Early reports promised that WWE was filming “cinematic” gimmick matches for WrestleMania, and the “Boneyard Match” between AJ Styles and The Undertaker on night one could certainly be described as cinematic.
After a couple of low effort altercations with The Undertaker at Super Showdown in Saudi Arabia and Elimination Chamber, Styles challenged Taker to fight him in the “boneyard,” because you can’t say “graveyard” or “cemetery” during a global pandemic. That took the form of a short film with AJ Styles (arriving in style in a casket, from the back of a hearse) taking on The Undertaker (arriving on a motorcycle, sadly to Metallica instead of Limp Bizkit) battling to bury each other in what we assume is the backyard of the House of Horrors.
Highlights from the match included The O.C. commanding a group of hooded figures from a backlit graveyard cabin, Styles charging into Undertaker to knock him through the wall of shed, and a seemingly dead Undertaker teleporting out of a grave plot to prevent himself from being buried by heavy machinery. Actual machinery, not the tag team. Ultimately, as you do, Undertaker chokeslammed Styles off the roof of a building and booted him into his grave, but only after a lengthy bout of convincing him he’d fought valiantly enough to escape burial.
The match ended with a personalized tombstone, AJ Styles’ hand sticking out of the ground, and Undertaker riding off into the sunset — moonset? — with plumes of fire in the background. We’re not sure this is what every wrestling match should look like, but it’s definitely what every Undertaker match should look like.
AJ Styles was 42 years old. He is mourned by Wendy.
