The Deadman Returns to WWE

Guess who’s back? Back again? The Undertaker’s back. Tell a friend! In a not so shocking event, the Undertaker made his return to the WWE by interfering in the main event featuring the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and the ex-champion Brock Lesnar. Seeing the Undertaker seemed kind of strange. I’m used to seeing Kane’s brother grace the WWE stage every February until WrestleMania. It was weird seeing him in a WWE ring when the temperature outside saw over 90 degrees.

THE FIRST NIGHT

As great as it was to see the Undertaker back, I wasn’t a fan of the way he was brought back. While I was pretty sure that the Undertaker’s return would go down the way it did, I found a few plot holes in the WWE’s logic. Flash back to WrestleMania XXX, Brock Lesnar cleanly beats the Undertaker in the middle of the ring 1-2-3. Go back even further to the SmackDown! after WrestleMania XXIX. The Shield attacked the Undertaker, who was never seen again until the Road to WrestleMania XXX.

When the Undertaker returned at Battleground, he decided to go after the guy who beat him cleanly in a one on one match, instead of going after one-thirds of the group that attacked him so badly that he didn’t see a WWE ring for almost a year. OK, this is the Undertaker and we usually only see him during WrestleMania time anyways. However, I’m looking at this from a logical storyline standpoint, and not in a non-kayfabe way. I’m sorry, but if I was a wrestler, I think I would go after the guy who took me out first.

THE REASON

The next night on RAW, the Undertaker said that the reason he targeted Brock Lesnar was because the “Beast” bragged for over a year about breaking the Undertaker’s WrestleMania winning streak. WHAT?!?!? Brock should be bragging about it. It’s not like Brock or Paul Heyman are putting the Undertaker down. Quite the contrary, by constantly bringing up the fact that Lesnar is “the one who put the 1 in 21 and 1,” they are acknowledging what a huge accomplishment it was to beat the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX. There’s nothing malicious about the way they are bragging. It’s a compliment! Hell, if bragging is a reason for the Undertaker to want to destroy Brock Lesnar, than The Rock and Steve Austin should want to kill Chris Jericho because he STILL brings up the fact that he “beat The Rock and Steve Austin both in the same night.”

In their WrestleMania XXX match, Brock Lesnar beat the Undertaker clean in the middle of the ring. By having the Undertaker complain about it, despite the “bragging,” the Undertaker is coming off as a whining heel. The Undertaker should be the heel in this scenario. The only problem is that no one is going to boo the Undertaker out of respect for everything that he has done in this business. This leads me to one big question. Brock is a face? If the WWE was going to have Brock Lesnar face the Undertaker at SummerSlam, then why the hell did they turn him into a babyface less than a month ago? They should have kept him heel, and had him fight a top face. Instead, the WWE has him face a heel Kofi Kingston, and the top heel in the company in the WWE Champion Seth Rollins.

WHAT SHOULD THE WWE HAVE DONE?

The first thought that came to my mind when the Undertaker said that he wanted Brock Lesnar due to his bragging, was that if he was that irate, why didn’t he confront Brock Lesnar when BOTH were in San Francisco at WrestleMania XXXI. All the WWE needed to do was to air a quick ten-second vignette where you see Lesnar walking down the hall, and he bumps into the Undertaker. The dead man and the beast stare at each other up and down. The Undertaker would then say something to the effect that he has “to take care of Bray Wyatt tonight, but don’t think I didn’t forget about you.” Fade to black. A simple segment like this would have planted the seeds that the Undertaker had some unfinished business with Brock Lesnar.

On the RAW after Battleground, the WWE should have announced that he interfered in the Lesnar-Rollins match because he wanted to get Brock’s attention. The Undertaker was the alpha-dog of the WWE, and Lesnar has now grabbed that mantle since Brock beat him at WrestleMania XXX. The deadman could have brought up the concussion that he suffered during the match, and wonder what could have been in the match if he hadn’t received that brain injury. This would portray the Undertaker as an athlete trying to see if he could beat Brock when both are at their best. That explanation would leave both men as faces, who have respect for one another. Instead, we get a whiny babyface versus a just turned face, who will now be booed. Realistically, when Brock is done with his feud with the Undertaker, he’ll be cheered again. However, remember this article is looking at things through kayfabe colored glasses.

