With WrestleMania 28 beginning to appear over the arid horizon at Death Valley, The Undertaker stands in his graveyard, in a state of mind he hasn’t quite been in before. Nineteen graves lay packed into the sand, each bearing the headstone of a WrestleMania opponent who has been put under by the Deadman. A twentieth is freshly dug, but not with the same thoroughness as the previous graves. It shows the signs of being rushed, and perhaps because it was dug by a desperate, panicking man.
For years, people have been lining up at Undertaker’s door to attempt to throw him six feet under. Man after man, giant after giant, these men would all suffer the same fate: defeat at the hands of Big Evil, their hopes and dreams buried in the sand. Before long, Undertaker gained the reputation of a rough, tough, weathered and unbreakable outlaw in the Wild West that is the WrestleMania—his undefeated streak still goes to this day. Many opponents earlier, it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that The Undertaker would fill his gravesite to the brim, retiring on top as an undefeated outlaw. But this year, there is a problem. Nobody is knocking on The Deadman’s door.
For the first time, The Undertaker is frantically searching the town of WWE, and this time, he’s knocking on his opponent’s door. The citizens of the town now view ‘Taker as a broken down man, a brittle old outlaw that needs to hang up the boots before another duel, which might just have him pushing up daisies in his own burial ground. His desired opponent is someone he has already buried, already nailed his tombstone into the ground. As The Undertaker bangs on his door, Triple H doesn’t answer.
There is a reason for Triple H’s stubbornness. Last year, at WrestleMania 27, The Game took The Undertaker to the limit. The two men had a duel for the ages Georgia Dome, taking each other to the absolute limit. The Undertaker’s undefeated streak seemed to teeter at the edge of the grave multiple times, but in the end, he prevailed. This time, though, wasn’t the same. In previous battles at The Granddaddy of Them All, The Deadman would celebrate his victory as a strong, victorious Phenom. But this duel left him broken. No signature pose in the middle of the ring, no iconic hand raise at the top of the ramp. His opponent walked out of the arena. The Undertaker was carted out of the arena, a limp, broken shell of a man.
The Undertaker will not let be his lasting image. There were too many souls stolen, too many bodies buried for this to tarnish his legacy. But for the first time, Undertaker’s spot on the card remains uncertain. Triple H explained on Raw SuperShow that he felt bad for The Undertaker. After last year’s hellacious battle, he knows what will happen to The Undertaker if he would accept his challenge. He is certain that he would put the nail in the coffin of an incredible career, and he refuses to be that guy.
The title of being “that guy” that embedded the final nail into The Undertaker’s coffin used to be sought after by many a hopeful competitor. Now, for the first time ever, someone is turning away. Not in fear of a supernatural force, but in pity of man.
I will be honored to cover this storyline as it develops.
Which is why I like this storyline despite being against another matchup at WM between them: it’s different. I’m anxious to see the rest of the build and the match itself.
Maybe it’s just my deeply-ingrained cynicism talking, but this whole storyline feels like Triple H putting himself over, by making the Undertaker chase HIM for a match, rather than the other way around. I don’t see Triple H winning, mind you, but it does feel like he’s trying to make himself seem more important by making himself the one who has to concede to have a match. Triple H can think that he’s more important to the WWE’s history than the Undertaker all he wants, but that doesn’t make it so.
In all honesty, though, this storyline has been building for a year. Whether the rumors of Triple H being corrupt backstage are true, I doubt he is doing that in this situation. This is quite possibly Undertaker’s last hurrah, so it has to be interesting.