Back in November, The Undertaker showed up and warned the entire SmackDown LIVE team that they needed to win at Survivor Series . After that, he disappeared again. Now, he showed up on Monday Night Raw this past week and announced he will enter the Royal Rumble and looks to win it all. Many have wondered what this could mean for his match at WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, but Vince McMahon is ready to start from scratch for the WWE legend.
On this week’s Monday Night Raw from New Orleans, The Undertaker appeared and revealed he was entering the Royal Rumble match as recapped by the official website of WWE . There are many more names that will be called to fill the battle royal, but this was a huge one.
As soon as The Undertaker announced his Rumble plans, the odds shot up on the betting lines. Mirror reported that bookies immediately had him as a 5/2 choice to win the whole match and go on to main event WrestleMania 33 in early April.
Unfortunately, fans likely aren’t going to see that happen.
While anything is possible to happen and things may always change, The Wrestling Observer , by way of Cageside Seats , states that the card for WrestleMania 33 is being changed. As of now, Vince McMahon is scrapping all previous ideas for the Deadman at the event and will not have the WWE legend battling for the WWE Championship or WWE Universal Championship.
That being said, that also rules him out of winning the Royal Rumble which will have the winner in the main event at the big pay-per-view (PPV). Sure, he could lose the title shot before the PPV in April, but the only big event before then is Fastlane in March, but that is a Monday Night Raw -exclusive event that is already confirmed to include Goldberg .
Taking things a step further, Vince McMahon is also putting the squash on two other matches that many thought the Deadman would be involved in. One was a match with Braun Strowman which was teased on Monday Night Raw , and that may happen, but not on the grandest stage of them all.
One other match that Vince doesn’t want is a “Legend vs. Legend” bout that was supposed to happen last year, but an injury got in the way.
Last year, WWE had the plans in place for John Cena vs. “The Deadman,” but an injury to Cena ended up putting a hold to that feud. With both men healthy, it was thought that it would take place this year, but that doesn’t seem to be the case either.
Vince McMahon knows that some of these matches are huge deals and could be gigantic draws for WWE. The Undertaker in the main event at WrestleMania would be monstrous as the fans would love to see that happen at least one more time before the Deadman ends up retiring.
Another match that would be bigger than life is seeing the Deadman take on John Cena. This is a battle that would be two of the biggest names in WWE history, but maybe, Vince McMahon simply isn’t ready for that one to happen yet. If that’s the case, Vince obviously feels as if he has the Deadman for at least another few years before retirement.
Now, though, which direction do they go in with the Deadman who has been part-time for years?
The Undertaker is not getting any younger, but he is making more appearances than he has in years, and the fans love it. The fact that he is entering the 2017 Royal Rumble is huge, and immediately upon doing that, the odds had him as the winner. Now, Vince McMahon is ready to look at something entirely different than “The Deadman” main eventing WrestleMania 33 or putting him up against John Cena , Braun Strowman, or any other ideas that had come about.
[Featured Image by WWE]