5 WWE Superstars The Undertaker almost faced at WrestleMania

Around three decades after he defeated Jimmy Snuka in his WrestleMania debut in 1991, The Undertaker is widely regarded as one of the biggest Superstars the pro-wrestling industry has ever seen. After a forgettable run as Mean Mark in WCW, Mark Calaway found his footing in WWE as The Undertaker and never looked back again.

WWE kept building up his streak with each passing year and he made it to 2014 without losing a single WrestleMania match. This was why Brock Lesnar's victory over The Deadman at WrestleMania 30 was dubbed as possibly the most surprising moment in all of pro-wrestling.

The Undertaker has faced a long string of WWE greats at The Show of Shows. There have been a bunch of occasions where The Undertaker was supposed to face a Superstar at WrestleMania, but the plans were changed before the event.

Let's take a look at five WWE Superstars who almost faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania.

#5 Braun Strowman

On the Road to WrestleMania 32, Shane McMahon made his surprising return to WWE and was put into a Hell In A Cell match against The Undertaker by none other than Vince McMahon himself. The Undertaker emerged victorious when all was said and done at The Show of Shows.

The original rumored plan for The Undertaker at WrestleMania was to face Braun Strowman, who was a part of The Wyatt Family at the time.

Reports stated that Vince McMahon was pushing for the match to happen at The Grandest Stage Of Them All. Plans changed midway and we got The Undertaker vs Shane McMahon instead. Strowman was featured in a segment that saw The Rock and John Cena fending off The Wyatt Family immediately after The Brahma Bull made quick work of Erick Rowan.

#4 Heidenreich

In late 2004, Heidenreich began targeting The Undertaker and ended up costing him the WWE title against JBL. The Phenom went after Heidenreich in an attempt to exact revenge, with the duo facing off at Survivor Series 2004.

The Undertaker defeated Heidenreich but the rivalry was far from over. At the 2005 Royal Rumble PPV, The Undertaker faced Heidenreich in a Casket match. The bout saw interferences by WWE RAW Superstars Gene Snitsky and Kane and ended with The Undertaker picking up a win again.

This rivalry was going to culminate in a Tag Team match at WrestleMania 21, pitting The Undertaker and Kane against Heidenreich and Snitsky. The match never saw the light of day though, and The Undertaker took on Randy Orton in a marquee match at The Show of Shows.

Kane, on the other hand, was featured in the first-ever Money In The Bank match, which Edge won in the end. Judging by the reaction that The Undertaker and Randy Orton received throughout their months-long rivalry, it's safe to say that WWE made the right decision at the time.

#3 Mordecai

Soon after WrestleMania 20, WWE began hyping up the arrival of a sinister entity who was talking about ridding the world of sin. The mysterious character was revealed as Mordecai, who made his debut at Judgment Day 2004 in an easy victory against Scotty 2 Hotty.

Mordecai continued dominating the SmackDown roster for weeks on end and defeated Hardcore Holly at The Great American Bash. Soon after, he was involved in a bar fight, which resulted in Vince McMahon immediately scrapping the character.

A per reports, WWE's plan for Mordecai was to build him up for the next few months, all the way to WrestleMania 21. He was supposed to get into a feud with The Undertaker on the Road to WrestleMania, culminating in a match at The Show of Shows.

Kevin Fertig's mistake cost him dearly, and one wonders what would have happened and where would he be today, if it hadn't been for that bar fight. The Undertaker ended up facing Randy Orton at WrestleMania 21, defeating him to advance his streak to 13-0.

#2 Wade Barrett

Wade Barrett couldn't have asked for a better main roster debut that what he got. On an episode of WWE RAW in 2010, Barrett invaded the show with his NXT Season 1 counterparts and launched a ruthless attack on John Cena.

The unruly gang destroyed everything in their path, including the ring announcers and commentators. Cena received quite possibly the worst beating of his career that night. The rookies soon began calling themselves The Nexus.

The faction went on to lose a multi-man match against Cena's team at SummerSlam 2010, and Barrett's star began fizzling out. As per the Wrestling Observer, The Undertaker was supposed to face Barrett at The Show of Shows. Things didn't work out the way WWE had reportedly planned though, and The Undertaker ended up facing Triple H in a marquee match at WrestleMania 27.

Wade Barrett was involved in an 8-Man Tag Team match, where he teamed up with Ezekiel Jackson, Heath Slater, and Justin Gabriel, to take on Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston, and Santino Marella, in a losing effort.

#1 Sting

Another name that was considered to take on The Undertaker at WrestleMania 27 was WWE Hall of Famer Sting. Back in 2011, Sting made waves by stating that he had rejected WWE's offer for a match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 27.

There are so many variables. Let's just say that I turned it down for the same reasons I always have. Something in me never trusted what would happen up there, based entirely on the track record with other WCW guys and everything that went on after Vince bought WCW.

Sting ended up coming to WWE around three years later, at Survivor Series 2014. He helped Team Cena defeat Team Authority by attacking Triple H, to a loud pop. Sting got into a rivalry with The Game right away. The feud was built up over the next few months, culminating in a dream match at WrestleMania 31. The bout saw interferences by D-Generation X and nWo, and Triple H managed to pin Sting when all was said and done.