WWE has been selling us a lot of interesting stories heading into WrestleMania 32 . We know about Roman Reigns vs Triple H well because WWE has been trying to shove Roman down the throats of WWE fans for some time now. The problem is that this match was not something WWE fans wanted. Many didn’t want to see Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania once again. It was a match many wanted to see, The Game vs Reigns, but not in the main event of WrestleMania. It wasn’t even WWE’s plan, but injuries resulted in the match happening here.
Many felt that Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker was the major story heading into the show of shows. It is THE storyline that fans are paying attention to, and that was made ever clear when Vince McMahon added the stipulation that, if The Deadman lost at WrestleMania , it would be his last. He never said it would be Taker’s “last match,” but rather said it would be his last WrestleMania . It is pretty much the same thing, however.
A stipulation like putting Taker’s career on the line makes this match a major, must-see match. While Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar could main event as well, it was felt among many backstage that Shane vs Taker deserved to main-event WrestleMania 32 . Vince McMahon was all for it, but Triple H, of course, wanted his match with Reigns to close the show. While Reigns vs Triple H very well could end the show just fine, the end of the match is not going to send fans home happy or surprised. Vince did not want to end the show in boos, however.
Meanwhile, McMahon vs Undertaker would result in a good reaction regardless. Now, according to Cageside Seats , it appears that Vince plans to close the show with this match over the WWE World Title match. This would be the third time in the last fifteen years that WWE has decided on this. The last match to not involve the WWE World Title was The Rock vs John Cena at WrestleMania 28 . Before that, Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26 main-evented, and that was The Heart Break Kid’s last match.
It makes total sense to end the show with this match. If Shane wins, he takes control of WWE RAW, and thus control of the company. This could be WWE’s reset. Similar to what Days of Future Past did for the the X-Men franchise, WWE could erase all storylines and begin new following a McMahon win. Shane could then begin to give us the programming we’ve been asking for, and it could then lead to a WWE brand split, which is something all fans have hoped for.
All of this being said, Shane winning changes a lot of things. Putting Undertaker’s career on the line seems quite major, but it only makes the match THAT much bigger. It also makes you wonder where WWE will go with the match. Your brain tells you that they will have Shane McMahon win against Undertaker, but then the career of The Deadman is on the line. There’s also no way that Shane could beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania inside Hell in a Cell on his own.
How could Shane accomplish such a thing? Brock Lesnar beat Taker, but that was Lesnar. Lesnar is a freak athlete that is a once-in-a-generation type of talent. Shane is a man in his 40’s who is known for being crazy and doing whatever it takes to win a match… but he’s not a Lesnar type who can match up well with Undertaker. That means help will be needed for Shane to win the match.
This is what makes having this match main-event the show such a major deal. It is rumored that the likes of John Cena and even Sting could help Shane win. Cena would have been there only to help set up a match with Taker at WrestleMania 33 . However, Taker in a loss could not give us that match. Sting then makes the most sense, as he has always wanted The Undertaker and also is very anti-authority. He’s been at The Authority’s throat since his arrival in 2014 and would love to be the man who helped to end them while also taking out Undertaker.
Many believe that, if Shane McMahon were to win, the stipulation added for Undertaker could be reversed due to the power Shane would then hold. However, that is up in the air. A storyline could easily be thrown in if WWE wanted Undertaker back or if The Phenom wanted to wrestle again. By all indications, this match being in Texas would be the perfect retirement. However, fans do not want Shane to be the last opponent for Undertaker, as there are so many better people to put in that place.
[Image via WWE]