WWE WrestleMania 36 Results: Otis Defeats Dolph Ziggler, Sparks New Romance With Mandy Rose

Otis defeated Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania 36 with help from Mandy Rose, whom he received a long-awaited kiss from. The two have sparked an apparent romance that has high potential for WWE comedy.

The feud between Otis and Dolph Ziggler had been centered around Mandy Rose dating back to their ill-fated Valentine’s date that was crashed by Dolph Ziggler.

And while WWE’s handling of what could have been an iconic angle ran into its share of missteps along the way, the promotion showed a rare amount of commitment to storyline continuity in its reveal of the behind-the-scenes sabotage pertaining to this love triangle.

WWE has been starved for content, resorting to archival footage and uninspiring empty-arena matches to disastrous results in viewership. But Otis-Mandy vignettes could emerge as a potential goldmine for pre-taped fodder as the worldwide leader tries to soldier on through COVID-19 with the rest of us.

Though its viewership struggles tie into preexisting erosion that has only been further impacted by the lack of a live crowd, WWE’s current formula for presenting pro wrestling in the coronavirus era has failed miserably. Both Raw, SmackDown and NXT have each posted 2020 lows for broadcasts during this global pandemic. The combination of archival footage and empty-arena wrestling has rendered first-run content skippable for many.

Content based on the budding Beauty and the Beast romance between Mandy and Otis—like a Mandy and Otis mini-sitcom—is one of many outside-the-box ideas WWE needs to be considering. WWE currently is in the midst of a ratings crisis as it attempts to figure out how to salvage its ratings crisis with an indefinite ban on traditional live events.

With Otis chasing Mandy for so many months and finally winning her heart, WWE now runs into the always pesky problem of following up now that Otis in less of an underdog role having achieved his goal.