Roman should "Become" The Undertaker.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

This is going to sound really dumb to about 95% of the IWC. But its something crazy and thats how my mind works. Undertaker vs Roman Reigns have a decent match , Taker kicks out of the super man punch and spear, Roman kicks out of a tombstone....then chokeslames the Undertaker, then Tombstones him for the win. Undertaker remains motionless in the middle of the ring...then it starts to fill with smoke and the lights dim. The Gong hits and the lights slowly turn back on...Undertaker is standing alone in the ring with his hat and coat on with his head lowered. When he raises it, Roman Reigns is the one with the gear on, he rolls his eyes and does the knee tongue demon pose.

Roman continues his career with The Undertaker gimmick. Internet explodes.

 

[ComeOnVince]

I'm not going to bag on you for an out-of-the-box idea. I'm really not. I'll leave that to someone else. (You know it's coming)

Fantasy booking is fun.

HOWEVER, The Undertaker is so iconic to WWE that it would be absolutely impossible for ANYONE to ever "take the mantle" of Taker - EVER.

IF they were going to do ANYTHING like this, they should have let Bray Wyatt "assimilate" Undertaker into himself a couple of years ago.

But you can't. No one can. It would be like someone absorbing Hulkamania and trying to pawn themselves off as Hulk Hogan. Or someone doing a seance while painted in bright colors and "becoming" the Ultimate Warrior. Or someone constantly bitching about the industry and putting themselves over and becoming Kevin Nash.

It would be so incredibly silly on its face, not to mention insulting to the iconic character they were "becoming" and to the person that portrayed that character. In Undertaker's case, for over 20 years.
Not to mention that Roman Reigns is entirely -- ENTIRELY -- incapable of this transformation. WWE has plans for Reigns, and it sho ain't becoming the Undertaker.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I'm not going to bag on you for an out-of-the-box idea. I'm really not. I'll leave that to someone else. (You know it's coming)

Fantasy booking is fun.

HOWEVER, The Undertaker is so iconic to WWE that it would be absolutely impossible for ANYONE to ever "take the mantle" of Taker - EVER.

IF they were going to do ANYTHING like this, they should have let Bray Wyatt "assimilate" Undertaker into himself a couple of years ago.

But you can't. No one can. It would be like someone absorbing Hulkamania and trying to pawn themselves off as Hulk Hogan. Or someone doing a seance while painted in bright colors and "becoming" the Ultimate Warrior. It would be so incredibly silly on its face, not to mention insulting to the iconic character they were "becoming" and to the person that portrayed that character. In Undertaker's case, for over 20 years. Or someone constantly bitching about the industry and putting themselves over and becoming Kevin Nash.

Not to mention that Roman Reigns is entirely -- ENTIRELY -- incapable of this transformation. WWE has plans for Reigns, and it sho ain't becoming the Undertaker.

The closest to being "Undertaker"-like is Bray Wyatt, and I don't expect Bray to be a new Taker (he is his own character), but I would like to see Bray be the one who takes over being the specialist of Casket Matches, Last Ride Matches and "Buried Alive" Matches, so that these match types can be used down the track after Taker retires.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

He's tall, got tats, black hair and a goatee.

Sign me up.

 

[aaronmb]

Definetely an original idea that I'd be open to, rather than what we're probably going to get with Reigns heel turn to eventually face Lesnar for the title.

 

[stingray11214]

In one word? No. In two words? Hell no. Some of you have no idea of how and why the Undertaker was created. The Undertaker was created as a JOKE. Mark Calaway was never supposed to make The Undertaker mean anything. The Undertaker was supposed to DIE after a few months. What happened? Mark Calaway and the late William Moody, aka Paul Bearer took a crap character and turned it into The Dead Man Branch of the Federal Reserve. Paul Bearer became money. Kane, fka Isaac Yankem, DDS became money. The Undertaker became a lot of money. Taker had the look, ability, and above all else, the TALENT to pull off a character like the Dead Man.

