Wrestlemania 36: A beginner’s guide for sports-starved fans

While real sports are on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, fake sports try to press on.

Wrestlemania, the most important event on WWE’s calendar each year, is coming up this Saturday and Sunday. For sports-starved fans that are stuck inside, tired of watching reruns of classic games and voting on imaginary bracket tournaments online, it might be enticing to give Wrestlemania a try. Especially if you’re looking for some action and you’ve already finished binging “Tiger King” on Netflix.

With that in mind, here is a beginner’s guide to Wrestlemania 36:

The virus’ impact

Wrestlemania is not completely untouched by the impact of the pandemic. The event was originally scheduled for the Buccaneers’ home field, Raymond James Stadium. Instead, it was moved from Tampa to Orlando at the WWE Performance Center, and fans were barred. Pro wrestling relies on “heat” from the crowd to portray the effect of villains and heroes in the ring, so it will be fascinating to see a giant wrestling effect without fans interacting with the matches.

At least three wrestlers who were set to appear in this Wrestlemania are no longer on the card. Most notably, Roman Reigns, a leukemia survivor, requested not to compete because he is immunocompromised. And the traditional men’s and women’s battle royale matches reportedly were taken off the card to follow CDC recommendations about gatherings of more than a few people in close quarters.

What to expect

In a weekend of firsts, this also will be the first Wrestlemania staged over two nights. Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who signed with WWE last month, will host the event but is not expected to compete. For those who think Gronk’s jump to wrestling is unique, Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone and Ronda Rousey took various turns in the ring during or after careers in “real” sports.

So did Brock Lesnar, the one-time UFC champion who’s spent multiple stints with WWE. Atop the 16-match fight card is the WWE Championship, where Lesnar will defend his belt against Drew McIntyre from Scotland.

“I think WrestleMania is going to turn out to be more like ’WWE presents: Mortal Kombat,’ which will be a pretty cool scene,” McIntyre told Sports Illustrated. “But most importantly, everyone is going to be safe and we’ll provide an escape for everyone in the world.”

Who you’ll recognize

Besides Gronk, you mean? Well, John Cena is still taking part in WWE despite his burgeoning acting career. He’s slated to grapple with “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt. Cena is a middle-aged babyface who’s appeared in bad comedies like “Blockers” and computer-animated kids movies; The Fiend wears a demonic-looking white mask with a black mouth. That should be interesting.

Non-wrestling fans also might have heard of The Undertaker, who won 21 straight Wrestlemania matches from 1991 to 2013. In the “Boneyard Match,” The Undertaker will face A.J. Styles, a heel and a multiple-time champion in his own right.

If anything of this appeals to you, Wrestlemania will begin at 7 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. It’s a pay-per-view event, but newcomers can get a month of WWE Network online for free.