The Undertaker Currently Not In WWE WrestleMania 35 Plans
For the first time in 19 years, there might be a WrestleMania without a match featuring The Undertaker. According to the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that the main matches for WrestleMania 35 in April do not currently include Taker. As is often the case, those plans could change as the event gets closer.
There has been speculation on The Undertaker's wrestling future for years. Many believed that Taker's WrestleMania 33 loss to Roman Reigns would be his last match. Taker noted before that match with Reigns that one of his biggest fears was to become a parody of himself.
"They say fighters can grow old in one fight, so hopefully this isn't that fight," Taker said before his match with Reigns in 2017. "Dealing with the numerous injuries that I work around, I'm not prepared physically as well as I could. That's kind of the big issue, just making sure there's always enough gas in the tank. One of my biggest fears is kind of becoming a parody of myself. They happen to buy a ticket to see Undertaker wrestle, they should get the best Undertaker I can give them. You always wonder when you walk into the dressing room, 'oh, here comes the old guy again.' Yeah, just an old guy who's not afraid to put a size 15 [shoe] up your ass if you get out of line."
Last year, Undertaker defeated John Cena in less than five minutes at WrestleMania 34. Taker last wrestled at the Crown Jewel event last November, where he teamed up with Kane in a loss to Triple H and Shawn Michaels.
Speaking of Cena, nothing has been set in stone yet for him for WrestleMania either, in part due to the status of Lars Sullivan. As we previously reported, Sullivan was scheduled to face Cena at WrestleMania before reportedly suffering an anxiety attack before he was set to make his main roster debut earlier this month. Sullivan went home to Colorado and hasn't been mentioned on WWE television since. During a media call on Wednesday, Triple H said that nothing has changed regarding Sullivan's status.
"There's a lot of speculation and stories about everybody at all times," Triple H stated. "And it's a funny thing, if there's any kind of a glitch in a movement for a moment, it leads to everything being speculated about. There's a lot of talk, but Lars is in a good place. Nothing has really changed, we're moving forward and you'll know when you see it. But nothing has changed."
Cena was announced for this Sunday's Royal Rumble match, however Meltzer noted that it's believed that Cena was never actually going to be in the Rumble match. It's reportedly similar to WWE advertising Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman for the event to help boost ticket sales, without planning on going through with it. It's believed that Sullivan would have injured Cena on last week's RAW to take him out of the match, but those plans were nixed due to the incident with Sullivan.
WWE reported earlier this week that Cena re-aggravated a left ankle injury that he sustained on last week's RAW, however they have yet to officially announce if he is out of the Rumble.
As we previously reported, Cena had stated in interviews that his next movie, Playing With Fire, would begin shooting in Vancouver on January 20th. Meltzer noted that the film will not actually start filming until February 4th, so he may be able to make the Rumble.
The Royal Rumble takes place this Sunday, January 27th inside Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. New subscribers can sign up for the WWE Network today by clicking here and get their first month for free, which includes NXT Takeover this Saturday as well as the WWE Royal Rumble.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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Robert Gunier and William Windsor contributed to this article.