With the Royal Rumble in San Antonio fast approaching, two Texas-native WWE legends, Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker, are set to appear on an upcoming Raw.
As WrestleMania season approaches, the stars are beginning to come out. Part-timers like Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, and John Cena have either already appeared on WWE TV recently, or are set to in the near future to promote their appearances on some of WWE’s biggest pay-per-views of the year. And while we knew these guys would all have a role at the upcoming Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 33, sometimes Mania season brings out stars you might not expect to see otherwise, like Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.
Per WrestlingInc, these two are set to appear on the January 9 Raw in New Orleans. It is not clear why exactly they will be appearing, but one can only assume it will be to promote the Royal Rumble which will take place in Texas, the home state of both men. The article mentions that Michaels is starring in “The Resurrection of Gavin Stone”, a religious film by WWE Studios, which is set to come out on January 20. So there’s a chance he’s coming back just to promote that, although that would be disappointing.
On the other hand, it’s tough to imagine Michaels coming back so close to Rumble time and not announcing that he’ll at least be appearing at the Royal Rumble. With the event occurring in his home state, it would be awkward for him to appear on Raw, promote his movie, and ignore the fact that the Rumble is set to occur in just a few weeks in the city he calls home. Actually participating in a match the Rumble or WrestleMania may be out of the question given his age, but hopefully his appearance on Raw will serve as more than just a way to shill his new movie.
As for the Undertaker, it’s a much different story. The last time we saw him he was threatening the SmackDown roster that there would be consequences if they lost to Team Raw at Survivor Series. But SmackDown came out victorious and Taker hasn’t been seen since. That appearance also presumably established him as a SmackDown superstar, so it’s interesting that he’ll be appearing on the red brand this time around.
Given the timing of the appearance, you have to assume Undertaker will be announcing his intentions for the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania 33, or both. Taker has actually been a popular pick to win the Rumble because many are expecting him to face John Cena at WrestleMania, and this would allow that match to be for the WWE Championship assuming Cena wins it before then.
If he doesn’t announce his intentions to enter the Rumble match himself, one would have to assume he’s going to challenge a Raw superstar to a match for either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania. Otherwise he would seemingly have no reason to appear on Raw. Two possible options are Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman, who may both be occupied at the Rumble with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn respectively, but will likely be freed up after that.
No matter what they’re going to do on Raw on January 9, there’s no question the appearance of two legends of the business will make it must-see TV for any WWE fan.
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