It is to the WWE's credit - the way they have been able to tweak story-lines when the Undertaker got injured.

I guess that year 2007 was planned to be his year, so that he gets a long title reign before retirement, in return to his contributions to the business as the most phenomenal wrestler on-stage, the longest tenuring athlete on the WWE roster, as well as his back-stage contributions in being the locker-room leader, holding the company on his shoulders during the 'lean' years, and mentoring other wrestlers, bringing them to popularity through rivalries and characters derived from his (e.g., Kane), etc - http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/raw15/exclusives/raw15pollresults/.  A simple proof of the fact that the year was perhaps planned for him is that he won the Royal Rumble for the first time in his career, that too by defeating the other legend in the WWE roster right now, Shawn Michaels at his home-town. They made another record out of it, by making him the first entrant to win the Rumble by entering at # 30. If anybody watched the preview match of the Royal Rumble at Smackdown in the last week of March 2007, they would have known that Undertaker is going to win the Rumble, the way he interrupted the match and set the pace by cleaning house single-handedly. After that, it was too easy to predict that Undertaker will win the match against Batista (in what was my favourite match of 2007, and was voted so by the fans on WWE.com also), because if there is one thing which is the biggest truth of wrestling and the greatest record, it is that Undertaker has never lost at Wrestlemania, and I hope that he never will because if the WWE needs one name to enumerate in history which never lost at the grandest stage of them all, there is no better wrestler or character than the Dead-man, who cannot be hurt - http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/wwerecords/.

However, I guess the WWE made one slight mistake of giving Undertaker a lot of bloody matches immediately following his victory. Batista perhaps didn't perform very well according to the script in my estimation, and Undertaker ended up getting injured in their last-man-standing match. Now that Undertaker's long-title reign was not possible this time, it had to be taken out somehow. However, it will be against his character to forfeit the title or lose it 'cleanly'. So what does the WWE do now? Modify the story-line to make more story-lines. Enter Edge, challenging Kennedy for his money-in-the-bank title and winning it from him, and encashing it against Undertaker after his bloody steel-cage match with Batista, following which Mark Henry had also returned and assaulted the wounded Undertaker. This way, three Smackdown superstars - Batista, Mark Henry and Edge, got a chance to make a name for themselves and make themselves popular at the expense of the Undertaker, the way most other superstars also have in the past. Following this, when Undertaker was ready to return, it was obvious that he will finish off Mark Henry and turn his attention to the title again. Once again, Undertaker had delivered a tombstone piledriver to Batista (this time on the steel steps), but wait a second - the poster of "Survivor series" had featured Edge holding a chain-cutter or a saw - what does that mean? He was hidden inside the cell as a cameraman. He attacked the Undertaker and helped Batista win.

Why? Perhaps because the WWE thought it made sense that the Undertaker should win his next title at a Wrestlemania, and this would also give a chance to the Undertaker-Edge rivalry to gain some more momentum to help promote Edge. It was easy to predict that Edge will have some trick up his sleeve and win their triple-threat match at Armageddon to become the champion (though, perhaps because no better story-line was possible, they made Vickie the fiance of Edge and it made the whole thing look uglier than anything has in the past).

Heading upto Wrestlemania 24, the moment the Elimination chamber match for Smackdown was announced at No Way Out, it was obvious that the Undertaker will win it (because he did not win the Royal Rumble) so that he can avenge himself from Edge at Wrestlemania and win the title. That elimination chamber match was dominated by the Undertaker as he eliminated or helped eliminate all other 5 opponents, and it was my favourite match of 2008 looking at the brutality and wrestling-skill (the reversal of the head-bang to the cage into a tombstone to Batista was incomparable, and the choke-slam to MVP from the top of the chamber to the ring was memorable). It had to happen, and it happened. The streak became 16-0, and the Undertaker prevailed in Backlash as expected. However, you could make out that the Undertaker has become leaner and is not using the tombstone very often but true to his innovative nature, he has introduced a new submission move (gogoplata from mixed-martial arts). It was obvious that his knee is injured and he needs time off (I guess he had developed a cyst).

Once again, the Undertaker cannot be taken out cleanly. So what to do? The WWE made use of the Vickie-Edge relationship story-line to make a loser-leaves-town match, where Undertaker would fight Edge in a TLC (Edge's speciality), and that he will be banished from the WWE if he lost to Edge. That was sign enough that it is time for the Undertaker to take a vacation to heal his injuries, before being back with a bang. But as far as Undertaker goes, he has proved it in the past that any kind of match against any kind of opponent (regardless of how experienced the opponent is in that kind of match), the match eventually becomes dominated by the Undertaker and becomes his speciality. This time, Undertaker once again dominated and it was my second-favourite matche of 2008. However, they had to introduce outside interference and eventually make Edge win so that the Undertaker can take time off. While leaving, he had a depressed expression on his face to sell the banishment story-line to the fans.

