Looking at Next Year’s Opponent for The Undertaker

This is an old post. For my predictions regarding Undertaker at Wrestle Mania in 2013, click here.

While it may seem a bit early to be worrying about this just yet, one consequence of the Shawn Michaels – Undertaker confrontation at Wrestlemania 26 is a general sense of uncertainty as to who Undertaker’s next ‘Mania opponent could or should be. In the last decade the Undertaker’s streak has become one of the biggest drawing tools for Wrestlemania that WWE have in their locker but, after the outstanding matches and build-up that we have witnessed for the last two years it is almost impossible to see how they can possibly follow up. If Shawn couldn’t get it done, how are we expected to believe that anyone can possibly beat the streak?

Candidates for the match are already pretty thin on the ground. After Wrestlemania 25 people remarked that the only marquee stars left in WWE that ’Taker had not faced at Wrestlemania were Chris Jericho and John Cena. As yet, that situation has not changed. On the face of it, both men offer a fairly enticing prospect as opponents for the Deadman. Firstly, both men have had relatively little to do with Undertaker over the years. John Cena met ‘Taker at Judgment Day 2003, during Undertaker’s American Badass run but, since then, has only wrestled him in a handful of showpiece TV matches, and Jericho has never wrestled Undertaker at pay per view, so both matches would be pretty fresh, as would the feuds leading into the matches.

Looking at them individually, each has strengths and weaknesses as potential Wrestlemania match-ups. Without wishing to sound like a Cena-hater, one would have to say that, from a wrestling standpoint, Chris Jericho offers the better prospect. Jericho is versatile, talented, experienced and consistent and has wrestled pretty much every kind of match under the sun. Further, his relatively small stature would allow the classic big man-little man dynamic, should the wrestlers wish to employ it. Jericho’s exceptional verbal skills also mean that the promo aspect of the build-up would likely be extremely entertaining as well. The big problem, however, is that Jericho just would not be a credible threat to the streak. His Wrestlemania record is spotty, at best and, although undoubtedly a “top guy”, Jericho is not the kind of ultra-dominant wrestler who carries that threat of real danger with him. Critics would argue that he has put too many guys over to seem as big a threat to the streak as, say, Triple H or Batista did. Then again, the same argument could easily have been made for Shawn Michaels but he managed to convince the crowd for two years running that, just maybe, he might be the guy to do it, despite a ‘Mania record tilted heavily towards the loss column, and a recent history of putting guys over. So, maybe that’s not a killer issue.

John Cena, on the other hand, certainly would carry a credible threat. With an incredibly dominant Wrestlemania record, including more championship victories than anyone else in history, no one could dismiss him. Moreover, beyond kayfabe results, the fact that he is, and seems destined to remain for some time, the poster boy of the company would mean that everybody would have to take the possibility of a Cena victory seriously. As a match, I could see this being really exciting. Even their Judgment Day 2003 match, where Cena was a clear underdog and there was nothing in particular on the line, was highly entertaining – this could be something else altogether. The promos, on the other hand, fill me with dread. The thought of Cena spending weeks doing his “I can’t see how I’ll win but I’ll do my best” routine is not enticing but would almost certainly be the way that WWE would go. If Cena were to be arrogant, confident, cocky even, then that would be a different story. For some reason, WWE seem to think that Cena needs to be presented as a humble hero, when the record of Austin and The Rock should have proven long ago that the WWE audience prefer cocky heroes.

Of the two, on balance Cena seems to be the best option. Although Jericho might wrestle a better match, the fact that the outcome would be so much more uncertain with Cena would probably mean that his match would end up being more exciting. Are these our only options, though? It’s true that they’re the only big names yet to wrestle Undertaker at Wrestlemania but that surely doesn’t mean that they’re the only possible candidates. We have almost a year to go, after all. Might not someone else be ready by then? Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, The Miz and even John Morrison are all people who may have hit the heights by then. Of them all, I see Sheamus as being the most likely. If he continues in his present vein, by early next year he should have built up a formidable record as a dangerous opponent. Drew, I fear, may struggle a little now if the rumours about Vince retiring the “Mr McMahon” character are true. Hopefully, he is established enough now that he no longer needs that crutch. He is also still playing catch-up with regards to Sheamus who, as a former world champion feuding with Triple H, is clearly some way in front of McIntyre in storyline development. The Miz is an unpredictable possibility – if he continues to improve as he has for the last couple of years he may well be one of the top guys in the company soon but, like Jericho, he may not quite come off as a credible threat. Morrison needs a lot of work and, possibly a heel turn but certainly is another guy to watch.

Does Undertaker’s opponent have to be new to him? It’s another valid question that must be asked. A rematch with one of his former opponents might be just as satisfying. Triple H is an enticing possibility. He carries with him a permanent aura of danger and confidence, and would have the obvious storyline spur of “getting revenge for Shawn”. Moreover, as Kevin Eck pointed out in his recent blog on this subject (I heartily recommend Eck’s column, Ring Posts, which you can check out on the Baltimore Sun’s website – just follow my link) Wrestlemania 27 will be the tenth anniversary of Triple H’s first Wrestlemania clash with Undertaker, an awesome match in itself. Edge and Batista probably met Undertaker too recently at ‘Mania but a second clash with Randy Orton might have some possibilities. Orton is a totally different proposition nowadays, compared to where he was at Wrestlemania 21 when they first met, so I could go with that.

The Big Show is always a believable threat to anyone, of course but Undertaker-Big Show clashes have been done to death now and, given ‘Taker’s age and physical condition, he probably needs a more agile and athletic opponent these days. Similar logic probably rules out Kane, although there is still a core of fans that remain fascinated by the “brothers’” relationship. If next year’s ‘Mania is certain to be Undertaker’s last then, maybe Kane would be the right opponent. However, Kane would need a lot of rehabbing before such a match. I would think he would need to be extremely dominant from now on, probably even picking up a world title, if fans were to take the match seriously. Still, much like Stone Cold and The Rock, it would be rather nice if Kane was Undertaker’s last Wrestlemania opponent.

