WhatCulture.com has some exclusive details on the filming of the boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles that aired as the main event of night one of WrestleMania 36.
According to WhatCulture, WWE found a location in Florida and contracted a production unit to assemble the set that was used for the match. It took five days for construction workers to assemble it according to WWE’s specifications.
Filming of the match was done on March 25 and took eight hours in total to complete. The work started at 9PM and then wrapped up at 5AM the following morning under the guidance of Triple H and Michael PS Hayes. Shawn Michaels and Jeremy Borash were also on location to help. WhatCulture adds that after production wrapped up, it took a full week of clean-up for the location to be returned to its original state.
The people who were in charge of constructing the set were all locals and sources said that WWE pretty much “paid their rent for April” as the company had no work due to everything shutting down because of the coronavirus.
It said that WWE and everyone on site including the main ones – Undertaker and AJ Styles – showed their appreciation to the crew and treated everyone with their utmost respect.
The report also state that WWE wanted to use a different scene for Taker’s arrival on his bike that would have required him to drive through an abandoned ditch and bridge. Production crew told WWE though that the property was the city’s and they did not have any paperwork or permit to shoot there. To refrain from going through legal hoops, those in charge on site then decided to film solely on the property they were originally allowed to.
And as for the constant trash talking during the fight, that wasn’t originally part of the plan but the two competitors expressed their view and Triple H gave them the go ahead to do whatever they wanted.
The boneyard match received a lot of praise online from critics, fans, and fellow WWE Superstars.
