Return of the Undertaker-a Fan's Take

It has been one of the better RAW's in sometime. There were great matches, a few good story-line moments and the show closing out with a bang. The closing segment had Triple H reviewing John Laurinitis' job as the Raw GM. After a few jokes, (including a mention to Vince McMahon's favorite club) Triple H was in the middle of happily relieving Mr. Laurinitis of his duties, when out of nowhere, an all too familiar gong rung. The lights dimmed, fire shot up from the stage, weak smoke arose from the ground. The fans knew exactly what was going on as they screamed there hearts out in excitement; Undertaker had returned.

This was the first appearance by The Phenom in 10 months, his longest amount of time away from the company. There were no video packages signaling for his return, no signs, nothing. It was one of the better returns in recent memory, and it certainly made the night more memorable.

You see, The Undertaker had been gone since his Wrestlemania 27 match with Triple H. It all started on 2/21/11 when during the Undertaker's return, Triple H interrupted him, challenging him to a match by staring at the Wrestlemania sign well above the ring. The Undertaker accepted, and taunted him by doing his famous throat-slash taunt. At the event, the two stole the show in one of the best matches of the entire year. The Undertaker won, keeping his 19-0 WM streak alive. But it came at a price. He was unable to leave under his own power, and he disappeared for many months. Triple H, however, made the mistake of bragging about ending Taker's career at the Slammy Awards in December. Now it seems as though we all get one more WM match between these two, likely with Triple H's career on the line.

That's the background for what has happened. I'm going to explain what exactly this means to me now, so if read on if you'd like.

The day after Wrestlemania 27, I was in my dorm room with my rommmate. We were bored, it was a Monday Night with not much to do, we happened to turn the channel to Monday Night Raw. Now my roommate has loved WWE in 2007-2008 but hadn't seen it in quite sometime. I was very unfamiliar with the show, but I was a tad bit interested so I decided to watch.

It pretty much became love at first site. Wrestling became one of my favorite things to follow, even rivaling my passion for the Green Bay Packers and Memphis Tigers hoops. I was enamored by all the things done in the ring, all the gimmicks that people could have, and the finishers were just all too cool to me. I began watching every week, and learned more and more every time. I knew it was fake, but it became real to me.

I decided to learn more online. Many people complained that the current roster was awful, and that WWE in it's prime was much better.

I decided to look into legends careers, and one many stood out, and that man was the Undertaker. It became a near obsession for me to watch as many of his matches as I could. He was taking a hiatus from TV currently, so I scowered YouTube for all of his best matches and feuds. His WM Classics, his feuds with Mick Foley, Triple H and Randy Orton. His match against Shawn Michaels at Bad Blood. I did all I could to watch more of him, and to learn as much as I could. It really disappointed me to learn that I had became a fan one day too late, he was gone.

I enjoyed watching Raw throughout the Spring and Summer. CM Punk's legendary promo blew me away, and when he won MITB and left it was an awesome moment. Triple H returned to RAW, Punk lost the title, Randy Orton (my favorite wrestler after Taker) was putting on amazing matches. But something was missing, and when I heard a rumor that Taker may return at Vengeance, I was ecstatic. I watched the PPV full of hope, only to be be let down. It was becoming less fun to watch WWE, it didn't seem real like it did the first few weeks. The Rock returned at Survivor Series, which was cool, but I just wanted to see the man who had become my favorite wrestler without ever seeing him in a match.

I once again got excited, this time for the Royal Rumble and the return of Chris Jericho. Jericho had become one of my favorite wrestlers as well from watching old YouTube clips. I think that is the best PPV of the year and couldn't wait what surprises the WWE had in store for us. I definitely enjoyed it, even if it did leave a little bit to be desired.

I came into Monday Night hoping for a Jericho promo. I was getting sick of all this silence, and I wanted to understand what his return videos had to do with anything. I didn't exactly get that, but giving Punk the Code-breaker definitely sufficed. I was pleasantly surprised to see Cena embrace the hate, watch a great Orton-Dolph Ziggler match and I was ready to see John Laurinitis get his boring ass fired. I was rolling with laughter as Triple H mocked John, and when John got on his knees and chapped his lips I was near tears with laughter. As Triple H was about to say John's favorite line "I was you the best in your future endeavors", the Undertaker's gong went off.

It took my a second to realize what had just happened. Time had slowed down, did that really happen? Then again, the gong rang. I don't even remember what I was thinking, all I know is I was swept with pure excitement. As the lights went off, and the pyro blazed I began to lose it. If you had seen me, I would probably remind you of a 5 year-old girl. I celebrated as the Undertaker walked down the aisle, a gigantic smile across my face. I admit, I've never been more excited in my life, and I've already bought tickets for the Feb. 20th show in Minneapolis for the soul purpose of seeing the Undertaker live.

Most people laugh at you when you say you're a wrestling fan. "Haha it's fake!" is easily the most common comment made. But moments like the one I had Monday Night, when Undertaker returned, showed me that it's still all too real.