Sports
Drew McIntyre Deserved Better in Hurried WrestleMania 36 Win vs. Brock Lesnar
Credit: WWE.comWrestleMania 36 was one of the most unique pay-per-views we have ever seen, and we will likely never see anything quite like it again.The Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches were two of the most creative and innovative segments ever produced, but some wrestling purists did not enjoy the overproduced short films.We also saw…
Credit: WWE.com
WrestleMania 36 was one of the most unique pay-per-views we have ever seen, and we will likely never see anything quite like it again.
The Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches were two of the most creative and innovative segments ever produced, but some wrestling purists did not enjoy the overproduced short films.
We also saw a handful of titles change hands on both nights. The first show featured Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross winning the women's tag team titles and Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg to win the Universal Championship.
Night 2 featured Charlotte Flair becoming the new NXT women's champion and the main event saw Drew McIntyre put down Brock Lesnar with four Claymore Kicks to win his first WWE Championship.
Unfortunately, what should have been a career-defining moment for the Scottish Superstar did not have the same impact is should have had.
The Match Placement
On any normal PPV, closing the show with somebody winning their first world title would be the right call every time. This was not a normal PPV, though.
The format of WrestleMania had to be tweaked in order to make it work without a crowd in an empty Performance Center, and that led to some creative choices nobody expected.
The Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches were shocking in how entertaining they were. Whether you loved or hated them, everybody was glued to the screen to see what would happen next.
WWE made the right call to have The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles close the first night because nothing could have followed it—not even Strowman defeating Goldberg.
On the second night, management chose to have McIntyre and Lesnar close the show right after the acid trip that was the Firefly Fun House match.
Going from a surreal art piece to a traditional match that only lasted a few minutes completely ruined the flow of the show and ended up making McIntyre's moment in the sun a little less engaging.
Wyatt and Cena should have closed the weirdest WrestleMania with the weirdest match of all time, while McIntyre and The Beast should have proceeded it.
That Match Looks Awfully Familiar
Did you get a feeling of deja vu while watching McIntyre vs. Lesnar? Almost like you had seen this exact same match somewhere else before?
That is because it was almost the same setup as Strowman vs. Goldberg. They hit the same beats and almost the exact same number of moves.
Lesnar hit the Scot with a few F-5s before McIntyre took him down with a series of Claymores. Goldberg nailed Strowman with a few Spears and a Jackhammer before The Monster Among Men put him away with a few Powerslams.
It was almost like somebody copied and pasted the rundown for each match by mistake and WWE just went with it. Just when the company could have use one of those classic Lesnar performances, he ended up in one of his shortest matches in months.
These matches would have been received well in the usual WrestleMania setting with fans screaming their heads off in the stands, but every detail is more evident in an empty arena.
McIntyre Deserved Better
McIntyre has been one of the hottest acts on Raw for months. He was even picking up steam before he had his standout performance at the Royal Rumble.
While it is understandable why WWE booked the title change to happen despite not having a live crowd, it's hard not to think it might have been more special if it had waited until it can run normal shows again.
Lesnar is not going anywhere, so it's not as if management couldn't stretch this feud until SummerSlam. In fact, losing might have made McIntyre an even more interesting character because he would be hungrier and more obsessed with winning the title.
Still, it's great to see The Scottish Psychopath get his due. He was put in an impossible position when WWE brought him in as Vince McMahon‘s handpicked protege in 2007.
He left, made a name for himself on the independent scene and returned bigger and better than ever. His rise to the top has been a joy to watch, and it is going to be a lot of fun to see how he handles being the face of WWE's flagship brand.
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