The second half of WrestleMania 36 had a lot to live up to following a strong opening night featuring a raved-about Boneyard Match.
The event again emanated from a closet set at WWE's Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Four titles were at stake and John Cena was set to compete in his first in-ring outing in 15 months against Bray Wyatt's 'The Fiend'.
The Kickoff pre-show featured a short contest between Liv Morgan and Natalya, which saw Liv pull off a major upset before the main WrestleMania card, consisting of eight matches, commenced.
Re-live night two of WrestleMania 36 with our live blog recap
Our resident star ratings aficionado, Mo Chatra, gives his verdict here – each match is rated out of six, with any match rated five stars or more generally considered to be an all-time classic.
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
NXT Women's Championship Match
The opening contest of Mania's second half was a cracker. Charlotte is a magnificent talent and Rhea has come on in leaps and bounds over the last year. The pair worked hard and crafted an immensely enjoyable match that saw Charlotte submit Ripley to become a two-time NXT Women's champion and, in the process, capture the 12th singles championship of her career.
Rating: ****
Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley
Singles Match
Lashley was accompanied by his on-screen squeeze, Lana, for this bout. Both competitors put in a good shift but at a tad over seven minutes long, this was never going to compete for match of the night honours. Black won the bout courtesy of a Black Mass.
Rating: **1/2
Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis
Singles Match
This match came about when Mandy Rose spurned Otis for Dolph Ziggler back in February. Otis was more hyped than usual as he finally had a chance for revenge.
Interference from Sonya Deville – who accompanied Ziggler – looked like it might rob Otis, but Mandy Rose then arrived at ringside.
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Fuming at her friend for manipulating the situation to make Mandy believe Otis wasn't interested in her, Rose laid out Deville and low-blowed Ziggler. A caterpillar by Otis later and it was the big man who had his revenge.
The icing on the cake came post-match when he swept Rose into his arms and kissed her. This was fun.
Rating: **3/4
Edge vs. Randy Orton
Last Man Standing Match
Competing in his first singles bout since WrestleMania 27 in 2011, Edge looked in fantastic shape coming into this eagerly awaited grudge match with Randy Orton.
The pair pulverised one another all throughout the Performance Centre, but at nearly 37 minutes long, and with no crowd, this match dragged and suffered from a lack of crowd reactions to some of the biggest moments in the match.
Edge and Orton can't be faulted for effort, but under different circumstances and 10 minutes shorter, this match would have been a classic.
Rating: ***1/4
Street Profits (c) vs. Angel Garza & Austin Theory
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship Match
Newcomer 22-year-old Austin Theory – who only joined NXT last September and made his Raw debut on March 30 – was a replacement for the injured Andrade. He joined with the high-flying Angel Garza (who was accompanied by Zelina Vega) in this Raw tag team titles contest.
It lasted less than seven minutes but had good energy and was fought at a brisk pace. The Profits retained their titles after Ford nailed Theory with a frog splash to allow Angelo Dawkins to secure the winning pin.
After the match, Bianca Belair hit the ring to thwart a post-match attack as she came to the rescue of The Street Profits (she is the wife of Montez Ford). Short but sweet.
Rating: **1/2
Bayley (c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Tamina vs. Naomi vs. Lacey Evans
Smackdown Women’s Championship Elimination Match
Prior to the match, slight dissension was teased between pals Bayley and Banks. The match itself was the surprise package of the night and, in this writer's opinion, the second best contest of Mania 36 part two.
First to be eliminated was Tamina, after the other four women mobbed her. A Bank Statement by Sasha led to Naomi heading for the exit next.
Evans showed tremendous spirit and athleticism against her more experienced foes, and a miscommunication between Sasha and Bayley led to Lacey pinning Banks after Women's Right.
Bayley managed to retain her belt, however, after interference from Sasha led to a Rose Plant that secured victory for the champ. I didn't have particularly high hopes for this, but it turned into the surprise package of WrestleMania weekend.
Rating: ***1/2
John Cena vs. The Fiend
Firefly Funhouse Match
Quite frankly, this wasn't even a match. It was a series of short videos featuring Cena and Bray Wyatt engaging in monologue and shenanigans to an assortment of backdrops, which included Saturday Night's Main Event, the set of Smackdown in 2002, WCW Monday Nitro and a darkened ring. Both men appeared in their various previous and current guises during this.
The 'match' ended when Wyatt eventually turned up as The Fiend, applied the mandible claw and, in a separate shot, Wyatt counted the pin. Some people will have enjoyed this, but others will have detested it.
It was highly creative, in a sense, but this Twin Peaks-inspired segment failed where the Boneyard Match spectacularly succeeded, and the almost complete absence of action did it no favours.
Rating: DUD
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
WWE Championship Match
Lesnar came into this WWE Championship contest 17 years after his first WrestleMania appearance in 2003 (when he defeated Kurt Angle for the belt for his first reign). For McIntyre, it was the culmination of a 19-year journey that began in the Portsmouth-based Frontier Wrestling Alliance as a trainee back in 2001.
The pair wasted little time and went to the big moves immediately. McIntyre earned only a near fall from a Claymore. Brock countered, responded with three German suplexes and the F5 for a failed pinfall. Two further F5s also proved unsuccessful.
Relive night one of WrestleMania 36 with our live blog recap
McIntyre then responded, landing three Claymores and the final one of those was enough to secure a first WWE Championship for the big Scot.
Though a short match, it was all-action and the dramatic finish with the seemingly invincible Brock Lesnar succumbing to the man from Ayr, was quite the moment.
Rating: ***
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