No matter what you might think about Vince McMahon’s decision to go ahead with Wrestlemania 36, it’s happening. Tonight and tomorrow, we’re getting the first ever two-night Mania. Emanating from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, this is also going to be the first pre-taped Wrestlemania. Some have been clamoring for this for years, and they sort of get their wish now. Because of this two-day format, we’re going to get probably more wrestling than normal. That means for us, we’re going to have to keep up with all the action.

This Mania around, we’re getting multiple “main event” quality matches. I could see Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler for the Raw Women’s Championship being the main event for one night. That doesn’t mean any of the other big time matches including: Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre, Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman, Edge vs. Randy Orton, Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley, or the Undertaker vs. AJ Styles. We had an interesting build to a lot of the matches due to the outside pandemic circumstances. In some cases it might have added to the match in the case of Lesnar and McIntyre. I, like the rest of you can’t wait, so let’s get on with the show.

Wrestlemania 36 is upon us. There’s no time to debate whether this should or shouldn’t have happened anymore, it’s time to watch. Grab your family, grab some food, and enjoy the show.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Women’s Tag-Team Championship)

This is an interesting one to start the show with. It’s nice to have two people on the commentary booth even if it’s JBL and Michael Cole. It’s truly 2010 again. The action starts off strong here at Wrestlemania 36. Bliss and Cross are the ones that take control of the match off the start. Asuka seems like a perfect fit for these empty arena shows because she’s so goddamn loud and boisterous. After a quick start from the babyfaces, the Kabuki Warriors take over the match.

Bliss took some serious punishment at this point in the match. Kairi Sane hit her with a vicious stomp in the corner of the ring. For someone like Bliss who has had concussion issues, this looked pretty scary. Alexa Bliss has been a heel for almost her entire career, so the Kabuki Warriors have had to do a great job of making her look like a babyface here. Kairi Sane hits Bliss with another wicked kick. Like I said before, scary for someone with concussion issues.

Asuka tags in and tries to hit Bliss with a “rear-view”, but Bliss blocks it. Cross finally gets the hot tag, she’s screaming, literally and figuratively around the ring. She gets a Cross Body for a near fall on Kairi Sane. While the ref is distracted, Sane rakes Cross’s eyes. Asuka and Kairi are doing a great job of keeping Cross isolated. Out of nowhere, Cross hits a neckbreaker on Asuka. This buys some time for her and Bliss.

Wrestlemania 36 Day One: The Finish and Final Grade

Asuka gets Nikki Cross in the Asuka Lock. When it looks like Nikki Cross is going to tap, Alexa Bliss comes from the sky with Twisted Bliss. There are bodies everywhere. Asuka and Kairi take to Nikki Cross again with some serious power moves. They start fighting in the corner. Asuka gets Cross in a powerbomb setup, Sane comes off the top rope for a modified Doomsday Device. Cross kicks out at what looked like 2.9 seconds. Nikki finds a way to get Bliss into the match, she hits Twisted Bliss on Kairi Sane for the win and the Women’s Tag-Team Championship.

This was a good opener for the show. It was much better than I thought it would be. It had more build than most matches on the card, which I think helped the overall match. These Women’s Tag-Team Championship matches have felt like they’re just thrown together. This one didn’t. Cross looked like a star for this one and was resilient as hell. I’m a big fan. It was a good start to the show.

Grade: 8/10

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