10 HUGE Tests Wrestlers Failed
5. The Fiend Does Not Become The New Undertaker
Does WWE even need a 'new Undertaker'?
They need a new John Cena, a child-friendly babyface superstar, to prevent the audience from further ageing out. They need to promote younger talent in general to arrest the perception that the whole empire is passé. But a new Undertaker?
The supernatural gimmick has itself aged out. 'Taker and Kane were very popular in the heightened context of the Attitude Era. But every metric supporting growth in 21st century pro wrestling indicates that such silliness is no longer of interest to the general public. New Japan Pro Wrestling entered a period of resurgence without a single demon clown, and in North America, any threat of the supernatural has if anything tarnished the majors: the original incarnation of the Dark Order bombed so hard that it led to Tony Khan rethinking everything about his AEW product; Dexter Lumis has enabled fans to draw comparisons between NXT and the dreaded main roster; and then there's Bray Wyatt...
That Bray Wyatt is received so subjectively without making a positive measurable impact on numbers is itself proof, more or less, that this schtick is as dead as the foreign menace and the worked shoot angle.
It is residual 20th century hokum that cannot possibly be worth the vicarious embarrassment felt by those few who still actually give half a sh*t.