WrestleMania 36 Night 2 Match Ratings From Sean Ross Sapp

Liv Morgan defeated Natalya
5.5/10

• I’ve been talking to a whole lot of fans of Liv Morgan backstage.
• They start things off friendly, but Nattie keeps getting the upper hand.
• The two trade holds, but Natalya is taking Liv to school.
• Liv gets a Codebreaker variation off a slingshot atomic bomb counter.
• Morgan’s dropkick against the ropes works really well.
• Every WrestleMania match Natalya had before tonight had at least six people in it.
• Natalya gets rolled up with a body scissors for the pin.

NXT Women’s Championship
Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley (c) to win the title
8/10

• Rhea wearing Mania-worthy gear.
• Charlotte goes for a
• A lot of “REALLY, CHARLOTTE?” from Rhea early. She fortunately switches up the trash talk.
• I thought we were about to get a 90 second finish there after the Riptide.
• Ripley is really taking over. She has some kind of lazy kicks, but goes to an aggressive body scissors.
• Charlotte works over Ripley’s leg and does it well. The lack of the crowd really adds to the leg getting worked over.
• This is very physical, and the strikes are landing hard. The two have really good chemistry. A Ripley kick misses, but she makes up for it with a dropkick, and later a missile dropkick.
• Charlotte’s LIMB WORK is outstanding, Ripley’s selling it outstanding. Ripley’s Solefood, Charlotte’s Boston Crab, a series of pin reversals.
• Ripley gets front superplexed to the mat.
• Charlotte eats foot on a moonsault attempt and does a terible spear.
• Flair applies a Figure Eight, and Ripley is slugging away. Ripley taps out!!

Aleister Black defeated Bobby Lashley (w/ Lana)
5/10

• This is the Elias vs. Baron Corbin of last night, only better.
• Lashley is wearing tights. They work for him. I like the updated look.
• Lashley beats down Aleister Black the entire match besides an Asai Moonsault.
• Black counters the spear with Black Mass and wins.
• No reason this couldn’t have been on tomorrow night’s Raw.

Otis defeated Dolph Ziggler (w/ Sonya Deville)
5/10

• So they had Ziggler resort to shouting the same insults Mandy was in the ring late last year.
• Sonya is with Ziggler.
• Ziggler connects with a big dropkick and is in control until a catapult.
• Otis starts mowing down Ziggler. Pop-up World’s Strongest Slam.
• Sonya causes a distraction and Ziggler kicks Otis in the balls. Mandy comes out, attacks Sonya, and low blows Ziggler.
• Caterpillar wins it.
• Otis vs. Ziggler really needed a crowd. Ironically, the rest of it took place without a crowd, but the culmination needed it most
• Otis and Mandy kiss.

WWE 24/7 Championship
Rob Gronkowski defeated Mojo Rawley (c) to win the title

• A bunch of dorks chase Rawley out to the ring.
• I couldn’t tell who the other guys were cause of the camera shaking
• Gronk had said earlier he wanted to win the title, so he jumps off the platform onto all the dorks and wins the title.
• He darts out of the building.

Last Man Standing
Edge defeated Randy Orton
5/10

• Randy Orton OUT OF NOWHERE with an RKO. He posed as a cameraman.
• Another RKO hits. Orton cracks Edge with a camera.
• They brawl into the gym of the PC and Orton chokes Edge. Edge pull-up kicks Orton.
• Edge does an odd swinging seated senton off weight equipment.
• Edge sends Orton into a door after avoiding a HAM SLED.
• Edge gets sent off the stage into the barricade.
• Not a ton of bumps being taken in this match. They fight into the board room and the hall way.
• This just hasn’t been good. Edge isn’t bumping, and it’s a lot of the same thing over and over.
• That elbow drop from Edge through a table ruled, and it would have ruled a whole lot more if I could have actually seen what happened. Unfortunately, WWE teaches people to shake a camera instead of shooting what happens.
• Commentary calling this like it’s a golf tournament certainly doesn’t help.
• Draping DDT on a truck bed hits for Orton.
• Spear and an RKO on top of the semi truck.
• This match has gone over 30 minutes and it needed like half of that in this situation.
• Chairs are brought out and Edge gets the upper hand.
• Edge finishes Orton with a Conchairto.
• This was way, way too long.

