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WWE News: Undertaker’s ‘WrestleMania’ Match With John Cena Now In Jeopardy

By Andy Slawecki
Published on: 02:44 PST, Nov 29, 2016

When the Undertaker returned to the WWE two weeks ago for the first time since WrestleMania 32, he declared that The Show of the Immortals would no longer define his career. Ironically, however, it is still expected that his Hall of Fame run will finally come to an end next April in Orlando at WrestleMania 33. But unlike in years past, the Undertaker could be wrestling before the big show, including at the upcoming Royal Rumble.

There have been several options laid out for the Undertaker’s final run with the WWE, with the most likely being a match at the Rumble, followed by a major program to culminate at WrestleMania. While there were some discussions about the Deadman facing off with Randy Orton at some point, it still seems he’ll face AJ Styles instead in January at the Alamodome. And after that, the plan has always been for a dream encounter between the Undertaker and John Cena.

However, that bout seems to be in a state of uncertainty at the moment, primarily due to Cena. According to a report from the Daily Wrestling News, Cena is in the middle of some “friendly tension” with the company. It all stems from the WWE’s willingness to bring in part-time stars like Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, and The Rock for big-time money. Cena feels he deserves similar treatment rather than being taken for granted.

This, by no means, is a definite indication that Cena’s proposed match with the Undertaker at WrestleMania is off, but Vince McMahon is planning for just that scenario. Vince has reportedly instructed his creative team to come up with alternatives for the Undertaker’s WrestleMania match in case this tension with Cena boils over even more.

Vince really wants to do the match between Cena and the Undertaker but doesn’t want to be caught holding the bag in the event that John’s frustrations are legitimate. In fact, Vince has wanted to do this match for almost four years, dating back to WrestleMania 30.

However, the stars aligned, of course, for the Undertaker’s streak to come to an end at the hands of Brock Lesnar while Cena spent WrestleManias 30 and 31 working with younger, less established talent like Bray Wyatt and Rusev. Also, it’s been the plan for some time to have Cena be the Undertaker’s final opponent in the WWE. That may have happened this past WrestleMania, but an injury kept Cena out of action with the exception of his run-in to aid The Rock against the Wyatts.

The Undertaker faced off with Shane McMahon as a last-minute replacement and then nearly walked away for good in the aftermath. The Deadman was not happy with some of the creative decisions during his feud with Shane, and his relationship with Vince needed to be repaired. Eventually, the two sides reconciled and agreed to whatever this current run will turn out to be.

Ironically, Vince must mend fences with John Cena as well if he is to pull off what could be one of the biggest matches of all time. Keep in mind, one of the more significant ideas pitched would see the Undertaker defeat AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble to become the new WWE World Champion. He’d then defend that title against Cena, weaving in the storyline of John trying to tie Ric Flair’s all-time record of 16 championship reigns.

Backup plans seem to be minimal at the moment, what with Lesnar and Goldberg on a collision course of their own and the slim chance they’d pit Shane against the Undertaker for the second year in a row. A lot of work would have to be done to get stars like Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose, or Braun Strowman ready for such a match, so John Cena still appears to the best bet. Just know that it isn’t completely set in stone yet.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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