There have been a lot of speculations in recent weeks about who the Undertaker would face at Wrestlemania 26. Its been to the extent that, if the Undertaker even looks at somebody, then all wrestling websites start screaming that he would be the next opponent. Let’s discuss the possible options that have been thrown out in the air so far, in no particular order of preference.

John Cena: Without a doubt, this would be a very big match and a huge money-maker for the WWE, if it happens. The match might not be as legendary as Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels because Cena, as big a star that he is right now, has not yet become a legend like those two are – as he is yet to stand the test of time. Technically, the match will definitely not be as good as Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels was, considering that Cena’s arsenal of wrestling-moves might be 20% of Michaels’. But bearing in mind that he is a favourite of many fans (kids and “some” ladies), it will be considered to be one of the biggest matches in Wrestlemania history as it’ll be between the 2 top dogs of the company – it would be as big as Hogan vs Andre or Hogan vs Rock or Austin vs Rock. Needless to mention, the real Big Dog of the Yard will show the chain-gang commander that it is still His Yard, if it comes to that.

Many believe that the seeds for this were sown when the Undertaker tombstoned Cena on Raw after their tag-team match against DX and Jeri-SLow. This is what I was referring to – that if Undertaker has any kind of confrontation with a guy on a night, they will assume that he is the next Wrestlemania opponent. Come on, guys. It is the Undertaker’s nature to be like that – he is a tweener. He can hit anyone and still remain a fan-favourite because that is what his character and gimmick is all about. He only sides with Kane, and with no one else. Moreover, that tombstone was earned by Mr Cena because he got over-excited and tagged himself in when Undertaker was going to deliver a choke-slam. So, long story short, he deserved it – and that’s the bottom-line. I don’t see anything more in it than that.

Has anybody ever thought why the Undertaker has not faced Hogan, Austin or Rock at Wrestlemania? When the Undertaker could face Big Bossman or A-Train, and Stone Cold could face Scott Hall – why couldn’t they ever face each other at Wrestlemania, given the fact that they had a much longer on-and-off rivalry with each other (which spread across multiple PPVs and multiple personas of the Undertaker) than they had with these guys? I am not saying that this is the main reason, but I think that it would’ve hurt Austin’s and Rock’s character as leaders of the generation if their names were added to the streak. Now I’m not saying that this is the only 100% complete reason – but I’m just stating a point for thought and argument. Austin and Rock could face each other and win or lose – it didn’t matter because they didn’t have streaks like the Undertaker had. But every year when its time for the Wrestlemania promos to start, the undefeated streak and its list of victims would be shown. It would hurt Hogan’s or Austin’s or Rock’s images as leaders of their generations to be shown there each year when the promos are repeated. Ric Flair, HHH, Shawn Michaels are as great as any other wrestler but they can afford to be there on the list, because they were always creating good rivalries and matches, but were not the main faces of any era – the main faces were not wrestlers, but they were always posers like Hogan or Austin or Rock. Its the same story which repeats even right now. The main face of the WWE right now is also a poser, John Cena. And it might hurt his reputation as top-face to be added to the streak’s victim-list. While a match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania always helps the younger stars like it helped Orton, Batista, Edge, Kane and others, it might not have the same effect on somebody who is currently the top-face of the company.

Another problem which I have with Cena is that what kind of a claim will he put as to why he can end the Undertaker’s streak? If we look at the past few years, the Undertaker’s opponent has been somebody who can put a genuine claim based on “statistics” as to why he has a chance at ending the streak:

* Randy Orton claimed that he was the legend-killer and he had never failed at killing a legend; moreover, the Undertaker had never faced him before so some people could believe that this time, the streak will end.
* Mark Henry claimed that he was the world’s strongest man and the dead-man had never faced anyone as strong as him, so he will indeed end the streak.
* Batista claimed that he had never lost the title (he had dropped it once due to injury, but never lost in a match), and so he will not lose it to the Undertaker either.
* Edge claimed that he had never lost to the Undertaker in singles’ competition and that he was un-pinned at Wrestlemania (he did not win the 2007 Money in the bank match, but he was not the one who was pinned), so he will end the streak.
* Shawn Michaels claimed that he has never lost to the Undertaker in singles’ competition (true, because Kane interfered and helped him win in both, their 1997 Hell in a Cell classic as well as their 1998 Casket match), and that he ended Vladimir Kozlov’s winning streak, so he will also end the Undertaker’s streak.

Now, if we look at Cena – what claim can he put? Neither does he have any undefeated or un-pinned streak at Wrestlemania, nor can he say that he has never lost to the Undertaker before in singles’ matches. He has lost to the Undertaker in multiple singles’ matches across the Big Evil and current Hybrid dead-man personas. So, statistically, he has no numbers to state as to why he is a contender to end the streak. At max, he can say that he sells more merchandize than Undertaker in the current generation, and that’s not an argument for ending the streak that you would buy into ;-)

And here comes the main reason why I think John Cena might not face the Undertaker at Wrestlemania – the Undertaker is champion on Smackdown whereas John Cena is on Raw. For sure, the Undertaker is not moving to Raw. Smackdown is “his” brand – the reason why he was drafted to Smackdown long back was to mentor the stars on the new show and to single-handedly lift it up, which is what he did. And there is no way he is leaving it now. John Cena, on the other hand, is the face of Raw and I don’t see him leaving Raw either. If it had to happen, then he would’ve lost the “Cena-leaves-Raw-if-he-loses” match against Randy Orton last year. But that didn’t happen, so I’m going with it that Cena will also stay on Raw this year. I also don’t see Cena winning the Rumble this year because he just won it recently. Most probably, the Rumble winner is going to be Edge (if he returns). Then this match has to be a cross-brand match with none of the guys changing their brands, which means it won’t be a title match – it might be a brand supremacy match. But for that to happen, the Undertaker has to first lose the title.

