The Real Winners and Losers from WrestleMania 2020 Day 1

No one has seen WrestleMania quite like this. The 36th iteration of the event began at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday without an audience and is airing over two nights.
This left a unique opportunity for WWE to rise to the challenge and get everyone talking the whole weekend, but the sport is almost always better with a crowd.
Some wrestlers could shine in this spotlight. Others were certain to sink.
Saturday's card was stacked with fascinating big matches that had a major opportunity to create a buzz.
AJ Styles fought The Undertaker in a Boneyard match. The Phenomenal One wanted to bring back The Deadman in a unique dark setting.
Kevin Owens made Seth Rollins pay for all he had done, finally taking him down a peg on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
Braun Strowman got the opportunity of a lifetime, replacing Roman Reigns in a WWE Universal Championship against Goldberg.
Becky Lynch faced the greatest challenge of her entire Raw Women's Championship reign in Shayna Baszler. The Queen of Spades was the most dominant woman The Man had encountered and was clearly ready for The Irish Lass Kicker.
This first night also included Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan, John Morrison vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jimmy Uso in a ladder match, Elias vs. King Corbin, and The Kabuki Warriors vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.
Each match had the potential to steal the show, but certain stars rose above the rest to stand out as the winners of the night. Others were the losers, though.

Winner: Sami Zayn

1 OF 5


Credit: WWE.com
Sami Zayn walked into his match with Daniel Bryan uncertain, but his associates, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, were too much of a distraction for just Drew Gulak to handle.
After The Planet's Champion took out the ringside competitors, The Critic of the Critics took him out as he dived with a Helluva Kick for the win.
Given Bryan's importance to SmackDown, it was easy to assume he would cut Zayn's title reign short. Luckily, that did not happen.
The Great Liberator is just getting started, and he has so much more to show fans. This match was well done even with an abrupt ending. Bryan and Zayn filled the arena with their voices and got physical early.
The victory at WrestleMania solidifies Zayn's position in WWE. After being forced into a manager's role for too long, he seems ready to overdeliver in every situation.
Hopefully, he will continue to build toward the future. He needs to revitalize his career and add some excitement to the Intercontinental Championship.
Loser: Shayna Baszler
2 OF 5
In a physical match from the opening bell, Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler used everything at their disposal to hurt each other. However, after The Queen of Spades finally trapped The Man in the Kirifuda Clutch, the Raw women's champion slipped through and stacked her up for a surprise three-count.
The first good match of the night ended so abruptly that it almost felt like a mistake. In arguably the best built bout on the card, Lynch and Baszler were making the empty arena work by leaning into their physical shots. Every second mattered in this technical battle.
The finish at less than nine minutes undercut Baszler and did not allow her to fully show how good she is. Even if The Man was always meant to win, WWE needed to give her challenger more chances to shine.
The Queen of Spades will rebound, though. She is too talented not to. Lynch has been on a roll and previously made names such as Lacey Evans look better in the ring than anyone else.
If any plan is in place for The Queen of Spades to become Raw's top heel, she cannot lose any more matches in the foreseeable future. She needs many more dominant performances like her effort in the Elimination Chamber when she saw off all her competitors.
Winner: John Morrison
3 OF 5

Credit: WWE.com
In a ridiculous spot-fest, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso went all-out in their Triple Threat ladder match.
After all three took a beating, they made it to the top of the ladders together, but The Shaman of Sexy pulled the titles down with him as he fell.
Up to this point, Morrison had had a solid return to action, but this match was his first performance that established him as a true top talent.
His one-legged Starship Pain onto a ladder was the most impressive athletic display of 2020. He stole the show.
Beyond a poorly booked appearance in the Royal Rumble, Morrison has had pure forward momentum since his return alongside The Miz last fall.
With The A-Lister out of action, he needed to shine even more, and he did just that.
Loser: Goldberg
4 OF 5

Credit: WWE.com
Braun Strowman took a trio of Spears from Goldberg and kicked out. He then caught the WWE Hall of Famer with a running powerslam to win the WWE Universal Championship.
While it wasn't surprising that The Monster Among Men won, it was an unconvincing victory that came off as WWE just going with the only option available. It is great for Strowman to get a title out of this, but he likely won't stay champion for long.
What stood out more, much like in his match with Bray Wyatt, was how out of shape Goldberg was. He could not hit a Spear and lost this just to usher him off the card for a while again.
The WWE Hall of Famer got a chance to briefly rewrite his WWE legacy, but he has been hurting that more than helping it lately. The 53-year-old needs to fully retire.
It is worth also giving Wyatt the honorary title of "loser" in this whole situation. He got squashed by Goldberg only for the veteran to go and put The Monster Among Men over without any build.
Winner: Kevin Owens
5 OF 5
Seth Rollins attempted to escape this match with a disqualification as he felt the momentum turning, but Kevin Owens requested a restart with a no-dsiqualification stipulation.
After a diving elbow-drop off the WrestleMania sign through the announce table, KO won with a stunner.
This was set up as the match that would fully establish Owens as a top babyface, and it delivered. He was the star and built the story throughout with his personal animosity toward The Monday Night Messiah.
While Owens has been great through his face run, this was the closest he has had to a defining moment. It won't be surprising if he is WWE champion by WrestleMania 37.
Hopefully, this puts an end to this rivalry, though. While it has mostly produced good segments, Rollins vs. KO has been overexposed for months.
It's time to let Owens shine on his own and hopefully spend a few months on Raw without the overbearing usage of The Messiah.