5 surprising moments from Night 2 of WWE WrestleMania 36

Well. that Firefly Funhouse Match was... different.

This WrestleMania, without fans, had no business working so well. The second night of WrestleMania 36 delivered an emotional night of storytelling. It was full of solid matches, feel-good moments, a great title change and a cinematic Firefly Funhouse Match unlike anything we have ever seen before.

For a pro wrestling show like no other, it delivered another fun night of wrestling. It might not have beaten the first night in terms of match quality but the storytelling was top notch.

While I am still trying to figure out what exactly happened in the Firefly Funhouse Match, I will present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE WrestleMania 36 Day Two.

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#5 Otis Gets the Girl

If Otis can get the girl maybe we all can.

Who would have thought Otis, Dolph Ziggler, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose would be part of the best storyline on the WWE Smackdown brand heading into WrestleMania? It was a long and winding road for sure, and they all played their parts perfectly.

Dolph Ziggler is quite good at playing the cocky heel. He was like the high school jock that always got the prettiest girl. We all wanted to see him get his at WrestleMania. It took Mandy Rose with some well timed inference to finally get Otis his WrestleMania moment. However, the match itself was not really that relevant to the whole storyline. It was all about the moment when Otis got the kiss from Mandy Rose (they were definitely not practicing social distancing). It was a sweet moment that was months in the making. It is too bad a big crowd wasn’t around to cheer for it, but it was great work by all those involved in this fun storyline.

#4 Charlotte wins the NXT Women’s Championship

I'm ready to see Charlotte Flair at NXT Takeovers in the very near future.

Did Charlotte Flair really need to win again? I mean she seems to have the never ending push. Would it have really been an issue to have Rhea Ripley get the rub against the biggest star in Women’s Wrestling? It seems the WWE thinks so.

Also, OK, there's this...

The match itself was arguably the best of Night Two of WrestleMania 36. The bout was physical with some really good in-ring psychology, as Charlotte did an excellent job of working on the leg of Rhea Ripley throughout the match. While it was a shame to see Ripley lose, she certainly didn’t look bad in defeat during their excellent twenty minute match.

The best part of Charlotte winning is what it means going forward. Charlotte Flair, the best female wrestler in the company, will be on the best wrestling brand for the foreseeable future. I cannot wait to see Charlotte at the next NXT Takeover defending her title. It will be some great wrestling with many great contenders to choose from. Flair is only going to benefit the NXT Brand for the next few months to come.

#3 The very long Last Man Standing match

Edge and Randy Orton sure put a lot on the line on Sunday night. It was a very long road to get to the end.

Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy to see Edge wrestle his first singles match in nine years. That in itself is quite incredible. But did the return match have to be so long?

Edge and Randy Orton fought for thirty-seven minutes in their Last Man Standing Match. It basically worked as a backstage tour of the WWE Performance Center. They pretty much fought, it seemed, through every part of the Center. While both competitors were creative in their use of the space, it certainly dragged at times.

The story telling was still very strong. Randy Orton was trying to prevent Edge from ever wrestling again. Edge would simply not quit. The ending took a while but was extremely well told. Edge played the emotion well before he smashed the steel chair over Orton’s head to get the victory. Edge, at age 46, was incredible in the match and looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. I just hope that next time he does so in a shorter fashion.

#2 The entire Firefly Funhouse match

These are the best announcers of WrestleMania weekend.

Titus O’Neil had the correct reaction. What did we just see?

The Boneyard match was a cinematic Western movie come to life for a fun ending to the first night of WrestleMania. The Firefly Funhouse Match, on the other hand, was something completely very different. In fact, it is nearly impossible to describe.

What happened was basically a rundown of John Cena’s entire career - a Greatest Hits of sorts. We had Cena’s main roster debut in 2002. We had his Doctor of Thuganomics return. We even had John Cena making a different choice against Bray Wyatt during their WrestleMania 30 match. It was unique to say the least.

But, that wasn’t all. It also served as a love letter to wrestling fans. We had a return of Saturday Night’s Main Event. We had Bray Wyatt play Eric Bischoff and having John Cena coming out in NWO Gear. The match, if you can call it a match, is full of so many jokes, Easter eggs, and references that it deserves a second watch for sure. The Fiend defeated John Cena who then simply... disappeared. Is this the end of John Cena’s career? Did any of that match actually happen? Who knows, but it was blast to watch.

#1 Drew McIntyre wins the WWE Championship

I just wish this occurred in front of a huge crowd.

Who else is hoping that this was the end of Brock’s Lesnar reign in the WWE?

The WWE Championship match was a bit of a replay of the Universal Championship match from Night One. Brock Lesnar seemed to be in control of the match was he hit three German Suplexes. He hit an F-5 and Drew McIntyre kicked out at one. That is very surprising. The F-5 is one of the most protected finishers in the WWE. Drew McIntyre eventually kicked out of three F5s in total. That is just shocking.

Drew McIntyre then hits four Claymore Kicks in a row. He then finally pinned Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. Drew McIntyre has come a long way in his career. It is amazing to see Brock Lesnar put him over in such a big way. It is a shame Drew McIntyre didn’t get that big reaction for a huge WrestleMania crowd. But the right guy won and hopefully a WWE crowd can give him the reaction he deserves in the near future. We can all hope we get to see pro wrestling with large crowds quite soon.