"The End of an era."
That's what we're being promised when Undertaker and Triple H get together in the co-main event of this Sunday night's (April 1, 2012) WrestleMania 28 pay-per-view (PPV) at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida, in a Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as guest referee.
It's not the first time these two have met on the grandest stage of them all. Hell, it's not even just the second time. No, this will be their third go-round with the previous two coming at WrestleMania 17 and WrestleMania 27, respectively, though WWE has made a habit of conveniently forgetting that first match.
How we've come to this point has been simplistic at best and disingenuous at worst. As the story goes, their battle last year led to Undertaker having to be carried out of the arena on a stretcher while Triple H left under his own power. So while "The Deadman" earned the win via Hells Gate submission, "The Game" got to make the claim that he was really the winner because he was still able to walk away.
This led to 'Taker's typical long absence and return on the Jan. 30 episode of Monday Night Raw to confront Triple H and challenge him to complete the trilogy at WrestleMania 28. Triple H initially declined under the guise of wanting to protect the company against losing one of its biggest stars.
They danced around each other for a couple weeks until Undertaker used his ace in the hole, Shawn Michaels. Or, rather, the idea that Michaels is and always has been better than his former stablemate in D-Generation X.
This, of course, led to "The Cerebral Assassin" accepting the challenge but only doing so if Undertaker would accept his demand that they go all the way and finish this thing once and for all. And the only way to do that is by having a Hell in a Cell match.
Michaels made sporadic appearances throughout the process, teasing dissension with both men while also hinting at potential collusion. He was made special guest referee, though it was never explained who exactly put him in that position and why they did so. Obviously, he's there to provide a certain measure of doubt regarding the outcome that wouldn't have existed without him.
But does that mean we can expect the streak to finally reach its conclusion? Is Undertaker in any real danger of losing at WrestleMania?
In a word, no. In two words, hell no. Undertaker is absolutely not losing this match because there's simply no good reason for him to do so. The only scenario that would make sense would require Triple H returning to wrestling on a full time basis as the biggest heel in the business but the roster isn't built to support such a thing.
Plus, how can we be guaranteed fans wouldn't completely rise against such an outcome?
Quite frankly, the notion of 'Taker losing on Sunday just isn't something I can fathom. Undertaker has a few good years left in him, especially if they continue to preserve his body by having him work just once a year and spend the rest of his time staying healthy.
The most likely scenario seems to be something along the lines of what has been widely rumored on pro wrestling boards across the Internet. The story of Michaels being better won't play itself out at this year's show but it could definitely stretch all the way to next years. So why not have "The Game" lose with "HBK" counting the pin and telling him, "I told you so. You were never better than me." That would lead to Trips challenging his old friend to a WrestleMania match they never got to have while they were both active wrestlers and boom, next year's event has its first high profile match.
Really, this match rests on the ability of the two men to get the most they can out of the Cell and the story they tell inside the cage with Michaels ability to make us think he might screw Undertaker. To that end, I'm confident it will be a good match.
But there's little doubting the eventual outcome. Undertaker is winning, Triple H is losing and Shawn Michaels will be awesome no matter what.