Cross Examination: WWE Was Right To Bring Undertaker Back

My WWE Battleground predictions were pretty much all wrong.

I only got one match correct and it was the preshow match. I picked Sheamus, The New Day, Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns and they all lost. I picked Brock Lesnar and he did not win. In retrospect, perhaps picking three title changes was not a smart idea.

I also said on the Wrestledelphia podcast that I didn’t see the point in the Undertaker interfering in the Lesnar-Seth Rollins clash. I said it wouldn’t go anywhere and didn’t see the point in it.

That was an extremely shortsighted statement.

After watching the feud begin this week on Battleground and Raw, I flip-flopped on an issue that’s divided smarks like few others. There are plenty of people who love the idea of a Taker-Lesnar rematch and can’t wait until SummerSlam. There are quite a few that hate it and are criticizing how it has unfolded. I see both sides, but it’s clear to me this match is the way to go for the second-biggest show of the year.

Despite having lost his streak last year, Undertaker is still, in kayfabe, on a completely different level than most other wrestlers. We may know him as a 50-something guy with bad hair, but he’s still the Deadman. There’s a mystique around him that no one besides Lesnar matches.

Speaking of Lesnar, there isn’t really anyone else that would make for an interesting opponent for the Conqueror. He was well on his way to squashing Rollins before the interference, and a rematch would have just provided the same result. Lesnar has already won feuds with John Cena and Triple H. Reigns would be a worthy opponent, but he just lost to Bray Wyatt, so he has to avenge that loss. And before you start fantasy booking, there is no chance that Wyatt, Owens or Dean Ambrose will fight Lesnar. I don’t care how crazy they are and how little they care about the pain they’ll receive – it ain’t happening.

WWE didn’t resign Lesnar to have him sit out SummerSlam. He was fighting no matter what. Realistically, the only way to avoid the Taker interference would be to book Reigns to beat Wyatt, end that rivalry, and do a proper Reigns-Lesnar-Rollins showdown. While that would be a great match, I think we’d all agree it’s best to not make Wyatt look bad in yet another major feud. Undertaker is the ideal opponent for Lesnar.

One of the common complaints about this match is that Undertaker returned to fight Wyatt at WrestleMania 31. Why wouldn’t he return to fight Lesnar? If he was so determined to get revenge, wouldn’t he have done it then? The real answer is probably that WWE wanted the title off Lesnar and didn’t want it on Taker. I understand that, but I’m not sure why they bothered to bring Taker back to feud with Wyatt. However, in kayfabe, that can be explained away as Taker wanting to make sure he’s still in shape for a fight. Some may argue that would be burying Wyatt and minimizing his prowess, but it’s really only saying that Taker finds Wyatt less of a threat than Lesnar, which is hardly a surprise.

Another common complaint is that neither Undertaker nor Lesnar should be a heel, since Lesnar is extremely over as a babyface and Undertaker hasn’t been heel since 2002. I agree that both should be fan favorites, but that doesn’t mean they can’t fight. Neither of them are white-meat, Cena-esque babyfaces. They’re both asskickers that are popular enough to get away with some heel tactics. Taker hit Lesnar with a crotch shot at Battleground, and Lesnar will never be fully babyface while he has Paul Heyman with him. This is not a standard feud and shouldn’t be treated as such.

Luckily, it hasn’t so far, as the flipped the script and ignored the standard Raw formula, something I’ll always be happy about. Between the brawl – a simple but entertaining idea – and the multiple shots of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon trying to keep the peace, the episode had a storyline that lasted more than one segment, which makes it feel more like an episode of a TV show and less like a bunch of matches and promos thrown together in a way to please the Nielsen viewers.

There’s also the possibility that this will be Undertaker’s last match and he wants to go out on his back to really sell the Lesnar mystique. It’s unlikely Vince McMahon would want Taker’s last match at an event not called “WrestleMania,” but I’m sure Taker will decide when he wants to go out, and maybe he has.

I understand that the timing is odd and that the match may not be great. I understand Rollins is now left out in the cold and won’t get to main event SummerSlam. I understand the anger to have Owens tap out (a decision I won’t defend).

WWE is giving us a rematch of the most shocking match of all time. For whatever reason, it was not a match I thought might happen until the rumors about Taker returning came out. But it’s happening, and now that I’ve thought about it, I realize it would be weird if it didn’t.

Wrestledelphia.com columnist Evan Cross can be reached at . Follow him on Twitter .