Undertaker Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura Happening In 2017? The NXT Champ Tops WWE’s List Of Dream Opponents For The Deadman
When The Undertaker returned to WWE television last month, he said that he was back, and that WrestleMania will no longer define him, which made it seem like he was going to be a semi-regular character on SmackDown. But, we haven’t seen him since, and no one — perhaps aside from The Deadman himself, and Vince McMahon — really knows what’s next for the WWE legend.
On Friday morning, WWE’s official YouTube page may have given a bit of a hint about what’s next for The Undertaker, as a video called “Five Dream Opponents for The Undertaker” was published. The list featured five men that The Deadman has never been in the ring with, and it was topped by current NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura.
As of this writing, WWE hasn’t given any indication that Nakamura will be called up to their main roster anytime soon. In fact, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the NXT Champion will probably be kept down in WWE’s developmental territory for the next couple of months, possibly through WrestleMania 33. So, while WWE is teasing a match between The Deadman and The King of Strong Style, it doesn’t look like it’ll be happening anytime soon.
Another notable name of the list was Finn Balor, who expressed interest in wrestling The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 during his appearance on Chris Jericho’s podcast — Talk is Jericho — over the summer. Of course, Balor vs. The Undertaker has been one of the biggest dream match scenarios ever since the former NXT Champion debuted his “Demon King” character during his time in WWE’s developmental territory. Will it actually happen at WrestleMania 33? Probably not, because The Undertaker is rumored to be taking on John Cena at the event.
“Before the last WrestleMania, before The Undertaker’s match got announced, I kind of fantasy book myself in my head sometimes, and I go ‘you know what, if they really wanted to make me a mystery opponent for The Undertaker, I’ll come out as The Demon, and even if I lose, I still win.'”
WWE also dropped AJ Styles’ name on the list, and that match might actually end up happening at next month’s Royal Rumble show, as Forbes reported that The Undertaker will challenge for The Phenomenal One’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship upon his return to SmackDown.
The WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens also made the list, but Owens vs. Undertaker probably won’t happen anytime soon, because the two men are on different brands. Sure, WWE could do a brand vs. brand match between the two, but that doesn’t seem likely, as Owens is set to begin a feud with Chris Jericho following this Sunday’s Roadblock: End of the Line show.
The last person on the list is Braun Strowman, who, at one point was actually scheduled to wrestle The Undertaker at this past year’s WrestleMania 32. But, WWE changed their plan because Strowman didn’t progress in the ring like they thought he would. Could that match happen in 2017? Probably not, because like with Kevin Owens, the two giants are on different shows. Also, an Undertaker vs. Strowman match probably wouldn’t be something that WWE fans would be all that excited to see.
AJ Styles is set to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dolph Ziggler on the final SmackDown of the year, so if the plan is for The Undertaker to challenge for Styles’ title when he comes back, WWE will probably hold off his return until the beginning of 2017.
As of this writing, The Undertaker isn’t being advertised for any upcoming WWE shows, so either the company wants to keep his return date a secret or they really don’t know when they want him to come back.
[Featured Image by WWE]
