The most talked about portion from night one of WrestleMania 36 was the main event Boneyard match between the Phenomenal AJ Styles and The Undertaker. The Deadman, who was portraying his American Badass incarnation of the character, was the victor after burying Styles inside of a grave. Whatculture recently released a special behind the scenes look at the bout, which includes details about how it came together. Check it out below.
-It reportedly took five whole days to construct the set, which was filmed nowhere near the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. They filmed the match overnight from 9pm-5am on March 26th and required a near week long clean up after the taping concluded.
-The production company WWE used was local to the Orange County area, and were super appreciative of WWE offering them the business in these trying times. Everyone was treated in the highest regard, and WWE higher-ups like Triple H and Michael Hayes were super impressed with the set they made them in just five-short days.
-Originally Undertaker’s “entrance” was scheduled to be a lot longer and include The Deadman driving in from the road on his motorcycle but the roads were city property and WWE did not have a permit to shoot there. They decided to go with an easier approach. The Metallica song “Now That We’re Dead” was still to be used in the alternate entrance.
-The Undertaker, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson all took the time to assist the extras who played druids during the huge fight scene. Reports are that all the extras were super appreciative of the WWE talents lending them some time to help the scene look great for the final product.
-The promos cut by both men during the filming was 100% improvised. Triple H supposedly was the one who encouraged them to do this.
-The blood that came from Undertaker’s arm during a spot with the hearse was unintentional but the WWE film crew liked the way it looked and thought it added to the match so they left it in.
-The report states that Triple H and Michael Hayes found a prop hand, but Undertaker was the one who came up with the idea for it to be used in the final shot of Styles’ reaching out from the grave. It is said to reflect Undertaker’s hand popping up from the grave in the In Your House Buried Alive match in 1996.
Check out the full report here.