WrestleMania 36 featured The Undertaker defeating current WWE RAW Tag Team Champion AJ Styles in the first-ever Boneyard Match, which was a cinematic bout.
Styles recently appeared on the “Out of Character” podcast with Ryan Satin and said he’s proud to have had the chance to work with The Dead Man. Styles revealed his reaction when officials first informed him of the match.
“I’m proud that I had the opportunity to work with the Undertaker,” said Styles in an interview with Ryan Satin on Out of Character. “It was icing on the cake to have one of the better cinematic matches that WWE has done. I was very proud of it and I’m sure Taker was very proud of it. It was one of those things where you weren’t sure how fans would take it, but it was exactly what we both needed.
“I was certainly pleasantly surprised when they said, ‘You’re doing a Boneyard match and it’s going to be different.’ Okay, cool. Not a match in front of nobody? Perfect. It was exactly what we envisioned. I would have loved to have the opportunity to work with him before he retired because we gelled so well in that Boneyard match.”
Pro athletes often exchange jerseys or balls following games as a sign of respect between two players. AJ revealed that he and Taker did something following their Boneyard Match as he called up Michelle McCool and asked about giving her husband a gift.
“I called his wife [Michelle McCool] and was like, ‘What does he want? I need to get him something,'” Styles said when asked if a gift exchange occurred between the two. “She was like, ‘Give him your gloves, that would mean a lot to him if you signed your gloves.’ Michelle hooked me up. Hopefully, that was a gift he enjoyed. He actually sent his gloves to me with a very nice thank you letter.”
Taker’s win over AJ marked his final match for WWE. He did return at the 2020 Survivor Series pay-per-view for a Final Farewell segment, but there’s been no word on if he will return in the future.
Stay tuned for more.
(H/T to Fightful for the quote)
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