Another possibility is CM Punk. He has not faced ‘Taker at ‘Mania yet but he has, of course, recently feuded with him. Unfortunately, Punk was pretty much owned during that feud so, again, he would need to be built up somewhat before any potential clash. If the Straight Edge Society are still together next year then their presence may just throw a bit of doubt into the equation. Other than that, I don’t see any possibilities on the current roster. An SES break-up might lead to a push for Luke Gallows but I don’t see him reaching that level that quickly. Christian has the skills but not the credibility and Kofi Kingston would need serious pushing to be a genuine threat.

That leaves us to consider the possibility of someone from outside the current roster coming in for a match? Fans are mentioning two names frequently: Goldberg and Sting. Goldberg is known to be signing a merchandise deal with WWE at the moment. Wrestlemania 27 is in Atlanta, where Goldberg has just a little support! Although he does not admit to any particular desire to have another match, at the same time he has not ruled it out. He is also a likely candidate to go into the Hall of Fame next year. Still, I don’t see it myself. By then, Goldberg will be 44 years old himself and, assuming he doesn’t have a match between now and then, will not have had a pro wrestling match for about seven years – that’s a lot of rust. The “unbeatable” aura he once carried has eroded to a considerable extent and many of the current generation of WWE fans will not even remember his disappointing WWE run, much less his glory days back in WCW. Then again, we might have expected the same to be true of Bret Hart but the crowd still popped for him. Also, with Goldberg it would be too obvious that he was just wrestling “one more match” and, therefore, it is unlikely that anyone would really buy him as a possible winner. If Goldberg does wrestle at next year’s ‘Mania, it should be against some cocky young smart-mouth heel that he can spear, jackhammer and pin in short order to get a nice pop from the fans, create a feel-good ‘Mania moment and give himself a nicer farewell to the business.

Sting is another kettle of fish entirely. Ever since he donned the trench coat and adopted the Crow style face-paint fans have tended to see him as WCW’s answer to The Undertaker. Despite his age he is still in good shape and works to a high standard. His status within the business is also truly legendary. The problem of recognition amongst the current WWE audience remains, however, as does the fact that he is approaching retirement. Like Goldberg, it would probably be an obvious one-off appearance, so the outcome would be all too predictable. Also, in both men’s cases one has to question whether or not they would be willing to do the weeks or even months of TV build-up and promotion that WWE would want for such a match. Moreover, Sting has never once even hinted at any desire to go to WWE and seems perfectly happy in TNA at the moment. Finally, even if he leaves TNA and decides he wants to go to WWE, there is no guarantee that they would put him on the ‘Mania bill. WWE give Wrestlemania spots to people because they think they will draw, not because they deserve it. Otherwise Jerry Lawler would have been booked on a Wrestlemania card years ago. I don’t see Goldberg-Undertaker happening but I see even less likelihood of Sting-Undertaker.

So, after all that we are still left with John Cena as the likeliest opponent and WWE may well go that way, though many speculate that an interim opponent will be found next year and Cena will be saved for the one after, the twentieth Wrestlemania match of The Undertaker and an obvious round number to finish his career with. There is yet, however, another possibility which I would advocate as utterly changing the dynamic. Simply put, why not book Undertaker in a tag team match? This would give a whole new angle to the situation as, for the first time, Undertaker’s streak would not be entirely in his own hands. WWE would be able to play up the possibility that ‘Taker’s partner might be pinned and thereby cost him the streak. The obvious partner would be Kane and he has enough “tweener” mystique to muddy the waters even further, by hinting in promos that he might actually want to lose just to cost his “brother” the streak. A tag match, with a partner of dubious loyalty would be a whole new spin on the streak and could breathe life into it.

Moreover, if next year did turn out to be Undertaker’s last hurrah, then what better way to go out than teaming with his storyline brother? Of course, their opponents would need to be carefully chosen. If it had been this year, I would have said D-Generation X would have been perfect for the job. However, I would like to see the team of ShowMiz, The Big Show and The Miz kept together and remain champions all the way through to next year’s Wrestlemania for the purpose. By then they would be established as a fantastically dominant team and The Miz is young enough and athletic enough that he could do the majority of bumping to keep the match going at a fast pace despite the more advanced ages and huge size of the other participants.

Another possibility would be for The Undertaker to take on a “dark apprentice”, a character that could maintain the “occult” gimmick after Undertaker himself calls it a day. This would give another young wrestler the rub and allow WWE to use the match to help create a new star while, at the same time, casting doubt on the outcome through the device of the opponents targeting the inexperience of Undertaker’s partner. This would, of course, be dependent on finding a young talent with the necessary aura and charisma to take on the role convincingly. Perhaps a young man like NWA star Mikael Judas might fit the bill. This would, however, be similar to what WWE tried to do in 2003 with Nathan Jones, only for Jones to prove unsuited for the role so they may well be leery of trying it again.

In conclusion, then, my preferred option for The Undertaker would be to see him team with Kane against an incredibly dominant ShowMiz at Wrestlemania 27. The only problem with that is that it would prevent The Hart Dynasty from winning the tag titles in the meantime (unless they won them then dropped them back to ShowMiz during the year) but, given the youth of the Harts, I don’t think this is a major problem. This match would be a genuinely less predictable contest and would also achieve the bonus of giving Kane something worthwhile to do at next year’s event, rather than merely making up the numbers in the Money in the Bank ladder match.