After weeks of a mysterious video airing on both Raw and Smackdown, hyping the date "2/21/11", the identity of the person behind the vignette was revealed last night in Fresno, California. That person was "The Phenom" The Undertaker.
At the start of Raw the familiar video played before revealing a clock ticking down from 60 minutes, indicating that the mystery person would be revealed at the top of the hour. When the time came, Johnny Cash's "Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down" began playing and the video again appeared on the Titantron, only this time the shack door on the video opened and out stepped The Undertaker, both onto the giant screen and onto the arena stage. The crowd went crazy at the return of "The Deadman", who had been missing from WWE since his Buried Alive match with his "brother" Kane at last October's Bragging Rights PPV. The arena lights then went out and the familiar tolling of the death bell echoed through the building.
Making his way to the ring, The Undertaker did his famous lifting of the lights trick before getting into the ring and removing his iconic gravedigger hat and rolling his eyes back into his head. Vintage 'Taker. The fans inside the California State University centre lapped up every movement of "The Phenom". However, no one was prepared for an unexpected entrance that followed.
Just as fans began to calm down and take in the return of The Undertaker, the titantron flashed with the green lettering of "The Game" and Motorhead's heavy metal theme for Triple H boomed out over the speakers. Out stepped Triple H onto the stage in his leather jacket, carrying his token bottle of water. Triple H stared intently at The Undertaker before strutting down the ramp and onto the ring apron, where he did his primal pose. The crowd was going nuts.
When the "Cerebral Assassin" got in the ring and finally finished scaling the turnbuckles to work the rabid crowd, he and The Undertaker locked eyes in the centre of the Squared Circle. Triple H then looked toward the huge Wrestlemania marquee hung from the rafters before "The Deadman" did the same. They then looked back at each other, before The Undertaker seemingly smirked off "The Game's" intention of a match at WWE's supershow.
The Undertaker then went to leave the ring, supposedly ending the tension and the chances of a showdown between the two men on April 3rd. The crowd began to boo. But then feeling the stare of Triple H in his back, "The Phenom" turned back around, strode up to his long time nemesis and gestured at cutting his throat to symbolise Triple H's fate. In retaliation the "Cerebral Assassin" did his famous crotch chop and the match between the two at Wrestlemania XXVII was seemingly signed without so much as a word spoken between the two or by the announce team. This was WWE storytelling at its best.
A week after The Rock was announced as guest host, the WWE has given fans another epic moment for their annual supershow. Over 40 days stand between now and April 3rd, so expect more reasons to buy Wrestlemania to come.
Scott Booth - I have just finished my BA Honours degree in English Literature with Creative Writing, gaining a 2:1 (including a First Class ...
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