WrestleMania 36 MMA Wrap-Up: Brock Drops, CM Cameos

Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images

The second night of WrestleMania 36 has wrapped up, and what an up and down weekend of matches it was. The absence of a crowd was obviously pretty jarring through the whole night, but the WWE did do some interesting things with the opportunity to step away from a live audience format. The ‘cinematic’ Boneyard bout between Undertaker and AJ Styles was interesting, and then there was the #FireflyFunhouse which was just … something.

But we’re not here to go over all the usual pro wrestling angles. Head on to Cageside Seats if you want that. We’re just going to break down the MMA and UFC related angles from this show … of which there were only a few.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar ended up dropping his WWE Championship belt to Drew McIntyre in the main event of night two, but we doubt he’s going anywhere given the dominating performance he still turned in against the “Scottish Psychopath.” Lesnar hit McIntyre with three F-5s but ate one Claymore Kick too many before getting pinned making McIntyre the first ever British WWE champion (something I had to triple check because man, that seems wrong).

In the past there’s always been rumors whenever Lesnar has dropped his belt that he may end up back in the UFC. No such rumors have circulated this time at all, whether it’s because the world is too busy with all this Coronavirus stuff or the ship really has sailed for good on Lesnar’s participation in the UFC. Behind the scenes chatter has Lesnar “heavily invested” in putting Drew over as champ and a new top superstar in the company. Whether he takes a step back or break from performing now that he’s no longer champ remains to be seen.

CM Punk made a brief appearance during WrestleMania 36, but not in the flesh. Rather, the black sheep champ was included in a clip montage during the semi-psychaedelic Firefly Funhouse segment. It goes to show you just how scrubbed Punk is from most WWE content that his inclusion for like a fraction of a second had fans wondering whether there could be a WWE comeback in his future. I’m not about to speculate on that, but it’s not like he’s got a busy MMA fighting schedule keeping him from returning to pro wrestling. Dana White is basically holding on to Punk’s contract to keep him from ending up anywhere else *cough* Bellator *cough*. Poor Punk, constantly pushed to the margins of the sports he loves by the monopolistic kingpins that control things.

Last but not least, Shayna Baszler lost to Becky Lynch on night one of WrestleMania 36, losing her Raw women’s championship in the process. This was largely expected as Becky Lynch is getting a massive push from the WWE. Baszler came up to the big show from NXT with a lot of heat but her big pay-per-view matches haven’t been impressive enough to earn her a longer championship run. But there is a chance big things are coming for her. There are murmurs that Ronda Rousey could return to WWE sometime in the nearish future to finally make the long anticipated ‘Four Horsewomen’ feud a reality.

Here’s what that’s all about in a nutshell: Rick Flair used to lead a posse known as the Four Horsemen. That led Rousey to dub her MMA training partners Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir the Four Horsewomen. At around the same time, the WWE started touting Flair’s daughter Charlotte Flair along with Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley as the Four Horsewomen as well. Will the competing Horsewomen squads finally face off? It all depends on whether Rousey decides to return to action, which we kinda find doubtful at this exact moment in the middle of a pandemic that has shows being held in empty arenas. But that’s not forever, and who knows what the future holds.

Let us know what you thought of WrestleMania 36 and any MMA related moments we may have missed.