Last night on the 900th edition of SmackDown , The Undertaker returned to WWE television. It’s a testament to the respect the WWE Universe has for him that he made such a strong an impact in less than five minutes of television time. There was a lot of speculation over the past few weeks about what WWE had planned for Undertaker’s return. The fans had high expectations, but it’s a matter of debate if he delivered.
Some people thought The Deadman appearing on the go-home show of SmackDown before WWE Survivor Series was an indicator that he’d be taking Shane McMahon spot on Team SmackDown or he’d be involved with the PPV in some way. However, The Undertaker took the last few minutes of SmackDown to give Team SmackDown a pep talk heading into WWE Survivor Series and issued a warning to them if they should fail.
The Undertaker claimed that he was back in WWE to take souls and dig holes. The warning was if anyone deliberately causes Team SmackDown to lose the five on five elimination match at WWE Survivor Series , they should be afraid of The Deadman. It doesn’t seem that we’ll be seeing The Undertaker this Sunday, but his words gave a clear indication about what WWE has planned for him after WWE Survivor Series.
According to a new report , The Undertaker’s post- WWE Survivor Series creative plans are tied to the result of the Raw versus SmackDown traditional elimination match. The report is claiming that WWE is booking Team SmackDown to lose at WWE Survivor Series, but someone specific will cost them the match, which will result in The Undertaker targeting them for his next feud heading into WWE Royal Rumble in January.
Based on last night’s appearance, The Undertaker is exclusive to SmackDown , so the potential opponent for his next feud will likely be on Team SmackDown . Looking at the team, Dean Ambrose and Shane McMahon are unlikely because they’re faces, but Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles are all potential options to be The Phenom’s next feud. We’ve already seen Taker vs. Wyatt, so that doesn’t seem likely to happen again.
It’s been reported that WWE could be favoring Randy Orton to be Undertaker’s opponent for Wrestlemania next year in Orlando. However, it was just reported yesterday that WWE could be planning AJ Styles to face The Undertaker at the WWE Royal Rumble PPV . While the former is an interesting match, Styles vs. Taker is a match the WWE fans haven’t seen before. In fact, it’s a match many people thought they wouldn’t see.
As of this writing, WWE could book Undertaker into either feud after WWE Survivor Series , but we have a pretty good idea that he’ll be feuding with Orton or Styles. There is a lot of speculation that The Undertaker and WWE will be promoting his Wrestlemania bout this year as his retirement match. If that turns out to be true, WWE will be pulling out all the stops on the “The Road to Wrestlemania ” next year.
It’s likely that we’ll see both Randy Orton and AJ Styles face The Undertaker over the next few months, but who will he be facing at WWE Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania 33 ? A lot of people are still hoping John Cena versus The Undertaker comes to fruition next year in Orlando , but that match is still unconfirmed.
Whatever WWE officials decide to do with The Undertaker after WWE Survivor Series is going to be great in the eyes of the WWE Universe. Last night on SmackDown , The Deadman didn’t even need five minutes of television time to set the wrestling world on fire. We can only imagine what he could do with Randy Orton or AJ Styles on two of the potential biggest stages WWE has ever had. WWE Survivor Series is this Sunday, but it’ll be only the beginning no matter what happens at the PPV.
[Featured Image by WWE]