WWE Raw Tag Team Championships
Street Profits (c) defeated Austin Theory and Angel Garza (w/ Zelina) to retain the title
5/10

• Another Raw hour two match that wasn’t necessary tonight.
• Ford and Garza both hit dives.
• Angelo was a little slow on this one at times
• Theory hits a TKO, but Ford lands a Frog Splash and Angelo gets the pin.
• Austin and Angel beat down Street Profits after the match and Zelina gets a kick in.
• Bianca Belair shows up and saves them and hits Zelina with a KOD.
• The Bianca Belair moment is another I wish could have happened in front of 70k.
• Titus O’Neil takes over hosting for Gronk.

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship
Bayley (c) defeated Lacey Evans, Sasha Banks, Naomi and Tamina to retain the title
6.5/10

• Naomi has different hair every week and it always looks awesome.
• Everyone jumps Tamina, but she fights them off.
• There’s a neat merry go round spot with everyone but Tamina.
• Bayley responding to hearing Michael Cole’s commentary was amazing hahaha.
• Good on Cole for calling out the ref for threatening to DQ in a no DQ match. Unless he was saying he couldn’t count the pin.
• Everyone helps pin Tamina.
• Bayley and Sasha double team Naomi and Sasha submits her.
• Bayley has become one of the most verbally hilarious wrestlers in the world.
• Lacey repeatedly kicks out of two person pins.
• Bayley accidentally knees Sasha in the head.
• Sasha and Bayley argue, but Bayley saves her. Lacey ends up pinning Sasha with a Women’s Right anyway.
• Lacey and Bayley have a pretty good match of their own. Great, crisp knees from Bayley, kicks from Lacey.
• Lacey gets tied up in the tag ropes, but fights back.
• Sasha hits a Backstabber on Lacey, and Bayley wins with the Rose Plant.
• I really enjoyed this.

Firefly Funhouse Match
The Fiend defeated John Cena
Angle: 7/10

• Cena sees a Vince McMahon puppet in the Funhouse.
• Bray Wyatt plays off of the Kurt Angle vs. Cena debut match.
• Cena in his 2002 gear! Wow. Wyatt dodges Cena’s slap.
• Bray Wyatt sings Nikki Bella‘s theme to Cena to taunt him.
• There’s a Saturday Night’s Main Event themed segment. Cena is there lifting weights.
• This is a trip.
• Thuganomics John Cena appears. He raps about Husky Harris.
• “You’re a slut for opportunity, you’re blowing every chance”- John Cena to Bray Wyatt.
• We see old school Bray Wyatt in his old house.
• He appears in the ring, but can’t hit Sister Abigail. He does a callback and asks Cena to hit him with a chair. Cena tries and disappears.
• Firefly Funhouse match rewards you if you’re a lifelong wrestling fan, and that I can appreciate.
• Wyatt parodies Eric Bischoff in the NWO. Cena is there in an NWO shirt.
• The Vince McMahon puppet says “It’s such good shit!”
• Cena is attacking Wyatt, but it turns out to be the pig puppet.
• The Fiend appears. He uses Cena’s own words against him about being the most overhyped star in existence.
• Fiend wins, and Wyatt counts the three.

WWE Universal Championship
Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) to become champion
5.5/10 (Short)

• Claymore right out of the gate.
• McIntyre misses the second and gets suplexed. A few more suplexes, as is tradition.
• F5 from Brock, but Drew kicks out at one. That was definitely designed for a crowd pop.
• F5 and a two count. A third, and a two count.
• Paul Heyman just tells Brock to keep doing it.
• Drew counters a fourth, and hits three more Claymores. Drew wins.
• I think I’m done with the “lets do 8 finishers in two minutes and go home” matches.

Rating Guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor

Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a “star rating,” which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive “TV match” lands at a 5. The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don’t take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!