WWE WrestleMania 36: Top Storylines to Watch on Sunday's Match Card

Night one of the historic WrestleMania 36 is in the books and now, the attention turns to a night two headlined by Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship and John Cena vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Funhouse match.

Beyond the matches themselves, there are intriguing storylines surrounding many of the night's matches that bear watching.

These are among the most interesting.

Drew McIntyre's Journey to the WWE Championship

Way back in 2009, Vince McMahon referred to Drew McIntyre as “The Chosen One” and almost immediately, the young Scot was positioned to take SmackDown by storm. He won the Intercontinental Championship, became one of the most hated heels in the industry thanks to some effective booking and remained undefeated until a loss to The Undertaker the following spring.

For all of the early success, McIntyre’s career sputtered. Whether it was complacency, or a fall from favor politically, he tumbled down the card until he was stuck in the going-nowhere 3MB comedy act and ultimately released in 2014.

Determined to get back, to prove that his time in wrestling’s highest-profile was not a fluke, he devoted himself to getting better by working in as many different companies, against as many wrestlers of different styles and backgrounds, as possible.

When he returned to the company in 2016, he did so ready to raise hell, kick ass and win titles.

He did that, dominating NXT before jumping to the main roster. At or near the top of whichever brand he appeared on, McIntyre bided his time. In the 2020 Royal Rumble match, he struck, eliminating WWE champion Brock Lesnar, former titleholder Roman Reigns and cashed his ticket to Sunday’s WrestleMania 36 main event.

It has been a long, arduous journey to the top of an industry the Scottish Psychopath has devoted his career to, one with twists and turns, the latest coming in the form of a coronavirus pandemic that nearly canceled his career-defining match. 

Time will tell if his narrative is one with a happy ending.

Bray Wyatt Rewrites History, Avenges His Greatest Defeat

At WrestleMania 30, Bray Wyatt lost the most important match of his young career to John Cena. Given the fact that he won the WWE and Universal Championships in the years that followed, it sounds like a hyperbolic statement but upon further exploration, that defeat started a downward spiral into mediocrity and a creative abyss.

His words carried less weight. He was less credible. He damn sure lost more than he won, including high-profile matches to other top stars. He became the heel that was built up to be beaten rather than a dominant force around whom storylines could be built.

By the time the nonsense with Matt Hardy played out in 2018, he had no choice but to disappear and reinvent himself. He did, becoming the demented cousin of Fred Rogers, a kids show host with a dark alter ego.

As The Fiend, he became a whole new manifestation of Wyatt’s evil. He is horrifying, unpredictable and…desperately in need of a definitive win to firmly entrench him at the top of the card.

Sure, he has quality wins over Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan but his Universal Championship loss to Goldberg left fans reliving WWE Creative’s unwillingness to pull the proverbial trigger on him when faced with industry giants.

Sunday night in the Firefly Funhouse match, Wyatt has the chance to rewrite history and avenge the greatest loss of his career when he faces Cena. A win finally gives him the definitive victory and sign of approval from management and a genuine icon in the industry.

A loss and history will threaten to repeat itself.

Edge's Return to the Ring

The last time Edge set foot on the WrestleMania stage as an active competitor was his defense of the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio in 2011. That match, ok enough for what it was but within a week, The Rated R Superstar was relinquishing his title and retiring from an industry that had left his neck a mangled mess.

A journey into Hollywood and acting jobs in both SyFy’s Haven and History’s Vikings kept him busy but left him yearning for an opportunity to wrap up his in-ring career on his own terms.

Another surgery, tireless efforts rehabilitating his body and getting back in ring shape paid off and at the 2020 Royal Rumble, he returned to a thunderous ovation from fans just as eager to see him back.

Arguably the best-built, storyline leading into The Showcase of the Immortals, Edge’s feud with Randy Orton has set the returning hero up for another memorable night at wrestling’s most prestigious event. 

It remains to be seen if the grizzled vets can deliver a match that appropriately pays off the creative behind it but one thing is for certain: Edge’s WrestleMania return caps off one of the most unlikely returns of all time and provides the most unique event in company history with a legitimate feel-good story.

