Backstage News On The Boneyard Match & How It Came Together

A lot more went into the Boneyard Match at WrestleMania than we thought.

The most talked about this in a good way coming out of WrestleMania was the Boneyard Match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles. No one expected it to come out as great as it did in the end and now we know what it took to put this all together.

According to a story by WhatCulture, they stated that the match was filmed in Florida, but it wasn’t “anywhere near the Performance Center.” WWE hired a company outside of WWE but local to custom-build the set that was used. The construction itself took five days to construct. Originally WWE only wanted just a “graveyard promo scene” and when Triple H and Michaels Hayes arrived on set and saw the level of quality that was being put into the build they were very impressed and decided to pull out all the stops.

The shoot itself started on March 25 at 9 pm and lastest till 5 am the next morning. After the eight-hour shoot, it took them about a week to clean everything up.

As it pertains to the production company they hired for the shoot, it was said that they hired a local orange Country company. With the company itself, they were currently sitting with no jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they not only welcomed the opportunity but commented that WWE treated them very well. It was said that the experience was wholly positive for all involved.

For Undertaker’s entrance, WWE wanted to use an abandoned ditch, a bridge, and a roadside. The production crew cautioned not to do so because the areas they wanted to use were private property and they would have to acquire permits to do so and they did not have enough time to obtain the permits. Basically they advised against it to stay away from any legal trouble.

The druids used in the shoot were said the be “nervous” in not wanting to mess anything up. The Undertaker, AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson all reportedly spent a considerable amount of time with the extras to ensure them all would go well as well as make them feel comfortable and familiar with what they needed to do.

The “smack talk” during the match between Undertaker and Styles was all improvised. the original script did not have any at all but both convinced Triple H to let them talk away and he was said to be happy to oblige. As the segment went on, Triple H reportedly liked it more and more and let them go all the way saying nothing was “off limits.”

Originally The Undertaker was not supposed to bleed during the match but when he decided to ree-shoot the hearse window attack from a different angle he ended up accidentally smashing it. The production crew contemplated filming it from another angle, but everyone decided this it looked “cool” and kept it the way it was. The incident itself cause Undertaker to suffer a cut on his arm and the decision was also made to not stop shooting to bandage him up.

Finally, Triple H and Michael Hayes found a “prop hand” on the location and wanted to use it but was unsure in what way. It was Undertaker who came up with the idea of making it look as if Styles’ hand was sticking out of the top of the grave at the end of the match.

Also, it was stated by Bryan Alvarez on Sunday’s Wrestling Observer Radio that Jeremey Borash was on set for the entire shoot and helped as well. This makes a lot of sense and many said they had Final Deletion vides and it was Matt hardy and Borash who created and put together all the Broken Universe matches for IMPACT.