Folks….what on Earth are they going to do to top last night’s show? WrestleMania 36 kicked off last night to strong critical acclaim. In an incredibly tough spot, the locker room came out and busted their asses, delivering what was easily one of the most memorable ‘Manias of all time. Now, it’s time to get to the encore. LFG.
Check out the SoBros Wrasslin’ team’s thoughts on Night 2 of WrestleMania 36 on the latest episode of Checks and Championships:
Kickoff Show
*Liv Morgan def. Natalya – Haters gonna hate, but I thought this was a solid contest. If it was designed solely to help get Liv Morgan, then it executed it perfectly. Rating: 5/10.
WrestleMania 36
*NXT Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair def. Rhea Ripley – That new fit for Ripley is hot ass fire. Gotta love storyline continuity with Flair workin’ the left knee early. Ripley hits the Riptide early, but Flair kicks out. She’s out here takin’ big bumps on the PC floor early. Ripley takes control until Flair wrenches her knee over the top rope. Folks, this is my kinda shit right here. Smart wrestling. A+++ shit talking. Great storytelling. Flair really starts laying it in on that left knee and Ripley is in big time trouble. Dueling submissions. Dueling reversals. Dueling near-falls. Flair goes for a moonsault but Ripley kicks her in the face with an absolute precision strike. Flair locks in the Figure Four, then shifts into the Figure Eight. With all the damage done to the left knee, Ripley had no choice but to tap out, but holy shit – was that a match or what?!?! Rating: 8.5/10.
*Aleister Black def. Bobby Lashley – Fired up for Black’s ‘king of hell’ look with that jacket. Brandon said it looked like something from the Upside Down. Lashley has some primo new gear too. This one was a big boi ass beater from the jump, and Lashley executed a perfect belly-to-belly on the arena floor that looked sick. These two are putting on a fast-paced hard hitting match so far. Black hits a killer moonsault on the outside of the ring. Lashley gets black up for the Dominater, but Lana hops up on the apron screaming for Lashley to hit a spear. He obliges, but when he charges Black, Black hits him with the Black Mass from out of nowhere. Sooooooolid finish after a solid match. Rating: 6.5/10.
*Otis def. Dolph – So much drama surrounding this one, and if you’re wondering why matches like this are important, my girlfriend didn’t give a damn about WrestleMania but watched the promo video and started calling Dolph mean and actively cheering for Otis. That’s how ya get ’em hooked, folks. I thought this match was better than it had any business being. Otis gets the win after Mandy Rose comes out and handles Sonya Deville and kicks Dolph square in the fuckin’ dick. Otis gets his moment with Mandy. Rating: 5.5/10.
*Last Man Standing Match: – Here. We. Go. Orton disguises himself as a cameraman to slither in and hit an RKO when Edge had his back turned. The match starts and Orton hits another RKO. Orton decks Edge with a camera as Edge is taking a beating to kick this thing off. They fight their way back into the gym at the Performance Center. We get some sick spots with gym equipment before they eventually get back into the arena. From there, these dudes take it through the damn office. They’re legit about to cover every inch of this Performance Center. Some of these shots sound like explosions. CAMERAMAN DOWN! Edge hits a sick elbow drop off a loft made of steel cage through a table, but this one’s starting to D R A G. They get up on top of a pickup truck, and Orton hits his draping DDT onto the covered bed. Pretty sick move, but I’m just tired at this point. The commentary has been a drag. There’s too much time lost to selling when there’s a 10 count. It’s slow-paced with a lot of grunting…just didn’t connect. Edge finally gets the win with a conchairto on top of a truck. 40 minutes in the books. Way too long. Rating: 3/10.
*Gronk wins the 24/7 Championship – 1,000,000/10.
*Raw Tag Team Championship: Street Profits def. Angel Garza & Austin Theory – If anyone can get the energy back on this show, it’s the Street Profits. Fast-paced action early with the Street Profits standing tall. A little shenanigans behind the ref’s back puts Garza and Theory in control. Ford hits that dive to the outside. Garza hits a moonsault to the outside. This is a lot of fun. The Street Profits retain after Ford hits a frog splash on Theory. Dawkins makes the cover. Garza and Theory attack the champs afterwards. Zelina Vega gets some shots in before BIANCA BELAIR runs in and takes her out!!! Really solid stuff here. Rating: 5.5/10.
*Smackdown Women’s Championship: Bayley retains – The gang goes after Tamina first, trying to take her out. Then, Bayley and Sasha team up on Evans until Naomi gets in on the action. Tamina is back and passing out clotheslines like crazy. Looked like we were about to get a Team B.A.D. reunion, but instead, the mega powers implode. Tamina is eliminated after every other woman in the match hits a move off the ropes and then piles on her for the pin. Mean Bayley sends Evans into the steps as the action spills outside. Sasha slaps in the Bank Statement on Naomi, who taps out. Bayley misses with a knee strike, and inadvertently hit Sasha in the head. Some dissension among the ranks! Evans swings on Bayley but misses and decks Banks instead. She covers her for the pin, and we’re down to Bayley and Evans. Some solid stuff here as Bayley kicks out of the moonsault. Banks comes back in and hits a back stabber on Evans to help Bayley pick up the win. Some excellent storytelling here, as I feel like this is just building to something bigger down the road. Rating: 6/10.
*Firefly Fun House Match: The Fiend def. John Cena – Alright, alright, alright. Let’s get weird. Cena enters the fun house, and all of a sudden it feels like we’re on a collective acid trip. We go down Memory Lane on this trippy plane of existence and relive every iteration of John Cena and Bray Wyatt. Cena, being held prisoner of this wild ass dream, finally “wakes up” and attacks Wyatt after being compared to Hogan…hoowee some of this shit is cutting deep (shout out to throwing the Bellas music in there). But, before long, Bray vanishes and Cena is just throwing haymakers on a puppet. The Fiend shows up and ends Cena in a hurry, but this was fucking weird masterful art. Rating: 7/10.
*WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre def. Brock Lesnar – Here we go! Drew hits the Claymore early but Lesnar kicks out. Then, Lesnar starts the road to suplex city with some German suplexes. Lesnar hits the F5, but DREW KICKS OUT AT ONE!!!! Another F5, but DREW KICKS OUT AGAIN!!!! A third F5 and DREW KICKS OUT AGAIN! WTF is happening?!?! Drew hits three consecutive Claymore kicks to FINALLY get the WWE Championship. The match was what it was, but this gets all the stars for the moment. He’s finally fulfilled the prophecy. Rating: 8/10.
Overall: 6.1/10 – The Edge-Orton match going nearly 40 minutes really took the wind out of the sails a bit, and ultimately, that’s the difference in the two nights. Last night was much more high-energy and digestible. Night 2 had some big moments, but felt a bit too long. All in all thought, this will go down as a top 10 ‘Mania easily, which is more than I would’ve thought we’d be saying here at the conclusion of the event. One for the ages.
Check out my thoughts on Night 1 of WrestleMania 36 here.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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