Coronavirus: WWE's 'Wrestlemania 36' goes ahead behind closed doors

Image Credits: Twitter/@WrestleMania

As all sporting action has come to a grinding halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, WWE decided to go ahead with its trademark show Wrestlemania as a two-day event.

The day one of the show took place on Saturday (local time) and it saw major stars taking the ring with no spectators around.

Wrestling fans were expected to fill the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida but now the event is being held at closed sets at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and other, unnamed, locations, with only essential personnel.

On day one of Wrestlemania, Undertaker battled it out with AJ Styles, and the former made his entry in his trademark style, giving fans some major nostalgia.Undertaker and AJ Styles battled it out in a `Boneyard match` and it was the former who came out triumphant, cementing his almost perfect Wrestlemania record.

Seth Rollins battled it out with Kevin Owens, and later on, the match got converted into a `No-disqualification match`.

For the Universal Championship, Goldberg and Braun Strowman battled it out, and it was the latter who won the title in under three minutes.

Earlier, the WWE had decided to go ahead with Wrestlemania behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We believe that in this time, especially right now with all this uncertainty ... that there is a need for escapism and for people to be able to get away from all this and put it behind them," Levesque had told CNN.

"We feel an obligation in some way to try and continue to provide entertainment to people. It`s our company mission to put smiles on people`s faces, and we are continuing to try to do that," he added.

The day two of the show will be held later today, and stars like Brock Lesnar, Edge and Randy Orton will be headlining the show.

As WWE went ahead with Wrestlemania, the company has received mixed reviews as many have criticised the decision as the USA continues to battle it out with coronavirus.

The total number of confirmed cases in the United States crossed the 300,000 mark.

As on Sunday, the United States has at least 3,01,902 cases of coronavirus according to Johns Hopkins University`s tally.At least 8,175 people have died in the US from coronavirus. There was a steep rise in the number of cases in the last 24 hours.