Rhea Ripley's Shot at Stardom

“To be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man.”

Determined to prove the legendary “Nature Boy” Ric Flair right, women’s champion Rhea Ripley becomes the first full-time NXT star to compete at WrestleMania this year when she squares off with his daughter Charlotte in the single most important match of her young career.

Ripley graduated from working armories in Florida, in the undercard of NXT live events, to the NXT Women’s Championship. The woman who ended Shayna Baszler’s reign of dominance over the brand, she has seemingly been poised for big things for the last year.

Sunday will be her first monumental test.

Flair is a measuring stick in professional wrestling and particularly at WrestleMania. It was on that stage that she captured the WWE Women’s Championship, ended the 914-day winning streak of Asuka and made history as one-third of the first-ever women’s main event.

The 10-time champion has done everything there is to do in her field and now looks back to her humble beginnings in NXT to plot her next accomplishment.

Ripley is new to this. She has never competed on a stage this large or against an opponent as decorated and great as The Queen. This match, more than anything, gives the young Aussie who has been repeatedly compared to her opponent since her arrival stateside, the opportunity to become the star WWE hopes she is in a single night.

A performance befitting the stage and she does. A slip-up creates doubt and, potentially, a major setback in her development.

Dolph Ziggler's First WrestleMania SIngles Match in 15 Years

Dolph Ziggler is a two-time world champion, a two-time United States champion, a six-time Intercontinental champion, three tag titles and Money in the Bank. He was the featured player in what was, arguably, the best and most emotional cash-in in WWE history.

The self-proclaimed Show Off has worked alongside everyone from Ric Flair to John Cena, Triple H to Shawn Michaels, Roman Reigns to Goldberg while amassing a body of work any Superstar would be so lucky to enjoy.

Yet, some 15 years into his WWE career, he is only now competing in his first singles match at WrestleMania when he battles Otis Sunday night in the culmination of a red-hot storyline centered around the affection of Mandy Rose.

It’s about damn time.

One of the most selfless performers in the company, a guy who has put over far more than have ever put him over, Ziggler prepares for a storyline-heavy match against one of the most charismatic young stars on the roster. He will bump around, as he tends to do, and showcase that arrogance and confidence that have been a staple of his persona since day one.

Win or lose, he will finally achieve an accomplishment he has long deserved and long been denied.

Finally.

The Austin Era Has Begun?

An unfortunate rib injury suffered by United States champion Andrade ushered in an opportunity for former Evolve champion and NXT newcomer Austin Theory. As we learned on the March 30 episode of Raw, Theory will team with Angel Garza to challenge The Street Profits for the red brand’s tag team titles.

While it is a match that does not necessarily allow for individual stardom, it has the potential to be a showcase for the young star.

Theory did not just make it to this point because he happened to be hanging around at the Performance Center when WWE Creative needed someone to replace Andrade. He is in the match because Paul Heyman, Triple H and Vince McMahon believe in him enough to put the untested competitor in the match.

Now, it will be up to him to pay off that belief and prove to any doubters that he belongs in the spot.

If the fun, energetic Six-Man Tag Team Match he was apart of on the final Raw before Sunday’s show is any indication, there is most definitely potential to deliver a show-stealer with three other young stars seeking to breakout at the storied event.

A Fractured Friendship?

The announcement by Paige that Bayley will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Naomi, Lacey Evans, Tamina and best friend Sasha Banks in a Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match not only stacks the deck against the division’s top competitor but also lays the groundwork for her split from Banks.

We saw as much on Friday’s SmackDown, when they bickered while on commentary and, before that, when Banks reacted to Bayley’s claims that they were better off together in a way that would suggest she felt otherwise.

Expect the first chapter of said breakup to be written Sunday at WrestleMania.

It will not result in a major blowup but it will, instead, provide fans a look at what the abolishment of their on-screen friendship will look like. Will Bayley remain the heel while Banks turns face again? Perhaps it is the other way around.

Whatever the case may be, and however the dissension presents itself, it is a story that should demand your attention on day two of this year’s extravaganza.