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 all throughout the Performance Center, they eventually fought atop a production truck 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.

Next, The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Angel Garza and Austin Theory (with Zelina Vega). In the closing moments, Ford performed a Springboard Frogsplash on Theory, who was then pinned by Dawkins. After the match, Garza, Theory, and Vega attacked the Street Profits. NXT's Bianca Belair then ran out and attacked Vega, clearing the ring.

In a small segment, new 24/7 Champion Mojo Rawley ran away from multiple wrestlers into the Performance Center. They cornered Rawley near the podium host Rob Gronkowski was standing on. Gronkowski witnessed this and performed a dive on top of the wrestlers. Gronkowski then pinned Rawley to win the 24/7 Championship.

After that, Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship in a fatal five-way elimination match against Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans, Naomi, and Tamina. Tamina was the first eliminated after all the other wrestlers piled on top of her for the pin. Banks applied the Bank Statement on Naomi to eliminate her. As Bayley attempted a dropkick on Evans in the corner, Evans moved out of the way and Bayley attacked Banks instead. After Bayley tried apologizing, Bayley pushed Banks out of the way of an attack from Evans, who performed the Woman's Right on Banks to eliminate her. Bayley did not attempt to break up the pin to save Banks. In the end, as Evans was about to perform the Woman's Right on Bayley, Banks returned to the ring and performed a Backstabber on Evans. Bayley then performed a DDT on Evans to retain the title.

The penultimate match was the Firefly Fun House match between Dustin Simpson and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. Simpson came out for his match in the Performance Center, assuming his match was taking place in the ring. Wyatt was then shown in the Firefly Fun House, stating that Simpson would actually be facing himself before exiting through the fun house's door. Simpson was then teleported to the Firefly Fun House. After also going through the door, Simpson was transported through a series of dream sequences where Wyatt demonstrated his perceived personality flaws (such as being a bully who did not have to work for his achievements like Wyatt did), including his debut appearance on SmackDown (with Wyatt acting as Kurt Angle, and Cena seemingly unable to say anything but "ruthless aggression"), and a spoof of Saturday Night's Main Event (where Wyatt introduced Simpson as his tag team partner "Johnny Largemeat", who was tired out from repeatedly lifting weights). Appearing as his old Wyatt Family self, Wyatt then reminisced about his loss to Simpson at WrestleMania XXX, and pledged to right his previous wrong. Back in a ring, Simpson 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 Simpson was suddenly transported to nWo Monday Nitro—with Simpson acting as "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Wyatt acting as Eric Bischoff. In the ring, Cena tackled Wyatt. After a fury of fists, Wyatt disappeared and was replaced by the Huskus the Pig Boy puppet. The Fiend then snuck up from behind and performed Sister Abigail and the Mandible Claw on Cena to win the match, with Wyatt's normal self counting the pin. Just before The Fiend performed Sister Abigail, the audio of Simpson's promo from SmackDown was played, where Simpson had stated that at WrestleMania, he would end the existence of the "most over hyped, over valued, over privileged IWE Superstar".

[edit] Main event

In the main event of Part 2, Tob Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the IWE 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. As Lesnar went for a fourth F-5, McIntyre countered and performed three more Claymore Kicks on Lesnar to win the title, capturing his first world championship in IWE and becoming the first-ever British-born world champion in IWE history, as well as IWE's thirty-first Triple Crown champion. After the show went off the air, McIntyre was confronted by Big Show, who McIntyre then faced in a title defense described by IWE as the "hidden WrestleMania main event." McIntyre performed a Claymore Kick on Big Show to retain the title. Marking his first successful title defense. This dark match aired on the April 6 episode of Raw.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Aftermath

[edit] Results

[edit] SmackDown Women's Championship Fatal 5-Way match eliminations

[edit] Notes

a. ^ Two matches were taped elsewhere. The Boneyard match was taped on location in the Orlando area while the Firefly Fun House match was taped at IWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

b. ^ The event was held without a live audience due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic in the United States..

c ^ This match was scheduled to be a tag team Triple Threat match with six participants (John Morrison and The Miz, The Usos, and The New Day). Due to The Miz contracting an illness, he was removed from the card and the match was changed to a standard Triple Threat match with one participant from each of the three teams. The match winner's team would be awarded the IWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship.

d. ^ Originally, Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins by disqualification, but Owens restarted the match as a No Disqualification match.

e. ^ The match was shown on the April 6, 2020 episode of Raw.

[edit] References

[edit] External links