The event was originally scheduled to take place solely on April 5, 2020, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida and was to air live.

In mid-March, all WWE programming was relocated to the Performance Center training facility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with no audience and only essential staff present.

[13] Announced on March 7, 2019, the event was originally scheduled to take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida solely on April 5, 2020, and was to air live.

[16][17][18] In speaking with the Tampa Bay Times regarding how this outbreak could affect WrestleMania 36, WWE's Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said of this "The health and safety of not only our fan base, but also our superstars, really does come first ... We don't want to put anyone in a bad situation ever, regardless of the circumstance.

[19][20] A meeting was held by Tampa officials on March 12 to determine the fate of WrestleMania 36; it was decided that the event would still proceed as planned, barring that the situation did not worsen in a week's time.

[27] In an interview with TV Guide, WWE's Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development and part-time wrestler Triple H explained that the "unique", pre-recorded nature of the event gave them the opportunity to experiment with new production elements and settings (as opposed to being confined to the ring), such as the "Boneyard" and "Firefly Fun House" matches, which were done as cinematic matches.

[39] Additionally, it was reported that The Miz had contracted an illness and was pulled from the WrestleMania card;[39] this turned the planned tag team triple threat Ladder match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship[40] into a Triple Threat Ladder match between Jimmy Uso, Kofi Kingston, and defending champion John Morrison.

The referee gave Mysterio until the count of ten, during which, the camera cut backstage, showing that Gallows and Anderson had been attacked by The Undertaker, making a surprise return.

[53] John Cena, who had last appeared during Raw Reunion in July 2019, made his return from hiatus during the February 28, 2020, episode of SmackDown to address his role at WrestleMania.

[50][60][65] Edge's wife and fellow Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix appeared on the March 2 episode to give a medical update on her husband.

[75] In the first match, The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) defended the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.

[77] Next, The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Angel Garza and Austin Theory (with Zelina Vega).

[77] After that, Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship in a fatal five-way elimination match against Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans, Naomi, and Tamina.

The Fiend then snuck up from behind and performed Sister Abigail and the Mandible Claw on Cena to win the match, with Wyatt's normal self counting the pin.

"[77][78][79] In the main event of Part 2, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre.

He ranked the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches as the best for Part 1 and 2, respectively, noting that in contrast to previous attempts by WWE to "recreate Matt Hardy's 'Broken Universe' magic", the first "nailed the execution by striking the right balance between tense action and over-the-top presentation", and the second was described as "indie psychological horror movies brought to professional wrestling.

[84] David Bixenspan of Slate heavily criticized the lead-up to the event, stating that "[The wrestlers], in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, looked significantly more like they were doing bad playacting and play-fighting than they usually do.

Still, expectations for this WrestleMania were low, albeit with some minor optimism over the show being divided up into two nights instead of the marathon one-night slogs of recent years".

He gave a positive review, although he ranked Elias vs. Corbin, Black vs. Lashley, and the SmackDown Women's title match as the low points of the event.

[87] Despite having no attendance due to the circumstances, WrestleMania 36 was the most-viewed event in WWE history with a record 967 million views combining both nights across the company's digital and social platforms.

[88][89] The Hollywood Reporter noted that the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches could set a precedent for WWE using more "cinematic experiences" in its programming to make up for the closed door tapings.

[27] In late-April, it was revealed that WrestleMania host Rob Gronkowski had come out of his NFL retirement, where he was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[90] It was later revealed that Gronkowski exercised a release clause in his WWE contract in order to return to the NFL, and he dropped the 24/7 Championship to R-Truth in a segment on the June 1 episode of Raw.

Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer noted that before his release, Gronkowski was scheduled to work a match at SummerSlam as well as WWE's Saudi Arabia show later in the year.

[96] On the April 13 episode, Seth Rollins stated that by losing to Kevin Owens at WrestleMania, he had been crucified and now he had truly risen (buying into his "Monday Night Messiah" gimmick).

[107] On the following SmackDown, new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross retained their titles in a rematch against The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane).

[103] The match occurred the following week, in which Big E defeated Jey Uso and The Miz to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship for a record eighth time for The New Day.

These included Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, Rusev, Drake Maverick, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Heath Slater, Eric Young, Rowan, Sarah Logan, No Way Jose, Mike Chioda, Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, EC3, Aiden English, Lio Rush, The Colóns (Primo and Epico),[118] and Cain Velasquez,[119] and many other behind-the-scenes employees.

However, following his loss in the final of the interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship tournament, Maverick re-signed with the company,[120] and it was reported that WWE had reached out to some of the other released talent, though for lower pay than their previous contracts.

[121] While WrestleMania 37 was initially announced for SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California,[122] in October 2020, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE would consider relocating the event to Raymond James Stadium in order to allow for in-person attendance at a reduced capacity, which was not possible under California's health orders; Florida lifted those restrictions in late-August 2020.