To say WrestleMania 36 exceeded expectations was an understatement. The idea that a two-day pay-per-view held without fans in a warehouse could be good seemed like an impossibility until the show started.

Not only did WWE deliver some great in-ring action on both nights, but it also managed to tell some compelling stories and give us plenty of enjoyable conclusions to various storylines.

Titles changed hands, blood was spilled, careers were made, and bodies were broken. It was everything you would expect from a WrestleMania, just without the WWE Universe there to cheer everybody on.

Certain matches fell short of expectations, but WWE more than made up for those missteps by giving us some fun and shocking moments.

Let's look back at this historic WrestleMania and rank the biggest surprises from the two-day event. 

Becky Lynch Beats Shayna Baszler

Going into WrestleMania, most of the WWE writers at Bleacher Report gave their predictions for an expert panel. Only Erik Beaston picked Becky Lynch to defeat Shayna Baszler.

Perhaps the rest of us were blinded by what we hoped would happen, or maybe we all just assumed WWE wouldn't build somebody up into a nearly unstoppable force for two years in NXT—just to have her lose her first title match on the main roster.

Whatever it was, this was a surprise, but not in a good way. The Man is awesome in her role, but after a year on top, it felt like the right time for her to put somebody else over.

The Queen of Spades will return with more focus and determination. It's always possible she wins the belt at the next PPV or even on an upcoming episode of Raw or SmackDown. 

Hopefully, Monday's Raw will give us some idea of what WWE plans to do with the Raw women's title at Money in the Bank on May 10. 

Charlotte Flair Beats Rhea Ripley

Like Baszler, Rhea Ripley looked poised to make a big impact at WrestleMania. Unlike with Lynch vs. Baszler, the B/R writers unanimously predicted Ripley to win this match.

Charlotte winning the NXT title was genuinely surprising because it means she is probably going to return to the black and gold brand for a short time to reign as its queen.

What this means for Ripley is unclear. She could stay in NXT or end up being a permanent member of the SmackDown roster moving forward.

It would be cool if Ripley won Money in the Bank and cashed it in on Charlotte to win back her title, but a better option would be winning it back in a competitive rematch at the next TakeOver event on August 22 in Boston. 

Bianca Belair Lends the Street Profits a Hand

The women of NXT were all over WrestleMania. Ripley and Baszler both participated in their first 'Mania matches last weekend, but we also saw a surprise appearance from Bianca Belair.

The EST of NXT helped Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins fend off a post-match attack from Zelina Vega, Angel Garza and Austin Theory, who were all also experiencing their first taste of WrestleMania glory.

Seeing Belair was a nice surprise and a reminder that WWE has a lot of people in NXT who are ready to be called up at any time.

This might just be a one-off appearance to save her husband, Ford, but it could also be a sign that she is coming to Raw on a permanent basis. 

Belair is a tremendous athlete and a great character. Whether she stays in NXT or makes the jump to Raw, either brand would be lucky to have her. 

True Love Actually Won

When it comes to romances in WWE, we have been trained to expect the worst. Weddings never go as planned, people betray each other constantly, and some Superstars use a crush by somebody else to manipulate them.

When Otis began pursuing Mandy Rose, many of us expected it to end in heartbreak for The Dozer. Thankfully, WWE went in a different direction.

During Otis and Dolph Ziggler's match on Sunday, Rose came out and attacked Sonya Deville for working with The Showoff behind her back in order to ruin her Valentine's date with Otis.

After he defeated Ziggler, Otis scooped Rose up in his arms, and she laid a kiss on him that would have gotten one of the biggest cheers of the night in front of a live crowd.

The Boneyard and Firefly Fun House Matches Were Good

When WWE announced The Undertaker would face AJ Styles in a Boneyard match and John Cena would face Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Fun House match, nobody had any idea what to expect.

These were two firsts for WWE. While Taker's bout took a lot of inspiration from Matt Hardy's Ultimate Deletion, the Firefly Fun House was something completely original.

WWE has filmed segments in other areas before, including Booker T and Steve Austin's famous grocery store fight, but WrestleMania 36 was a step in a new direction for the company.

There are some fans who were not into the high concept bouts, but for the most part, fans lauded the matches online as fresh and engaging.

They were more like experimental short films than wrestling contests, and that is what they needed to be. The Undertaker looked better than he has in years thanks to the way his fight with Styles was filmed. As for Wyatt, he and Cena managed to succeed when they probably should have failed.

The creative minds in WWE took the situation they were forced to work with and created two entertaining segments nobody will ever forget. The fact that they were so good was the best surprise of the weekend.