Hall of Fame legend Goldberg lost his WWE Universal Championship to challenger Braun Strowman in a less-than-imaginative clash. This was the 2nd time Goldberg dropped this particular title, and this time around it left us disappointed and our morale a bit sunk. Their bout was followed by the main event, a “Boneyard Match” pitting AJ Styles against the The Undertaker. By time the action-packed, brutal fight concluded with AJ literally buried alive as a battered Undertaker road off into the night, we’d completely forgiven, and had basically forgotten, what transpired before it.
World Wrestling Entertainment presented Part 1 of their 2-night WrestleMania 36 live from their Performance Center in Orlando, FL on April 4, 2020. Billed as being too big for just one night, the first half of its stacked card took place with no fans in attendance due to COVID-19 safety precautions. As we watched matches take place in an empty venue, we could still feel the energy and emotion as if it was in a packed stadium.
Elias defeating King Baron Corbin and Stroman’s victory over Goldberg were the two weakest matches of Night 1. All the rest were on point or stellar.
One of the highest-point matches was Kevin Owens defeating Seth Rollins.
We were on the edge of our seats watching John Morrison successfully defend the Smackdown Tag Team Championships in a “Ladder Match” versus Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso.
Becky Lynch survived Shayna Baszler in a hard-hitting affair for the Raw Women’s Championship, a match we wanted Baszler to win.
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross defeated Asuka and Kairi Sane in a fun match to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions for the second time.
In a match second only to the main event, Daniel Bryan lost to Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn. This was easily one of the best in-ring matches of 2020 so far.
Aside from two blemishes, Night 1 of WrestleMania 36 was enjoyable! |THIS.
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
