Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan (Intercontinental Championship)

Wrestlemania

Zayn starts off playing a chickenshit heel. Bryan bides his time to strike Zayn. The Artist Collective stops Bryan from chasing after Zayn. I don’t really like the match starting like this but I think my expectations for this match need to be changed. It fits Zayn’s current character but part of me is dying after seeing all the amazing stuff he’s done in his career. Zayn trips up after Bryan goes after him one last time. Gulak flies out and takes out Cesaro and Nakamura. Bryan invites the ref to count out Zayn. Zayn starts walking up the ramp, but Bryan runs him down. He drags his ass back to the ring and we can finally start.

There was little to no actual wrestling for the start of this match. Zayn tries pleading with Bryan to stop the match. Sami is a great heel here. Bryan starts teeing off on Sami. A bad looking suicide dive for Bryan that looked like it could have hurt his head, doesn’t stop him from taking the fight to Zayn. Daniel hits his patented missile dropkick. Zayn gets zero offense so far.

The match continues with Zayn getting beaten up and down the street by Bryan. Bryan slaps the hell out of Zayn. Zayn survives through it, and the match turns around when Zayn hits Bryan with a kick. Drew Gulak tries riling up Daniel Bryan by starting a “Yes” Chant. Cesaro and Nakamura come out of nowhere and distract everyone. Bryan goes for a top rope dive, but Sami hits a modified Helluva Kick for the three count.

Wrestlemania 36: Analysis and Grade

This felt incomplete and a waste of Daniel Bryan’s talent here. The character work fits in with Zayn’s current character where he wants to wrestle as little as possible. I guess my expectations were off from the start though. I didn’t like this one, and it was simply a meh showing from both people, I can’t say much about it because it just wasn’t great. It was serviceable, and that’s it.

Grade: 5/10