WHAT THE WWE DID RIGHT

The WWE’s creative does have a lot of faults. The internet is filled with people who point this out, present company included. However, when the WWE’s creative team does something right, they really hit it out of the park. That’s what they did on Monday night after Paul Heyman delivered yet another terrific promo. With the Undertaker confronting Paul Heyman in the ring, Brock Lesnar’s music hit. To steal a phrase from Jim Ross, “business was about to pick up.” While I hate it when the WWE plays someone’s theme music when they interfere. However, the crowd exploded when Brock’s music blared through the P.A. system.

What came next was, in a word, magic. I think the chant “this is awesome” is used way too much by the fans. They seem to chant the phrase at things that are very good. I think the “this is awesome” chant should be reserved for when you are witnessing something truly special. It seems like every RAW, pay per view, or Ring of Honor show has at least one “this is awesome” chant. Just because one match sticks out as the match of the night, doesn’t mean it qualifies for a “this is awesome” chant. That brawl on Monday between the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar is one of the moments when “this is awesome” was warranted. That brawl was awesome. What made the brawl even more special was that the brawl had two acts to it. The first act took place in the ring. Once everyone went to the back, Act Two took place as Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker brawled behind the curtain. For me, their brawl was a truly special moment in the WWE, especially for the post-Attitude Era WWE.

Brock Lesnar represents the “baddest man on the planet.” The Undertaker represents the toughest wrestler to ever lace up a pair of wrestling boots in WWE history. Watching these two performers butt heads was like watching two bulls lock horns with one another. There are certain angles and matches that I could remember vividly. The day when Sgt. Slaughter turned face to start a feud with the Iron Sheik. The Piper’s Pit when Roddy Piper hit Jimmy Snuka with a coconut. Randy Savage hitting Ricky Steamboat with the ring bell, and “crushing” the Dragon’s larynx after hitting him with a flying axe handle as Steamboat’s neck is drapped over the guardrail. I can still picture when Paul Orndorff turned on Hulk Hogan following a tag team match against King Kong Bundy and “Big” John Studd. Each of these events happened around thirty years ago, give or take a year. Even though three decades have passed, I can not only picture the events, but I even remember where I was when I watched these segments on television. I think that years from now, when I look back at the major matches and angles from this era, I believe that the Brock Lesnar-Undertaker brawl will still be remembered. THAT, is what makes something deserving of “this is awesome” chants.

WHO SHOULD WIN?

The big question for SummerSlam should be “Who should win the Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar main event?” If you look at the WWE’s penchant for even stevens booking, than an Undertaker victory is the obvious choice. I question the use of the even stevens booking philosophy, and even moreso in this case.

The whole point of having Brock Lesnar beat the Undertaker and then squash John Cena was to use the “beast” to elevate the next big star. Due to the crowd turning on Roman Reigns, the WWE failed to cash in Lesnar’s historic victory. However, that doesn’t mean they should abandon this strategy. The WWE needs to hold off on beating Brock Lesnar. They need to wait until Roman Reigns or another up and comer is ready to take the mantle from Lesnar.

If the WWE is no longer going down the “Brock Lesnar putting over the new face” mode, they still shouldn’t waste Brock Lesnar’s win by having him lose at SummerSlam. He needs to lose at WrestleMania. After all, WrestleMania is the biggest stage in wrestling. The big cavet to beating the Undertaker on April 6th, 2014 was that he was never beaten at a WrestleMania event. Who cares if he wins at SummerSlam? Is that really going to make up for the Undertaker losing his streak at WrestleMania XXX?

The WWE should shock every one, and have Brock Lesnar beat the Undertaker at SummerSlam for a second time in a row. They can use this loss to have the Undertaker question himself, and wonder if he could beat Brock Lesnar. Come WrestleMania season, Brock could call out the Undertaker and claim that he beat the streak at WrestleMania XXX, he beat his ass again at SummerSlam, and now wants to crush his soul by beating him AGAIN at the Undertaker’s top event, WrestleMania. The story writes itself.

This is what I do anyways. What will the WWE do? We will just have to wait three weeks to a month to find out.