WWE News: The Undertaker Was Originally Supposed To Be WWE Champion Heading Into ‘WrestleMania’
It’s certainly interesting to consider that the Undertaker has only been on WWE television twice since WrestleMania 32, and the plans for his role at WrestleMania 33 have been written and re-written on numerous occasions. The less he appears, the more WWE officials work on his yearly program on the company’s grandest stage. And as a result, speculation swirls at a fevered pitch among fans and on wrestling sites.
Those two Undertaker appearances, of course, came in the last two months. He first showed up on SmackDown Live in November to help commemorate the brand’s 900th episode, overshadowing the return of Edge in the process. The Deadman declared that he was back, but then he disappeared again until this past Monday, crashing RAW and Mick Foley’s performance review that was publicly conducted by Stephanie McMahon.
Undertaker’s proclamation on SD900 may have resonated with the WWE Universe and locker room, but its ambiguity left many wondering what it meant. Further puzzling the issue, Team SmackDown won the men’s traditional Survivor Series match against Team RAW after the Undertaker warned them that if they didn’t win, the superstar most responsible for the loss would have to answer to him.
That may have been the first sign of a significant re-write of the Undertaker’s script. Originally, his road to WrestleMania was paved in blue as he was booked to face a SmackDown star at the big show in April. Not only that, but according to a new report from Daily Wrestling News, the plan was to have the Undertaker enter WrestleMania as the WWE Champion.
While nothing was ever confirmed, the belief was that the Undertaker would have faced AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble and defeated him for the title. This would have led to the Undertaker defended the belt against John Cena at WrestleMania, where Cena would have won and tied Ric Flair for the most world championship reigns in the history of the business. Cena, of course, may still accomplish that feat when he faces Styles at the pay-per-view in two weeks.
It’s unclear if, in that plan, Cena was scheduled to win the Royal Rumble match, but it was likely he would have been in it instead. The SmackDown brand still had the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, so that certainly could have played a part in scrapping the idea of the Undertaker winning the title at the Rumble because the odds of him defending it at the Chamber would have been slim.
And it still appeared on the surface that the marquee match the WWE was planning was the showdown between Undertaker and Cena. However, behind the scenes, Vince wasn’t convinced and still included Roman Reigns in the mix for a shot at the Phenom. After all, Reigns is expected to win the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble, and Undertaker could have challenged him after winning the Rumble match.
However, that all changed as well. On Thursday, we reported that the Undertaker was no longer being considered to win the Royal Rumble match, nor was he projected to challenge for a championship at WrestleMania. In addition, any superstar on SmackDown was taken off the table as his announcement this past Monday on RAW was used to foreshadow the fact that he’ll be facing someone from the flagship show at the big show in Orlando.
The thought immediately shifted to Braun Strowman, but he too has been eliminated from the chance to face the Undertaker by WWE officials. There is still a very likely chance that the two will be paired up for something meaningful, but it won’t be at WrestleMania.
The script has been flipped in terms of the Undertaker’s WrestleMania plans many times, but at the moment, we know that he won’t win the Royal Rumble, he won’t be facing anyone from SmackDown at WrestleMania, and he won’t enter the event as a champion, nor will he challenge for one.
[Featured Image by WWE]
