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It wasn’t the most surprising result on this year’s double bill of WrestleMania cards, but it was the right one: Drew McIntyre realized his destiny in the main event of WrestleMania night two and defeated The Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar, to win his first WWE Championship.

In a match that played out almost exactly like Saturday’s Universal Championship match, McIntyre was able to withstand multiple F-5s and come back with four Claymore Kicks to put Brock away.

You can see a clip of that below.

McIntyre’s quest to become WWE Champion began way back in 2009, when Vince McMahon introduced him as a “future World Heavyweight Champion” on an episode of Smackdown. This was the young, clean cut, and now completely weird looking Drew McIntyre — the “Chosen One” — and not the Scottish Psychopath.

As shown in WWE’s video packages hyping the match, McIntyre wanted to win the championship not only to prove McMahon’s declaration correct, but to make up for what he considered years of squandered potential. McIntyre completely reinvented himself physically and professionally between WWE stints to make this happen, as you might be able to tell from this clip of him doing strongman training in the Scottish Highlands and winning tug of war contests against entire teams by himself.

Congratulations to Drew on his victory, as odd as it must’ve been to have happen in an empty Performance Center, and for finally and officially validating all that promise and potential. You were the chosen one after all!

This week’s episode of The Walking Dead is not the final episode of season 10, but it is the final episode for a while, as the post-production work on the season finale had not yet been completed before the entertainment industry shut down. Moreover, it’s likely that AMC wants to use the season 10 finale — and the expected conclusion to The Whisperer War — to help launch the new spin-off series, The World Beyond, which has also not yet been able to complete post-production on the series, either.

While the pseudo-finale, “The Tower,” ended in with something of a cliffhanger regarding The Whisperer War, it did provide emotional closure for several characters. We’ll address those storylines later, but here we want to explore Beta’s deranged journey. In the wake of Alpha’s death, Beta has completely lost it. In his head, at least, he’s the zombie whisperer — he (thinks) he can hear their thoughts, and that he can talk to them. He cannot. This is all a byproduct of severe PTSD and the mental deterioration that comes along with, you know, wearing the skin of dead people over his face for years.

In any respect, Beta led a horde of zombies toward the the Alexandrians by following a … cat. No, I am not kidding. Mentally-imbalanced Beta — leading a horde of thousands of zombies — decided to follow a cat. Amazingly, the cat led Beta straight to the Alexandrians, who — for reasons that don’t make complete sense — decided to hide out in a hospital instead of the heavily fortified Alexandria. The season finale, thus, is expected to be a showdown between the Alexandrians and The Whisperers at this hospital:

If that hospital looks familiar to fans of The Walking Dead, it is because it should. We’ve seen it before. In season five.

From a different angle, you can also see the overhang. Here it is in season 10:

Here it is in season 5:

Here’s the catch, however. That is Grady Memorial Hospital. It’s in Atlanta. The Alexandrians clearly are not holed up in a hospital in Atlanta as Beta brings his horde of zombies, because Alexandria is in Virginia, literally 630 miles away. In other words, it is the same hospital, but in season 10, Grady Memorial is playing the role of a different hospital, sort of like how Toronto often plays the role of New York City.

Normally, maybe viewers don’t catch on. However, this particular hospital is the sight of one of the most famous scenes in 10 seasons of The Walking Dead: Beth’s death.

It looks like The Walking Dead is doing what we all do: Making the best use of what we have right now, even if that means re-using some old sets in new ways.

The second night of the NBA 2K Players Tournament took place on Sunday night, as the four remaining first round matchups went down, with yet another top seed taking a tumble.

The first game of the night was ugly, as Montrezl Harrell and Domantas Sabonis played in a rare game where the two chose their actual teams, and the result was a 22-point win for Harrell’s Clippers, 73-51.

The best game of the night, by far, was Rui Hachimura playing as the Lakers against Donovan Mitchell playing as the Nets, with both taking things pretty seriously and Rui going so far as to have fellow Gonzaga alum Killian Tillie serving as his waterboy.

