By now, it’s been well established that The Undertaker will answer John Cena‘s WrestleMania 34 challenged. But which version of The Deadman actually shows up in New Orleans has been the subject of an abundance of fan theories. And John Cena just threw gas on the fire.
For several weeks, Cena has trolled The Undertaker both on WWE cameras and through a peevish social media campaign. However, it wasn’t until Monday morning that he finally called out The American Badass, more formally known as Biker Taker.
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Ever since it becomes an apparent Cena and Taker would duel in New Orleans, fans have fed a theory that has Biker Taker, not the Deadman, answering the call. Now that Cena has acknowledged the possibility, the chances of The Undertaker riding a motorcycle down WrestleMania 34’s ramp just drastically increased.
A Biker Taker showing actually fits, too. By Undertaker leaving his coat and hat in WrestleMania 33’s ring, he established a pretty readable metaphor: that character is retired. If that is the case, then only one version of Mark Calaway can show up on April 8th, and it has to be Biker Taker.
Even more, Kid Rock, the man responsible for the American Badass’ theme music will be in New Orleans for his WWE Hall of Fame induction. How hard is it imagining him doing a live performance to maximize the authenticity of Biker Taker’s prodigal return?
So could this actually happen? Could The Deadman stay dead in favor of The American Badass? It’s a real possibility, but it depends on the story WWE wants to tell.
All signs point to John Cena taking a break after WrestleMania, and The Deadman version of ‘Taker would play the appropriate role of wrestling’s grim reaper.Cena’s loss to this iteration of ‘Taker would be quite synbolic and allows Cena to take a Hollywood hiatus from WWE with little questions asked. While a defeat at the hands of Biker Taker carries subtle notes of the same metaphor, it runs the risk of feeling spoofy.
Right now, all we have is speculation. However, after RAW on Monday, we may have a much more definitive answer.
Photo: John Cena/Instagram