Now, my guess is that the Undertaker’s title reign is not going to end so soon. Why? Rewind back to 2007 and 2008, and try to recall how the Undertaker went through a lot of struggle to win the belt but then faced a lot of screw-ups. Basically, the WWE wanted to give the Undertaker a long title reign before he retires, and so they planned it with a Rumble win in 2007 followed by a title-win against Batista at Wrestlemania. Everything seemed perfect, until the Undertaker got injured and then he had to take a hiatus. As a result, he had to drop the belt to Edge, and upon returning, had to go through a long story before getting his hands at the title the next year. Once again, the WWE wanted to give him the title at a big PPV and they stretched it till Wrestlemania, but the bloody no-disqualification gimmick matches throughout the year like hell in a cell, steel cage, elimination chamber, last man standing, etc again took their toll on him and he was stripped of the title/ banished.

In 2009, finally, the WWE came to their senses. They realized that if they have to give their greatest man his due long and dominant title reign (something which he never had in his illustrious career) in return for his contributions to the business, they should do it immediately instead of waiting for as long as Wrestlemania and risking more injuries. So, they gave it to him at Hell in a Cell, making him the first man to win the belt at HIAC in the process. If you see how the WWE has also given him a relaxed schedule after that (tag-team matches, triple-threats, fatal four-ways, promos and short, dark matches), then it is obvious that they are giving him the chance to heal from his injuries while still holding on to the belt. That kind of gives you the picture that despite him being a 100%, they want him to be the champion and so perhaps, this is going to be a long reign (until he gets injured or something). Therefore, I am assuming that the Undertaker will be champion till Wrestlemania (and that the rumours about him dropping the title to Batista at the Rumble are false, although it seems unlikely that Batista will lose 2 matches in a row to Undertaker – but why can’t he, when the Undertaker lost to him at Cyber Sunday and Survivor series 2007 due to Edge’s interference?). The Undertaker’s title reign would not look effective until and unless he carries the title across 2 or 3 big PPVs. He has already carried it through Survivor series. Now he must carry it across the Rumble and Wrestlemania to make it look like a long, dominant reign. Please don’t make a mockery out of him like you do with Cena and Orton exchanging the title like tennis balls.

So, with the Undertaker as champion on Smackdown, Cena a champion or non-champion on Raw, and none of the guys switching brands, I don’t see a match happening between them. If Cena is not the champion on Raw until Wrestlemania, then my guess is that he will represent Raw in a brand supremacy match against Batista. Remember that feud started in Summerslam 2008 and was left unfinished. This time, it might culminate with a Cena victory, since he lost their first encounter. At the maximum, Undertaker vs John Cena match might occur in a future Wrestlemania, if not at Wrestlemania 26. But I still doubt it as it will hurt Cena’s image as top-face after he gets added as a “streak-victim” and his name is announced in the list each year when the Undertaker’s promos run.

Shawn Michaels: What’s up with Shawn Michaels’ obsession of ending the streak? Dude, you got your chance and its someone else’s chance now (although, the end-result will still be the same). You can’t keep getting a chance to do it again and again – I don’t care what you think or believe (that you can end the streak) ;-)

As of now, this looks like a feud which is possible by some angles. Remember that in 2007, after the Royal Rumble, Shawn appeared on Raw and challenged Undertaker to a match at Wrestlemania. To that, Vince said, “its not happening in the near future” and yes, it did not happen that year or the next, but it did happen in 2009 after a great build-up in the next 2 Rumbles! Similarly, he has pitched this idea to Vince again by “appealing to his wallet” since Vince likes to make money, to which Vince said, “If that match is going to happen, then you’re going to make it happen”. How can Shawn make this happen? Simple. Interfere in the Undertaker’s title match at the Rumble. There are many other ways possible too – the WWE will always find them if they want to.

But will it happen? My guess is no. Why? For those who remember, the Undertaker had a very bitter rivalry with Shawn Michaels in 1997 and 1998. Whenever they have been in the ring together, they have written history. As per me, this is the best wrestling pair in history that one could ask for, if you want to see a good match. Remember the first epic Hell in a Cell match or remember their Royal Rumble 2007 confrontation or their Wrestlemania 25 match. Whenever these 2 are in the ring together, they produce magic. They can’t help it – they’re just so good and compliment each others’ styles so well, that it happens ;-) ! Three matches which I always wanted to see but would perhaps never be able to see are Undertaker vs Goldberg, Shawn Michaels vs Sting and Bret Hart vs Kurt Angle. But if there is an Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels match, I would prefer to see that over and above all these 3! Coming back to the point, these 2 had a great rivalry in 1997/ ‘98, told a great story – to the extent that it led to the invention of the Hell in a Cell, which is the most demonic match-type in WWE history and which has given us many memorable moments. Michaels also broke his back and went out of the ring for several years after his casket match with Undertaker in 1998. But in each of these matches, Kane interfered and helped Michaels win. So it was basically used as a means to ignite the Undertaker/ Kane rivalry (which was epic too, and in my estimation – the best story ever told). After Michaels came back to the ring in action, he was on Raw and Undertaker on Smackdown with a different (human) persona, so there wasn’t much possibility to finish the rivalry. The WWE finally found a way of restarting it at the Rumble 2007 which happened in San Antonio (Shawn’s hometown) – perhaps the reason why Michaels was the last man to be eliminated in what was the best Rumble finish that I ever saw. At Wrestlemania 25, the feud culminated with the Undertaker finally taking revenge for his earlier losses to Michaels (due to Kane) and now the story has ended. Why re-start it?