The game went down to the wire, with the two trading some late leads, but ultimately it was Hachimura who got the 74-71 win as the 13-seed over the 4-seed.

Upsets in this tournament, of course, don’t mean much since the players aren’t playing 1-on-1 as initially expected and as such seeding by their player ranking in the 2K world is meaningless. Still, it’s yet another top seed going down as the 1, 3, and 4 seeds are all out in the first round.

Devin Booker, the favorite at many offshore sportsbooks, took down Michael Porter Jr. in a 85-75 win as he chose the Bucks, beating the Lakers played by MPJ. It was ugly at times but Porter Jr. kept things close as long as he could before Booker ran away with the comfortable win — including a last second dunk by Giannis to ensure a 10-point margin of victory.

In the final game of the night, Andre Drummond took the Lakers and beat DeMarcus Cousins playing with the Nets. Drummond ran out to a 14-2 lead and despite a brief rally, things only got uglier as Drummond ran away with a 101-49 win.

The second round matchups are now set:

Trae Young v. Deandre Ayton
Patrick Beverley v. Andre Drummond

Derrick Jones Jr. v. Montrezl Harrell
Devin Booker v. Rui Hachimura

In the pseudo-season finale of The Walking Dead (the 16th episode of the tenth season will not return for an indeterminate period of time), the show’s main villain, Beta, is revisiting an old and familiar stomping ground for the series.

Meanwhile, Aaron and Alden are on a separate scouting mission of their own, trying to determine where the Whisperers are, and when they will invade. They’re basically following around Beta’s horde as it approaches the hospital, and of course, their walkie-talkie is on the fritz. Things seem to be going well for much of the episode, but near the end, Alden and Aaron get in over their head, their radio goes out, and they are surrounded by a number of Whisperers. However, in the final seconds of their scene in this week’s The Walking Dead, someone holds a gun up to Aaron’s head as The Whisperers are converging.

Here’s what is interesting about that scene: The Whisperers do not use guns. In fact, using a gun would completely ruin the point of being a Whisperer, who are people in skin suits who blend in with actual zombies. And if Aaron and Alden are surrounded on the other sides by Whisperers, but Whisperers do not use guns, then who is holding a gun to Aaron’s face?

I am not a betting person, but if I were, I bet that it’s either Maggie — or someone who Maggie is with — and that the next word out of that person’s mouth will be, “Duck,” at which point he or she will mow down all The Whisperers with what looks like an automatic weapon.

Why Maggie? Well, because we know that she will be making a brief surprise appearance before the season is over, and what better way to make a surprise appearance than to save Aaron — with whom she bonded several seasons ago — and Alden, a former Savior who she basically rehabilitated.

What a great reunion that would be, wouldn’t it? And the timing could not be more perfect.

We’ll know for sure when the season finale of The Walking Dead airs on a date TBA.

For John Cena‘s first pro wrestling match in more than a year, it had to be something unique. Up until now, there was virtually no type of match the 16-time WWE Champion hadn’t competed in before. Steel cage? Hell In A Cell? Elimination Chamber? TLC? Last Man Standing? You name it, the guy’s done it. (Probably multiple times — and he probably beat your favorite wrestler in the process.)

But for WrestleMania 36, Cena was thrown into a match he had never before experienced: a Firefly Funhouse match against his old nemesis Bray Wyatt. Cena had previously vanquished Wyatt at WrestleMania 30, but he had never encountered Wyatt since the creation of his “the Fiend” persona. Would Wyatt be able to avenge his loss six years ago? Or would Cena win (LOL)?

The match began with Wyatt magically teleporting Cena from the WWE Performance Center into the Firefly Funhouse set. Cena exited the set only to be plunged into darkness, where he ran into a Vince McMahon puppet who told him he had to win or he would be fired. Wyatt and Cena then re-created his legendary “ruthless aggression” promo with Kurt Angle.

