It hasn’t been made official, but Monday night’s episode of RAW made it pretty clear that Roman Reigns and The Undertaker are set for a match at WrestleMania 33. With Reigns closing the show on his back after a vicious chokeslam from the Deadman, there’s very little reason to doubt that the match will happen, especially considering the two diid the cliche stare at the WrestleMania sign as part of their confrontation. Of course, most WWE fans have seen this match coming at least since Royal Rumble, when Reigns came in at No. 30 and eliminated Undertaker before barking at the Phenom, “This is my yard.”
Most of those same fans are likely balking at this match, mainly because they don’t like the notion of Undertaker losing to Reigns. Given Reigns’ booking history, it’s fair to assume that he would win, but that really shouldn’t be too much of a worry. In fact, there are several reasons that Reigns absolutely should take Undertaker down on a stage where he was once undefeated, regardless of the stakes in play.
It’s good for the roster
Like it or not, Roman Reigns is one of the top talents on the WWE roster, especially from a booking perspective. Excluding the time period surrounding his suspension last summer, very few – if any – of the men regularly on WWE programming have been allowed to beat Reigns cleanly under any circumstances. As a matter of fact, Reigns has come out on top of feuds with three of the last four WWE Champions on the SmackDown roster – Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles and current champion Bray Wyatt – and former Universal Champion Kevin Owens needed help to come out on top against the Big Dog.
What does this mean? It makes all those top-tier talents look weak by comparison if Reigns can’t beat an aging Undertaker. Because of all those wins Reigns has stacked up in recent years, any loss stands out that much more for Roman than it does for any other talent. On the flipside, Reigns being the one of the first week-to-week performers to get the best of Undertaker in years could pull up the rest of the roster from a perception standpoint when they do inevitably beat Reigns or at least give him a challenge.
WWE needs future icons
Right now, the WWE tends to turn to stars largely of past eras to carry the weight for major pay-per-views like WrestleMania, men like Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Triple H, Shane McMahon, the Undertaker himself and even John Cena and Randy Orton. But what happens when those men have moved on from in-ring work?
The WWE will need to build its current talent as viable main-event performers without those previously established names, and that can’t happen if the main-roster regulars lose matches to the past legends. In this match, in particular, if Undertaker beats Reigns in one of his last matches, how believable is Reigns as a major talent for next year or the year after that? Instead, having Reigns get the victory tells the casual fans that are bound to be watching – who will be more likely to know of Undertaker as a major star – that Taker’s time has passed and a new era has dawned with Reigns at the forefront.
Bragging point
If we’re being honest, Roman Reigns has vastly improved in the ring to the point that he’s putting on high-quality matches with nearly any opponent thrown at him. He’s always been impressive athletically, and his match story-telling has gotten really good.
But what he’s always lacked is mic skills and a relatable persona, and a win over Undertaker helps with that. Whether he operates as a heel or a face going forward – more on that later – having a singles win over the Undertaker at the “Showcase of the Immortals” puts him in rare air that only Brock Lesnar occupies as of now. Seeing how Heyman and Lesnar have been able to build promos around Lesnar’s win at WrestleMania 30, it would be certain to help Reigns to have such a victory to his character toolbox.
Facilitates a heel turn
When Roman Reigns came in at No. 30 in this year's Royal Rumble and eliminated the Undertaker with very little drama, that should’ve been the exact moment he became a full-fledged heel. That didn’t happen, of course, but that doesn’t mean the time has completely passed for that.
Now, to be clear, there is very little reason for the Undertaker to be considered a babyface. He is an undead sorcerer of sorts who has replied on all manners of dark supernatural power in his career, and he performed a variety of heel-like acts against Brock Lesnar in recent years. But none of that matters. At this point in his career, especially in a high-profile match at WrestleMania, Undertaker is a fan favorite.
Add in the fact that Reigns has been getting booed by a healthy portion of the WWE universe for more than two years now, and there’s really no reason not to go ahead and turn Reigns. Having him turn to his dark side for a win over Undertaker could draw unreal amounts of heat from the fans, especially if that win ends the Undertaker’s career.
Taker should retire
It may be hard to believe, but this is meant with no disrespect toward Undertaker. In fact, saying he needs to retire actually comes from a place of respect for the Deadman.
You see, for a few years now, Undertaker’s health and well-being have been a real cause for concern among WWE fans and even WWE officials and performers, if some reports are true. While the Phenom has managed to overcome any injuries or discomfort to put on memorable matches, it’s not hard to believe that the time could come when he’s incapable of doing so. No true wrestling fan wants to see that.
Instead, why not use one more stellar match on the sport’s grandest stage as a chance to build a mega-star who would immediately become one of the hottest heels in the business? Especially if Reigns goes particularly vicious in his effort to beat Undertaker and retire the man once regarded as unbeatable at WrestleMania, that would even further send the message that Reigns and anyone who can compete with him are the true superstars of today’s WWE.
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