WWE Rumors: The Undertaker Has Already Selected His Specific Opponent For ‘WrestleMania 36’
For the last three or four years, fans have thought that The Undertaker was having his final WrestleMania match and going to retire. This year, he didn’t even have a match and fans thought “The Deadman” was all but done. Now, he’s coming back for a tag team match at Extreme Rules next month and he has reportedly already hand-picked his opponent for WrestleMania 36 next year.
Earlier this month, The Undertaker returned to the ring after months away when he took on Goldberg at WWE Super ShowDown. That match brought him a victory, but many thought that he wouldn’t be seen again for months.
On this week’s Monday Night Raw, he returned to help Roman Reigns as the “Big Dog” was being beaten down by Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre. The Inquisitr reported that a huge tag match has now been set for Extreme Rules next month as Taker will team with Reigns to take on Shane-O Mac and McIntyre.
This is a rather interesting match-up that kind of came out of nowhere and it’s hard to understand where WWE is coming from with it. Well, the newest rumors that are currently going around give reason for this latest storyline and it’s going to stretch into next year.
According to Brad Shepard of the Oh, You Didn’t Know podcast, this whole thing is because The Undertaker has already hand-picked his opponent for WrestleMania 36. While it may seem way too early, Taker has already chosen to face McIntyre at next year’s big event.
Shepard says that WWE has chosen to begin the WrestleMania 36 storyline this early in an effort to boost ratings. It certainly did help some, as the ratings for this week’s Monday Night Raw were up despite the poor attendance and ticket sales for Stomping Grounds on Sunday.
Of course, so many different things can change with nine months to go until WrestleMania 36, but the plan is already in place. There will likely be a break of some kind where The Undertaker won’t be on TV for a while, but he will return to pick things back up with McIntyre for the “Road to WrestleMania.”
It is also expected that Shane McMahon is going to play into this angle in some form or another.
The Undertaker’s return was very unexpected, but the huge pop and ovation from the Raw crowd makes it evident that WWE made the right choice. Not only is his return going to help ratings and the buy rate for Extreme Rules, but it also gives McIntyre something to do. Another part of this rumor is that WWE’s creative team had no plans for McIntyre after he finished his feud with Roman Reigns.