The two were then transported onto the set of Saturday Night’s Main Event, where they cut a promo as a tag team before Cena tried attack Wyatt again. Wyatt then sent him back to the old-school Smackdown set as the Doctor Of Thuganomics, where he cut a rapping promo on Wyatt. Wyatt then attacked him with Cena’s chain necklace, before he turned into the swamp-cult-hillbilly version of himself, sitting in a rocking chair, saying that his WrestleMania 30 match against Cena was his biggest failure. The pair then teleported back to a wrestling ring, where the match (presumably) begun. Wyatt went for Sister Abigail but Cena escaped. Wyatt then handed him a chair, calling back to their previous match, but when Cena took the chair and swung it, Wyatt disappeared.

Then the match turned into WCW Monday Nitro, with Wyatt cosplaying Eric Bischoff and John Cena playing Hollywood Hogan, air-guitaring the WCW championship and everything. Cena then snapped and attacked Wyatt, who morphed into Huskus The Pig, as The Fiend appeared behind him.

The Fiend locked in the Mandible Claw before hitting him with a Sister Abigail and locking the Mandible Claw in again. Cena then disappeared and the match apparently ended, although no referee was present and no bell ever rang.

I guess this is what happens when you let him in.

Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free WWE WrestleMania 36 results for night two, originally aired on April 5, 2020. The second night of the show “Too Big For Just One Night” featured the NXT and Smackdown Women’s Championship matches, John Cena versus Bray Wyatt in a Funhouse Match, Drew McIntyre challenging for the WWE Championship, and more. Make sure you’re here tomorrow for the second of two Best and Worst of WrestleMania 36 columns.

WrestleMania 36 Night Two Results:

1. Kickoff Match: Liv Morgan defeated Natalya. Morgan got the better of a series of pin counters to win the match.

2. NXT Women’s Championship Match: Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley (c) by submission with the Figure-Eight to become a two-time NXT Women’s Champion. You can watch that here.

– Highlights from Braun Strowman’s Universal Championship win and the Boneyard Match were shown. You can catch up on night one results here.

3. Aleister Black defeated Bobby Lashley. Lashley was setting up to hit the Dominator, but Lana got onto the apron and demanded he hit a spear instead. Black countered that spear with Black Mass to pin Lashley and win the match.

4. Otis defeated Dolph Ziggler. Sonya Deville accompanied Ziggler to the ring and got onto the apron to distract the referee, allowing Ziggler to hit a low blow. Mandy Rose showed up to attack Deville and rolled her into the ring, which distracted the referee and allowed Rose to hit a low blow on Ziggler. Otis then hit the Caterpillar and pinned Ziggler. After the match, Otis kissed Mandy and carried her away in his arms.

5. Last Man Standing Match: Edge defeated Randy Orton. Edge and Orton fought around the entire Performance Center for almost 40 minutes. Edge won the match after a Conchairto on the top of a WWE production truck, and Orton couldn’t answer the 10 count. After the match, Edge cried.

– Rob Gronkowski won the 24/7 Championship by jumping off his host perch onto a group of people trying to win the title. Gronk pinned Mojo to win and then ran away with the championship. Titus O’Neil took over hosting duties from there. You can watch that here.

6. Smackdown Women’s Championship Elimination Match: Bayley (c) defeated Tamina, Naomi, Lacey Evans, and Sasha Banks. Everyone hit top rope moves on Tamina, culminating in Naomi hitting a split-legged moonsault to pin and eliminate her. Banks eliminated Naomi by submission with the Banks Statement. Bayley accidentally kneed Banks and the two argued about it, allowing Evans to hit Banks with the Women’s Right and eliminate her. Banks returned to hit a Backstabber on Evans, setting up Bayley to win with the Rose Plant DDT. After the match, Banks handed the championship belt to Bayley.

