WWE News: Shawn Michaels And The Undertaker Confirmed For ‘Monday Night RAW’ In January

Wrestling fans should be in for a treat as the new year kicks off, as two WWE legends — Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker — will be on Monday Night RAW, apparently for separate reasons, as new reports suggest.

The last time we saw The Undertaker on WWE television, he had appeared on the 900^th episode of SmackDown Live in November, meeting with the brand’s men’s team for Survivor Series and warning them that they had to beat RAW‘s men’s team or “have reason to fear the Deadman.” He also announced that WrestleMania will “no longer define who I am,” and that he’s “back taking souls and digging holes.” This led to speculation that he would be making more frequent appearances on TV, but we’ve yet to see him return since that SmackDown Live episode, which aired on November 15.

The last time we saw The Undertaker on WWE television, he had appeared on the 900^th episode of SmackDown Live in November, meeting with the brand’s men’s team for Survivor Series, and warning them that they had to beat RAW‘s men’s team or “have reason to fear the Deadman.” He also announced that WrestleMania will “no longer define who I am,” and that he’s “back taking souls and digging holes.” This led to speculation that he would be making more frequent appearances on TV, but we’ve yet to see him return since that SmackDown Live episode, which aired on November 15.

#Undertaker & #ShawnMichaels
Are Reportedly Confirmed To Appear
On #RAW {9th Jan, 2017} pic.twitter.com/f0tt33v0df

— The New Era (@ConnectWWE) December 31, 2016

Meanwhile, Shawn Michaels has been absent from WWE programming since WrestleMania 32, where he and fellow Attitude Era legends “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Mick Foley teamed up to attack the villainous League of Nations stable. Like The Undertaker, Shawn is mainly restricted to special appearances, though he has been retired as an active wrestler since 2010. Still, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from spinning; The Inquisitr reported in October that Michaels had been rumored to have a match with AJ Styles at the 2017 Royal Rumble, which takes place in his hometown of San Antonio.

Although most current rumors suggest a match against SmackDown Live mainstay John Cena at WrestleMania 33, The Undertaker will be on Monday Night RAW in the second episode of the new year, wrote SEScoops. The show will take place on January 9 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, and local advertising is simply hyping up the Deadman’s “return to Monday Night RAW,” with no specifics as to what fans can expect. As The Undertaker did main-event the very first episode of RAW on January 11, 1993, it’s possible that bringing him back for the January 9, 2017 episode will be to commemorate RAW‘s 24^th anniversary.

Shawn Michaels is also reportedly confirmed to be appearing on the January 9 episode of RAW and will be making a “special appearance” at the show. SEScoops believes this may be related to his starring role in the film The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, a “faith-based” movie distributed by WWE Studios and scheduled for release on January 20.

Less than 2 weeks until 2017's ruthless @WWE Raw event! Fun for ALL ages. Tickets start at just $20.00! >> https://t.co/0KTmN9kAtv pic.twitter.com/DlrGPB6dVN

— Smoothie King Center (@SmoothieKingCtr) December 27, 2016

As shown in the above tweet, the Smoothie King Center is not advertising either Shawn Michaels or The Undertaker on Monday Night RAW. Both men aren’t advertised either on the WWE website as making their returns to the company’s “flagship” show. But Wrestling Inc shared a reader’s screenshot, showing a localized WWE ad from Facebook that links to the Ticketmaster website, with the following caption:

“On January 9^th at Smoothie King Center, The Undertaker returns to WWE RAW, plus a special appearance from ‘HBK’ Shawn Michaels! Seats are going fast, get yours today for the return of The Deadman and HBK to NOLA!”

Considering what’s been rumored about WWE’s plans for The Undertaker, a Monday Night RAW appearance does seem a bit strange. But if he and Shawn Michaels do appear on RAW as advertised, there’s a possibility they may help WWE kick things off on the road to WrestleMania. And it won’t be surprising either, given their iconic status and history at the flagship pay-per-view event, particularly Undertaker’s win over Michaels at WrestleMania 25’s “Career vs. Streak” match.

[Featured Image by WWE]