title: Nate Ruess

text: More recently, Ruess has made sporadic appearances in the media and has performed on special occasions. In 2016 he appeared on "The Hamilton Mixtape" performing the track "My Shot". In 2018, Ruess was credited as a composer and lyricist for Keith Urban on his release "Graffiti U". He helped write Urban's track "Way Too Long". Additionally, Ruess has been working as a songwriter and producer. In 2019, he collaborated again with Pink for the track "Walk Me Home", which was released in February for her eighth studio album, called "Hurts 2B Human". In 2020, Ruess had songwriting credits on Halsey's "Manic" and Kesha's "High Road".


title: Nate Ruess

text: On February 3, 2020, Ruess and Sam Means performed a surprise acoustic set together in place of a promised live screening of the Format's 2007 concert film "Live at the Mayan Theatre", the first time the duo performed in almost six years. The band subsequently announced reunion shows in Chicago, Phoenix and New York City. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was postponed multiple times before it was ultimately canceled.


title: Nate Ruess

text: Hayley Williams from Paramore believes that Nate secretly used a moniker Benjamin Eli Hanna to co-write the song "Stay the Night".


title: Nate Ruess

text: In November 2021, he appeared on "Saturday Night Live" as part of musical guest Young Thug's performance of "Love You More."


title: Nate Ruess

text: In 2021, Ruess launched "ClayneCast", a podcast about the "Lethal Weapon" TV series, with his accomplice Drew of the podcast "Globe Hell Warning", and his friend, ChapoFYM co-host Tom. It can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts as well as Soundcloud. The podcast's second season premiered March 25, 2022.


title: Nate Ruess

text: From 2009 to 2013, Ruess dated fashion designer Rachel Antonoff, the sister of Fun guitarist Jack Antonoff. Rachel and Ruess both provided backing vocals for the song "Dakota" from the 2007 album "Trampoline" by Jack's band Steel Train. Later, Rachel sang on some Fun songs and appeared in the video for "We Are Young". Rachel and Ruess collaborated on The Ally Coalition, an activist project to raise awareness of LGBTQ issues.


title: Nate Ruess

text: Ruess began dating English fashion designer Charlotte Ronson in March 2014. They had their first child, a son, in early 2017. They had their second child, a daughter, in March 2019.


title: Konjac

text: Konjac (or konjak, ) is a common name of the East and Southeast Asian plant Amorphophallus konjac (syn. "A. rivieri"), which has an edible corm (bulbo-tuber). It is also known as konjaku, konnyaku potato, devil's tongue, voodoo lily, snake palm, or elephant yam (though this name is also used for "A. paeoniifolius").


title: Konjac

text: It is native to Yunnan in China and cultivated in warm subtropical to tropical East and Southeast Asia, from China and Japan south to Indonesia and Vietnam (USDA hardiness zone 6–11). It is a perennial plant, growing from a large corm up to 25 cm (10 in) in diameter. The single leaf is up to 1.3 m (4 ft) across, bipinnate, and divided into numerous leaflets. The flowers are produced on a spathe enclosed by a dark purple spadix up to 55 cm (22 in) long.


title: Konjac

text: The food made from the corm of this plant is widely known in English by its Japanese name, "konnyaku" (yam cake), being cooked and consumed primarily in Japan and Korea. The two basic types of cake are white and black. Noodles made from "konnyaku" are called "shirataki". The corm of the konjac is often colloquially referred to as a "yam", though it is not related to tubers of the family Dioscoreaceae.


title: Konjac

text: Wild forms grow naturally in China and Southeast Asia. Konjac has been known in Japan since the sixth century as a medicinal food. During the Edo period (beginning in the early 17th century), the Japanese imported konnyaku from China. The 1846 book "Konnyaku Hyakusen" ("One Hundred Recipes of Konnyaku") demonstrates its popularity in Japan at that time.


title: Konjac

text: Konjac is grown in East and Southeast Asia and it is prized for its large starchy corms, used to create a flour and jelly of the same name. It is also used as a vegan substitute for gelatin.


title: Konjac

text: In Japanese cuisine, konjac ("konnyaku") appears in dishes such as "oden". It is typically mottled grey and firmer in consistency than most gelatins. It has very little flavor; the common variety tastes vaguely like salt, usually with a slightly oceanic taste and smell (from the seaweed powder added to it, though some forms omit the seaweed). It is valued more for its texture than flavor.


title: Konjac

text: Japanese "konnyaku" is made by mixing konjac flour with water and limewater. "Hijiki" is often added for the characteristic dark color and flavor. Without additives for color, konjac is white. It is then boiled and cooled to solidify. Konjac made in noodle form is called "shirataki" and used in foods such as "sukiyaki" and "gyūdon".


title: Konjac

text: Konjac is consumed in parts of China's Sichuan province; the corm is called "moyu" (), and the jelly is called "konjac tofu" ( "móyù dòufu") or "snow konjac" ( "xuě móyù").


title: Konjac

text: In Vietnam, konjac is mainly grown in An Giang province. The corms are collected and processed into flour. The flour is used to make drinks, cakes, and noodles.


title: Konjac

text: The dried corm of the konjac plant contains around 40% glucomannan gum. This polysaccharide makes konjac jelly a viscous substance that may be used in traditional Chinese medicine.


title: Konjac

text: Konjac can also be made into a popular East Asian fruit jelly snack, known variously in the United States as lychee cups (after a typical flavor and "nata de coco" cube suspended in the gel) or konjac candy, usually served in bite-sized plastic cups.


title: Konjac

text: Perhaps because of several highly publicized deaths and near-deaths in the San Francisco Bay Area among children and elderly people caused by suffocation while eating konjac candy, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued product warnings in 2001, and there were subsequent recalls in the United States and Canada. Choking and intestinal blockage risk warnings have been published at more recent websites.


title: Konjac

text: Unlike gelatine and some other commonly used gelling agents, konjac fruit jelly does not melt readily in the mouth. Some products form a gel strong enough to require chewing to disintegrate the gel. Though the product is intended to be eaten by gently squeezing the container, a consumer can suck the product out with enough force to unintentionally lodge it in the trachea. Because of this hazard, the European Union and Australia banned Konjac fruit jelly.


title: Konjac

text: Some konjac jelly snacks are not of a size and consistency that pose a choking risk, but are nonetheless affected by the government bans. Some products that remain in East Asian markets have an increased size, unusual shape, and more delicate consistency than the round, plug-like gels that were associated with the choking incidents. The snacks usually have warning labels advising parents to make sure their children chew the jelly thoroughly before swallowing.


title: Konjac

text: Japan's largest manufacturer of konjac snacks, MannanLife, temporarily stopped producing the jellies after a 21-month-old Japanese boy choked to death on a frozen MannanLife konjac jelly. 17 people died from choking on konjac between 1995 and 2008. MannanLife konjac jelly's packaging bag now shows a note to consumers, advising them to cut the product into smaller pieces before serving it to small children.


title: Konjac

text: In 1999, Michelle Enrile, 12, from San Jose, CA, choked on a piece of konjac gel candy. She lapsed into a coma and died two years later. The Enriles won a $16.7 million judgment against the Taiwanese manufacturer of the candy.


title: Konjac

text: Konjac corm powder has a noticeably fishy smell and is used as an ingredient in vegan alternative seafood products. It can be incorporated into plant-based versions of seafood. For Chinese cooking, thin strands of konjac gel can be used as substitute for shark fins when preparing a plant-based version of shark fin soup.


title: Konjac

text: Konjac can also be used for facial massage accessories, which are currently popular in Korea and gaining popularity in the West. Most commonly this is through the use of a konjac sponge, which is unique in that it can be used on sensitive skin that may become easily irritated with more common exfoliating tools (such as loofahs or washcloths).


title: Konjac

text: It can be used in the formulation of drugs and devices such as oral colon-targeting drug delivery systems (OCDDS), which enable drugs to be delivered directly to the colon


title: Konjac

text: In traditional hand papermaking in Japan, konnyaku imparts strength to paper for dyeing, rubbing, folding—and other manipulations, such as momigami.


title: Turtles all the way down

text: "Turtles all the way down" is an expression of the problem of infinite regress. The saying alludes to the mythological idea of a World Turtle that supports a flat Earth on its back. It suggests that this turtle rests on the back of an even larger turtle, which itself is part of a column of increasingly larger turtles that continues indefinitely.


title: Turtles all the way down

text: The exact origin of the phrase is uncertain. In the form "rocks all the way down," the saying appears as early as 1838. References to the saying's mythological antecedents, the World Turtle and its counterpart the World Elephant, were made by a number of authors in the 17th and 18th centuries.


title: Turtles all the way down

text: Early variants of the saying do not always have explicit references to infinite regression (i.e., the phrase "all the way down"). They often reference stories featuring a World Elephant, World Turtle, or other similar creatures that are claimed to come from Hindu mythology. The first known reference to a Hindu source is found in a letter by Jesuit Emanuel da Veiga (1549–1605), written at Chandagiri on 18 September 1599, in which the relevant passage reads:


title: Turtles all the way down

text: Veiga's account seems to have been received by Samuel Purchas, who has a close paraphrase in his "Purchas His Pilgrims" (1613/1626),


title: Turtles all the way down

text: "that the Earth had nine corners, whereby it was borne up by the Heaven. Others dissented, and said, that the Earth was borne up by seven Elephants; the Elephants' feet stood on Tortoises, and they were borne by they know not what." Purchas' account is again reflected by John Locke in his 1689 tract "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding", where Locke introduces the story as a trope referring to the problem of induction in philosophical debate. Locke compares one who would say that properties inhere in "Substance" to the Indian who said the world was on an elephant which was on a tortoise, "But being again pressed to know what gave support to the broad-back'd Tortoise, replied, something, he knew not what". The story is also referenced by Henry David Thoreau, who writes in his journal entry of 4 May 1852: "Men are making speeches ... all over the country, but each expresses only the thought, or the want of thought, of the multitude. No man stands on truth. They are merely banded together as usual, one leaning on another and all together on nothing; as the Hindoos made the world rest on an elephant, and the elephant on a tortoise, and had nothing to put under the tortoise."


title: Turtles all the way down

text: In the form of "rocks all the way down", the saying dates to at least 1838, when it was printed in an unsigned anecdote in the "New-York Mirror" about a schoolboy and an old woman living in the woods:


title: Turtles all the way down

text: A version of the saying in its "turtle" form appeared in an 1854 transcript of remarks by preacher Joseph Frederick Berg addressed to Joseph Barker:


title: Turtles all the way down

text: Many 20th-century attributions claim that philosopher and psychologist William James is the source of the phrase. James referred to the fable of the elephant and tortoise several times, but told the infinite regress story with "rocks all the way down" in his 1882 essay, "Rationality, Activity and Faith":


title: Turtles all the way down

text: The mythological idea of a "turtle world" is often used as an illustration of infinite regresses. An "infinite regress" is an infinite series of entities governed by a recursive principle that determines how each entity in the series depends on or is produced by its predecessor. The main interest in "infinite regresses" is due to their role in "infinite regress arguments". An "infinite regress argument" is an argument against a theory based on the fact that this theory leads to an infinite regress. For such an argument to be successful, it has to demonstrate not just that the theory in question entails an infinite regress but also that this regress is vicious. There are different ways in which a regress can be vicious. The idea of a "turtle world" exemplifies viciousness due to "explanatory failure": it does not solve the problem it was formulated to solve. Instead, it assumes already in disguised form what it was supposed to explain. This is akin to the informal fallacy of begging the question. In one interpretation, the goal of positing the existence of a world turtle is to explain why the earth seems to be at rest instead of falling down: because it rests on the back of a giant turtle. In order to explain why the turtle itself is not in free fall, another, even bigger turtle is posited, and so on, resulting in a world that is "turtles all the way down". Despite its shortcomings in clashing with modern physics, and due to its ontological extravagance, this theory seems to be metaphysically possible, assuming that space is infinite, thereby avoiding an outright contradiction. But it fails because it has to assume rather than explain at each step that there is another thing that is not falling. It does not explain why nothing at all is falling.


title: Turtles all the way down

text: The metaphor is used as an example of the problem of infinite regress in epistemology to show that there is a necessary foundation to knowledge, as written by Johann Gottlieb Fichte in 1794:


title: Turtles all the way down

text: David Hume references the story in his "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion" when arguing against God as an unmoved mover:


title: Turtles all the way down

text: Bertrand Russell also mentions the story in his 1927 lecture "Why I Am Not a Christian" while discounting the First Cause argument intended to be a proof of God's existence:


title: Turtles all the way down

text: References to "turtles all the way down" have been made in a variety of modern contexts. For example, "Turtles All the Way Down" is the name of a song by country artist Sturgill Simpson that appears on his 2014 album "Metamodern Sounds in Country Music". "Gamma Goblins ('Its Turtles All The Way Down' Mix)" is a remix by Ott for the 2002 Hallucinogen album "In Dub". "Turtles All the Way Down" is also the title of a 2017 novel by John Green about a teenage girl with obsessive–compulsive disorder.


title: Turtles all the way down

text: Stephen Hawking incorporates the saying into the beginning of his 1988 book "A Brief History of Time":


title: Turtles all the way down

text: Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court discussed his "favored version" of the saying in a footnote to his plurality opinion in "Rapanos v. United States":


title: Turtles all the way down

text: Microsoft Visual Studio had a gamification plug-in that awarded badges for certain programming behaviors and patterns. One of the badges was "Turtles All the Way Down", which was awarded for writing a class with 10 or more levels of inheritance.


title: Turtles all the way down

text: American rock band mewithoutYou titled a song "Tortoises All the Way Down," as a play on this image, on their 2018 album "[Untitled]".


title: Turtles all the way down

text: American hardcore band Every Time I Die titled a song “Turtles All the Way Down” on their 2009 album “New Junk Aesthetic”. The lyrics mention the turtle world theory.


title: Turtles all the way down

text: In Terry Pratchett's "Discworld", the titular flat planet is balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle, while a small star orbits the assembly. The question of what the turtle stands on is acknowledged and dismissed: the turtle doesn't stand on anything; it swims through space.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: WrestleMania 36 was the 36th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brand divisions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was filmed on March 25 and 26, 2020, at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and was broadcast as a two-night event on April 4 and 5. This marked the first time the event was broadcast over two nights as well as aired on tape delay. On pay-per-view, the two productions were sold as individual shows, with both available as a package deal. National Football League (NFL) player Rob Gronkowski served as the host of the event.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: 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. WrestleMania 36 was the first major professional wrestling event to be affected by the pandemic, and is in turn the only edition of WrestleMania not to feature a live crowd. Taking advantage of the format, two cinematic matches—a "Boneyard match" and a "Firefly Fun House match"—were filmed offsite in an atypical, cinematic style. In June, Florida lifted restrictions on paid spectator attendance at sporting events with the next year's WrestleMania 37 moved to Raymond James Stadium; WrestleMania 37, in turn, adopted much of the buccaneer-themed marketing originally used for WrestleMania 36, including a similar logo.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The card comprised 18 matches which were divided between the two nights, including one match on each night's Kickoff pre-show and a dark match on the second night. In the main event of the show for Part 1, The Undertaker, partly returning to his "American Bad Ass" character for the first time in over 16 years, defeated AJ Styles in a Boneyard match, which was later revealed to be Undertaker's final match, while in the main event from the Performance Center, which was SmackDown's main match, Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg to win the Universal Championship. In other prominent matches, Becky Lynch defeated Shayna Baszler to retain the Raw Women's Championship, and Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins in a No Disqualification match. In the main event for Part 2, which was the main match for Raw, Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship, after which an impromptu dark match occurred in which McIntyre retained the title against Big Show, which was shown on the April 6 episode of "Raw". In the penultimate match, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena in a Firefly Fun House match, this would be Cena’s last WrestleMania match to date. In other prominent matches, Edge defeated Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match, which was Edge's first singles match since April 2011, and in the opening bout, Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley to win the NXT Women's Championship for a second time, which was the first and so far only time an NXT championship was defended at a WrestleMania.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event, having first been held in 1985. It is the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". WrestleMania is ranked the sixth most valuable sports brand in the world by Forbes, and has been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: WrestleMania 36 was the fourth WrestleMania to be held in the state of Florida (after XXIV, XXVIII, and 33). The event featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, as well as NXT—although some NXT wrestlers had appeared in WrestleMania's previously annual battles royal, this was the first WrestleMania to promote the brand, following NXT becoming one of WWE's three major brands in September 2019. National Football League (NFL) player Rob Gronkowski, who had recently signed with WWE, was announced as the host of WrestleMania 36. Gronkowski last appeared for WWE during the WrestleMania 33 Kickoff pre-show in 2017.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Parts 1 and 2 of WrestleMania 36 were sold as individual pay-per-views, with both available as a package deal. For the first time, WWE announced that it would also offer the PPV as a digital purchase in the United States via FITE TV and the Fox Sports app (as an extension of Fox's broadcasts of "SmackDown"). ESPN, which does not normally air WWE programming, aired encores of previous editions of WrestleMania during the lead-up to the event to replace the NCAA women's basketball tournament that had been scrapped. "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd was the official theme song for the event.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The event was originally to take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida solely on April 5, 2020, and was to air live. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, other wrestling promotions began to cancel or postpone their shows in an attempt to prevent further spreading of the COVID-19 virus. This became true after the National Basketball Association suspended its season after two of its players tested positive for COVID-19 which caused a massive ripple effect, effectively shutting down the vast majority of the sports world within five days. 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. Those are not risks worth taking." WWE's Executive Vice President of Special Events John Saboor further noted that they were constantly monitoring global events. 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. Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller further stated that if the situation was not any better by the following week, they would "pull the plug" on WrestleMania 36 if WWE did not do it themselves. WWE then stated that they had a contingency plan ready in case the event was canceled.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: On March 16, WWE announced that the event would be held at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with only essential personnel in attendance, as with all other WWE weekly programs during this pandemic. WWE then announced that WrestleMania 36 would be split into a two-night event, on April 4 and 5. The re-location effectively made it the third WrestleMania to be held in the city of Orlando, behind XXIV and 33. Many viewers also saw this as WWE taking an idea from New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)—who had their Wrestle Kingdom event on January 4 and 5 earlier in the year. Marketing of the event subsequently emphasized the change in format, with the new tagline "Too Big for Just One Night". WWE also produced a commemorative shirt reading "I Wasn't There", a spoof of their "I Was There" shirts of previous WrestleManias.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: It was then reported by "PWInsider" that WWE were pre-recording several episodes of their weekly programs (with the exception of the live broadcast of the March 23 episode of "Raw") for future broadcasts, as well as WrestleMania itself (marking the first WrestleMania to be pre-recorded rather than live), between March 21–26. WrestleMania tapings at the Performance Center were held between March 25 and 26. It was reported that WWE had filmed post-WrestleMania episodes of "Raw" and "NXT" after production wrapped on WrestleMania, before taking a two-week break.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: 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. The Boneyard match was filmed at a custom-built set on location in the Orlando area (about a 40-minute drive away from the Performance Center), while the Firefly Fun House match segments were all taped at Titan Towers in Stamford, Connecticut, using props and set pieces from their storage facility. In lieu of a live performance of "America the Beautiful" to open the show as per tradition, a montage of performances of the song from past editions of WrestleMania was shown instead.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The card underwent changes due to injuries and issues that arose related to the ongoing pandemic. Triple H confirmed that due to the circumstances, nothing would be held against any of the wrestlers who missed the event. He also stated that all of the talent competing were there in a voluntary capacity. For the first time since WrestleMania 23 in 2007, Triple H was not scheduled to compete at the event. However, this had already been planned before the changes in format and location brought about from the pandemic.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: WrestleMania's annual battles royal, the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal, were not scheduled to occur at WrestleMania 36 to limit the number of wrestlers in the ring at the same time. Roman Reigns, who was at an increased risk for COVID-19 due to being in an immunocompromised state from his previous struggles with leukemia, requested to be removed from his match against Goldberg and WWE honored the request; Braun Strowman was selected as Reigns' replacement in the match. Andrade, who was scheduled to team with Angel Garza to face The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) for the Raw Tag Team Championship, was removed from that match due to an injury and was replaced by NXT's Austin Theory. Additionally, it was reported that The Miz had contracted an illness and was pulled from the WrestleMania card; this turned the planned tag team Triple Threat Ladder match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship into a Triple Threat Ladder match between Jimmy Uso, Kofi Kingston, and defending champion John Morrison. Dana Brooke was originally advertised to be a part of the SmackDown Women's Championship elimination match, but she was taken off the card after reportedly being put into precautionary quarantine; Rey Mysterio was also reported to be in precautionary quarantine, but he had not been advertised for a match, though was reportedly going to face Andrade for the United States Championship.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The event comprised a total of 19 matches divided across the two nights, including one match on each night's Kickoff pre-show and one dark match on the second night. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw", "Friday Night SmackDown", and "NXT.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Feeling as though nobody deserved an opportunity to challenge him at the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania, Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar decided to enter himself into the men's Royal Rumble match as entrant number one. Lesnar dominated the first half of the match until he was eventually eliminated by Raw's Drew McIntyre, who would go on and win the match, thus earning himself a world championship match of his choosing at WrestleMania. The next night on "Raw", McIntyre announced that he would challenge Lesnar for the WWE Championship at the event. At Super ShowDown, Lesnar retained the title against Ricochet, keeping him as the defending champion against McIntyre at WrestleMania.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: At Super ShowDown, AJ Styles was a participant in the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy gauntlet match. Final participant Rey Mysterio was ambushed backstage by Styles' O.C. teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, prompting Styles to declare himself the winner by forfeit. 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. Undertaker then made his entrance, taking Mysterio's place, and performed a Chokeslam on Styles to win the match and the trophy. On the following "Raw", a disgruntled Styles mocked Undertaker for still wrestling and issued a warning. The Undertaker then appeared at Elimination Chamber and cost Styles his No Disqualification match with Aleister Black. The following night on "Raw", Styles taunted Undertaker by bringing up his wife Michelle McCool, blaming her for why Undertaker keeps coming back to wrestle, while also calling Undertaker by his real name, Mark Calaway. Styles then challenged Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania. A contract signing for the match was conducted the following week. Styles then challenged Undertaker to a Boneyard match, and Undertaker accepted, cutting a promo akin to his "American Bad Ass" gimmick (circa 2000–2003).


title: WrestleMania 36

text: After winning SmackDown's Universal Championship at Super ShowDown, WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg appeared on the following night's episode of "SmackDown" and issued an open challenge by stating his catchphrase, "Who's next?" Roman Reigns interrupted and had a stare down with Goldberg before accepting his challenge, which was subsequently scheduled for WrestleMania. Just before the event, however, Reigns, requested to be removed from the match for being at an increased risk for COVID-19, as he was in an immunocompromised state from his previous health issues with leukemia; Reigns himself confirmed the report and stated that WWE honored the request. Triple H also confirmed the report in a March 29 interview on ESPN's "SportsCenter". Five days later on the April 3 episode of "SmackDown", Braun Strowman was announced as Reigns' replacement in the match, making this the first WrestleMania since WrestleMania XXVIII where Reigns was not featured.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: At the Royal Rumble, Raw's Charlotte Flair won the women's Royal Rumble match to earn herself a women's championship match of her choosing at WrestleMania. On the February 3 episode of "Raw", Flair stated that she had defeated the women's champions of both Raw and SmackDown and had held those titles multiple times. She was then interrupted by Rhea Ripley, the NXT Women's Champion—a title that Flair had only held once during NXT's infancy in 2014. Ripley declared that Flair should challenge her as she had defeated Flair, but Flair had never beat her. Flair continued to delay giving an answer until after Ripley had defended her title at on February 16. After Ripley retained her title at the NXT event, she was ambushed by Flair, who accepted Ripley's challenge for a match at WrestleMania, marking the first time that a Royal Rumble winner chose an NXT championship to challenge for with the title itself being the first NXT championship to be defended at the event.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Prior to Survivor Series, a rivalry began between Raw's Becky Lynch and NXT's Shayna Baszler. At the event, Baszler won the non-title brand supremacy Triple Threat match between the three brands' women's champions by submitting SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley. An irate Lynch attacked Baszler following the match and put her through an announce table. After losing the NXT Women's Championship, Baszler appeared as the thirtieth entrant in the women's Royal Rumble match, finishing as the runner-up. Following Lynch's title defense on the February 10 episode of "Raw", Baszler ambushed Lynch and bit the back of her neck, thus reigniting their feud. Baszler was then entered into Raw's women's Elimination Chamber match at the namesake event where she single-handedly eliminated all of her opponents to win and earn herself a Raw Women's Championship match against Lynch at WrestleMania.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: 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. Seemingly announcing his retirement, Cena declared he would not be appearing at the event, stating that WrestleMania spots should be earned. As Cena gave a farewell salute to the audience from the stage, the lights went out. When they illuminated, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared behind Cena. The Fiend then pointed to the WrestleMania sign, signaling a challenge to Cena, who simply nodded in acceptance. A match between the two was then scheduled for the event. This was the second the two fought each other at WrestleMania after WrestleMania XXX in April 2014. On the March 27 episode, Wyatt challenged Cena to a Firefly Fun House match, and Cena accepted.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: After being forced to retire in 2011 due to a severe neck injury, WWE Hall of Famer Edge returned at the 2020 Royal Rumble during the namesake match, where he had a brief reunion with Randy Orton; Edge eliminated Orton before his own elimination. On the following "Raw", Edge explained how he was able to make his return. Orton then welcomed Edge back and suggested reforming Rated-RKO, but turned on Edge and performed an RKO on him, thus turning heel in the process. After attacking Edge's neck with a steel chair, Orton smashed Edge's head between two steel chairs in a maneuver known as the "Conchairto", which Edge had made famous in the past. Edge's wife and fellow Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix appeared on the March 2 episode to give a medical update on her husband. Orton interrupted and said that he attacked Edge so that he would remain at home and continue his role as a husband and a father to their children. He then blamed Phoenix for the attack, claiming that she allowed Edge to get back in the ring. Phoenix slapped Orton, who in turn performed an RKO on her. Edge returned the following week on Montel Vontavious Porter's (MVP) talk show, the "VIP Lounge". Orton attempted to attack Edge, only for Edge to perform an RKO of his own on Orton. After Orton retreated, Edge performed the Conchairto on MVP twice as a warning to Orton. Edge then challenged Orton to a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania, and Orton accepted.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: At Survivor Series, Seth Rollins served as the captain of Team Raw for the men's Survivor Series elimination match, but questioned Kevin Owens' loyalty to the team due to Owens appearing at ; Raw suffered a devastating loss at Survivor Series, only winning one of the seven interbrand matches. Rollins criticized the Raw roster for their poor performance and again questioned Owens' loyalty, who responded by performing a Stunner on Rollins. Owens then became the target of AOP (Akam and Rezar). Although Owens accused Rollins of being behind AOP's attacks, Rollins denied the accusations, though he ultimately joined with AOP, turning heel. Rollins then began to refer to himself as the "Monday Night Messiah" and recruited Murphy into his new faction with AOP; Rollins and Murphy eventually won the Raw Tag Team Championship together. At the Royal Rumble, Rollins eliminated Owens from the namesake match thanks to help from AOP and Murphy. Rollins and Murphy lost their titles on an episode of "Raw", and during a rematch at Elimination Chamber, Owens cost them their match and performed a Stunner on Rollins afterward. The following night on "Raw", Rollins challenged Owens to a match, and Owens accepted for WrestleMania.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: On the Survivor Series Kickoff pre-show, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) participated in an interbrand tag team battle royal that was won by Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode; the two teams entered into a feud following the event. Also during this time, Otis started a romance with Mandy Rose. On the February 14 episode of "SmackDown", Otis had a scheduled Valentine's Day date with Rose; however, Ziggler arrived first and stole the date, causing Otis to walk away heartbroken. On the March 6 episode, Otis apologized to Rose, who rejected the apology. Heavy Machinery then participated in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship Elimination Chamber match, where they were eliminated by Ziggler and Roode. On the March 20 episode of "SmackDown", Ziggler distracted Otis during his tag team match by showing pictures of him and Rose together, enraging Otis, which caused Heavy Machinery to get disqualified, thus costing them another title opportunity. Ziggler then challenged Otis to a match at WrestleMania and Otis accepted. On the final "SmackDown" before WrestleMania, a mysterious hacker (later revealed to be Mustafa Ali) appeared on the TitanTron during Ziggler's match with Tucker and revealed that Rose's Fire and Desire tag team partner Sonya Deville had conspired with Ziggler to sabotage Rose's Valentine's date with Otis.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: During the WrestleMania 36 Kickoff Part 1 pre-show, Drew Gulak faced Cesaro. The climax saw Cesaro perform a "U.F.O." on Gulak, followed by winning the match by pinfall.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The actual pay-per-view portion of Part 1 opened with a special statement from Stephanie McMahon and a performance of "America the Beautiful", which was edited together from multiple performances of the song from previous WrestleMania events. Host Rob Gronkowski began hyping WrestleMania. He was joined by his friend Mojo Rawley.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: 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. In the end, Cross performed the "Purge" on Sane followed by Bliss performing a "Twisted Bliss" to win and become the first two-time champions in the title's history.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Next, Elias faced King Corbin. In the end, as Corbin attempted a pin on Elias with his legs on the rope, the referee noticed it and voided the pinfall; Elias then performed a roll-up on a distracted Corbin, who was arguing with the referee, to win the match.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: After that, Becky Lynch defended the Raw Women's Championship against Shayna Baszler. In the closing moments, as Baszler applied the "Kirifuda Clutch" on Lynch, Lynch countered into a roll-up to retain the title.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: In the fourth match, Sami Zayn, accompanied by Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, defended the Intercontinental Championship against Daniel Bryan (accompanied by Drew Gulak). In the first half of the match, Zayn refused to face Bryan and continuously scurried away from him. Bryan would run after Zayn only for Cesaro and Nakamura to get in his way. This led to Gulak getting involved and temporarily taking out Cesaro and Nakamura. As Zayn wanted a countout victory, Bryan brought Zayn back into the ring and eventually started to perform his offensive attacks on him. In the end, Cesaro and Nakamura recovered and attacked Gulak. As Bryan attempted an aerial attack on Zayn, Zayn performed a "Helluva Kick" in mid-air to retain the title.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Next, the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was defended in a Triple Threat Ladder match. The match was originally scheduled as a tag team Triple Threat Ladder match in which The Miz and John Morrison were to defend the titles against The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) and The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston), but due to the Miz falling ill, the match was contested between Morrison, Jimmy, and Kingston, each representing their respective team. In the end, all three competitors together, who were atop ladders, managed to unhook the gold hook with the titles still intact. After a scuffle, Jimmy and Kingston performed a headbutt on Morrison, who fell down atop a ladder wedged between the rope and a second ladder. As Morrison fell, he grasped the titles, unhooking them as he fell, thus Morrison retained the title for himself and the Miz.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Afterward, Kevin Owens faced Seth Rollins. The match ended via disqualification for Owens, as Rollins attacked him with the ring bell. Owens then taunted Rollins to face him again in an accepted No Disqualification match. During the match, Owens attacked Rollins with the ring bell and performed a diving elbow drop off the WrestleMania sign. In the end, Owens performed a Stunner on Rollins to win the match.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: In a small segment, 24/7 Champion R-Truth joined Rob Gronkowski and Mojo Rawley, who were standing atop a viewing podium. Gronkowski attempted to pin Truth to win the title. However, Rawley moved Gronkowski and pinned Truth instead to win the 24/7 title for a seventh time.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: In the final match of Part 1 from the Performance Center, Goldberg defended the Universal Championship against Braun Strowman. As Strowman attempted a running powerslam on Goldberg, Goldberg countered and performed three spears for a nearfall. Goldberg then performed a fourth spear on Strowman. As Goldberg attempted the "Jackhammer", Strowman countered and performed three front powerslams on Goldberg and a running powerslam to win his first Universal title, marking his first world championship win.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: In the main event of Part 1, The Undertaker faced AJ Styles in a Boneyard match, which was a Buried Alive match set at an undisclosed cemetery and warehouse in the Orlando area. A hearse arrived at the cemetery to The Undertaker's theme music, however, Styles emerged from the casket. The Undertaker then arrived riding a motorcycle (reminiscent of his "American Bad Ass" gimmick) to the tune of Metallica's "Now That We're Dead". Early on, Undertaker would refer to Styles as "Allen" (Styles' real first name) as AJ tried getting away. Halfway through the match, Styles' O.C. teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson appeared in an attempt to assist Styles, but Undertaker fought them off. The Undertaker then fought a group of druids which were set up as a distraction by the O.C. so Styles could gain the upper hand again. Styles broke a shovel in half across The Undertaker's spine which caused him to fall into the grave. As Styles was preparing to fill the grave with dirt to win, Undertaker suddenly appeared behind Styles and started to attack him. Both men fought all over the graveyard and atop the warehouse. When Styles backed off from Undertaker on the rooftop, scared and in disbelief about him rising from the grave, Undertaker raised his arms to make a wall of fire appear behind Styles, preventing Styles from running away. The O.C. then saw a chance to go for another attack on Undertaker, who struck back yet again. He threw Gallows off the roof, performed a "Tombstone Piledriver" on Anderson and chokeslammed Styles off the roof and through an old piece of wooden flooring. Undertaker then carried Styles over to the grave, where Styles begged him not to be buried. Undertaker brought him to his feet, embraced him, praised Styles for his efforts, and told him he would not bury him. However, Undertaker feigned walking away, as he turned back around and kicked Styles into the grave. Undertaker then started the tractor and dumped all the dirt into the grave, burying Styles to win the match. Following the match, as the camera panned on the grave, Styles' hand was sticking out from the dirt, while Undertaker then departed on his motorcycle, again to the Metallica song. This would be The Undertaker's final match at WrestleMania as well as in his career, cementing his final WrestleMania record at 25-2.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: During the WrestleMania 36 Kickoff Part 2 pre-show, Liv Morgan faced Natalya. In the end, Liv pinned Natalya with a roll-up to win the match. This was Liv's first WrestleMania win in her WWE run.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The actual pay-per-view portion of Part 2 opened with Rhea Ripley defending the NXT Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair. In the climax, after a back-and-forth match, Flair forced Ripley to tap out to the "Figure-Eight Leglock" to win the title for her second time, and the first time since NXT TakeOver in May 2014. Flair also became the first wrestler to win an NXT championship before and after NXT became one of WWE's three main brands.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Next, Aleister Black faced Bobby Lashley, accompanied by Lana. In the end, as Lashley attempted a spear on Black, Black performed a "Black Mass" on Lashley to win the match.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Afterward, Otis faced Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Sonya Deville). In the closing moments, as Otis attempted to perform the "Caterpillar" on Ziggler, Deville distracted Otis on the ring apron, which allowed Ziggler to attack Otis with a low blow from behind. Mandy Rose then came out and attacked Deville. With the referee distracted, Rose performed a low blow on Ziggler. Otis then performed the "Caterpillar" on Ziggler to win the match. Following the match, Otis and Rose shared a kiss in the ring.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: In the fourth match, Edge faced Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match. As Edge waited for Orton to make his entrance, Orton disguised as a cameraman attacked Edge from behind with an "RKO". Orton then attacked Edge with a second "RKO" and a camera, but Edge rose to his feet. Edge and Orton then fought in the Performance Center's gym area, where Orton placed Edge's arms in a sling and proceeded to attack him. As Orton attempted to attack Edge with a weight, Edge performed a dropkick on him. The two then fought back to the ringside area, where Orton threw Edge into a barricade off a raised platform. After fighting throughout the Performance Center, they eventually fought atop a production truck in the backstage area where Edge performed a spear on Orton and Orton performed an "RKO" on Edge. In the end, Edge applied a sleeper hold on Orton, who passed out on a chair. A conflicted Edge then performed the "Conchairto" on Orton. Edge won the match after Orton was unable to answer the referee's 10 count.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Next, The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Angel Garza and Austin Theory (with Zelina Vega). In the closing moments, Ford performed a springboard frog splash on Theory, who was then pinned by Dawkins. After the match, Garza, Theory, and Vega attacked The Street Profits. NXT's Bianca Belair then ran out and attacked Vega, clearing the ring.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: In a small segment, new 24/7 Champion Mojo Rawley ran away from multiple wrestlers into the Performance Center. They cornered Rawley near the podium that host Rob Gronkowski was standing on. Gronkowski witnessed this and performed a dive on top of the wrestlers. Gronkowski then pinned Rawley to win the 24/7 Championship.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: After that, Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship in a fatal five-way elimination match against Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans, Naomi, and Tamina. Tamina was the first eliminated after the other wrestlers piled on top of her for the pin. Banks applied the "Bank Statement" on Naomi to eliminate her. As Bayley attempted a dropkick on Evans in the corner, Evans moved out of the way and Bayley attacked Banks instead. After Bayley tried apologizing, Bayley pushed Banks out of the way of an attack from Evans, who performed the "Woman's Right" on Banks to eliminate her. Bayley did not attempt to break up the pin to save Banks. In the end, as Evans was about to perform the "Woman's Right" on Bayley, Banks returned to the ring and performed a backstabber on Evans. Bayley performed a "Rose Plant" on Evans to retain the title.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The penultimate match was the Firefly Fun House match between John Cena and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. Cena came out for his match in the Performance Center, assuming his match was taking place in the ring. Wyatt was then shown in the Firefly Fun House, stating that Cena would actually be facing himself before exiting through the fun house's door. Cena was then teleported to the Firefly Fun House. After also going through the door, Cena was transported through a series of dream sequences where Wyatt demonstrated his perceived personality flaws (such as being a bully who did not have to work for his achievements like Wyatt did), including his debut appearance on "SmackDown" (with Wyatt acting as Kurt Angle, and Cena seemingly unable to say anything but "ruthless aggression"), and a spoof of "Saturday Night's Main Event" (where Wyatt introduced Cena as his tag team partner "Johnny Largemeat", who was tired out from repeatedly lifting weights). Appearing as his old cult leader persona of The Wyatt Family, Wyatt then reminisced about his loss to Cena at WrestleMania XXX, and pledged to right his previous wrong. Back in a ring, Cena reversed out of an attempted "Sister Abigail" by Wyatt, and was (as in that previous match) coerced into using a chair against him. However, as he did so, Wyatt disappeared, and Cena was suddenly transported to "nWo Monday Nitro"—with Wyatt acting as Eric Bischoff, who introduced Cena, acting as "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. In the ring, Cena tackled Wyatt. After a fury of fists, Wyatt disappeared and was replaced by the Huskus the Pig Boy puppet. 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. Just before The Fiend performed "Sister Abigail", the audio of Cena's promo from "SmackDown" was played, where Cena had stated that at WrestleMania, he would end the existence of the "most over hyped, over valued, over privileged WWE Superstar". After the segment ended, a visibly shaken Titus O'Neill was shown on camera, uttering "I have no idea what I just saw."


title: WrestleMania 36

text: In the main event of Part 2, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre. McIntyre hit Brock Lesnar with a "Claymore" on Lesnar for a nearfall. Lesnar performed three German suplexes and an "F-5", but McIntyre kicked out at one. Lesnar then performed two more "F-5s", both of which again resulted in nearfalls. As Lesnar went for a fourth "F-5", McIntyre countered and performed three more "Claymores" on Lesnar to win the match and title, capturing his first world championship in WWE and becoming the first-ever British-born world champion in WWE history, as well as WWE's thirty-first Triple Crown champion. After the show went off the air, McIntyre was confronted by Big Show, who McIntyre then faced in a title defense described by WWE as the "hidden WrestleMania main event." McIntyre performed a "Claymore" on Big Show to retain the title. This dark match aired on the April 6 episode of "Raw".


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The event was highly positively received by fans and received positive reviews from critics. While most argued that the event suffered from both a poor lead-up and the absence of a live audience (partly due to most of the wrestlers being removed from the event shortly before its filming, mostly in relation to the pandemic, including Roman Reigns, The Miz, Andrade, and Dana Brooke, who were all slated to defend or challenge for championships) many felt that the event exceeded expectations, with both critics and fans largely praising the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches as the best of the event for their uniqueness and over-the-top tone (and in the case of the latter, its inventiveness and humor).


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The male world title matches were also criticized for their short lengths and overuse of finishing moves.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports gave the event a positive review, acknowledging that "many fans were understandably hesitant to believe WWE could deliver a spectacle deserving of the WrestleMania title, but somehow the company pulled off the seemingly impossible by delivering two nights of compelling wrestling without tens of thousands of fans in attendance." 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."


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Randall Colburn of "The A.V. Club" gave the event a B−. While praising WWE for making the most out of its "weirdest WrestleMania of all time", particularly the Boneyard match, he did point out that most matches suffered from its poor lead-up and lack of live audience, stating notably that Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler's match was "a listless and too-short battle that, when you consider the response both performers tend to extract from crowds, might have shifted into another gear in a packed stadium." He also cited examples of "shoddy storytelling", noting that it "[was] great that Braun Strowman beat the snot out of Goldberg, but it might have resonated more if the company hadn't just had the 53-year old Goldberg destroy The Fiend, a heretofore untouchable star, during a PPV in Saudi Arabia—and, you know, done anything with Braun over the past few years."


title: WrestleMania 36

text: "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. Others decided to play to a crowd that wasn't actually there. ... the WWE style—with its emphasis on overwrought capital–P 'performance,' over-rehearsed matches, and flowery mannerisms—looked more like a parody when staged in front of zero spectators. 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." However, he stated that after two lackluster opening matches, the card from Lynch vs. Baszler onward then comprised "very physical matches [which] made the best of the setting, and with most of the matches fitting that bill, [Part 1] was really strong overall", although he found Part 2 much weaker, stating that Edge vs. Randy Orton was "glacially slow, and it appeared to somehow be edited out of an even longer match", and that Lesnar vs. McIntyre felt "more like a formality than anything cool, because it was so paint-by-numbers." "Slate" considered the Boneyard and Firefly Fun House matches to be the best matches.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: "Bleacher Report" stated "It's hard to judge this event. You have to take the good with the bad, maintain honest integrity with criticism, but also be forgiving and acknowledge that this was not how WrestleMania was supposed to be." They gave a positive review, although they ranked Elias vs. Corbin, Black vs. Lashley, and the SmackDown Women's title match as the low points of the event. "Bleacher Report" gave the Boneyard match a 4.5 star ratings on a scale of 5, their highest rated match from both nights, while giving the Universal Championship match a 0.5 star, their lowest rated match from the event.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: 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. "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.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: 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. 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. He also said that the release was "mutual".


title: WrestleMania 36

text: In May, a five-part documentary series about The Undertaker began airing on the WWE Network called "Undertaker: The Last Ride". The documentary series chronicles The Undertaker's career from 2017 to 2020 and his decision on when he should retire, which he previously believed was going to be his match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33. In the final episode that released on June 21, Undertaker stated that he had nothing left to prove and had no desire to step in the ring again, feeling that his match with AJ Styles was the perfect ending to his 30-year career, thus making his WrestleMania 36 match with Styles his final match. However, he did not rule out the possibility of a potential one-off match, depending on the situation. Undertaker also revealed that he did not make a full return to his American Bad Ass gimmick at WrestleMania 36. Instead, it was a combination of his Deadman persona, the American Bad Ass, as well as his real life self; the latter due to how personal Styles' promos were against Undertaker. The Undertaker's official retirement ceremony later occurred at Survivor Series on November 22, which also celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut in WWE, which occurred at the 1990 Survivor Series.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The following night's episode of "Raw" showed the "hidden WrestleMania main event", in which Drew McIntyre retained the WWE Championship over Big Show roughly 25 minutes after McIntyre had defeated Brock Lesnar to win the title.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch praised Shayna Baszler regarding their WrestleMania match and stated that Baszler knew where to find her if she wanted to face off again. The following week, Baszler won her qualifying match to compete in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Raw Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) faced Austin Theory and Angel Garza (accompanied by Zelina Vega) in a rematch for the titles where the champions retained once again, though by disqualification, thanks to Vega. Bianca Belair again came out after the match, and challenged Vega to a match which ended in a no-contest. A six-person mixed tag team match ensued with The Street Profits and Belair defeating Theory, Garza, and Vega.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Charlotte Flair boasted about defeating Rhea Ripley and becoming a two-time NXT Women's Champion, though said that Ripley was "okay". Ripley returned on the May 6 episode of "NXT" to save Io Shirai from a post-match beat down after Flair had retained the title against Shirai due to disqualification. This ultimately set up a triple threat match between the three women at .


title: WrestleMania 36

text: 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). He later attacked WWE Champion Drew McIntyre following the latter's match with Andrade. He subsequently set up a title match for Money in the Bank.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: On the May 11 episode of "Raw", both Edge and Randy Orton made their first post-WrestleMania appearances. Orton stated that at WrestleMania, the better man won but questioned whether or not the better wrestler had actually won. Noting that the Royal Rumble and Last Man Standing matches were non-traditional matches, Orton challenged Edge to a normal singles match at Backlash, which Orton won. During the match, Edge legitimately tore his triceps. Edge later recovered from his triceps tear and returned at the 2021 Royal Rumble, where he and Orton entered at number one and two, respectively. The two brawled at ringside, and Edge injured Orton's leg, taking Orton out for the majority of the match. Orton returned in the closing moments of the match where he attempted to eliminate Edge.However, Edge countered and eliminated Orton to win the men's Royal Rumble match. Orton then faced Edge in a rubber match the following night on "Raw", where thanks to a distraction by Alexa Bliss (as part of a storyline between Orton, Bliss, and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt), Edge defeated Orton, putting an end to their rivalry.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: On the following episode of "SmackDown", Bray Wyatt interrupted new Universal Champion Braun Strowman after the latter's match. Wyatt reminded Strowman that it was he who brought him to the WWE with his old Wyatt Family stable. Wyatt, who had lost the title to Goldberg at Super ShowDown, then stated he wanted his title back and Strowman accepted the challenge, which was scheduled for Money in the Bank, though against Wyatt's normal self instead of The Fiend.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Also on the following "SmackDown", Tamina pointed out the fact that Bayley nor any other competitor in the fatal five-way elimination match actually beat her and challenged Bayley to a singles match for the SmackDown Women's Championship. Bayley agreed if Tamina could defeat her friend Sasha Banks, which Tamina subsequently done the following week to earn the title match at Money in the Bank.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: 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). Since only one member of each team competed for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania, The New Day's Big E suggested that the other team members should face off in a triple threat match for the title. 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.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: Also on the following "SmackDown", Heavy Machinery's Tucker faced Dolph Ziggler in a rematch from the "SmackDown" prior to WrestleMania in a losing effort; Otis and Mandy Rose were absent that night. The following week, Sonya Deville called out Rose to clear the air between them. An emotional Deville stated that Rose was the most selfish person she had met. Deville also stated that she was the better wrestler and Rose was nothing more than eye candy. Ziggler then came out and stated to Rose that she could not deny the chemistry between them. Deville attacked Rose, which prompted Otis to come out and attack Ziggler. On the May 1 episode, Otis defeated Ziggler again to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: It would be two years before Roman Reigns and Goldberg would have their originally scheduled match for the Universal Championship. Reigns made his return at the 2020 SummerSlam and won the title at Payback. Reigns remained champion for over the next year and into 2022. In February 2022, Goldberg confronted Reigns and challenged him to a match for the title at Elimination Chamber.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: The COVID-19 pandemic had further effects on WWE following WrestleMania. "Raw", "SmackDown", "205 Live", and pay-per-views continued to be broadcast from the Performance Center until August before relocating to Orlando's Amway Center with a new virtual fan viewing experience called ThunderDome—they then moved to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida in December and then Yuengling Center in Tampa in April 2021. Mid-year, "205 Live" began doing their tapings in conjunction with NXT. Broadcasts of "NXT" were done from its home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida until October when NXT was relocated to the Performance Center, rebranded as the Capitol Wrestling Center, NXT's version of the ThunderDome and an homage to WWE's predecessor, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. Furthermore, WWE released several talent due to budget cuts as a result of the pandemic. 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), and Cain Velasquez, 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, and it was reported that WWE had reached out to some of the other released talent, though for lower pay than their previous contracts.


title: WrestleMania 36

text: While WrestleMania 37 was initially announced for SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, 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. WWE officially announced the move on January 16, 2021, and it was the first WWE event to have ticketed fans in attendance during the pandemic with a limited capacity of 25,000 spectators for each night and with COVID-19 safety protocols in place. WWE then returned to live touring in mid-July.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The Chevrolet Corvette (C6) is the sixth generation of the Corvette sports car that was produced by Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 2005 to 2013 model years. It is the first Corvette with exposed headlamps since the 1962 model. Production variants include the Z06, ZR1, Grand Sport, and 427 Convertible. Racing variants include the C6.R, an American Le Mans Series GT1 championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE-Pro winner.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The Corvette C6 featured new bodywork with exposed headlamps, revised suspension geometry, a larger passenger compartment, a larger V8 engine and a higher level of refinement. It is 5.1 inches (13 cm) shorter than the C5, but the wheelbase was increased by 1.2 inches (3 cm). It is also one inch (2.5 cm) narrower. The new LS2 engine has a power output of at 6,000 rpm and of torque at 4,400 rpm. Like the C5, the Corvette C6's suspension consisted of independent unequal-length double wishbones with transverse fiberglass mono-leaf springs and optional magnetorheological dampers.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: With an automatic transmission, the Corvette achieves / mpg (city/highway) of fuel economy; the manual-transmission model gets / mpg of fuel economy. The Corvette's manual transmission is fitted with Computer Aided Gear Shifting (CAGS), obligating the driver to shift from 1st gear directly to the 4th gear when operating at lower RPM. This boosts the EPA's derived fuel economy thus allowing the buyer to avoid paying the "gas guzzler" tax. GM badges were added to the car in 2006.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: Beginning with the 2008 model year, the Corvette received a new engine, the LS3. With displacement increased to , power was increased to at 6,500 rpm and of torque at 4,600 rpm, or and with the optional vacuum actuated valve exhaust. The previous Tremec T56 transmission on manual Corvettes was replaced with a new version, the TR6060, in the 2008 model year. Manual Corvette models now had improved shift linkage; the automatic model was set up for quicker shifts, and (according to Chevrolet) accelerates from 0 to in 4.0 seconds, faster than any other production automatic Corvette model. From 2008 onward, the steering was revised for improved feel and the wheels were updated to a new five-spoke design. The last Corvette C6, a white 427 convertible, was completed on February 28, 2013.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The Z06 arrived for the 2006 model year as a homologation vehicle in the third quarter of 2005 and is the lightest of all Corvette models. The Z06 was equipped with the largest-displacement small-block engine ever produced, a new V8 engine codenamed the LS7. The engine has a power output of at 6,300 rpm and at 4,800 rpm of torque. Until the introduction of LT6 engine in October 2021, LS7 was the most powerful production naturally aspirated engine made by General Motors. In addition to the larger displacement engine, the Corvette Z06 has a dry sump oiling system, and connecting rods made out of titanium alloy. The frame of the Z06 is constructed from aluminum, saving over the standard steel frame. Other weight saving measures such as balsa wood/carbon fiber composite floors and a magnesium alloy engine cradle were used. The Z06's body differentiates itself from the standard Corvette with its larger front and rear fenders and an intake inlet scoop on the front bumper. The front fenders are constructed with carbon fiber and the rear fenders contain ducts to aid in cooling the rear brakes. The Z06 weighed , giving it a weight to power ratio of , allowing it to achieve a fuel economy of in the city and on the highway. The Z06 was the official pace car for both the 2006 Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 race. "Car and Driver" recorded a 0- acceleration time of 3.6 seconds and 1/4 mile in 11.7 seconds at in October 2005. The Z06 contains the following enhancements over the standard C6 Corvette:


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: For the 2011 model year, the Z06 carbon edition was introduced, which carries over multiple parts from the high performance ZR1 including carbon ceramic brakes, active suspension, and other carbon fiber aerodynamic pieces. Only 500 were planned for production and actual production numbers were much lower, in total only about 250 were made. The 250 were optioned the same but did not have the carbon hood. In 2012 and 2013, these options could be ordered through the Z07 package on the Z06.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The ZR1 is the high performance variant of the Z06 and was first reported by several print and online publications, based on rumors that General Motors was developing a production version of the Corvette above the Z06 level under the internal code name "Blue Devil" (named after CEO Rick Wagoner's alma mater, Duke University). The car was originally rumored to feature a supercharged LS9 engine having a power output of more than .


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The October 12, 2006 issue of "AutoWeek" published photos by photographer Chris Doane of a C6 Z06 with special auto-manufacturer-issued license plates with a hood bulge, widely thought to confirm the presence of a supercharger on the "Blue Devil". Other names attached to the project included "Corvette SS", after the late '50 racing car, and "Corvette Z07". In February 2007, a worker at a Michigan shipping company posted pictures online of a powertrain development mule that was being shipped to Germany, believed to be part of the "Blue Devil" program. The car had manufacturer's license plates, carbon-ceramic disc brakes, enlarged fender vents, a hood bulge, and an engine with a positive-displacement supercharger in the valley between the cylinder banks and a water-to-air intercooler atop it.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: GM began to release details on the "Blue Devil" project in April 2007. The company confirmed the existence of the project in an interview with "Car and Driver" on April 13. Engine power levels were confirmed to be between , but contrary to prior rumors of a supercharged 6.2 liter engine, the engine was only confirmed to have greater displacement than the 7.0 liter LS7 in the Z06. "Motor Trend" confirmed the official name for the production version of the "Blue Devil", resurrecting the old ZR1 nameplate. The ZR1 had originally been used on developmental cars in 1971, and again as ZR-1 as the top of the line variant of the C4 Corvette. General Motors officially introduced the Corvette ZR1 on December 19, giving a press release and photographs of the car. GM confirmed a supercharged 6.2 L LS9 V8 having a power output of at 6,500 rpm and of torque at 3,800 rpm. A test of the ZR1 on the German autobahn revealed a top speed of , although the manufacturer claims the car is engineered to attain speeds up to .


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: Carbon fiber is used on the roof, hood, fenders, front splitter, and rocker moldings; the hood and fenders are painted over, while the roof and splitter are merely covered in a clear-coat, retaining their original black color. A polycarbonate window is placed in the center of the hood, allowing the engine intercooler to be seen from the exterior. The wheels were the largest ever placed on a production Corvette, with both front and rear wheels increasing in size and diameter over the Z06. Carbon-ceramic brakes are included. The brake calipers are painted blue, as are the engine intercooler trim and the ZR1 logo. Magnetic Selective Ride Control was also included on the car, with sensors to automatically adjust stiffness levels based on road conditions and vehicle movement.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The 2010 Grand Sport was unveiled at the 12th annual C5/C6 Corvette Birthday Bash, held at the National Corvette Museum. The Grand Sport replaces the previous Z51 option. The GS or Grand Sport was equipped with the following enhancements:


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The LS3 engine in the GS convertible or Grand Sport coupé equipped with an automatic transmission has wet sump instead of dry sump lubrication.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Championship Edition is a special edition of the Corvette Z06 developed to commemorate the victory of the Corvette racing team driver Ron Fellows at the 2007 ALMS GT1 championship. Notable exterior features include special Arctic White paint, red grand sport style stripes on the front fenders and red and silver hash styled stripes incorporating a maple leaf similar to the livery present on the winning car. The interior had a red interior and complemented accenting on the seats, console and door panels. The arm rest features Ron Fellows' signature. Only 399 were made with 33 destined to the Canadian market.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The ZHZ was a standard Corvette equipped with the LS3 engine, 6-speed automatic transmission, vacuum actuated valve exhaust, F55 suspension and unique 7-spoke chrome wheels. It was developed for The Hertz Corporation's Fun Collection for 2008. 500 targa tops in 2008 and 350 convertibles were produced in 2009 in total. All cars were finished in yellow with a broad black stripe along the hood and roof.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The GT1 Championship Edition is an optional package for the C6 that was unveiled in the 2009 New York Auto Show. It celebrates the Corvette C6.R's entry into the GT1 class of ALMS in 2009. This limited edition is based on either a 4LT equipped targa top, 4LT convertible or high performance Z06. Models wear the same velocity yellow "45U" body hue that adorns the C6.R or "41U" gloss black, along with a "Jake" graphic that spans the Championship edition's hood. Chrome wheels known as Gumby's are present on the targa top and convertible while the Z06 is fitted with chrome Spyder wheels. A body-colored spoiler shared with the ZR1 joins a "carbon pattern" engine cover, while a leather-wrapped ebony interior contains "GT1" embroidered on the head rests of the seats, the instrument panel and a center console armrest. Non-Z06 models also include a Z51 Performance Package and NPP Performance exhaust.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: Original production numbers were slated to be 100 units of each model in each color (600 total), each carrying a premium over the standard models. But actual numbers amounted to 125 units in various numbers for each color code. This was due to the government takeover of General Motors.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The Z06 Carbon Limited Edition was available as a 2011 model beginning in the summer of 2010. The car was available in two colors: Inferno Orange and an all-new Supersonic Blue. On the exterior, the car had black headlamps and mirrors, a ZR1-style spoiler, carbon fiber hood, and black carbon fiber rockers and splitter. Inside, the Z06 Carbon has ebony leather and suede seats with body color-matching stitching. Other improvements include Magnetic Selective Ride Control, a special carbon engine cover, 20-spoke black 19-inch front/20-inch rear wheels, and ZR1's carbon ceramic Brembo brakes. Although Chevrolet planned to sell 500 of the Z06 Carbon Limited Edition, only 252 units were produced.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: Order code "ZLC" was an equipment package celebrating 100 years of racing heritage of Chevrolet. Offered exclusively in Carbon Flash Metallic, the Centennial Edition kit includes satin-black graphics and unique lightweight cast-spun aluminum Centennial Satin Black wheels that feature a thin red perimeter outline (on Z06 and ZR1 cars). All cars came with red brake calipers and featured Magnetic Selective Ride Control.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: Inside, the car featured ebony leather upholstery and contrast stitching while the steering wheel and armrests featured microfiber suede accents. The headrests have an embossed Centennial Edition logo and the steering wheel hub carries the same "Louis Chevrolet 100" graphic found on the car's B-pillar and wheel center caps.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The Cadillac XLR is a luxury roadster that was marketed by Cadillac from 2004 to 2009 model years. Assembled in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the XLR was based on the Chevrolet Corvette's Y platform. Designed to be a grand touring offering, the XLR featured different exterior and interior design, standard adaptive suspension system, a 4.6-liter Northstar V8 engine, and a power-retractable aluminum hardtop.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The Z06X was designed to be a factory built road race car similar to cars like the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and Dodge Viper ACR-X. The concept car was built by GM with the help of Pratt & Miller Engineering. The Z06X, introduced in 2010, featured racecar components such as: carbon fiber adjustable rear wing, carbon fiber front splitter, full roll cage, fire suppression system, race seat, harness, carbon ceramic brakes, upgraded cooling system, polycarbonate rear window, adjustable coilovers, adjustable sway bars, and tow hooks; the radio, interior carpeting and sound-deadening materials have been removed. The suspension system was designed and supplied by Pfadt Race Engineering.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The C6.R was a replacement for the C5-R, built by Pratt & Miller, and unveiled for its first competition at the 2005 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race of the American Le Mans Series. It came in second and third in its class, just behind the new Aston Martin DBR9 race car. It was put on display a week later at the New York International Auto Show next to the Z06.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: In 2006, the Corvette C6.R won both American Le Mans GT1 Championships: Teams and Manufacturers. On March 17, 2007 it won the GT1 class in the 12 Hours of Sebring.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: For Le Mans 2007, four C6.R's were on the entry list, the two Corvette Racing entries joined by single entries from the Luc Alphand Aventures and PSI-Motorsport teams.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: The heart of the C6.R, its LS7.R motor, was crowned as Global Motorsport Engine of the Year by a jury of 50 race engine engineers on the Professional Motorsport World Expo 2006 in Cologne, Germany.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: For 2011, the aerodynamics of the ALMS cars were modified to be similar to the ZR1. This car has since won the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans in the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes. In 2012, the Corvette C6.R won again in the GTE-Am category.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: In addition to the American Le Mans Series, Corvette C6.Rs also race in the FIA GT1 World Championship. The GT1 cars are given more power and have less aerodynamics restrictions than the Le Mans cars, which follow GT2 regulations.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: Riley Technologies built a GT2-class Chevrolet Corvette for the 2008 American Le Mans Series. The car also raced at the 2009 Petit Le Mans, where it beat both Pratt & Miller-built factory cars in qualifying.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: Entered in the FIA GT3 European Championship series as a GT3 class car, the Z06-R is a modified production Z06. Changes were necessary to make the car endurance race ready. These include a stripped interior, full rollcage for safety, center-locking wheels, carbon fiber doors, rear deck spoiler and front splitter. The LS7 and LS3-engine and drivetrain are built by APP Racing Engines from the Netherlands. The car is not road legal.


title: Chevrolet Corvette (C6)

text: Eight Z06-R were constructed by Callaway Competition GmbH in Leingarten, Germany, for the 2006 season. The French team Riverside campaigned a three car team. The Z06R won the FIA GT3 European Championship in its second year of entry. By 2011, all Z06-R teams discontinued their racing efforts in GT3, ending the car's FIA career. Z06-Rs are also campaigned in national championships.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He also shared volumes and collaborated with Charles Lamb, Robert Southey, and Charles Lloyd. He wrote the poems "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan", as well as the major prose work "Biographia Literaria". His critical work, especially on William Shakespeare, was highly influential, and he helped introduce German idealist philosophy to English-speaking cultures. Coleridge coined many familiar words and phrases, including "suspension of disbelief". He had a major influence on Ralph Waldo Emerson and American transcendentalism.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: Throughout his adult life, Coleridge had crippling bouts of anxiety and depression; it has been speculated that he had bipolar disorder, which had not been defined during his lifetime. He was physically unhealthy, which may have stemmed from a bout of rheumatic fever and other childhood illnesses. He was treated for these conditions with laudanum, which fostered a lifelong opium addiction.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: Coleridge was born on 21 October 1772 in the town of Ottery St Mary in Devon, England. Samuel's father was the Reverend John Coleridge (1718–1781), the well-respected vicar of St Mary's Church, Ottery St Mary and was headmaster of the King's School, a free grammar school established by King Henry VIII (1509–1547) in the town. He had previously been master of Hugh Squier's School in South Molton, Devon, and lecturer of nearby Molland.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: John Coleridge had three children by his first wife. Samuel was the youngest of ten by the Reverend Mr. Coleridge's second wife, Anne Bowden (1726–1809), probably the daughter of John Bowden, Mayor of South Molton, Devon, in 1726. Coleridge suggests that he "took no pleasure in boyish sports" but instead read "incessantly" and played by himself.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: After John Coleridge died in 1781, 8-year-old Samuel was sent to Christ's Hospital, a charity school which was founded in the 16th century in Greyfriars, London, where he remained throughout his childhood, studying and writing poetry. At that school Coleridge became friends with Charles Lamb, a schoolmate, and studied the works of Virgil and William Lisle Bowles.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In one of a series of autobiographical letters written to Thomas Poole, Coleridge wrote: "At six years old I remember to have read "Belisarius", "Robinson Crusoe", and "Philip Quarll" – and then I found the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments" – one tale of which (the tale of a man who was compelled to seek for a pure virgin) made so deep an impression on me (I had read it in the evening while my mother was mending stockings) that I was haunted by spectres whenever I was in the dark – and I distinctly remember the anxious and fearful eagerness with which I used to watch the window in which the books lay – and whenever the sun lay upon them, I would seize it, carry it by the wall, and bask, and read."