7. Firefly Funhouse Match: The Fiend defeated John Cena, we guess? In a match that took the form of a fever dream incorporating rookie John Cena’s “ruthless aggression” debut, the Doctor of Thuganomics, WrestleMania 30, and even an imaginary episode of WCW Monday Nitro, The Fiend choked out Cena while non-Fiend Bray Wyatt counted the pin. Afterward, Cena disappeared. Please visit this link for an attempt at a better explanation.

8. WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar (c). McIntyre kicked out of multiple F-5s and hit four Claymore Kicks to win the match and the championship.

A lot has gone down at this weekend’s “too big for just one night” WrestleMania — a Universal Championship win on a day’s notice, a wild leap off a giant sign, and the life-changing experience of the BONEYARD MATCH — but it wouldn’t feel truly complete until host Rob Gronkowski got involved.

On night one, 24/7 Champion R-Truth showed up and asked his two greatest natural predators (a sports celebrity and a former 24/7 Champion) to help him hide. They attacked him, of course, but Gronk’s supposed best friend Mojo Rawley stole the pin. At the beginning of night two, Gronk vowed that he’d be the 24/7 Champion by the end of the night.

He made good on that promise after a lengthy Edge and Randy Orton Last Man Standing match, as Truth and everyone from the 24/7 division allowed in the building ran out and started brawling under Gronkowski’s host perch. What a terrible place to choose! Gronk decided to drop a big senton on everyone, pinned Rawley to win his first WWE Championship, and ran away with the title. Titus O’Neil took over as host after that.

Hey, there was just as good a chance Gronk was going to leave the weekend as Universal Champion, so let’s be happy he’ll spend the rest of WrestleMania running in fear from a bunch of extras you couldn’t even identify with a program. Congratulations, Gronk! Let’s dance!

Everything gets rebooted these days, but there’s one property that has so far gone unsullied: Columbo, the peerless and unique detective show that gave Peter Falk arguably (well, almost arguably) his greatest role. But if you’re going to remake it (and that’s debatable), at least we have two possible stars: Mark Ruffalo and Natasha Lyonne. The internet has been talking up this dream project — which, we should stress, is in no serious stage of development — with some on Team Ruffalo and some on Team Lyonne. And word found its way back to the stars. And now they’re duking it out online.

This was caught by ComicBook.com, who first caught wind of rumors (which is mostly to say people online hoping that their dream will somehow become a reality) in 2014. Possibly due to everyone quarantining — and maybe because a few seasons of Columbo are streaming on Amazon Prime — that talk came back, stronger than ever. Eventually Lyonne noticed.

“I’ll fight Ruffalo for it if I have to,” Lyonne tweeted. “Me and you, after class, Warriors style for Columbo. @MarkRuffalo Seems the only reasonable way to settle this hypothetically.”

Alas, it didn’t seem like Ruffalo was putting up much of a fight.

“Natasha, I think Columbo is a great part we should all be able to play it,” Ruffalo responded. “I want to play Agatha Christie too!”

So which team are you? Although perhaps a bit more conventionally handsome than Falk (maybe), Ruffalo certainly has the right disheveled, mumbly vibe that would make him right for Lt. Frank Columbo of the LAPD. He also probably looks great in beige raincoats. However, Lyonne possesses one of Falk’s greatest qualities: His ability to throw other actors off through eccentric line readings and body language — and in turn to make his frequently super-famous prey think they’re smarter than him, in turn letting down their guard. (And, like Falk, she’s an actress one wants to watch in anything.)

But once again, there is no official Columbo reboot! And while Ruffalo and Lyonne are both worthy successors, it would be hard for anyone to top Falk, who won four Emmys for the role from 1970 through 1990, all the while balancing an illustrious film career. It’s one of the few shows entirely tailor-made around its star, who only did it when he wanted to, and even took an 11-year break after seven seasons. If we never get Ruffalo or Lyonne as television’s greatest homicide detective, we’ll always have 69 great episodes, well worth endless revisits.

(Via ComicBook.com)

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