There’s a lot of speculation on The Undertaker’s status for WrestleMania 33 as he reportedly underwent surgery recently.
WrestlingINC recently posted photos of Taker on crutches, seen below, and PWInsider reports that The Deadman was using those crutches to walk because he recently had hip surgery.
No word yet on exactly when Taker had the surgery but he apparently attended a wedding the first week of September and did not have the crutches, also seen below.
Source: WrestlingINC
Source: WrestlingINC
As Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline first reported, The Undertaker was reportedly telling people backstage at WrestleMania 32 this past Sunday that his match against Shane McMahon was his last. It was noted that Taker has said that before, only to come back again.
Taker is still currently scheduled for the U.K. tour, however has been removed from several shows on the tour. WWE still has Taker listed for the WWE SmackDown taping on April 19th at the O2 Arena in London, as well as the WWE live event the following night in Newcastle at The Newcastle Arena. While it’s unclear if Taker will be wrestling in London, he is scheduled to team with Kane to face Braun Strowman and Erick Rowan in Newcastle. He was originally scheduled to team with The Big Show to face Luke Harper and Erick Rowan before Harper’s injury.
The London and Newcastle shows are now the only ones Taker is scheduled for. Taker has been removed from his originally scheduled appearances on April 21st in Brussels, April 22nd in Paris and April 23rd in Malaga.
Below is a new preview for Shane McMahon and The Undertaker’s Hell In a Cell match at WrestleMania 32 on Sunday.
Source: WrestlingINC
The Undertaker will also appear on Monday’s RAW from Nashville. WWE confirmed the appearance with this teaser:
The Undertaker will appear live on next Monday’s edition of Raw for the first time in 2016, WWE.com can confirm. Following Mr. McMahon’s blockbuster declaration that The Phenom will battle Shane McMahon inside Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania to decide if The Boy Wonder will assume control of Monday Night Raw, the WWE Universe has been speculating on what the legendary Superstar will have to say about his role in the McMahon family power struggle. Will The Deadman shed further light on his historic 24th contest at The Showcase of the Immortals? Tune in to Raw next Monday, live at 8/7 C on USA Network, to see The Deadman’s return.
As seen on last night’s RAW ,the first-ever Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award was given to Stephanie McMahon.
RAW opened with Vince McMahon coming to the ring to present the award. Vince talked about how his family has presented sports entertainment for more than 100 years and then introduced Stephanie. He talked about how proud he is of her, how she was born into the business and how she is like his father. Stephanie went to read a statement until she was interrupted by brother Shane McMahon, making his WWE return.
This led to Shane asking for control of Monday Night RAW, saying he and Vince made a deal years ago that kept Shane involved after Vince “messed up” the company and Shane came to the rescue. After tension with Stephanie McMahon, Vince agreed to give Shane control of RAW if Shane can win 1 match – against The Undertaker inside Hell In a Cell at WrestleMania 32.
Shane McMahon expresses his gratitude to the WWE Universe at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit after his return to Raw:
Source: F4WOnline via WrestlingINC
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest issue of The Wrestling Observer that The Undertaker’s opponent for WrestleMania 32 has already been decided, and it’s not someone who is currently on the roster.
Meltzer was asked on Wrestling Observer Radio if that meant it was someone from NXT or someone from another company.
Meltzer replied: “Someone who is not an active wrestler is what I was told, which made me think Sting. I mean, I don’t know if that’s who it is, I mean who else is there out there?”
Meltzer also noted that Bill Goldberg is a possibility, but he thinks it’s unlikely given his rocky relationship with WWE.
Source: PWInsider Elite via WrestlingINC
I mentioned over the weekend that the planned Braun Strowman vs. The Undertaker singles match at WrestleMania 32 may have been nixed already. While several ideas for The Wyatt Family have been tossed around lately, Taker vs. Braun was penciled in as Vince McMahon was a big fan of doing the match and has taken an interest in building Strowman.
The online backlash in the first 24 hours after the Braun vs. Taker news broke may have changed WWE’s plans, according to PWInsider. A very well-placed source noted that the bad reaction to the match may have caught on within the company and the match may have been nixed within 24 hours of the news getting out. It should be noted that Vince is always changing plans and they could go back to Taker vs. Braun.
In regards to what the back-up plan for Taker would be, a source noted that those details had not trickled down to other sources yet and likely only a small circle of people were aware of exactly what those plans are. It was noted that Taker’s opponent at WrestleMania will likely be someone totally unexpected.
Source: PWSlam.com
There has been speculation on plans for Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 32. One of the rumored matches for the show is Braun Strowman against The Undertaker. In the latest Wrestling Observer newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that as of this writing, nothing is locked in for The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32.
If John Cena is able to recover in time then the plan is still for him to face Taker at the show. Based on how fast Cena has been able to come back from previous injuries and the fact that this show is going to be their biggest ever, I would not be shocked if Cena was able to come back in time. If Cena is healed enough from his shoulder injury, then they could just have him appear on Raw for 3 to 4 weeks leading up to WrestleMania and just not have him do anything physical until the match happens.
Braun Strowman is being protected so it looks like they do have long-term plans for him. Whether or not it will be against The Undertaker remains to be seen.
Source: F4WOnline via WrestlingINC
As noted earlier this week, multiple sources reported The Undertaker vs. Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar vs. Bray Wyatt matches currently penciled in for WrestleMania 32. Vince McMahon is high on Strowman and really wants to do the match with Taker.
Bryan Alvarez noted on Wrestling Observer Live today that it’s still unknown if The Undertaker has been asked to do the match and it’s assumed by some that Taker may say no.
It sounds like those two singles matches are currently the plan but other ideas are still being bounced around. It was noted by Alvarez that there’s also been talk of having Strowman in an Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal or having a multi-person match, possibly with The Undertaker, Kane and Big Show vs. Strowman, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper or some other combination.
Source: WrestlingINC
PWInsider reports that the plan as of Monday was to do Braun Strowman vs. The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt vs. Brock Lesnar singles matches at WrestleMania 32. Bryan Alvarez noted on Wrestling Observer Live yesterday that Vince McMahon really wants to do the Braun vs. Taker match and loves the idea of the two going at it. Vince previously wanted to do Braun vs. Brock, and pushed for the match to happen, but it appears he was talked out of it.
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