The Undertaker made his first appearance on WWE TV since WrestleMania 31 in March, laying out Brock Lesnar in the main event of Sunday’s pay-per-view as he attempted to win back the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Rollins. To the casual fan, the return of the legend known as “The Deadman” sure seemed like a monumental surprise, but to the diehard fan who reads about wrestling on the Internet? Not so much.
Rumors were swirling all week that The Undertaker and/or fellow wrestling legend Sting was set to return to the WWE soon, and is it turns out, WWE officials decided to bring The Undertaker out of the bullpen first. The longest-tenured superstar currently in the WWE returned to exact his revenge on Lesnar, who ended his historic WrestleMania winning streak at WrestleMania 30 last year in New Orleans.
The Undertaker’s return and subsequent attack on the former UFC Champion is a perfectly set-up dramatic storyline that WWE fans will undoubtedly enjoy: The legend’s famous streak ends at the hands of the incredible athlete, and now, the legend wants retribution.
With a likely match between Lesnar and The Undertaker at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view, the WWE now has a powerful story and sensible feud that features two of the biggest stars in company history.
But as much as The Undertaker’s return is about him seeking (and probably getting) his revenge on Lesnar, it’s more about business—and specifically, the WWE Network—than anything else.
The WWE product, to put it nicely, is in a rut. Despite having an extremely talented roster that features some of the best professional wrestlers on the planet, lackluster planning and storyline development by the creative team have made for a stagnant WWE product that has continually worsened in recent years. With that creative struggle has come a noticeable dip in the WWE’s recent TV ratings for both its flagship show, Monday Night Raw, and it’s so-called “B-show,” Thursday Night SmackDown.
No comments:
Post a Comment