But can the Undertaker be taken out that way? You must be kidding me. He is the most dominant force in the history of professional wrestling. When Edge dumped Vickie and made out with the wedding-planner, it was obvious that now the WWE is doing 2 things - 1) preparing for Undertaker's return because Edge/ Vickie were secondary players in the story-line who had come into it only to create chaos on Smackdown due to Undertaker's injury, until he is ready to come back and take his top-spot, 2) Vickie drew a lot of heat from the fans due to her bad acting skills and voice, so she was being turned "face" (good character).

The first thing which a lot of people asked was whether Undertaker will return in the same persona or a new persona? It is a question of high debate, because he has shown so many personas to the crowd, and he has maintained a link between all of them so well that it is by far the greatest and most recognizable gimmick of all time - http://wrestlingsgreatest.blogspot.com/2007/06/best-wrestling-gimmicks-of-all-time.html. The only reason why I feel that the persona will not change is that this current persona has not evolved out of just the last 1 or 2 personas but it has evolved out of "all" the earlier personas. It has traits of all the earlier personas including the wrestling moves (tombstone/ chokeslam from the mortician, last ride from the bad-a**), the attire (the big-evil vest attire inside with big-evil mark on the tights along with overcoat and hat from the mortician/ deadman), the mind-games from the ministry and lord of darkness, the entrance theme from the deadman and lord of darkness, the signature moves (cutting throat before the tombstone from the deadman and lord of darkness, raising the right hand after victory from the bad-a**).

That is why fans call this persona as the "Hybrid" persona. It is a very well thought-through persona and perhaps the Undertaker wanted to keep it as the last persona before retirement, that is why he made it as a culmination of all other personas. He is giving us a glimpse of all that we have seen of the Undertaker in the past. If you create a new persona now, what will happen to this one and the others? The link has to be maintained like it has been maintained over the last 18 years, and it cannot just be left out. I guess that is the reason why this persona has lasted the longest compared to all other personas. There were a lot of opportunities during this persona when he could have changed it. For example, when Randy Orton put him in a casket with fire or when Mark Henry/ Edge took him out last year when Edge cashed in his money-in-the-bank title. Those were opportunities which qualified for a persona-change considering the kinds of situations after which the Undertaker has changed his persona earlier (like Yokozuna and other heels putting him in a casket, Kane burying him alive, etc). However, in this case, nothing of that sort has happened and he did not "die" in the storyline, but he was just banished and is being brought back as he was. He should perhaps remain a fan-favourite until he retires instead of turning "heel" (evil character) like he did during the ministry to promote Stone Cold and Rock.

The WWE magazine also has Undertaker sitting on its cover and he seems to be in the same persona, however that is not proof enough. I guess we will have to wait and see, but due to the reasons I stated above, my guess is that his persona will not change. There could be slight changes in the attire and entrance, like there have been throughout in his present persona (the big-evil trousers with shoes changed to tights with boots, the big-evil mark came on his tights and its colour kept changing, the fire-effects were slowly added to his entrance).

Now that we have understood the Undertaker character and recent story-lines well, let us look at my predictions for the Hell in a Cell match. First of all, I think the WWE is at a great talent-crunch, that every Hell in a Cell match requires Undertaker. There is only one Hell in a Cell match every year, and Undertaker has already made the maximum number of entrances in them. This will add one more to his attendance in the same. It means there are very few wrestlers capable of managing inside the Hell in a Cell (Undertaker and HHH), and that in the recent past, every great rivalry has inevitably required Undertaker to be on one side of it (because the biggest rivalries are settled at Hell in a Cell). On a side note, so why didn't Stone Cold and Rock or Vince McMahon have a Hell in a Cell match? I don't call them rivalries - they were more of acting and showman-ship instead of real wrestling. If you want to see a real "wrestling" rivalry, see Undertaker vs Mankind - that Hell in a Cell match was unbelievable.