Roman Reigns? He pales in comparison. He can't even make his own character get over. Never mind trying to get over a character similar to the Dead Man. You really need a special type of talent set to take a crap character like what Mark Calaway was handed over a quarter-century ago, and make it special. Joe Anoa'i, aka Roman Reigns, is nowhere near that class.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As Stingray alluded to, you have to have the overall ability and talent in order to pull off a character like the Undertaker. You can't just shove someone into a gimmick and automatically expect them to make it work, you can hope but that's about all you can do. Calaway had the presence, the size, the ability, the voice and no shortage of right time & right place aspects going for him.

A lot of fans boo Roman Reigns for various reasons. Some do it as a show of rebellion I guess at Vince for pushing Reigns so heavily ahead of a roster packed full of guys who they feel are far superior. Some probably do it because they're jealous of the fact that Reigns is a legit stud, some do it because they just don't like the character or his work inside the ring. If you want something that could potentially unite every fan against Reigns, it's giving him the Undertaker gimmick and character. Many male fans will consider it downright blasphemous, will boo him even more and will do anything they can to show that they don't like and won't accept it. Many female fans will feel put out because the hunky stud they drool over will be gone and replaced with this macabre, dark, sinister "supernatural" entity.

Nobody can "be" the Undertaker again, it's not really a character that can be picked up by another generation. If Vince legitimately tried this, he deserves to be openly mocked, ridiculed, laughed at and straight up told that it's time to retire by any fan from any walk of life or anyone who does or ever has worked for him.

 

[ISkye]

He's tall, got tats, black hair and a goatee.

Sign me up.

Can dominate / win without harming anyone. Shows up selectively and you can market him even heavier because of that. Isn't old and actually can have or be carried through great matches. Possibly greatest gimmick of all time lives on with a big young Samoan guy who is already polarizing. Clears up him being in the title scene 24/7.

I'm in as well.

Also took Taker about the time Reigns has been wrestling as a total to get this gimmick even created. In that time Reigns had a great Tag team title run with Seth Rollins. Is in one of the greatest / memorable factions in more than recent history. Had several great Rumble / SS showings. Multiple time WM Main eventer/ WWE champion and has had great matches.

No excuse for Taker a decade or so into his career to have trash matches against Giant Gonzalez, Kamala, Jake Roberts, Hogan, Snuka, Goldust and more. Reigns had great matches with Strowman, Styles, Rhodes Brothers, Cm Punk, Evolution, The Wyatts, Cena, Orton, Cesaro, Del Rio, Sheamus, Owens and more.

They can also clean up all of the mistakes they had made with Undertaker from hanging Boss man to confessing to murdering his parents.


In full seriousness, nah. In a different world where WWE fully commit to it and the Wrestling business isn't this transparent, sure. There are much, much worse and less fun ideas that have a much more higher chance of actually happening.

 

[Navi]

The only person who is capable of pulling off the Undertaker is the guy who is doing it now, the Undertaker. The WWE would be incredibly insipid to try and give it to someone else. We are talking about a man who is incredibly respected by his peers, doesn't have to show up 99% of the time and still gets the pop of the night and has a Wrestlemania record which will most likely never be broken. I just can't see Roman Reigns filling those shoes.

The only other person on the roster who would have come close would be Bray Wyatt. But not even he could take over Undertaker's role, it would have had to be different for it to work. And it would have if the WWE had handled it properly, but they dropped the ball.

Reigns had a great character in the Shield, I don't know what's happened to him since they broke up. It's gone downhill and reviving another character won't help. Roman Reigns has to find a character that works within himself, not become a shadow of someone else. Fans dislike him enough as it is already, why give them another reason to dislike him even more.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Seriously now, he can have the position Undertaker had all those years. A big dog, a big name, that doesn't need to be the Guy, but is the ultimate stepping stone.

Just a big bad dude actually.

 

[enviousdominous]

What really worked for The Undertaker is that very few people realized that they were looking at Mean Mark with long hair. He was able to make a first impression as this dark menacing figure who was one of the few people that could make Ultimate Warrior sell. People (myself as a nine year old included) were convinced that they were looking at an intensely focused Michael Myers-esque psychopath, and during that time it was an endearing taboo to reference the occult through art.

