It’s been a whirlwind year for the Undertaker, one of the most legendary WWE superstars of all time. In early 2016, the Undertaker had to help convince Shane McMahon to return to the company and compete in that marquee Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 32 . Vince McMahon put the wheels in motion, but the Undertaker’s call helped seal the deal for the biggest surprise of the year.
Many of the WWE’s top stars were forced to miss the event due to injury, but the Undertaker was as reliable as ever. However, during the build to his match with Shane, his relationship with Vince became strained, and he was telling people close to him that the match inside AT&T Stadium was his last.
The Undertaker helped convince Shane to come back, but in the months following WrestleMania , Vince had to pull out all the stops to convince the Deadman not to retire. Details surrounding their conversations have yet to become public, and they may never be. But Vince was able to persuade his Phenom to return for at least one more run.
So back in November of 2016, the Undertaker returned to SmackDown to help commemorate the show’s historic 900th episode. But in doing so, he declared that WrestleMania would no longer define his career, an indication that he could be wrestling additional matches on other shows. He would, however, disappear for almost two more months before reappearing this past Monday on RAW to enter himself into the Royal Rumble match.
Even before he returned to RAW , there were several reports suggesting that the Undertaker had emerged as the favorite to win this year’s Royal Rumble. Backstage, WWE officials had narrowed down his WrestleMania opponents to John Cena and Roman Reigns, both of whom are expected to walk out of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view as the top champions of their respective brands.
The Deadman returned to SmackDown because the original intention was to book him in an angle with either Cena, AJ Styles, or both. At the same time, the Undertaker was recovering from recent hip surgery. The recovery time changed an original plan of putting him in a match with Styles (or Cena and Styles) for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble . Thus, they decided to put him in the actual Rumble match, which will take a much less physical toll on his body.
So because Cena is expected to defeat Styles for the WWE Championship, and Reigns is in line to dethrone Kevin Owens as WWE Universal Champion, the Undertaker became a front-runner to win the Royal Rumble. However, according to the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter , that is no longer the case.
In fact, a match with John Cena has been pulled off the table completely. In addition, so has everyone from the entire SmackDown locker room. The Undertaker came back to RAW this week, not only because he is entering the battle royal later this month, but because WWE officials are planning his WrestleMania opponent with someone from the red brand.
Many people have speculated that someone will be Braun Strowman, especially since cameras cut to Strowman during Undertaker’s segment this week. However, “The Monster Among Men” is now no longer an option either, at least for WrestleMania . There is a very distinct possibility that the two will face off somewhere down the line, but not in Orlando this coming April. We should even expect the two giants to have a moment in the Rumble match, but the ultimate payoff may not come until SummerSlam .
So as of now, the Undertaker is not expected to win the Royal Rumble because Vince doesn’t want him in a world title match at WrestleMania . Nor does he want him to face John Cena, and he’s eliminated Braun Strowman from consideration. Roman Reigns is likely off the table due to his presumptive win over Kevin Owens. Owens is in line for a match with Chris Jericho. Seth Rollins is still set for a showdown with Triple H. Goldberg and Brock Lesnar are locked into the culmination of their rivalry.
That doesn’t leave very many main event level talent from the RAW side, with the exception of Finn Balor who is targeting a WrestleMania return. If Cena, Reigns, Strowman, Goldberg, Lesnar, Owens, Jericho, and Rollins are off the table, who would you like to see face the Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 ?
[Featured Image by WWE]