10 behind the scenes photos you need to see from WWE WrestleMania 36

WrestleMania 36 was arguably the most unique edition of the Show of Shows that the company has produced in its history. If you had told anyone three months ago that they'd be watching a pre-recorded WrestleMania without a live crowd, no one would have believed it. But, such is the tragedy and upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, that WWE had to take this severe measure.

Nonetheless, even with all the odds stacked against them, the company did a credible job in producing a great show. With WrestleMania 36 now in history books, WWE will carry on with their post-Mania programming from the Performance Center until the situation comes under control, and live crowds are allowed by the government.

Being such a unique show, I'm sure the WWE Universe would love to look at what went on behind the scenes during and before the event. WWE.com have released some fantastic backstage shots of the event.

Let's take a look at 10 behind the scenes photos!

#10 The Rated-R Superstar

The return of Edge at Royal Rumble 2020 will undoubtedly go down as one of the most amazing moments in WWE history. After retiring from the company in 2011 due to neck injuries, the Rated-R Superstar made his triumphant return to the company after nine years and stole the show.

It was after Royal Rumble that a massive rivalry began between Edge and Randy Orton, which soon became very personal with the involvement of Edge's wife Beth Phoenix, who took an RKO from the Viper. The two Superstars finally clashed at WrestleMania 36 in a brutal last man standing match.

It was Edge who came out victorious after a match that went over 30 minutes, and saw the Superstars fight all over the Performance Center. In the above picture, we can see a determined Edge backstage before his first singles match in nine years.

#9 The future of WWE

WrestleMania 36 was a massive night for NXT! Two of the brand's top women Superstars were in title matches on The Grandest Stage of Them All, and another made a surprise appearance as well.

In the above shot, Bianca Belair can be seen having a conversation with the former NXT Women's Champion, Rhea Ripley. Bianca had a great showing at the 2020 Women's Royal Rumble match earlier this year, where she went on to have eight eliminations on her name. At WrestleMania, she made a surprise appearance after the Street Profits' successful title defense against Angel Garza and Austin Theory. She went on to attack Zelina Vega and looks set to have a rivalry with her in the post-Mania season.

On the other hand, Ripley defended her NXT women's title against the winner of the 2020 Women's Royal Rumble match, Charlotte Flair. The two Superstars had a great match, but in the end, it was the Queen who managed to make Ripley tap-out and became a two-time NXT Women's Champion.

#8 "You deserve it"

One of the best storylines heading into WrestleMania 36 was the efforts of Otis to impress his love, Mandy Rose, and his unfortunate heartbreak due to the shenanigans of Dolph Ziggler and Sonya Deville.

After weeks and weeks of build-up that saw Dolph Ziggler first taking Otis' place on his date with Mandy Rose on Valentine's Day, and later make fun of him by showing him his pics with Mandy, the Show-Off finally faced the Heavy Machinery member at WrestleMania 36. On the go-home episode of SmackDown ahead of WrestleMania, a mystery man revealed the truth to Mandy about Deville and Ziggler's shady plans against her and Otis.

At WrestleMania, Mandy interfered in their match, attacked her former tag-team partner Sonya Deville, and helped Otis pick-up the victory against Ziggler. After the match, Otis and Mandy celebrated in the ring with a kiss. It was an amazing, feel-good story that ended with the good guy getting the girl and made for an amazing WrestleMania moment.

In the above picture, Otis can be seen backstage with his "peach". You deserve it, man!

#7 The Artist Trifecta

The alliance between Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro, and the Intercontinental Champion, Sami Zayn, is becoming more and more unstoppable with each passing day. After defeating Braun Strowman at Elimination Chamber and capturing the title in a 3-on-1 handicap match, Zayn was scheduled to defend his title against Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 36.

Drew Gulak was in Daniel's corner to even the odds but, ultimately, Zayn managed to retain his title after some distraction from Nakamura and Cesaro. With this, the Artist Trifecta managed to walk out victorious. In the above shot, the trio can be seen posing for a picture backstage, presumably after Zayn's successful title defense.

Many in the WWE Universe are expecting an eventual implosion of the group, with someone turning on the other two and going after Sami's title. We'll likely see this soon enough, as such factions are often short-lived and meant only for someone to eventually turn. But at least the formation of this particular group led to Sami Zayn winning his first championship on the main roster.

#6 The lovebirds

It was after WrestleMania 35 that Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch made their love story public. Both the Superstars had a similar trajectory leading to the show, having both won their respective Royal Rumbles in 2019 before going on to challenge for a title. While Rollins ended up winning the Universal Championship, Lynch stood tall at the end of the night with both RAW and SmackDown Women's Championships.

Fast forward a year, and the two lovebirds are still very much in love, as seen in the picture above. They are also engaged now, but their characters have gone through some massive changes lately.