Everybody knows who Roman Reigns is, and if he went with Undertaker 2.0 he would have to drop every other thing about himself. While I'm sure some people would be thankful to see Roman stop being Roman for any reason, keep in mind that he would have to probably stop using the superman punch and the spear as well. If you go Undertaker, you have to go balls-out and take on every single thing about him to include the moves.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, mainly because somehow Bray Wyatt was able to happen in spite of having been prematurely exposed as Husky Harris. For me; it would reek of desperation to scrap what would look like a failed attempt at creating a home-grown fan-favorite, and for that reason I'd definitely not be at all spooked by the Samoan Deadman. The mystique wouldn't be there, he would just be some guy in a long coat.

 

[nWo2]

This is going to sound really dumb to about 95% of the IWC. But its something crazy and thats how my mind works. Undertaker vs Roman Reigns have a decent match , Taker kicks out of the super man punch and spear, Roman kicks out of a tombstone....then chokeslames the Undertaker, then Tombstones him for the win. Undertaker remains motionless in the middle of the ring...then it starts to fill with smoke and the lights dim. The Gong hits and the lights slowly turn back on...Undertaker is standing alone in the ring with his hat and coat on with his head lowered. When he raises it, Roman Reigns is the one with the gear on, he rolls his eyes and does the knee tongue demon pose.

Roman continues his career with The Undertaker gimmick. Internet explodes.

My bros have been saying this since Survivor Series and it sounds terrible and people will hate it and THAT is perfect to turn Roman Reigns heel.

My only gripe is that he's not tall enough, but thatd add to the heat!

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Nah, Roman should be his own man. I kinda liked when he said "I am gona retire Undertaker". Had me believing that they would turn him heel up to the point Strowman attacked. Just let him be monster heel for a while and he should be fine. He would even get smarks to cheer him because then it wouldnt be cool thing to do.

Its a good idea though. Just dont think in this day and age we would need another Undertaker.

 

[LBGetBack]

I think it would go over about as well as fake Razor Ramon, fake Diesel, the original fake Undertaker, and fake Kane did.

While this would be different as it would be a familiar superstar "stealing" the gimmick rather than an unknown, I just don't think it would connect.

MAYBE it could work in the short term, for like a few months, in a Roman Reigns is trolling/taunting the Undertaker and all the fans type of way. But long term? No way.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Should gimmicks be passed on to other wrestlers at all? We've seen second and third generation wrestlers come in with their parents/grand parent's gimmicks. We've seen some succeed, we've seen others fail.

Charlotte has succeeded; she uses her dad's catch phrase and theme music, but she's also her own character in a lot of ways. The Rock came in with the Samoan gimmick, but really only hit his stride he became The Rock - a character of his own creation.

Romundertaker would probably go over like Fake Diesel and Razor. Those fakes might have done better if they weren't immediately made jobbers. Imagine what would have happened if they got pushed? I think they would have gotten go home heat, but who knows?

What about the New Rockers? Jannetty never found success with Leif Cassidy (Al Snow). What about the New Midnight Express or the New Blackjacks? They became the new no one cares.

I wouldn't hate the moment of Roman appearing in the Taker cloak and hat, but it would have to revert back to same old Roman the following night. If a new Undertaker came along, he'd have to be his own character unless he gets branded a grey market rip off or off brand cola.

I think they tried slightly to pass that Undertaker spirit onto Bray Wyatt. Those crappy pyrotechnics really didn't help. Wyatt's height didn't lend any favours either. Roman has the height, and the look of a god, but Reigns really has his own character potential.

If anything maybe Roman could become the new WrestleMania guy. Undertaker's gimmick has basically been more about when he comes around at Mania. Roman has already suffered a loss or two there, but no one is saying he should start a streak.

Reigns should be his own person. His character should be tweaked, but not into a supernatural undead character. An established main event champion would be safer than giving the Undertaker gimmick to someone else, but it would be as weird as Braun Strowman becoming the new Kane.

We all hope Roman's character develops coming out of this Undertaker match. I don't think being a Samoan tribal tattooed guy who hangs out in cemeteries is the way to go though.

 

[Punk_Aries_Daniels_Bryan]

The reception on this thread has been pretty nice compared to the sh*tstorm you might have been expecting as responses to your idea.

