Before the pandemic forced AJ Styles and The Undertaker to make their WrestleMania 36 fight a boneyard match, “The Phenomenal” one had some very different and wild ideas for how their dream match would go.
While there were very few good things that came out of the global pandemic, WWE putting on a uniquely different edition of WrestleMania was one of the few bright spots during that time. And one of the true standouts from that two-night card was the epic night one boneyard match main event between AJ Styles and The Undertaker.
It was one of the promotion’s early forays into a cinematic match and the results were met with universal praise from wrestling fans who consider it to be the best moment at that year’s event. However, in the beginning of the feud began before COVID-19 got a grip on the world, and during those early days Styles had a very different outline in mind for how the match would go.
“Well, I had some ideas that I had that never came up because we weren’t in a ring,” Styles told interviewer Adrian Hernandez. “So, it’s just one of [those things] where I wanted to just beat him down, take him out, take advantage of any of the things he’s ever hurt on his body, and just grind on it. To the point where it’s hard for him to stand up.
“And then he just goes balls to the walls,” he continued, “Hit me with every finisher that he possibly had. And then, beat me right there in the middle of the ring. For me it’s like, ‘I gotta take all the Undertaker’s finishes.’ That would have been cool.”
AJ Styles unsurprisingly has no regrets about how the boneyard match with The Undertaker turned out
In the end, the situation forced the performers and WWE’s staff to think outside the box for the safety of everyone and to do something special for the yearly event. Their creation will go down as a WrestleMania classic and another example of how sometimes an unexpected change of plans in pro wrestling can work out for the best.
“We didn’t get to do that and I thought that was all part of the plan,” Styles said. “We didn’t know what the plan was, but it came to be one of the best things that we could have done in that cinematic match. We’re able to do what we wanted and tell a great story. And he goes out on his motorcycle, literally right?”
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