The Undertaker has been a bigger presence in WWE in 2019 than many may have expected when the year began. After a brief appearance the night after WrestleMania, he showed up again to promote a match with Goldberg at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia that turned out to be even crazier than the fact those royal-family-funded shows are happening. Given what we know to expect from WrestleMania season and how those events in Saudi Arabia have played out so far, this wasn’t too surprising. However, the Dead Man’s return to Raw to save Roman Reigns (!) and set up a tag team match in which he and Reigns will pair up (!!) to take on Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon (!!!) at Extreme Rules, was.
Given the other sudden TV show format and backstage and streaming service moves that WWE has made within in the past week, seemingly in response to low ratings and/or competition, one might think that the Undertaker’s return was another recent decision. However, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, this comeback has been in the works for some time. This Extreme Rules tag match was planned before Super ShowDown, and no changes were made to WWE’s plans for the Undertaker after that match. There’s no scoop on whether the Dead Man will stick around after the upcoming PPV, but given this report, maybe don’t bet on Mark Calaway deciding to truly hang up his hat and rest in peace (read: retirement) anytime soon.
