In case you missed it - and you probably didn’t, because it’s a BIG DEAL - last Monday (Mar. 12) John Cena finally called out The Undertaker for their long-rumored match at WrestleMania 34.
This week’s Raw is in Taker’s home state of Texas. In Dallas, a roughly three hour drive/one hour flight from where he resides in Austin. Cena is advertised for the Mar. 19 show in American Airlines Center.
You’d expect there to at least be a tease of some development in their program, if not public speculation, from the company about the Dead Man answering the allegation he’s “hiding” which Cena leveled a week ago. But there’s no hint of it the official preview for this episode on WWE.com, and the angle’s not getting much play on any of the company’s social media.
For example, while it’s the intro clip for Cathy Kelley’s “Four Things You Need To Know Before Tonight’s Raw” video, Cena/Taker is not, in fact, any of those four things:
So what gives?
With just three shows between the call-out and the Showcase of the Immortals in New Orleans on April 8, they don’t have a ton of time to build a feud. But they also don’t have to. Love it or hate it, the “how will the Free Agent get to ‘Mania?” story’s been going on for a while now, and Cena vs. Taker more than sells itself - both in spite and because of how it looked like the Phenom walked off into the sunset after losing to Roman Reigns in 2017.
And if Taker is limited/saving it all for his return to the Superdome, it’s probably smart to make sure he doesn’t come to blows, or maybe even exchange words, with Cena until a lot closer to the event itself.
It’s an unconventional way to set-up what will be one of the biggest matches on the WrestleMania card, but that doesn’t mean it’s not working. Without talking about it, WWE has us talking about it.
How do you think WWE will, or should, follow up on Cena’s call out? Let us know below, and join us in the live blog tonight to see what actually happens!