All said and done, the Undertaker and Michaels won’t be able to put a better match than they did at Wrestlemania 25. Even if you make it a gimmick match, it won’t top their Hell in a Cell encounter of 1997 that was the last WWE match called by Wrestling Observer Newsletter as a 5-star match due to their performance and story-telling; a match which the Undertaker himself calls as his favourite match of all time in his entire career – and that is some career we are talking about, perhaps the greatest career ever. Then why repeat something if you can’t do better than before? Will they re-create the same magic? Will the fans be as involved as they were last year? Won’t the fans know that Michaels can kick out of the tombstone? Won’t the fans know that the Undertaker can kick out of not one but two super-kicks? So the same drama won’t be there – then why redo it?

Another reason why I strongly feel none of the Undertaker’s opponents will get repeated at Wrestlemania is that right now, he has a 17-0 streak with 17 different victims in it (it was evened out at Wrestlemania 20 when he defeated Kane for the second time, because before that he had faced Big SLow and A-Train together). Since then, it has been a perfect streak. Now if you make it 18-0 with 17 victims in the list, it somehow just doesn’t sound right. In promos, they would be saying, “The last 17 victims have fallen” and people would wonder, “but isn’t the streak 18-0?”. Repeating victims doesn’t sound right to me because the Streak is an important part of Wrestlemania and of the Undertaker’s career. It draws major money each year for the business, so as and when it keeps growing in magnitude, it should “grow” in coverage too (add more superstars/ victims to the list). This is why I also feel that the Undertaker will always be in singles’ matches at Wrestlemania hereafter, and not in any triple-threats or fatal-four-ways any other such existent numerical combinations.

Chris Jericho: Most wrestling websites were earlier reporting that Chris Jericho will face the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 26. It was highly probable, considering that Jericho had once mentioned in back-stage (out-of-character) interviews that he wants to do a programme with Undertaker (who would be more than glad to oblige, as he always is). I was excited about this because Jericho is a good wrestler and can put forth a very good match with the Undertaker (and at that time, he was being promoted as a mega heel with his matches against the legends/ Ricky Steamboat). But then something went wrong with the WWE. They suddenly felt that their Superstar of the Year 2008 Slammy award winner (who had a very good rivalry with Shawn Michaels during the year including matches that were Match of the Year candidates) doesn’t deserve to be on the top. All of a sudden, he was shifted to the tag-team division along with Big SLow. Though they won the Slammy for the tag-team of the year in 2009, it brought down Jericho’s status in the WWE. What’s more? The WWE hurried his rivalry with the Undertaker by including him in the triple-threat match for the title at Survivor series against Undertaker and Big SLow. I had initially thought that was the build-up for Wrestlemania, because Jericho was not the one who was pinned or who submitted – so he would later put forth a claim to Undertaker saying that he is the # 1 contender, and the story would build up to Wrestlemania that way.

Perfect, so far. But then the WWE made him do singles’ matches with the Undertaker too, which he lost rather easily on weekly shows. Now who would assume him to be a candidate to end the streak at the grandest PPV where Undertaker performs better than anyone else? To add to it, they also made a mockery of Jericho and got him insulted every week by DX and others. Now, he has absolutely no position whatsoever to look like a “threat” to the streak. He looks more like a clown. I’m sorry to say – that’s not the right way to treat such good main-event talent, WWE. You’re behaving like how WCW treated Mean Mark Callous, who went on to become the legendary Undertaker with you! When you have talent like Jericho who can wrestle well, why not utilize him properly? The only way I see this match happening at Wrestlemania is if Jericho starts building up his image as a mega heel once more by winning lots of singles’ matches, winning a # 1 contender’s Elimination chamber match at No Way Out, then putting the claim that Undertaker has never defeated him in a PPV, and hopefully by then, people would’ve forgotten his losses in singles’ matches on Smackdown.

Vince McMahon: This is another chapter in the Undertaker’s book which has not been closed. Remember that the Undertaker fought Vince at Survivor series 2003 in the buried-alive match where Kane interfered? It led to the return of the dead-man and he took his revenge from Kane, all right – but what about his revenge from Vince? Yes, just like he took his revenge from Shawn Michaels and ended the 12-year old rivalry; he also needs to end his old story with Vince. Or so a lot of people feel. I personally don’t want this to happen because Vince had taken a very bad beating at Survivor series 2003 and because the Undertaker got his revenge from Kane later too. For me, the story is over. But perhaps the WWE doesn’t feel that way, which is why they were bringing Vince into the Undertaker’s story after his return in 2009 during his feud with CM Punk. Imagine how golden the streak would be if it even had the chairman’s name on it!?

However, my take on this is that it will be a pathetic match, considering that Vince is even more old now and he just can’t stand in front of the Undertaker for even a minute. The last few years, the Undertaker has given classic matches against Batista, Edge and Shawn Michaels. The WWE would want to retain that standard and give him a wrestler who looks like a real threat to the streak, so that people buy it and watch it with interest. Yeah, you can make them believe that Vince will try to do anything by hook or by crook, but it still sounds weak to me to put him in a match against Undertaker at Wrestlemania – it would be a waste of a match at such a grand stage.

Ted Dibiase: Many have stated that Ted Dibiase should be the one who ends the streak, because it was his father who introduced the Undertaker to the WWE. While this may sound poetic for a story – I don’t buy into it because Dibiase is not yet material enough to even face the Undertaker at a stage as big as Wrestlemania, and because I don’t think the Undertaker’s streak will ever end (explained later).

Bret the Hitman Hart: Anybody who thought that Bret Hart was going to fight Undertaker was obviously out of his mind. Unless, if he wants Bret Hart to “Rest In Peace” for real. I mean it when I say this – Bret’s return to the WWE is the biggest news in the wrestling industry in recent years. I still can’t digest it! Its magnitude is unbelievable. But, as with people who like to speculate and dream nonsense with no logic, some of them came out and said, “what if Bret Hart faces the Undertaker at Wrestlemania since his contract is till beyond Wrestlemania?”. My dear brothers, Bret Hart is in as bad shape as Vince, if not worse. I don’t think he can wrestle Undertaker or Shawn Michaels or any other. Bret’s contract is perhaps till beyond Wrestlemania for 2 reasons: 1) The WWE want him to do a feud with Vince so that it can be a perfect send-off for Bret, something which should have happened a decade ago but didn’t; 2) Owen Hart might be inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame this year and it is obvious that Bret will induct him.

Whether Bret will do a match himself in these 4 months or not is debatable. Its hard to believe that he will stay for 4 months without getting physical at all. We don’t know how long his story is going to be and whether he is going to be present every week or not, but since he will be involved with Vince, he has to be regular. My guess is that he will mostly be doing promos and back-stage segments. Shawn Michaels is definitely going to be involved in this feud rather than in a feud with Undertaker, because he was the one who was involved in the Montreal screwjob and because he was the one who convinced Vince on-stage that only good things can happen if Bret Hart returns to the WWE. This probably means that Bret has buried the hatchet, they have put the past behind themselves and Bret is going to get on-screen revenge for the Montreal screwjob somehow. Bret might start off by screwing DX out of the tag-team titles and handing it to his nephews, the Hart dynasty. Although it would be justice for him, it might turn him heel – that is something which I don’t anticipate since he must remain a fan-favourite these 4 months if they are specially planned as a good send-off to him.

There is still a way to bring the Undertaker in this story: 1) Michaels screws Undertaker out of the title at the Rumble; 2) Vince and Bret decide to do a match at Wrestlemania by choosing their representatives (like Vince did with Trump at Wrestlemania 23); 3) Vince chooses Shawn to fight for him and Bret chooses Undertaker (its not that the Undertaker is making friends with Bret in his current persona, but he is just turning up as the right man to do the job, just like he did when Stephanie requested Kane to call him for kicking Orton’s b*tt on Raw earlier in 2008). However, I feel that would over-complicate the story and we won’t realize whether the focus is on Bret vs Vince or Undertaker vs Shawn. Since Shawn has to be involved in the Bret-Vince story in some or the other way, the Undertaker is perhaps better off having his own story related to the streak with another wrestler. That gives us 2 good stories, one for Raw and one for Smackdown – more money for the WWE and more number of good matches at Wrestlemania, isn’t it? It did cross my mind that Bret can choose HHH to fight for him! But I don’t think that is going to happen because that would probably be saved for Shawn’s retirement match (he’d surely not want to retire at anyone else’s hands – moreover, there has not been a Shawn vs HHH singles’ match at Wrestlemania). I do foresee a DX break-up sometime in the future, because they can’t keep dominating the tag-team division forever and they need to promote the younger tag-teams too before they retire. I’ll also not mind it if Bret wrestles Vince himself and comes out on top.

The Rock: I have read on certain websites that the Rock is returning to the WWE for a match at Wrestlemania. Now, whenever people hear the word “Wrestlemania”, it is so synonymous with Undertaker that some fans start shouting “the Rock would face the Undertaker at Wrestlemania”. In my view, it is highly improbable. First of all, I don’t know if the Rock has the time to do a feud/ match. He’s very busy with his film-schedule. Secondly, if he does come back and even if he is in good shape, why would he come back only for losing? Third, even if he does come back to do a match and lose, he might be fighting John Cena because he had mentioned it during one of the Hall of Fame ceremonies that he wants to do a match against John Cena or Shawn Michaels, because he never got to fight them. A lot of wrestling analysts also feel that the torch was given to the Rock by Hogan during their Wrestlemania match, and it still lies with him – so he has to pass it on to Cena since he’s the leader of the current generation. It is of least interest to me because I couldn’t care less about Cena. So, sorry guys, Undertaker vs Rock is not happening again…. ever! At least in this birth.

I’ll leave it to you folks to figure out who will be his opponent at Wrestlemania. I am still not sure (although I was sure of Jericho until a few months/ weeks back). If you ask me to pick one from this list as a “surety”, I can’t. This topic is open to debate, and hopefully the Lord will shed more light on the matter after the Rumble. That is why I call this as the best part of the year (from the Rumble to Wrestlemania) – because the WWE becomes unpredictable, which is great. Expect them to come with something good like they did last year. Enjoy it.

That’s it from me, folks. While we are not sure who the Undertaker’s opponent is going to be, we are sure of one thing – whoever he is, he will Rest in Peace! I have read on several wrestling websites that they feel the Undertaker’s streak should be broken by a new and budding star to give him a big push. That sounds like total cr*p to me, and people who feel that way probably don’t know what effort went into creating the streak. The streak is listed as the WWE’s greatest record on the WWE records page at www.wwe.com/inside/news/wwerecords/, so obviously the WWE have money in keeping it right there. The board of directors and stake-holders of the WWE would be scared of losing money if the streak were to be broken, so they won’t let it happen. Apart from that, Vince himself would not let it happen because he is very proud of the Undertaker character and because he respects Undertaker as a person more than anyone else. It is a known fact that back-stage, the Undertaker is the most respected personality in the history of this industry. The streak is not just WWE’s way of giving him his respect for being a great in-ring performer and story-teller, but also for being the locker-room leader and an industry veteran back-stage. the WWE needs one name to quote in history which always remained dominant and which always delivered the most when it mattered the most – what better a name for it than the dead-man, who cannot be hurt? It is the only good “statistic” in his career which was otherwise more focussed towards domination and destruction than “numbers”, just like Ric Flair’s statistic is that he was a 16-time champion. Why take it away from him? He would face a lot of screw-ups in many other PPVs but things will always be in his favour at Wrestlemania. Think about it – if the streak were to be broken by a young star who is, say, 4-0 at Wrestlemania – what is the guarantee that he will become a superstar as great and legendary as Undertaker is right now? What is the guarantee that he will even last that long in the business? What is the guarantee that he will stay equally loyal to the company, instead of switching jobs and moving to TNA or some other organization? Since there is no such guarantee, why let any such guy end the streak? The only person who can end the streak should be someone who already has a bigger streak or who can have a bigger streak than the Undertaker in the future – and I think such a person does not exist. Why end something you spent 2 decades to create, and which might never be re-created? Come Wrestlemania, there will be many trouble-makers on this website (and news on other websites) who will say that the streak will be broken this year (as they hope each year), but fear not my dear Creatures of the Night – at Wrestlemania, they would all be buried alive!

What's up with changing PPV names? You like to confuse the veteran fans, don't you, WWE? Well done, it was accomplished.

Undertaker vs CM Punk vs Batista vs Rey Mysterio: I don't know what the future of the Batista-Rey Mysterio relationship is going to be. They were on-screen friends earlier (and maybe still are), but you could expect a heel turn from Batista because he lost to Mysterio on Smackdown. That will probably result in an Undertaker-Batista rivalry (which we have already seen before and I am not interested in seeing again) and a Punk-Mysterio rivalry after which Punk might get drafted to Raw to have fresh feuds with Orton and/ or DX. Alternately, they might choose to give Batista and Mysterio the tag-team titles, thereby breaking the Jericho-Big SLow partnership. After that, Jericho might go for the WHC title and feud with Taker (that is what I WANT! :-) ).

Now, I know a lot of sorry-a**es were unhappy about the fact that Undertaker was made to win the title at Hell in a Cell (in my terms, No Mercy) PPV. They even brought rumours about Punk's dress-code violation (and Undertaker's advice to him about it) to be the reason why Undertaker won the title. Well, you dumb nitwits, story-lines aren't made that way. The Undertaker has been in the business for 2 decades and is the most respected athlete, plus the locker-room leader. Everybody who has feuded or teamed with him on screen has benefited in popularity and become wiser/ smarter in the business. When he gives you advice, you'd better shut up and listen. Anyways, in this case it wasn't the dress-code advice which gave him the title. If he was power-hungry, he would've had 15 titles to his name now instead of 7 (most of those title reigns were anyway very short). HHH, Cena, Edge, etc anyways have had longer title reigns than Taker has had, and so you should point to them if you are talking about being title-greedy. The reason why Undertaker was given the title is that he never lost it last year but was wrongly stripped off it. So, the title is "his". And after the kind of performance he gave at Wrestlemania, you would only want your top performer to be the champion. The WWE have been trying to give him a long title reign since 2007 but it never works out because they make him go through a lot of struggle and screw-ups before winning the title like they made him go against Edge (which eats up several months), and they make him go through many no-disqualification matches like elimination-chamber, steel-cage, hell in a cell, last-man standing, casket, TLC, etc - so when he finally wins the title, he is already injured and needs a break.

This time, the WWE has finally changed the strategy and let him win the title immediately upon his return (barring one screw-up at Breaking Point which had to happen, otherwise it won't look like an Undertaker-story). It felt strange to some of the Undertaker fans like us because we are not used to see him win the title so easily but we are used to see him get screwed many times and then finally win it on a big stage. This gave the sorry Undertaker-haters a nice chance to say things like he is power-hungry, and he won it because of the dress-code advice. What BS, I tell you. Anybody and everybody in the WWE is more mature than that. And Undertaker himself has always been pushing stars up, be it Mankind, Kane, Stone Cold, Rock, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Orton, Khali, Batista, Edge or any other. Where were those Undertaker-haters when he got screwed out of matches and the title again and again throughtout his career? Where were they when it took 20 guys along with Yokozuna to put him in the casket, when Paul Bearer betrayed him and joined hands with Mankind, when Shawn Michaels hit him with a chair and let Bret Hart win, when Kane interfered and let Shawn win in the Hell in a Cell/ casket matches, when Vince/ HHH interfered and let Stone Cold retain the title against him, when Vince interfered and let Lesnar retain the title against him many times, when Big SLow injured him so that Lesnar could beat him at Hell in a Cell, when Kane buried him alive against Vince, when he tombstoned Booker for the title but then Big SLow interfered, when JBL used a chair and didn't get disqualified but Undertaker got disqualified upon using it in revenge, when Bob Orton interfered and helped his son Orton win, when MVP interfered and let Kennedy win, when Mark Henry assaulted him and Edge screwed him out of the title in 2007 by cashing Money-In-The-Bank, when Edge screwed him out of the Hell in a Cell match against Batista, when Edge screwed him in the triple-threat match at Armageddon, when Vickie Guerrero stripped him off the title, when Edge and his minions screwed him out of the title at the TLC match which resulted in Undertaker getting banished, when Vickie slapped Undertaker, when Teddy Long and Scott Armstrong cheated upon him? Now, if you think that Undertaker beating Punk in a 10-minute match was wrong, I have no words for you. All such Undertaker-haters can go to hell ;-) I have got over the fact that he won the title unexpectedly in a small PPV - its ok to have Punk job to the greatest wrestler of all time for once, and let's be happy that this time he won the title rather easily (the way Cena and Edge win each time anyways, and are loved by their fans for it). The reason why the match was short is that he was not 100% fit but he will soon be, since he got some more chance to rest by doing promos and dark-matches. And the reason why the match was the first match of the PPV is that the WWE wanted Undertaker to be the one who would be the first one to win a title in a Hell in a Cell match (since the title had never exchanged hands in it before). There had to be one HIAC match at the start, one in the middle, and one at the end of the PPV. The choice for the first match was not due to Punk's dress-code, but due to the fact that the title had never been won at a HIAC, and they wanted Undertaker to be the first one to do the honours.

