Shane McMahon on how WWE adapted to COVID-19 situation to create the 'Firefly Fun House' Match at WrestleMania 36
Out of the two cinematic matches at WrestleMania 36, Shane McMahon was involved in the second one the Firefly Fun House match. While 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt vs John Cena may have been a regular match had the event happened at Raymond James Stadium in Miami, the COVID-19 pandemic forced WWE to can their big stadium show and shift all their tapings to the Performance Center in Orlando.
That was likely how the two cinematic matches emerged and Shane McMahon, speaking to Corey Graves on the After The Bell podcast (H/T WrestlingInc), Shane McMahon described how WWE had to adapt to the pandemic situation and how he knew that they were working on something different with the Firefly Fun House match:
"Because of, obviously, the situation that's going on with the pandemic, you just have to adapt and it's all hands on deck. Anything you can do, try something," Shane noted. "So being involved in helping put together this scene of Bray Wyatt, or I should say 'The Fiend', that entire thing, we knew it was going to be different. That's the one thing, whether you loved it or hated it, it's just a mind trip. So it set up the potential anytime that The Fiend wants to have a match like this, it could be this trippy, completely different, go anywhere [and] down a wormhole what have you. So, that was the intent of it.
Shane McMahon lauded John Cena for thinking outside the box and stated that the 16-time World champion wanted the match to be a showcase for Bray Wyatt, calling Cena "unselfish". He also praised the Boneyard match one night before and praised it for how they were able to showcase The Undertaker in a different light:
"Similar to what I thought was AJ and Taker, also. Again, different; that was really cool. It was like a mini-movie showcase. You got to showcase Taker specifically, differently. So, those are lessons we learned. We can get outside the box on things. We're trying whatever works."
Did Shane McMahon and WWE's 'out-of-the-box' approach work?
Shane McMahon and WWE were forced to think outside the box when it came to putting together a match like the Firefly Fun House. While it wasn't as unanimously praised as the Boneyard match, most fans seemed to view it in a positive light.
Ultimately, the objectives were to have unique storytelling and a great showcase for Bray Wyatt. WWE managed to achieve both and it was a tremendous effort on their part.