Undertaker has lost certain Hell in a Cell matches too, mostly through interference - he lost the first one to Shawn Michaels because Kane debuted and attacked him, he lost one to Brock Lesnar because he was injured and had a broken arm before starting the match, and he lost to Batista last year because Edge returned and attacked him, helping Batista win). Obviously, Undertaker will not lose two Hell in a Cell matches in a row, in 2 consecutive years. It is now time to take out Edge because he is done playing his role, which was assigned to him because Undertaker got injured and needed time off. Its obvious due to the break-up between Edge and Vickie, as they had been "related" only due to Undertaker's injury in the first place. Now it is time for these secondary characters to go home and let the real show-man, the Phenom, take center-stage once more.

There could have been a better way of announcing the match, though. Instead of Vickie stating on Smackdown to Edge that she has re-instated Undertaker to take revenge from him, she could have just told Edge that he will have to face a mystery opponent of her choice at Summerslam and it will be a Hell in a Cell match. During the match, she could've announced that here comes the mystery opponent - "THE UNDERTAKER". The reaction of fright on Edge's face would've sold the story-line to the fans, and the crowd would've gone wild when they would've heard the name of the Undertaker. Anyway, I guess its not so easy to just announce a Hell in a Cell match without telling the opponent because it is usually meant for settling big rivalries (so you know who the opponent is) and because it is the most brutal match in WWE history - http://www.wwe.com/inside/listthis/mostextremematches/.

I would be surprised if any other match is the main-event for Summerslam. There could be other title matches scheduled for Summerslam, but just the fact that this match signals the return of the Undertaker is enough to make it a main-event. Plus, everyone is looking forward to it in anticipation because this the Undertaker's chance to take out everything on Edge for all the wrong he has done to him in more than the last one year. This would be my scripting for the match:

* Undertaker will dominate the match.

* When Undertaker is about to win, Umaga (if he is not in a match at Summerslam against Big Show) or Vladimir Kozlov will come out and attack Taker. Edge has got sufficient notice to prepare for this match, so I am sure he will have some plan for protection. However, Undertaker cannot lose a hell in a cell match yet *again* due to interference, that too on his much-awaited return. But this could be a way to furnish new rivalries and promote Umaga/ Kozlov to some extent because when you attack the Undertaker, you instantly become famous.

* It will look like Undertaker is about to lose but then Kane will show up with the mask :-) and this time, unlike the first Hell in a Cell match, he will help Undertaker win.

[I guess Kane is holding his old mask in the sack/ bag that he was carrying at Raw, which he had snatched from the impostor Kane (which I guess, was Festus). And when he said "Is he alive or dead" on Raw, he was perhaps referring to himself - in his old persona. This will perhaps be the last way to give Kane a 'push' before he retires so that he now stays the way he had initially debuted - perhaps hereafter until the day he calls it quits, he will remain with the mask, much to the delight of the fans. And no - don't blame me for discussing retirement now, we are not discussing the Undertaker's or Kane's retirement :-) I just mean that hereafter for the rest of the career, Kane might remain with the "mask", and this match will be a good chance to re-debut the "masked" Kane.]

HHH will most probably survive against Khali, though it is unbelievable (so was John Cena beating Khali and Batista beating Khali). Thereafter, Undertaker will win his title from HHH (it could be either HHH or some other wrestler who wins it from HHH). I personally don't want to see Undertaker vs HHH be a long rivalry because we have seen it before and it has already resulted in a Wrestlemania match which Undertaker had won. So the case is closed :-) if there is another Undertaker vs HHH rivalry, it could not result in anything bigger than a Wrestlemania match, which has already happened.... so there is no point in seeing another such match between the two and no use in having HHH listed as a double-victim in Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak (so far he has had 16 victims in his 16-0 streak - yes, Kane is there twice in the list, but Undertaker also had a handicap match against Big Show and A-Train, so there are 16 victims altogether. I guess it is better to have 17 different victim-names when he reaches 17-0).

Instead, Undertaker might be better off improving his Wrestlemania streak with more different names as victims - how about Shawn Michaels? Shawn has got the better of Undertaker on several occasions due to outside interference (from the unforgetable Hell in a Cell match where Kane debuted, to the casket match where Kane put Undertaker in a casket and lit it with fire to the Royal Rumble 2008 where Shawn kicked out Undertaker) - it is time for revenge from Michaels. It might be the best way to put an end to the show of the 'show-stopper', that too this time at Undertaker's home-town of Houston. They are creating a lot of hype with how Shawn ended the career of Flair. This time, maybe Shawn will claim to end the show of Taker, just like Randy Orton, Mark Henry, Batista and Edge claimed, but once again the opponent will be wronged and Undertaker's streak will continue.