So now, coming to my prediction for this match, I think the WWE have realized their mistakes about how they let Undertaker struggle a lot and get injured when he got his title, so this time they are letting him win and retain the title for as long as he can. I would therefore expect him to retain it. The reason why its a Fatal 4-way match is so that he gets some time to relax in the match. If he had to lose it, then he wouldn't have won it from Punk in the first place. Instead, Punk would've retained it and directly lost it to whoever is going to be the next champion in this PPV. So, the bottom-line is that Undertaker is retaining the title in this one.

Randy Orton vs John Cena: I don't know if Cena is going for shooting a movie or not. He is the top face of Raw, but usually a Loser-leaves-town match is only kept when he is actually going to leave and the match becomes the WWE's on-screen method of making it happen. I have a feeling that Cena will lose this one because we are sick of seeing the title exchange hands between him and Orton like a tennis ball. If Cena had to win this, he wouldn't have lost it at Hell in a Cell probably. And since its an "anything goes" match, it favours Orton more. So I am going with Orton winning this one and Cena leaving Raw. Maybe that he will take a break and after a few months, return to Smackdown.

John Morrison vs Miz: John Morrison.

Michelle McCool and Beth Phoenix and Natalya vs Melina and Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim: I have to go with Michelle's team as it looks stronger and because I like it more than the other team ;-) if Mickie James was on the other side, the result could've been different. But I think that this time, the heels will be too much to deal with for Melina and her team.

Team Raw vs Team Smackdown: With DX leading team Raw, there are little chances that the Raw team will lose. It is also possible that Big SLow or Jericho change their sides during the course of the match, or it is possible that this results in some kind of issues between them (I hope so, because then Jericho will go for the singles' title and feud with Undertaker for a good Wrestlemania 26 match). All said and done, this match will end with a Sweet Chin Music or a Pedegree.

I must say that if you remove the Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels match from Wrestlemania, then Summerslam was the best PPV of the year. Some of its non-title matches were better than the title-matches/ so-called main-events at this year's Wrestlemania. For me, the Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels match "saved" Wrestlemania - for God's sake, it was the 25th anniversary of wrestling's biggest event and this match had to occur here. If it had not happened, the Silver Jubilee of this sports-entertainment spectacular would've been a waste. In my estimation, this was the greatest WWE match of all time, and better than Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels at Hell in a Cell or Undertaker vs Mankind at Hell in a Cell or Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels or Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle. Why? Well, for example - have you ever seen Bret Hart flying over the top rope? When Undertaker did that and almost landed on his head, I was dead scared that this monumental match might be over. Luckily, it wasn't so. The other wrestlers can't do half the things that Undertaker does (like walking the top rope or flying over it or tombstone piledriving the heaviest guys like Mark Henry) - forget about doing it at an age of 44? Take 2 of the longest lasting tough-guys in the industry who will arguably go down as the 2 greatest ever, the guys who have been through every rivalry and every super-star that you can think of in any era, with two of the most contrasting characters/ personas - and they have always done magic when they were in the ring together, be it in the first Hell in a Cell match or the Royal Rumble 2007 finish, or this. The creative build-up to the match which had Michaels doing Undertaker-like promos (coming out with angels dressed in white and similar attire as Undertaker's, then the graveyard promo, and their word-duels in the ring), followed by the match which had every possible skill of wrestling at display from submission-moves to athletic-moves to power-moves to the Oh My God moments like when Undertaker flew over the rope and almost broke his neck to the Wow moments like when the Undertaker converted Michaels' moon-sault to a tombstone piledriver in an incredibly creative finish - I think this match was WWE's greatest achievement until date. Jim Ross called it the greatest match ever, and I know why.

Coming to Summerslam - I am surprised that the Undertaker returned on that PPV! I didn't expect him to return on the same PPV as Shawn Michaels, although technically Shawn had made appearances and had "returned" before the PPV on Raw (but not in a billed fight). You would ideally save the return of your 2 greatest super-stars for 2 different PPV's to be able to maximize the viewership of each. However, since the next few PPV's after Summerslam are not really A-grade ones, I think it made sense to make Undertaker return on it. It became the exclamation point to the PPV after the CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy match, and true to Undertaker's character, it proved that he can come to attack you anywhere/ anytime. One of the reasons why I was not expecting him to return at Summerslam earlier was that he was not completely healed from his injuries and had to expedite his return for the company (since Hardy was taking time-off, so somebody else was required on the main-event - this does not mean by any means that Undertaker is a replacement for  Hardy because he is far greater than Hardy and Punk put together). As last year, he chose to return at being 90% fit rather than a full 100% to do good for the business. It was also obvious that he is not completely healed from the fact that he didn't fight in any matches before Breaking Point, but he was making only short appearances to choke-slam Punk (because just a sight of the Undertaker keeps the crowd happy, due to the Wow factor it carries with itself). This might be the reason why he was also not tombstone piledriving Punk, or not using the last-ride - because the choke-slam takes lesser effort than those 2. That might also be the reason why the match between Punk and Undertaker at Breaking Point was kept as a submission match, so that Undertaker does not have to use the tombstone or the last-ride in the match. The short duration of the match and the fact that he did not connect his old school top-rope walk confirmed it for me that he is not completely fit yet.

Now, why did they do a screw-job here? Of course it was a mimicry of the 1997 Survivor series Montreal screw-job with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels - with the difference being that this time the Undertaker would've known (in reality) that this was the scripted finish (though that is not what will be shown in the story-line, to emotionally boost the rivalry and make it look personal) - Bret Hart didn't know (in reality) as to what was planned until it happened. To me, it looked very lame that the WWE said that the reason for the match being re-started is the ban on the Hell's Gate/ Devil's Gate/ Devil's Triangle/ Gogoplata/ Death Valley Vice (as I prefer to call it, since the WWE calls it with a 100 names). Give me a freaking break - when Undertaker was re-instated last year at Summerslam, it was practically assumed that the ban from Hell's Gate is over because he has used it many times after returning in both, regular one-fall matches as well as in no-disqualification matches. For example, he used it against Big SLow in the steel-cage match, he used it against Shelton Benjamin on Smackdown, and he also used it against Shawn Michaels in Wrestlemania (when Michaels broke the hold by reaching the ropes) - now if the move was banned, then Undertaker should've been disqualified then and there for using it. However, they couldn't have done that because the match was supposed to be big.

