AJ Styles Explains Why WrestleMania 36 Needed to Happen

WrestleMania 36 officially begins on Saturday night with the first half of the two-night pre-taped event from the WWE Performance Center. Ever since WWE was forced to pull the event from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa because of the coronavirus pandemic, fans have debated whether or not the show should've been postponed or canceled outright given how every major sport had scrapped its season in order to prevent the spread of the virus. But in a new interview with ComicBook.com this week, "The Phenomenal One" AJ Styles argued that the show needed to happen given what's going on in the world right now.

"Well, the situation as a whole sucks," Styles said. We're all quarantined at home and we can't go anywhere, but it gives us a great opportunity as performers to on Saturday and Sunday night to give our fans an opportunity to forget about everything that's going on in this world, all the craziness and whatnot and just get entertained and that's why we're doing this man. That's why I think it needs to be done. It was up to us to provide some entertainment and I think this is the best way we could have done it. And yes, it's our job."

Styles is set to take on The Undertaker in a Boneyard Match at the show. Unlike most of the card, the bout will take place outside the PC on a closed set set up to look like a graveyard. The former WWE Champion said elsewhere in the interview that he managed to avoid the potential awkwardness of wrestling inside the empty Performance Center by having this special stipulation with "The Deadman."

"I sure did man. And I got tell you I couldn't have a better opponent to do it with," Styles said. "I mean, first time ever — Undertaker, AJ Styles in a Boneyard Match. And when you ask what a Boneyard Match is, I think it's exactly what you imagined it is. If you think you know what it is you're right."

Here's the official card for WrestleMania 36 as of now. The show will air on 7 p.m. via the WWE Network and on pay-per-view providers.

• WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre
• WWE Universal Championship: Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman
• Firefly Fun House Match: John Cena vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
• Boneyard Match: The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles
• NXT Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
• Raw Women's Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler
• Last Man Standing: Edge vs. Randy Orton
• SmackDown Tag Team Championships: TBD (Ladder Match)
• Raw Tag Team Championships: The Street Profits vs. Angel Garza and Austin Theory
• Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Bayley vs. Lacey Evans vs. Sasha Banks vs. Naomi vs. Tamina Snuka
• Women's Tag Team Championships: The Kabuki Warriors vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross
• Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins
• Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler
• Elias vs. King Baron Corbin
• Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley