The Boneyard match between AJ Styles and The Undertaker was one of the highlights of WrestleMania 36. Few knew what to expect when the match was announced, but the cinematic presentation had everyone talking once the weekend was over.
The match was such a mystery to people that not even Vince McMahon knew what was in store.
"When we got done shooting NXT, I went to Vince and said, 'If there's something I can take and run with it, that would probably be the most helpful. What do you think needs the most (attention) that I can look at?' He said, 'The Boneyard match.' 'What is the Boneyard match?' 'I don't know. It's a graveyard.' We got this huge field, turned it into a graveyard. I asked, 'What do you want it to be?' 'I don't know, just make it good.' I went to Michael Hayes and said, 'I'm gonna grab the Boneyard match' and he said 'Thank God,'" Triple H recalled on WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves.
Triple H continued, discussing the plot for the Boneyard match and how it wasn't what he had initially imagined.
"We drove to this giant field, which was 30-40 minutes outside of Orlando and the giant field ended up being a one-acre lot behind this barn at the end of a residential neighborhood. We got out of the car and I was like, 'Where is the big field?' 'Right here.' 'You're kidding me.' Michael is like, 'This ain't gonna work. I gotta call Vince and tell him to put this in the studio or find another location.' 'Michael, this is it. These are the cards we've been dealt. We've got to figure it out.'"
Triple H noted that, initially, he only had one camera to work with but was told that they were trying to get him a second camera. That's when he went to Vince.
"I pitched the concept to Vince, he said he loved it. I said, 'The problem is, I only have one camera.' 'Well, you can't do it with one camera.' 'I know, I have a solution.' And my solution was to use the digital team for NXT. Jeremy Borash and a team of digital shooters. It's a different format. I said, 'We can shoot it with them and do it cinematic style. I'll shoot it like a film and I believe we can create something special.' I think everybody else was against it, but Vince was like, 'I don't see that we have much choice, so that's what we'll do,'" he said.
Triple H also stated that a car kept driving by the shoot, wanting to see what was going on, and the headlights would interrupt certain shots. He also said Undertaker could go forever with this format, while also praising AJ Styles for his work in the match.
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