The “Road to WrestleMania 33 ” has officially begun, and there were plenty of wheels put in motion last night at the Royal Rumble . Tonight on Monday Night Raw , storylines will be advanced and more will be known, but there is something much bigger in the works. It now appears as if the opponent for The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 is now known, and when the match is finally announced, the fans will be even angrier than they are now.
When The Undertaker appeared at No. 29 in the Royal Rumble match, many thought it would be the legend winning the whole thing. Brock Lesnar and Goldberg had already entered as had everyone else scheduled to appear, but there was one spot left open, and it belonged to Roman Reigns.
As reported by Heavy , the boos heard by the audience watching at home were not piped in and were as realistic as they could possibly get. Once the countdown was over and his music hit, the fans kept it no secret that the WWE had disappointed them.
Fans chanted “bulls**t” at this big surprise entrant to finish out the match, and there was plenty of fear that he would actually win the Royal Rumble again. As soon as The Undertaker started facing off with Reigns, though, the fans had their mood lightened up a little bit.
As soon as The Undertaker got the upper-hand and then delivered a vicious chokeslam to Reigns, the fans turned all of their boos to cheers, but that would be short-lived.
Not long after that, The Undertaker delivered a chokeslam to Chris Jericho and prepared to eliminate him, but he was blindsided by Reigns. The “Big Dog” dumped Undertaker over the top rope and to the floor resulting in the crowd booing even louder and an intense staredown between the two superstars.
Wrestling Observer Radio , by way of Wrestling Inc. , is reporting that WWE’s plan right now is for Roman Reigns to take on The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 . The elimination and staredown on Sunday night were just a tease and a way of getting things started. It may be needless to say, but fans aren’t taking it very well.
I seriously don’t wanna see Undertaker vs Roman Reigns at #WrestleMania .
— The Undertaker (@TeamUndertaker_) January 30, 2017
Vince, I don’t want a lot for #Wrestlemania I just want you to promise me you won’t do Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker. #RoyalRumble #RAW
— TitanTron (@TronTitan) January 30, 2017
The Twitter account for Wrestling News Source had an interesting idea for the match at WrestleMania 33 , even though it was meant as more of a joke.
Book Reigns vs. Undertaker in a Buried Alive match at WrestleMania. Reigns rep is pretty much unsalvageable at this stage. #RoyalRumble
— WrestlingNewsSource (@WNSource) January 30, 2017
Now, that was really the only hint the WWE gave that teased a Reigns vs. Undertaker feud, but there are some barriers that need to be crossed first. Of course, the most obvious one is that they are on different shows, but WrestleMania 33 may end up being a cross-brand pay-per-view.
There is also the confusion from earlier in the night where Braun Strowman interfered in the WWE Universal Championship match and cost Reigns the title against Kevin Owens. Advertisements for upcoming Raw events have Reigns taking on Strowman and there is nothing about The Undertaker, but there wouldn’t be with them on different shows.
Braun Strowman costs Roman Reigns the #UniversalTitle . Roman eliminates Undertaker. So…which feud is happening???
— ®KAKASHI ™ (@Trim_Dynasty) January 30, 2017
The WWE may have tried dropping hints for the big PPV in April, but the company also wanted to turn the minds of the fans in other directions. Another big faceoff in the Royal Rumble saw The Undertaker and Goldberg meet in the center of the ring.
Making matters even more interesting is that Goldberg ended up being eliminated by “The Deadman,” and fans lost their minds over this. Still, it seems as if WWE is planning on going with another Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar match at WrestleMania , so there will be no advancement on the feud between the legends.
Some believe that Roman Reigns entered the Royal Rumble match at No. 30 and eliminated The Undertaker to take any heat off of Randy Orton winning the whole thing. The only problem is that WWE now has to deal with how the fans will react to Reigns at WrestleMania 33 when he walks out to face The Undertaker. If they were concerned with him getting over before, this is certainly going to make him a truly hated heel.
[Featured Image by WWE]