Seth Rollins turned heel in late 2019 after facing "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, and has taken up the gimmick of Monday Night Messiah. He met Kevin Owens in a grudge match at WrestleMania 36, which ended with KO picking up a victory over him.

On the other hand, The Man successfully defended her RAW Women's Championship against the former NXT Women's Champion, Shayna Baszler. With that, her reign as the RAW Women's Champion has now gone beyond 365 days!

#5 The Boneyard match

The Boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles was arguably the best match at WrestleMania 36. After having the entire Night 1 at the Performance Center in front of no fans, the main event was a welcome change as it was unlike anything we've ever seen in WWE.

The Undertaker made his entry nostalgically, as he came out riding his bike in a typical American Badass style. The match was a cinematic masterpiece as Styles and Taker brawled throughout the graveyard or, we should say, the boneyard. In what many in WWE Universe claimed to be the Dead Man's best match in many years, it was indeed amazing to see him wrestle and act in this style.

In the above behind the scenes shot, we can see The Undertaker, AJ, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows having a fun moment during the shooting of the match. The match had many amazing moments and ended with The Undertaker burying Styles alive to win.

Also Read: 5 Reasons why The Undertaker buried AJ Styles in the Boneyard match at WrestleMania 36

#4 Lights... Camera... RKO!

Randy Orton might be the most sadistic heel in WWE currently, but off-camera, he is one of the most fun-loving Superstars, as seen in the above picture, where he's having some fun with the camera.

The Viper took on the Rated-R Superstar Edge at WrestleMania 36 in a brutal last man standing match that ended with Edge hitting Orton with a Conchairto to keep him down for the 10-count. The rivalry was arguably the most personal feud heading into this year's Grandest Stage of them All.

The match between the two was the second-longest match in WrestleMania's history, lasting over 35 minutes. While many fans claimed that the match went a little too long, the fantastic ending made up for it.

Now it is to be seen what's next for both Randy Orton and Edge. The Rated-R Superstar will likely take a break from WWE, and come back for another significant feud - probably at Summerslam later this year. As for Orton, he would make for a great challenger for Drew McIntyre and could have a compelling feud with him.

#3 Some words of advice from the legend

One of the biggest winners coming out of WrestleMania 36 was Braun Strowman, who finally won his first world title in WWE by defeating Goldberg to become the new Universal Champion.

The Monster Among Men came in as a last-minute replacement for Roman Reigns, who pulled out of WrestleMania due to his health concerns. As the saying goes, one person's loss is another's gain, and that proved to be accurate as Strowman finally got his hands (no pun intended) on the Universal title, something he had been chasing for the last couple of years, but always falling short.

In the above shot, he can be seen having a discussion with WWE Hall of Famer, JBL backstage. JBL worked as an announcer at WrestleMania 36, calling matches alongside Michael Cole.

With Strowman as the champion, it will be interesting to see what the company does with him going forward. All we can hope for is that he gets a proper reign with the title, and is not used as a makeshift champion until the return of the Big Dog.

#2 The new champs

When the team of Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross was formed last year, many expected it to be a short-term alliance with the Goddess turning on her partner soon enough. Contrary to popular belief, the two have gone on to stick together for a long time and haven't shown any major signs of splitting any time soon.

At WrestleMania 36, Bliss and Cross challenged Asuka and Kairi Sane for their Women's Tag Team titles and managed to successfully defeat them to walk out as the two-time Women's Tag Team Champions.

In the picture above, the two can be seen walking backstage with their titles after defeating the Kabuki Warriors. It is to be seen whether Asuka and Kairi Sane will remain a tag team or split up to embark on their singles journies. As for Little Miss Bliss and the ever-unstable Nikki Cross, they will look to make the tag titles credible again as they took a backstage while being held by the Kabuki Warriors due to the constant involvement of the two Superstars in other feuds.

#1 Mr. Hustle Loyalty Respect!

WrestleMania 36 saw WWE try their hands at entirely new territories. They were forced to come up with something innovative due to the circumstances under which WrestleMania took place - and what a great job they did!

If it was the Boneyard Match that stole the show on Night 1 of the Show of Shows, it was the Firefly Funhouse Match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt on Night 2 that thrilled the fans, as no one had seen anything like that before.

In what could hardly be called a match, Bray Wyatt invited the 16-time World Champion to his Funhouse, and what followed next amazed everyone. Wyatt had Cena's mind completely under control as we saw Cena revisit some of the major moments of his career, including his debut against Kurt Angle on SmackDown in 2002. We then saw the two recreate some moments from their WrestleMania 30 encounter. The match ended after The Fiend appeared behind Cena and hit him with the Mandible Claw and pinned him.

In the above picture, Cena can be seen talking to backstage personnel. The rumors going around are that this could have been the last match in the career of the Leader of Cenation. I certainly hope that's not the case, as Cena still has a lot to offer to WWE and the WWE Universe.

Also Read: 5 Things WWE secretly told us through the Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36