Why do you/don't you want the Undertaker to return?

[Dave]

As wrestling fans, I reckon we are split into two separate and opposite camps - those of use who do want to see The Undertaker return and those who do not. The question I want to ask is why you feel that way?

For me, the idea of Taker returning has gone off me in a hurry since I watched the latest WWE 24 show. Don't get me wrong, I watched his last match against Reigns knowing that he would be going down to the Big Dog, that was never in doubt. But it's the manner of the way he went out that really sticks with me. The match was awful for the most part. The fans in the arena knew what was going to happen and they were not into the match as a result. There were too many botches in the match for anyone to really believe it to be a creditable main event match either. For those reason, I really want to see The Undertaker redeem himself and prove to us that he has one great match left in him. He's given us so many before, it's a hard pull to swallow that the match against Reigns will be the last one.

That said, following the documentary, I just can't gold it against him to want to leave it at that. He just looks out on his feet in a wrestling ring now. It's such a shame because we've watched this guy be larger than life and billed as unrelenting and almost immortal in a sense. To watch him stagger around and not be able to lift someone properly is heartbreaking.

For that reason, I'd be okay with him sitting out of this WrestleMania and beyond.

But what about you? Do you think he still has something to prove or should he just hang the boots up and enjoy his future?

[klunderbunker]

Last year, I stood up in Camping World Stadium and watched Undertaker lose his match to Roman Reigns. After it was over, he put on his ring gear and then took it back off, laying the Undertaker to rest in the middle of the ring. Mark Callaway looked around the stadium, went outside to kiss his wife, and went down through the ramp, leaving the wars of the ring behind for good.

I do not need nor do I want to see that reversed.

[SD619]

I agree with KB that his actions after the match were almost a perfect retirement. He is not the kind of gimmick that will give a long drawn out emotional speech to end his career.

Also, his last few matches were not that good, especially the one with Reigns where he looked in awful shape. I get that fans want to see him in a better match than the last few WMs and that Cena would be a great opponent for that, but I do not want Cena (or anyone else) drag a great match out of one of my favorite wrestlers.

[Fallout]

I do want the Undertaker to return to face Cena at Mania.

I don't really have a favourite wrestler, but I'd probably say The Undertaker if I was forced to choose just one person. And it's obvious that Taker isn't the same person in the ring due to his age and the wear and tear of the wrestling business. But, to quote someone that isn't Heyman (because I don't think he actually came up with the quote), it's about hiding the negatives and emphasising the positives.

Cena is a fantastic worker, and Taker, whilst not the same man he was 10 years ago, is capable of working a match with the right opponent. But rather than drawing emphasis to Undertaker in the match, considering he's lost at Wrestlemania twice now, he can instead play a supporting, but ultimately, fundamental role in allowing for perhaps one of the ballsiest and greatest moments in wrestling history, if WWE have the confidence to do it: A Cena heel turn.

There is no one more beloved than Undertaker in the wrestling business, I think Roman Reigns found that out the hard way after WM33. But something people have been pining for eons about is the prospect of John Cena, one of the most talented talkers and wrestlers ever, being able to play a heel for the first time since 2003. There is no one better for Cena to turn on than the last big wrestling legend from the 90's still active on the roster (no, Goldust doesn't count, and Jericho isn't quite on Taker's level yet) and ending an era with a low blow and an AA to retire the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. If executed properly, Taker would go out putting over another talent huge, and Cena's career would enter a renaissance, especially considering he's mostly been meandering without much purpose from 2013 onwards, just being brought to have a great match every once in a while.

Is it in the Undertaker's characters best interest to go out this way? Potentially not. But Mark Calaway has zero aversion to putting talent over, and what better way to go out than to make John Cena look like the biggest bastard ever in a heel turn that could easily eclipse Austin's, and maybe even rival Hogan's turn also?

[noahconstrictor]

As much shit as the Cena storyline has been getting, I actually love it, and I think it perfectly lends itself to bringing Undertaker back. Cena won't win at Fastlane, so he'll be left with no other options. So he calls out the Undertaker, who's supposed to be retired. Taker comes back and basically says "fuck off, I'm done", Cena attacks him, boom Mania match. I think it works fine, and I think that Cena can carry an older Taker to a decent match, even if it is 5 years too late for both of them.

[Yaz]

I see the argument that Cena can carry Taker to a good match. Yeah, Cena carried fucking Khali to a good match, but let's not pretend Roman is some green as goose shit ECW signee off the street. Roman is completely capable of good matches. He got the last good match out of Big Show before Braun. The thing is, Cena and Roman both work a similar style. Both guys rely on power moves and strikes for a majority of their offense. Cena is probably stronger and has the flashier moves, but Roman looked like he was wrestling a near three hundred pound sack of potatoes with bad hips. Some argue if you make it a street fight it could hide Undertaker's limitations, but last year was made no DQ at the last minute and it was still shit.

