The Undertaker Unlikely To Appear Before WrestleMania 31

Current plans are to keep the Deadman away until the biggest show of the year.

By John Canton /

Bray Wyatt has challenged The Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania and it's pretty obvious that The Undertaker will accept the challenge, but apparently he won't actually appear on television to do so. According to a report from PWInsider, WWE's current plan is to keep The Undertaker off television until his match with Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania. To answer the challenge they could do something similar to when Sting answered Triple H's Fastlane challenge with a video that said "I Accept" on it. Maybe he can use lightning bolts to spell the word "yes" or something. Oh right, that word belongs to some other guy. The point is that they can have him accept without actually being there. They might be choosing that method because they don't want to show him unless he's in great shape and that might not be until WrestleMania itself. If he's out there looking too old then that's not a good selling point for what's expected to be a huge match. It also builds up the anticipation to his return. It may turn out to be a mistake to completely keep him off television because then that means we will have to sit through Bray Wyatt's promos for another four weeks. That's not a knock on Wyatt because he's a great talker that is very unique compared to everybody else on WWE TV, but after a while it starts to get too repetitive. For The Undertaker, it gives him time to really get ready. Most years there are stories that he plans the matches out in detail with whoever he is working with. He has done that at his house, but they could also prepare it at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. In past year's we've seen Undertaker show up for a few weeks to set up the WrestleMania match and that's it. This year, unless current plans change and they certainly can, we likely won't see the future Hall of Famer until WrestleMania 31 itself. If you're wondering what Undertaker is looking like these days, here's a recent photo from his wife Michelle McCool's Instagram.
WrestleMania 31 takes place on March 29. The Undertaker turns 50 years old five days earlier. We're betting on him being in great shape for it.