You can't have such selective memory, WWE - that you choose the move to be legal in some matches when you want and then you choose to remember its banishment in other matches. For the Undertaker', its not a problem if a move is banned because he has such a large arsenal of them. Even if its about submission-moves, he can use the Triangle choke or the Dragon Sleeper hold which he used to apply earlier. For the same reason, the fact that "Undertaker will not be allowed to use Hell's Gate in a match" seems like a stupid stipulation to me because it makes it sound like he doesn't have any other moves, when in reality he has more moves than any super-star and the Hell's Gate is a pretty new one and not really his signature move. What I'm trying to say is - if they had to find a way to screw Undertaker out of the match, there could've been many better ways to do it - and this was one of the worst ways to do it because its technically a contradiction as they've allowed the Hell's Gate to be used in matches after Undertaker's return last year. If you're expecting to please those sorry kiddie-fans who wouldn't remember that it was used after he returned last year, you're keeping the wrong audience happy. You ought to be doing something to keep your veteran and long-lasting fans happy. Since Undertaker won the Royal Rumble in 2007, I am waiting to see a long title reign. Then he gets screwed out of it by Edge due to injury. After his return, I see Edge stealing the title and making a fool out of him like a 100 times, until he finally wins the Elimination chamber and then the title at Wrestlemania. But then I see him being stripped off the belt, I see him getting slapped by Vickie, I even see him being banished! When he returns, I see Big SLow claiming to have knocked him out although it was done after the use of the exposed steel of the turn-buckle. And this year, after his long-awaited return, this is what I get to see. I mean it - WWE, many loyal fans like me are soon going to stop watching wrestling if you think our memory is as bad as yours, and if you think we are fools and if you don't give us what we want.

Looking at Undertaker's state now, I don't think he will ever get the long title reign that he was promised before retirement because he gets into more number of gimmick matches (like Hell in a Cell, TLC, casket, steel cage, last man standing, elimination chamber) than anyone else because he is the only one who can create such intense rivalries by promoting his opponents and do such good story-telling - which results in him getting injured and unable to hold the title for a long time. This is why I don't like the fact that Undertaker is fighting Punk at a Hell in a Cell match. First of all, the rivalry has not yet become so long or so intense that it be culminated in a Hell in a Cell. Secondly, this dilutes the importance of Hell in a Cell because now there are so many matches of that type in the PPV (earlier, we had only one Hell in a Cell match each year and it was of the most intense rivalry). Moreover, what's up with WWE renaming their PPV's? It makes it so difficult for people like us (who have been watching the earlier PPV's since years) to remember them. But oh, I am sorry I forgot - the WWE is not about keeping us loyal fans happy because they don't like our loyalty, but they only want to keep the new kiddie fans happy (as though Hell in a Cell is a rated PG-13 name, if the earlier one was not?) Moreover, isn't Hell in a Cell supposed to be No Mercy, which is where Undertaker has a losing streak? So, I have given up hope on Undertaker winning the title at Hell in a Cell either (because he is not 100% fit for a title-reign and because his rivalries are usually long, hence his feud with Teddy Long won't be over). I doubt it that Vince was (story-line-wise) involved in what Teddy Long did, because I don't think that Vince wants to repeat the earlier stories (the Bret Hart real screw-job or his rivalry with Stone Cold). This year, finally, Vince is not really like a heel (he was greeted very well by the fans upon his return before Wrestlemania and he was generally on the face-side when Orton attacked him) - there is no reason to turn him into a complete heel now and get into a rivalry with the Undertaker. Because then we will see Vince hiring some fat Tom, Dick or Harry to defend himself (just like Vickie Guerrero hired Big SLow) and then a couple of lazy, boring matches (because guys like Big SLow are just slow and can't wrestle or create good matches).

I just hope that somehow, the partnership between Chris Jericho and Big SLow breaks (considering that they are both heels and ego-maniacs, it is bound to break soon) and Jericho somehow rises to the title scene and wins it from Punk. Undertaker can then win the Rumble next year once again to challenge Jericho for the belt and win it one last time at Wrestlemania. Undertaker and Jericho will make a great match because Jericho is a good wrestler, and even if Undertaker has to hold it for a short while (for example, till Summerslam), it would do justice to a long career. I would prefer that he retires as champion because if Trish could do that, why can't he do it too when is actually the greatest ever (assuming that he is retiring next year, although his retirement rumours have been there since a decade and he always proves them wrong), and preferably at Survivor series because that is where he started his career. It would do good story-telling that way. He could win his last match as champion, then Paul Bearer could make an appearance and invite him to join his long-time friend in Death Valley - then Undertaker could leave the belt in the ring and walk out with Bearer, ending the greatest career we'd ever get to see. The belt can later be given to somebody else based on a Battle Royale or something of that sort.

Time for some non-Undertaker talk now. I think DX vs Legacy was a great match at Breaking Point and no matter how much we dislike it, Legacy had to win it by submission. Why? Because DX is the greatest tag-team/ factum ever. They have accomplished everything that they ever had to do and they can't stay in the WWE forever because they are getting old. So they can't dominate the newer factums forever and they have to promote them. I think Legacy might lose at Hell in a Cell, to keep DX's respect in-tact, however they will still be able to claim forever that they were the first ones to make DX tap out or submit. Now, what I would prefer is that if somehow Legacy wins the match because it will cement their future, do no damage to DX's reputation and most importantly, it could somehow start off a feud between HHH and Shawn Michaels if they have a dispute and break up. That would be classic because it might somehow lead to Shawn Michaels' retirement match against HHH at Wrestlemania next year, which would be another Match of the Year contender. I can't wait for it to happen - I don't mind if DX loses the matches and breaks off, as long as that match is there to see :-)

Predictions for No Mercy, sorry, Hell in a Cell (bah, who cares now):

Undertaker vs CM Punk  - CM Punk wins through some interference or screw-job or cheating. Although there is a very bleak chance that Undertaker might win because he appears on the poster - but I don't think it would make sense to hurry his title reign when he is not fit and that too to make him win on a B-grade PPV. Moreover, Punk has recently won the belt so I expect him to hold it for some time.