I, unforunately, can't pull my punches on this one.

Only The Undertaker, as in Mark Calaway is, and should be, the only person to hold that mantle/gimmick/character. Why? He was the right person to do it. Even ignoring his overall look and talent that brought the character to life, it is Undertaker's presence and steady work in the company that turned him into a household name.

Roman Reigns could never, in a 100 years, be able to pull that character off. Would it be an insult to Undertaker if he became the new deadman? YES. Will it be slap on the face to all Undertaker fans and WWE fans of the past 20 years? YES. Will it create Roman Reigns into the single most genuinely hated superstar in WWE? YES.

To be fair, I don't think Roman entirely sucks. He's got the looks for sure, and he has the genetics and potential to become HUGE. But, as earlier stated, he struggles to get over with the crowd on his own gimmick, which is actually much better than what most wrestlers have in the WWE. He kept the Shield attire after the faction broke, as well as kept the music and the character. He's clearly protected and will likely be WWE Universal Champion very soon post Wrestlemania. If he isn't doing this as a heel, fans will continue to boo him.

Taking on The Undertaker character is impossible for him to pull off and will not help him whatsoever in getting over.

 

[ShinChan]

I applaud you for an out-of-box idea.

But I have always advocated that the successful gimmicks of the past shouldn't be copied. Why? Because it's almost an insult to that gimmick and the gimmick won't work well as some gimmicks are just made for them.

Like The Undertaker. Noone can copy him and make me interested. Bray Wyatt is an unique gimmick that is different from The Undertaker. Bray Wyatt can't play The Undertaker and same can be said for The Undertaker in case of Bray Wyatt.

You can't create another John Cena, Andre The Giant, The Undertaker and all the legendary wrestlers.

 

[sjkay1]

I had this exact same idea about 2 years ago. It would have been perfect. I think it's a bit too late now, because RR has made too much of a name for himself now. People would be booing the new Undertaker. That would be horrible. But if they had have done it a few years ago, it would have been perfect.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Personally, i could see this happening in a literal sense. What i mean is that Reigns doesn't take the gimmick of the undertaker but he become The Big dog and undertaker give him his blessing after their match to call the ring his yard in a sign of respect or something like that.

Kinda like the passing of the torch between the old generation and the new generation. I'm thinking if their something that might help Reigns get the respect of the hardcore wrestling crowd, it would be undertaker endorsing Reigns as the new big dog in the WWE. I think this would be a really cool moment if that happens especially if Reigns and Taker can have a great match which i think they could if no bad luck happens like that last couple of years.

 

[#tamale]

It's not that far off from what is really going on.

Seriously now, he can have the position Undertaker had all those years. A big dog, a big name, that doesn't need to be the Guy, but is the ultimate stepping stone.

Just a big bad dude actually.

Exactly this. The idea has some legs in that it can be a way for Roman Reigns to build his animosity towards the Undertaker. The WWE can be creative enough with this feud to have Reigns minimize what the Undertaker is now. Have Reigns mock Undertaker, dress like Undertaker in a sarcastic fashion, use "Rest in Peace" as his new catchphrase, have Roman change his twitter to the new Undertaker, and the ideas can keep going on and on. You have two weeks to prepare; use Raw, Youtube, and every social media platform so that by April 2nd, it will be the most anticipated match of the night. Like a powder keg.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

He should come out on Raw next week dressed in a long black coat and a giant stove pipe hat and cut the following promo in his most obnoxious voice:

"I'm the UT, I like the smell of my own farts. I pee sitting down. Not because my hips hurt when I stand for too long, but just because it feels right. If I were a dog, I would be a cockapoo. Do you like cockapoos? I think zip code is a word. Where did I leave my glasses?"

Best Roman promo ever.

 

[tvcolosi]

Becoming him completely, no, I can't see it. But what could have been fun while Taker has been a 2 match, 5 appearance guy these last 5 years, it would have been to give Taker a protege. Untimately leading to the split, and a Mania match, and that's who would break the streak of ended his career. Then continuing with the supernatural type stuff. But it's too late for that now