Brian Damage
It’s Saturday and today we have ’This Week in Wrestling’, the 15th of 2020. Today Brian discusses the highs and lows of last week’s Wrestlemania 36 event and shares all the best wrestling content from this week.
Wrestlemania 36 Wre-view
Wrestlemania 36 is in the books and it was certainly…well…different. The lack of fans definitely made it a harder watch, at least initially. Once I got past that aspect and just started to concentrate on the actual mat action, it got a lot easier to view. While no doubt different, it wasn’t the worst Wrestlemania I’ve seen. Like any other show, there was both good and bad…but overall…it was a solid presentation.
First, the bad stuff. As I mentioned, the lack of fan participation hurt some of the matches which I feel could’ve benefited from cheers and crowd response. Aside from that, Charlotte Flair winning the NXT women’s championship made zero sense. I get that they want more eyeballs on NXT’s product…but Rhea Ripley could’ve gotten such a great rub beating a superstar like Charlotte on a stage like Wrestlemania.
Secondly, the announce teams didn’t seem sharp and many times their commentary was being drowned out by music and wrestlers grunting and talking inside the ring. The addition of Rob Gronkowski as the Wrestlemania “host” was silly and him winning the 24/7 title capped off the ridiculousness of it.
Now for the good and there was plenty of it in my opinion. Drew McIntyre winning the WWE title was a solid move and I feel that he will make a great champion. The match was a typical Brock Lesnar style match. It was hard hitting, but fast and not drawn out. The only real downside was that McIntyre didn’t get the opportunity to capture the championship in front of a capacity crowd. He worked his butt off for this moment and it earned that recognition.
The same could be said of the Edge versus Randy Orton match. It told a great story and was a solid match…albeit a bit too long. I think the match would’ve been a bit better and more effective if it had played out in front of 80,000 fans instead of an empty venue. It was still a good match that I enjoyed watching.
The Boneyard match between AJ Styles and The Undertaker was fantastic in my opinion. It was like watching a movie or good TV show. I know there are those who crapped on it, but it told a great story and had me tuned in to see how it all played out. I’m not 100% sure if Jeremy Borash was behind the whole filming of the match, but it was stylistic and done well. This to me, was the best segemnt of Night 1 and perhaps the whole event.
The other match that receive a slew of reaction was the Firefly Fun House Match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena. It was weird and not your prototypical wrestling match. Rather, it was a trip down memory lane that covered the career trajectories of both Cena and Wyatt. A what If scenario played out with if Cena had turned heel years ago was a nice addition to it. To me, it was basically a montage that culminated with The Fiend defeating Cena and thus getting the proverbial torch passed to him. I loved it.
All in all, Wrestlemania 36 was a solid show. Kudos to all involved with its presentation. They worked their tails off to give fans a brief distraction from the world’s issues and just made us focus on the good, bad and ugly of pro wrestling. That in itself is a win for me.
Picture Gallery
Brian
The new WWE champion Drew McIntyre and his wife Kaitlyn
Wrestlemania I taken over by the New World Order.
Brutus Beefcake quarantined in style.
A sad pic of Bret Hart staring at a photo of the Hart Foundation. He is the last surviving member.
Vince McMahon posing with Rey Mysterio’s son Dominik.
Heaven’s greatest angels.
Eric Bischoff….The Porn Years. 😉
Adult star Tanya Tate looking to become a WWE referee.
Kendra Lust channeling her best Ric Flair
A cool photo of a young Drew McIntyre with the then WWF champion Yokozuna.
Tony Schiavone and his years working with the Rhodes family.
A candid pic of Sensational Sherri and Hulk Hogan at a bar
Montez Ford and his wife Bianca Belair
Momma Maryse
Bayley
AEW’s Brandi Rhodes
Madusa holding it down at age 56.
NWA Powerr’s Kamilla
Salina De La Renta…Oh my
Dana Brooke sans makeup
Rob Van Dam and his entourage…
Video Gallery
A very cool mashup of The Simpsons cartoon to Smackdown’s old school theme.
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Ring the Damn Bell 
Damn, Madusa is still F.I.N.E!!!!!
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