WWE WrestleMania 36: Updated Card, PPV Schedule and Predicting the Match Listing

The seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic has forced WrestleMania 36 out of a stadium in front of tens of thousands of fans for the first time in 17 years and into the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, where there will be zero fans in attendance.

Despite these unique, never-before-seen circumstances, the show still features a multitude of high-profile matches and championship clashes, including Drew McIntyre's attempt to dethrone Brock Lesnar as WWE champion in the night's marquee bout.

PPV Schedule

Saturday and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET

Available to stream on WWE Network, FITE.tv, Fox and traditional pay-per-view outlets

Predicting the Match Listing

With two nights to work with and three hours for each broadcast, there is an opportunity for WWE officials to spread its massive, 16-match card out and not allow one match to overshadow another, as has been the case in years past.

But what does that potentially look like?

Here's a prediction.

Saturday Night

Raw Women's Championship Match: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler

WWE Universal Championship Match: Braun Strowman vs. Goldberg (as reported by Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio)

Firefly Funhouse Match: John Cena vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt

Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

Ladder Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships: The New Day vs. The Usos vs. John Morrison and The Miz

Elias vs. King Corbin

Women's Tag Team Championship Match: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. The Kabuki Warriors

Intercontinental Championship Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Sami Zayn

Sunday Night

WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar

Boneyard Match: The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles

Last Man Standing Match: Edge vs. Randy Orton

SmackDown Women's Championship Match: Naomi vs. Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Street Profits vs. Austin Theory and Angel Garza

NXT Women's Championship Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair

Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley

Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler

Drew McIntyre's Big Moment

When predicting the real main event of WrestleMania 36, there are a few factors to weigh, and one of them is which Superstar, on a card full of them, is the greater priority.

Throughout the build to the event, it has become abundantly clear that McIntyre is the golden goose of this year's show. From eliminating Lesnar from the Royal Rumble to leaving him lying twice in one night weeks later on Raw, he has been positioned as the conquering hero ready to slay The Beast and take his WWE Championship.

If that is the plan, then his coronation absolutely should be the last thing fans see as this year's Showcase of the Immortals goes off the air.

The only other option? Strowman defeating Goldberg, which will lack the emotion given its thrown-together nature in the wake of Roman Reigns reportedly pulling out of the event among concerns over his health and well-being.

Women Headline for a Second Straight Year

Speaking of Goldberg vs. Strowman and its lack of emotional consequence for fans, it creates an opening for another match to headline night one of WrestleMania. That match should be Becky Lynch's defense of the Raw Women's Championship against Shayna Baszler.

There has been no bigger star for WWE over the last 12 months than Lynch.

Not Seth Rollins, not Roman Reigns, not Brock Lesnar.

The Man has been all over the place, appearing in print and digital media beyond the wrestling industry. She has more than carried her weight as champion and has earned the opportunity to stand atop the WrestleMania card as she faces her toughest challenge to date.

Given her star power, the strength of her rivalry with Baszler and the fact that it is likely to be a better match than the minutes-long Universal Championship bout only further proves it belongs on top.

Spreading Out the Gimmicks

The unenviable task facing WWE's production team is deciding which of the high-profile gimmick matches to put where.

Styles vs. Undertaker and Edge vs. Orton just feel like bigger deals than Cena vs. Wyatt, even if the backstory to that particular match is the easiest told. Thus, they feel like prime candidates for a Sunday card that is shaping up to be the more prestigious of the two.

Then there is the proposed ladder match between The Usos, The New Day, and Miz and Morrison that is destined to change because of Miz's illness and absence from the card. Where does that go in relation to the much more significant matches?

In order to strike a perfect balance, WWE should put it on the same night as Cena-Wyatt to avoid overshadowing the two more significant matches on the card featuring returning legends Edge and Undertaker.

Either way, one night is destined to appear more significant because of the jam-packed nature of it in relation to the other night. It is a fine line management must walk to make each night feel equally important, and the fact that as of April 1 there is still no definitive lineup suggests the company realizes the significance of the match order and is working to provide the best possible listing for each broadcast.