The Undertaker’s Opponent at WrestleMania 32 Should Be …
By Jack Crosby
The Undertaker needs an opponent at WrestleMania 32 and WWE needs stars, so here’s a simple solution.
We are so close to WrestleMania 32 in Dallas on April 3 that we can taste it. With over 100,000 people expected to attend inside AT&T Stadium, this quite possibly will be the biggest event that the company has ever put on. But, we have one issue …
… Who the hell is The Undertaker facing?
Of course, we’ve known for a while now that the original plan was for ‘Taker to face John Cena in a battle between the two biggest stars in the history of professional wrestling. Regardless of what the internet thinks of Cena, that would have been an epic match worthy of the ‘Mania stage, but the fact of the matter is that Johnny Boy is hurt and won’t be back in time to wrestle on one of the biggest stages in company history. Sad — but that’s reality.
Now in the past few days we’ve learned a few things about the Undertaker’s opponent in Dallas. We’ve learned that it’s not someone on the WWE roster, as well as someone not actively in professional wrestling altogether. Now we’re left all scratching our heads wondering who it could be.
Who could it be? Sting? Kurt Angle? Goldberg? Batista? Bruno Sammartino? (Kidding, but really, have you seen him at 80? Tell me Bruno can’t still go if he wanted to).
Anyway, Bruno aside — who really can Undertaker’s opponent be in Dallas? I have an idea, and it starts the night after Fastlane and it benefits the whole company.
So we’re at RAW the night after Fastlane and we know what the WrestleMania main event is at this point. We get through the initial build-up for the main event, but to end the show we hear the infamous, “GONG!”
‘Taker makes his 10-minute stroll to the ring, gets in the squared circle — but there’s a difference. He’s a little bit out of character. He actually acknowledges that he was waiting to face Cena; he planned on calling him out on this night specifically, but he can’t hang apparently (This sets up their match at ‘Mania 33, by the way). So he talks about how he will enjoy just watching this ‘Mania in his home state and biding his time until next year. It’s time that he takes a year off. Time off is something that he has earned after all these years.
“Time” … he’s saying that word a lot, isn’t he?
Undertaker is actually getting cheered for this, because at this point people think this is legit. After all, Mark Callaway isn’t just respected by people in the back, he’s respected by all of us as well. If he says that he wants to take a year off, then god damn — let the man take a year off.
He finishes off his promo as RAW is ending, he cups his hat as he’s exiting through the ropes, and then we hear this …
Is MVP on the WWE roster? No. Is MVP actively in wrestling? No. So, he fits the bill.
MVP comes out to a HUGE pop, but he’s not dressed in that ridiculous singlet that Vince put him in in the past, he has a suit on. He simply gets in the ring, stares down the Undertaker, points to the sign and stretches his arms out. Undertaker nods and the show goes off the air.
Now, the next week on RAW, MVP comes out and explains himself. He can talk about how the company never saw him as a big deal, but then he went all over the world (playing off what’s currently happening in WWE, see AJ Styles/Shinsuke Nakamura) and he proved what he was worth. But now — now he’s back to predominantly prove his worth. Vince never gave him the chance to become the WWE Champion, so now he’s going to become the second man ever to beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, the next best thing.
Is MVP gonna win this match? NO! LOL. But …
… I will bet my bottom dollar that he and The Undertaker could have an amazing 20-minute match on the biggest stage of them all on April 3 and MVP won’t come off looking like he’s not worthy of the stage. Plus, in the weeks leading up to the event, MVP could cut some amazing promos where Vince let’s him toe the line between reality and fiction.
So what does all this resolve? Well, for starters, you get an opponent for Undertaker that fits the description. Secondly, MVP should have been a big star by now in the company, but he was the victim of horrible booking. This isa productive way to introduce him back to the company and let him settle into a regular role; that role being — whatever WWE wants it to be.
Look, MVP is an asset to a professional wrestling company, in the ring and on the microphone; WWE should not have let him walk away in the first place. Now, you introduce him back in a big way and then you can use him however you’d like. NXT? RAW? Smackdown?
MVP took Undertaker to the limit in front of 100,000 people, you can do whatever you’d like with him and he has relevancy, something that he should not have lost in the first place.