John Cena vs Randy Orton - John Cena (sadly). He has just won the belt and will perhaps retain it for a while to increase the merchandize sales and to keep the kiddie fans happy. I think the only match which should've been held inside the demonic structure this year was HHH vs Randy Orton as that was the most intense rivalry.

DX vs Legacy - DX.

Big SLow and Chris Jericho vs Batista and Rey Mysterio - SLow and Jericho.

Dolph Ziggler (who?) vs John Morrison - John Morrison.

The Miz vs Jack Swagger vs Kofi Kingston - Jack Swagger (perhaps after pinning Miz). Somebody please tell him to change his looks a bit (maybe keep a Frenchie or go bald) to look more dangerous and get a character like Orton's to become a hit because he has wrestling-skill.

Alicia Fox vs Mickie James - Mickie James. Sigh, I want Beth Phoenix as champion.

I must say that the WWE is not much worth watching without the dead-man ;-) the kind of intensity that the dead-man brings to rivalries (regardless of whether they are title-rivalries or not), as he has been doing right since the 1990s (remember the priceless feuds with Mankind, Kane, Shawn Michaels, the Hell in a Cell introduction, the inferno matches, etc) and continues to do now (recent rivalries against Batista and Edge) - is something that no other superstar has or will ever be able to do - in my estimation, not even HHH.

I know he is healing injuries, and why wouldn't he be if he is given such a taxing schedule with matches left right and center all over the place against every kind of superstar and in every kind of stipulation (hell in a cell, casket, steel cage, elimination chamber, etc). And he would have to do them, because he still does better story-telling and puts better matches than anyone else does. Every match at Wrestlemania 25 was worth laughing at, except the Undertaker-Shawn Michaels match, which ought to teach every kid-fan a lesson as to what real wrestling is about. John Cena cannot ever equal Stone Cold Steve Austin and Randy Orton, as good as he is, can still not equal the Rock. And when the real back-bones (who have been the back-bones of this company for longer than anyone else) - the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and HHH - retire, then what would happen? Who will save the WWE?

Anyway, so since the dead-man is still away, I will make my speculations about his return and plans for the next 1 year. He has not been in any personally intense rivalry after he got done with Big SLow (which was also not an intense rivalry as the ones with Batista and Edge), so I don't see him fighting in this year's Hell in a Cell (thank God, give the old man some rest and let the kids show what they have got - though it is not as much as the dead-man has got). I think this year's Hell in a Cell would be HHH vs Randy Orton as that seems to be the hottest rivalry of the year. I would love to see Randy come out on top in that one - he really needs the boost and is doing a good job for the business as champion. I think he deserved all the investment that the company has put into making him the top-star of this year - I had predicted his Rumble victory and his title victory at Backlash in my earlier blogs too, and I can estimate why it was done.

As for the dead-man, I think his next feud will be Chris Jericho. I remember Jericho mentioning a year back that he wanted to feud with Undertaker, and now that he is in Smackdown (which is effectively the Undertaker's brand), he has all the chance. Jericho is drawing a lot of heat as a heel (bad guy) right now and he is a good wrestler too, so he can put good matches with the dead-man, who can stand in the ring with superstars of any type and create good matches with them - be it the slow ones like Khali or the quicker ones like Shawn Michaels. Jericho had good confrontrations with Ricky Steamboat recently (man, can Steamboat wrestle!) and I think that he will soon start making claims as to how he has killed every legend in the WWE ever. How? Jericho will win the WHC championship belt soon and one fine day, he will be bragging in the ring about how he is the best ever and how he has put all legends to rest, starting with Ric Flair.... until the infamous church-bell tolls and enters the greatest legend of them all - the Phenom, the Undertaker! Jericho's look will sell it all. Undertaker will claim that he never lost the title which was stolen from him last year, and that should be enough to start this top-class rivalry.

I see them in a few non-title matches first which Undertaker will win, and in a few title-matches which Jericho will win (perhaps at Survivor series or Armageddon) through some kind of cheating or cheap-shots. Then the Undertaker will win the Royal Rumble next year once more (I can't think of anyone else who will win it as Batista/ Cena/ Orton - they all have won it recently and made the most of it - Undertaker was the only one who won it but couldn't make the most out of it because after winning the belt from Batista in 2007, he got injured and had to drop the title to Edge). Since the Undertaker was in a title match at last year's Wrestlemania also (with Edge), you would imagine that the WWE wants to give their best man a long title reign before he calls it quits. Nobody has earned it more (because he was very often not in title-feuds but still the most top-class feuds like the ones with Mankind and Kane), and after the Wrestlemania 25 match, I say make Undertaker and Shawn as the WHC and WWE champions for the next 1 year and show the kiddie Cenas and Kingstons and Mysterios how the title is held in style. Anyway, so coming back to my prediction, Undertaker wins next year's Rumble and then challenges Jericho to a spectacular match at Wrestlemania 26 - they will put up an awesome show which will end with a tombstone piledriver on Y2J (hopefully Undertaker's annual suicide-dive over-the-top-rope connects well this time and Jericho stands there instead of pulling a stupid cameraman who doesn't know where to stand to face the impact). And then starteth the reign of the dead-man.... for once, bring back the dark ages!