The way Undertaker went out last year was about as perfect as you could get, bar actual lightening striking the ring and Mark Callaway leaving behind a pile of ashes and a hat and never showing his face in public ever again, we weren't going to get anything much better. Yes, him going out on that showing hurts, but if you look at his entire body of 25+ year work and not one single blip on the radar, you are left with great memories. So no, no Undertaker for me.

[Fallout]

I see the argument that Cena can carry Taker to a good match. Yeah, Cena carried fucking Khali to a good match, but let's not pretend Roman is some green as goose shit ECW signee off the street. Roman is completely capable of good matches. He got the last good match out of Big Show before Braun. The thing is, Cena and Roman both work a similar style. Both guys rely on power moves and strikes for a majority of their offense. Cena is probably stronger and has the flashier moves, but Roman looked like he was wrestling a near three hundred pound sack of potatoes with bad hips. Some argue if you make it a street fight it could hide Undertaker's limitations, but last year was made no DQ at the last minute and it was still shit.

The way Undertaker went out last year was about as perfect as you could get, bar actual lightening striking the ring and Mark Callaway leaving behind a pile of ashes and a hat and never showing his face in public ever again, we weren't going to get anything much better. Yes, him going out on that showing hurts, but if you look at his entire body of 25+ year work and not one single blip on the radar, you are left with great memories. So no, no Undertaker for me.

Roman isn't a klutz, because he is capable of good matches, but he lacks the diversity and tenure that Cena has in the ring quite simply. Roman has a very distinct style, whereas Cena has a good combination of strength, agility and finesse, the latter of which Roman doesn't quite have yet. There's a certain refinement to Cena's work whereas Roman works a little more stiff. Not saying one is objectively better than the other, but for someone like Taker, Cena's style would meld better.

Also, as you said, the street fight gimmick was thrown in last minute, so there was zero time to prepare a good match. I'm not saying it needs to be Steamboat/Savage level of rehearsed, but I honestly saw WM33 as a preparation for the end, rather than the definitive end. Make the definitive end against Cena, and put the thrusters on Cena for a showdown with Reigns at Summerslam.

[Yaz]

Roman isn't a klutz, because he is capable of good matches, but he lacks the diversity and tenure that Cena has in the ring quite simply. Roman has a very distinct style, whereas Cena has a good combination of strength, agility and finesse, the latter of which Roman doesn't quite have yet. There's a certain refinement to Cena's work whereas Roman works a little more stiff. Not saying one is objectively better than the other, but for someone like Taker, Cena's style would meld better.

Also, as you said, the street fight gimmick was thrown in last minute, so there was zero time to prepare a good match. I'm not saying it needs to be Steamboat/Savage level of rehearsed, but I honestly saw WM33 as a preparation for the end, rather than the definitive end. Make the definitive end against Cena, and put the thrusters on Cena for a showdown with Reigns at Summerslam.

I just feel if they do all the big spectacle with Undertaker laying down his gear to end Wrestlemania and then have Roman cut the promo the next night he did, then they need to end it there. If they undo Roman's "retirement" of Taker, they are basically admitting that Roman push #8 didn't get the reaction we wanted, so we might as well keep trying.

[Spidey]

"And now, on this sacred ground, I declare for all of those who have fallen, it is truly time that you rest in peace."

Undertaker was giving a retirement speech on Raw 25. It was indeed botched to high hell when a half-asleep JR responded "Was that a warning?", but there isn't much denying that the promo was the signal for the end of his wrestling career. I don't want to see him face John Cena, nor do I want to see any other matchup. The Undertaker is what got my interested in wrestling. He's everything that I love about wrestling, from the story-rich character, the spectacle, etc. But reality kills fantasy. He doesn't have it anymore. Nothing that he's done in the past 5 years makes me believe he'd have a good match with anyone. For a while I thought John Cena would carry him, and it'd be alright, but Cena is off his mark a lot lately too, and seeing Taker try and sit up after a hundred AAs just isn't what I'd like to see as a fan. This should have happened ages ago and it's too little too late. I'm more than positive WWE is still going to do this match, but I'm not looking forward to it.

Though I still think his disrobing was not "the perfect" ending. Maybe for Cena or Brock Lesnar, characters ingrained in reality. But it obviously wasn't the best way for someone like him to go otherwise all this speculation of will he or won't he would have died immediately after he did it. If we were still asking ourselves if that was it for him, then it wasn't perfect.

I'd rather him fill a role similar to whatever garbage Shane and Daniel Bryan have been doing. It's odd that, for a good talker with great charisma, nobody is really thinking he'd do well to stick around in a non-wrestling position. Surely he'd make for better television than Shane O'Mac smacking on popcorn.

[Fallout]

I just feel if they do all the big spectacle with Undertaker laying down his gear to end Wrestlemania and then have Roman cut the promo the next night he did, then they need to end it there. If they undo Roman's "retirement" of Taker, they are basically admitting that Roman push #8 didn't get the reaction we wanted, so we might as well keep trying.

Problem is, they continued it after that perfect Roman promo. Roman started talking about how much he respected the Undertaker, and then Braun came in and turned that segment from an all-time worst into an all-time great.