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: Coleridge seems to have appreciated his teacher, as he wrote in recollections of his school days in "Biographia Literaria": I enjoyed the inestimable advantage of a very sensible, though at the same time, a very severe master [...] At the same time that we were studying the Greek Tragic Poets, he made us read Shakespeare and Milton as lessons: and they were the lessons too, which required most time and trouble to bring up, so as to escape his censure. I learnt from him, that Poetry, even that of the loftiest, and, seemingly, that of the wildest odes, had a logic of its own, as severe as that of science; and more difficult, because more subtle, more complex, and dependent on more, and more fugitive causes. [...] In our own English compositions (at least for the last three years of our school education) he showed no mercy to phrase, metaphor, or image, unsupported by a sound sense, or where the same sense might have been conveyed with equal force and dignity in plainer words... In fancy I can almost hear him now, exclaiming "Harp? Harp? Lyre? Pen and ink, boy, you mean! Muse, boy, Muse? your Nurse's daughter, you mean! Pierian spring? Oh aye! the cloister-pump, I suppose!" [...] Be this as it may, there was one custom of our master's, which I cannot pass over in silence, because I think it ... worthy of imitation. He would often permit our theme exercises, ... to accumulate, till each lad had four or five to be looked over. Then placing the whole number abreast on his desk, he would ask the writer, why this or that sentence might not have found as appropriate a place under this or that other thesis: and if no satisfying answer could be returned, and two faults of the same kind were found in one exercise, the irrevocable verdict followed, the exercise was torn up, and another on the same subject to be produced, in addition to the tasks of the day.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: From 1791 until 1794, Coleridge attended Jesus College, Cambridge. In 1792, he won the Browne Gold Medal for an ode that he wrote attacking the slave trade.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In December 1793, he left the college and enlisted in the 15th (The King's) Light Dragoons using the false name "Silas Tomkyn Comberbache", perhaps because of debt or because the girl that he loved, Mary Evans, had rejected him. His brothers arranged for his discharge a few months later under the reason of "insanity" and he was readmitted to Jesus College, though he would never receive a degree from the university.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: At Jesus College, Coleridge was introduced to political and theological ideas then considered radical, including those of the poet Robert Southey with whom he collaborated on the play "The Fall of Robespierre". Coleridge joined Southey in a plan, later abandoned, to found a utopian commune-like society, called Pantisocracy, in the wilderness of Pennsylvania. In 1795, the two friends married sisters Sara and Edith Fricker, in St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, but Coleridge's marriage with Sara proved unhappy. He grew to detest his wife, whom he married mainly because of social constraints. Following the birth of their fourth child, he eventually separated from her.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: A third sister, Mary, had already married a third poet, Robert Lovell, and both became partners in Pantisocracy. Lovell also introduced Coleridge and Southey to their future patron Joseph Cottle, but died of a fever in April 1796. Coleridge was with him at his death.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In 1796 he released his first volume of poems entitled "Poems on Various Subjects", which also included four poems by Charles Lamb as well as a collaboration with Robert Southey and a work suggested by his and Lamb's schoolfriend Robert Favell. Among the poems were "Religious Musings", "Monody on the Death of Chatterton" and an early version of "The Eolian Harp" entitled "Effusion 35". A second edition was printed in 1797, this time including an appendix of works by Lamb and Charles Lloyd, a young poet to whom Coleridge had become a private tutor.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In 1796 he also privately printed "Sonnets from Various Authors", including sonnets by Lamb, Lloyd, Southey and himself as well as older poets such as William Lisle Bowles.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: Coleridge made plans to establish a journal, "The Watchman", to be printed every eight days to avoid a weekly newspaper tax. The first issue of the short-lived journal was published in March 1796. It had ceased publication by May of that year.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: The years 1797 and 1798, during which he lived in what is now known as Coleridge Cottage, in Nether Stowey, Somerset, were among the most fruitful of Coleridge's life. In 1795, Coleridge met poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy. (Wordsworth, having visited him and being enchanted by the surroundings, rented Alfoxton Park, a little over three miles [5 km] away.) Besides "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Coleridge composed the symbolic poem "Kubla Khan", written—Coleridge himself claimed—as a result of an opium dream, in "a kind of a reverie"; and the first part of the narrative poem "Christabel". The writing of "Kubla Khan", written about the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan and his legendary palace at Xanadu, was said to have been interrupted by the arrival of a "Person from Porlock" – an event that has been embellished upon in such varied contexts as science fiction and Nabokov's "Lolita". During this period, he also produced his much-praised "conversation poems" "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison", "Frost at Midnight", and "".


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In 1798, Coleridge and Wordsworth published a joint volume of poetry, "Lyrical Ballads", which proved to be the starting point for the English romantic age. Wordsworth may have contributed more poems, but the real star of the collection was Coleridge's first version of "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". It was the longest work and drew more praise and attention than anything else in the volume. In the spring Coleridge temporarily took over for Rev. Joshua Toulmin at Taunton's Mary Street Unitarian Chapel while Rev. Toulmin grieved over the drowning death of his daughter Jane. Poetically commenting on Toulmin's strength, Coleridge wrote in a 1798 letter to John Prior Estlin, "I walked into Taunton (eleven miles) and back again, and performed the divine services for Dr. Toulmin. I suppose you must have heard that his daughter, (Jane, on 15 April 1798) in a melancholy derangement, suffered herself to be swallowed up by the tide on the sea-coast between Sidmouth and Bere (Beer). These events cut cruelly into the hearts of old men: but the good Dr. Toulmin bears it like the true practical Christian, – there is indeed a tear in his eye, but that eye is lifted up to the Heavenly Father."


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: Coleridge also worked briefly in Shropshire, where he came in December 1797 as locum to its local Unitarian minister, Dr Rowe, in their church in the High Street at Shrewsbury. He is said to have read his "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" at a literary evening in Mardol. He was then contemplating a career in the ministry, and gave a probationary sermon in High Street church on Sunday, 14 January 1798. William Hazlitt, a Unitarian minister's son, was in the congregation, having walked from Wem to hear him. Coleridge later visited Hazlitt and his father at Wem but within a day or two of preaching he received a letter from Josiah Wedgwood II, who had offered to help him out of financial difficulties with an annuity of £150 (approximately £13,000 in today's money) per year on condition he give up his ministerial career. Coleridge accepted this, to the disappointment of Hazlitt who hoped to have him as a neighbour in Shropshire.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: From 16 September 1798, Coleridge and the Wordsworths left for a stay in Germany; Coleridge soon went his own way and spent much of his time in university towns. In February 1799 he enrolled at the University of Göttingen, where he attended lectures by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach and Johann Gottfried Eichhorn. During this period, he became interested in German philosophy, especially the transcendental idealism and critical philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and in the literary criticism of the 18th-century dramatist Gotthold Lessing. Coleridge studied German and, after his return to England, translated the dramatic trilogy "Wallenstein" by the German Classical poet Friedrich Schiller into English. He continued to pioneer these ideas through his own critical writings for the rest of his life (sometimes without attribution), although they were unfamiliar and difficult for a culture dominated by empiricism.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In 1799, Coleridge and the Wordsworths stayed at Thomas Hutchinson's farm on the River Tees at Sockburn, near Darlington.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: It was at Sockburn that Coleridge wrote his ballad-poem "Love", addressed to Sara Hutchinson. The knight mentioned is the mailed figure on the Conyers tomb in ruined Sockburn church. The figure has a wyvern at his feet, a reference to the Sockburn Worm slain by Sir John Conyers (and a possible source for Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky").


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: The worm was supposedly buried under the rock in the nearby pasture; this was the 'greystone' of Coleridge's first draft, later transformed into a 'mount'. The poem was a direct inspiration for John Keats' famous poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci".


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: Coleridge's early intellectual debts, besides German idealists like Kant and critics like Lessing, were first to William Godwin's "Political Justice", especially during his Pantisocratic period, and to David Hartley's "Observations on Man", which is the source of the psychology which is found in "Frost at Midnight". Hartley argued that one becomes aware of sensory events as impressions, and that "ideas" are derived by noticing similarities and differences between impressions and then by naming them. Connections resulting from the coincidence of impressions create linkages, so that the occurrence of one impression triggers those links and calls up the memory of those ideas with which it is associated (See Dorothy Emmet, "Coleridge and Philosophy").


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: Coleridge was critical of the literary taste of his contemporaries, and a literary conservative insofar as he was afraid that the lack of taste in the ever growing masses of literate people would mean a continued desecration of literature itself.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In 1800, he returned to England and shortly thereafter settled with his family and friends in Greta Hall at Keswick in the Lake District of Cumberland to be near Grasmere, where Wordsworth had moved. He was a houseguest of the Wordsworths' for eighteen months, but was a difficult houseguest, as his dependency on laudanum grew and his frequent nightmares would wake the children. He was also a fussy eater, to Dorothy Wordsworth's frustration, who had to cook. For example, not content with salt, Coleridge sprinkled cayenne pepper on his eggs, which he ate from a teacup. His marital problems, nightmares, illnesses, increased opium dependency, tensions with Wordsworth, and a lack of confidence in his poetic powers fuelled the composition of "Dejection: An Ode" and an intensification of his philosophical studies.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In 1802, Coleridge took a nine-day walking holiday in the fells of the Lake District. Coleridge is credited with the first recorded descent of Scafell to Mickledore via Broad Stand, although this was more due to his getting lost than a keenness for mountaineering.


title: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

text: In 1804, he travelled to Sicily and Malta, working for a time as Acting Public Secretary of Malta under the Civil Commissioner, Alexander Ball, a task he performed successfully. He lived in San Anton Palace in the village of Attard. He gave this up and returned to England in 1806. Dorothy Wordsworth was shocked at his condition upon his return. From 1807 to 1808, Coleridge returned to Malta and then travelled in Sicily and Italy, in the hope that leaving Britain's damp climate would improve his health and thus enable him to reduce his consumption of opium. Thomas De Quincey alleges in his "Recollections of the Lakes and the Lake Poets" that it was during this period that Coleridge became a full-blown opium addict, using the drug as a substitute for the lost vigour and creativity of his youth. It has been suggested that this reflects De Quincey's own experiences more than Coleridge's.