10 Fascinating WWE WrestleMania 36 Facts
If Dolph Ziggler had a singles match at Mania but no-one was there to see it, did it really happen?
Did you know that WrestleMania 36 was the first one to happen in front of a sold-out crowd of zero? Yes, you did, everyone did. How could you not know that? The lack of fans at the Showcase of the Immortals made it feel like watching a weird training session, a look behind the curtain of the WWE Performance Center that nobody really wanted.
How will history remember WrestleMania 36? Will it be remembered as a product of the strange times in which it took place, or will history remove that safety net and look back at it as a poorly constructed double-header where everything was either rushed or interminably drawn out? Probably a bit of both, truth be told, but the history books don't care for context and there was no shortage of history made at WrestleMania 36.
Streaks ended while others continued, titles were won and lost in history-making fashion, landmarks were met and birthdays were celebrated. WrestleMania 36 was a show (well, two shows, theoretically speaking) of firsts, and that didn't just include the lack of audience and the presence of two cinematic matches.
10. D-Generation X, Y, Z, Alpha...
There's no point beating around the bush with this one; WrestleMania 36 was the first 'Mania that didn't feature Shawn Michaels or Triple H in any form since WrestleMania IV. Yes, four. This was the first Show of Shows without the founding members of D-Generation X since the same show that saw Don Muraco beat Dino Bravo. Strike Force split up that night. Most of the readers weren't even born.
Does that shine a light on their longevity or the general creative malaise that WWE finds itself in? The latter, obviously, as Michaels retired in 2010 and Triple H has been a big show merchant since that same sort of time. Still, 30 straight years of DX putting in big-time performances on the Grandest Stage of Them All isn't to be sniffed at.
Will either man ever wrestle at 'Mania again? The smart money would suggest that Michaels is done (although the 'smart money' might not necessarily cover the 'big money'), but nobody would be surprised to see Triple H lace up those most cerebral of boots at some point in the future, to deliver a crotch chop in the general direction of whatever young star is making a noise at the time.
Triple H vs. Kyle O'Reilly for the NXT Championship at WrestleMania 38? Don't bet against it...