The Undertaker Isn’t Booked For Tonight’s ‘SmackDown’, Will Appear Next At ‘WWE TLC’
After being away from WWE since WrestleMania 32 back in April, The Undertaker made his return to television on last Tuesday’s SmackDown show, and he warned the blue brand’s Survivor Series team about the consequences they would face if they lost to team Raw. Long story short, the SmackDown team won, so it doesn’t look like “The Deadman” will target anyone from the blue team.
It also doesn’t look like The Undertaker will return to WWE television again until next month, at the TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs show, in his home state of Texas on December 4, according to Cageside Seats.
“Undertaker is not booked for SmackDown tonight, and may not reappear until TLC on Dec. 4.”
Rumor Roundup (Nov. 22, 2016): Undertaker’s return, Lesnar’s future, Banks/Flair, Rousey Mania plans, more! https://t.co/C06w73bjEF
— Cageside Seats (@cagesideseats) November 22, 2016
When The Undertaker returned last week, he said that WrestleMania will no longer define him, and that he’s “back.” No one really knows what that means, or how often he’ll be appearing on WWE television. Before Survivor Series on Sunday, most believed that the SmackDown team would lose the brand vs. brand match, and that “The Deadman” would blame the loss on AJ Styles, thus leading to a title match between the two at January’s Royal Rumble show. Sure, Undertaker could, and probably will go after Styles at some point, but WWE will have to come up with another storyline
Even if he doesn’t face off against AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble, it’s extremely likely that The Undertaker will be a major part of the show. WWE is trying to set an all-time attendance record for their annual January show, as they’re headed to San Antonio’s Alamodome, which seats 75,000 people, for the Royal Rumble show. They’ve already announced Goldberg for the show, and it’s likely that they’ll announce The Undertaker for the show in the coming weeks.
It’s unclear what The Undertaker will do at the TLC show, but whatever he does will probably lead into whatever he’s going to do at the Royal Rumble show.
Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has pushed the idea that The Undertaker will win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble show, and that the returning John Cena will win the Rumble match, thus leading to a match between the two at WrestleMania 33, where Cena will tie Ric Flair’s record for the most title wins in history, and Undertaker will retire on the subsequent episode of SmackDown.
https://twitter.com/TeamUndertaker_/status/799080257621987328
The John Cena vs. Undertaker match was originally scheduled to happen earlier this year at WrestleMania 32. But, John Cena ended up hurting his shoulder, which forced WWE to change “The Deadman’s” opponent to Shane McMahon.
Rumor has it that WWE wants to do Undertaker vs. Cena at WrestleMania 33, simply because they weren’t able to do it last year. It’s a match that has happened before, but it hasn’t happened in several years, and it has never happened at a WrestleMania event. On top of that, the two men are some of the biggest stars that WWE has ever produced, so naturally, the company feels like it would be a gigantic match.
Another rumor is that Undertaker’s current WWE run will lead to his retirement. Of course, we hear this every year when “The Deadman” returns, and it never turns out to be true. Will it be true this time? Maybe. One of these years it will turn out to be true because Undertaker certainly isn’t getting any younger. But, as previously mentioned, it’s a rumor that we’ve heard for at least the last six years, and yet, he’s still wrestling. So, until he actually retires, it’ll be a little hard to believe that this will be his final run in WWE.
[Featured Image by WWE]
