The Undertaker def. Bray Wyatt

SANTA CLARA, CALIF. — One should never raise the dead.

That much was clear in the final moments of Bray Wyatt’s encounter with The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31. Wyatt had rattled The Deadman’s casket, beckoned him to The Grandest Stage of Them All to make an example of The Phenom and prove to the world that Bray was WWE’s New Face of Fear.

Instead, he learned that WrestleMania is still The Undertaker’s yard.

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After weeks of antagonizing The Deadman from afar, Bray Wyatt skulked to the ring to meet his enemy with an army of lurching scarecrows following his every step. If the creatures were meant to ward off evil, they failed, because minutes later an unmistakable bell tolled and The Undertaker made his return.

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The California sun may not have provided the perfect setting for The Deadman’s entrance, but it was impossible to deny the image of WrestleMania’s most storied gladiator slowly making his way through an ominous fog, his signature black cowboy hat and long leather duster immediately recognizable in the thick clouds.

The crowd of 76,976 didn’t exactly applaud. Instead, they stared on with awe, giving all due reverence to a mythic figure.

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Of course, there were questions. Was The Undertaker still the warrior he once was? Could this be his last stand? Or was it the beginning of something else? It’s impossible to know when it comes to someone as enigmatic as The Undertaker. But he was here, and he looked every bit as menacing as The Phenom of days past.

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Was Wyatt intimidated? Hell no. Even when The Deadman shot a look at him after first stepping in the ring — as if to say, “You shouldn’t have raised hell, boy.” — Bray barely blinked. He had come here on a mission, and he would not waver until The Undertaker was in the ground and The New Face of Fear had taken his place.

 

When the final notes of The Deadman’s theme faded, the crowd came alive. First, a chant of “Undertaker!” and then an eruption when Undertaker leveled Wyatt with a boot to the face. The Phenom immediately set about dishing out his signature strikes, bruising his opponent with deliberate punches to the face and body. He went for Old School minutes into the match, pulling it off with the same crispness he displayed decades ago. When he dropped Wyatt with Snake Eyes, it was like going to see your favorite band play all their best songs.

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It was clear Undertaker was sending a message — not just to Wyatt, but to every competitor who thought they might be able to take The Deadman out after seeing his Streak end.

Bray was relentless, though. He beat The Undertaker to the mat with brute force, then began to rain heavy elbows onto the back of The Deadman’s head. He even wedged The Undertaker’s neck against the steel ring post and threw his entire body weight directly at the icon's skull. A concussion had cost The Phenom his match — and his Streak — against Lesnar at last year’s WrestleMania, and, for a time, it looked as though history may have been repeating itself.

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And then, all of a sudden, Undertaker locked Wyatt in Hell’s Gate like an alligator snapping its jaws on an antelope’s neck. Bray freed himself, but both men struggled to get to their feet. It was The Phenom who went down first, though, sent right back to the canvas with a punishing slam from The New Face of Fear.

 

There was a palpable sense of worry in the stadium. No one wanted to see a vulnerable Undertaker. They wanted to see the same man who felled Shawn Michaels, Triple H and every other Superstar who dared step up to him on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Only thing was, no one was sure if that man still existed.

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Then again, The Undertaker isn’t just a man. He’s a Phenom.

That was apparent when Wyatt milked the setup for Sister Abigail and ended up with The Deadman’s hand wrapped around his throat. Undertaker decimated Bray with a chokeslam, then dragged his thumb across his neck and hoisted Wyatt up for the Tombstone. The piledriver was debilitating and, on any other night, it would’ve been enough, but not here. Calling on some dark part of his soul, Wyatt found the strength to power out of the pinfall. This dance with the devil would continue.

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Undertaker got up and called for the Tombstone again. This time, Bray would find his way out and hit Sister Abigail in an instant. The Phenom managed to kick out of that pinfall, but both competitors showed their fatigue, lying on the canvas while the referee counted.

Wyatt stirred first, popping up in his horrifying spider walk, and stalking toward his fallen opponent with eerie glee. Then The Deadman rose. The two monsters considered each other for a moment. Right then, Wyatt lost his nerve. It’s one thing to call on the devil. It’s another when he shows up at your doorstep.

A fistfight followed, and Wyatt won it. Then he took a moment to mock The Undertaker, dragging his thumb across his neck just as The Deadman did minutes prior. Wyatt went for Sister Abigail again, but Undertaker was ready. He reversed it, powered Bray up and dropped him with a Tombstone. The Deadman folded Bray’s arms across his chest and, for the 22nd time, defeated an opponent at WrestleMania.

A year after he fell at the mighty hands of Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker proved there was still plenty of fight left in those lethal hands. And Bray Wyatt? He raised the dead, and paid the price. New Face of Fear? Definitely someday. Just not this day.