SUMMARY
- The Undertaker returned to the ring at WrestleMania 40 and helped Cody Rhodes.
- However, 'The Deadman Man' was worried about making the appearance.
The story between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes began a long time ago. Previously, Rhodes made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38. Thereafter, he announced that his aim was to win the WWE championship, a title his father, Dusty Rhodes, never won. With that, Cody won the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble match to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
However, the outcome of the match saw Roman Reigns defeat Cody Rhodes to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. However, the story didn’t end there. Rhodes once again won the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble match to face Reigns at WrestleMania 40. With that, the two Superstars faced each other in the main event of WrestleMania 40, night 2, in a Bloodline Rules match.
The match was highly anticipated, and fans were eagerly looking forward to it. With that, the match featured Reigns and Rhodes taking each other down during the initial moments of the bout. Meanwhile, Jimmy Uso ran interference and attacked Cody. However, Jey Uso came out and took down Jimmy.
Once again, Reigns and Rhodes began tearing each other down, but Solo Sikoa appeared and nailed a Samoan Spike on Cody. Soon, John Cena rushed out and delivered the Attitude Adjustment on both Roman and Solo. Thereafter, to settle things down, The Rock came out and performed a Rock Bottom on Cena.
Following that, Seth Rollins appeared in Shield’s gear but was taken out by Roman. The Rock was then about to attack Cody with the weight belt; however, The Undertaker appeared out of nowhere and took out Dwayne Johnson with a chokeslam.
As the ring got cleared, Cody came with three Cross Rhodes for the win. Thus, Rhodes finished his story by winning the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Meanwhile, it can be understood that the match became historic with appearances from several top-level superstars and legends.
However, as of now, WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker talked about his appearance at the Grandest Stage of Them All. Here’s what he said.
The Undertaker details his call with Triple H to discuss his WWE Return
The Undertaker’s appearance at WrestleMania 40 will be remembered for years down the line. Meanwhile, the WWE legend recently opened up about his appearance. It seems Taker was afraid that his appearance at the Grandest Stage of Them All would ruin Cody and Roman’s 2-year-long storyline.
The Undertaker recently made an appearance on the Busted Open podcast. During that, he was asked, “Let’s talk about something…your appearance at WrestleMania. Can you walk us through from the minute you get the text that they wanted you to actually getting backstage to getting into the ring? Just take us through that whole process.”
With that, Taker revealed that he previously received a phone call from Triple H. He then mentioned that HHH asked him about his thoughts on returning to WWE television and getting involved in the main event of WrestleMania 40. Taker said that the first thing he asked was if everyone else was on board with the proposed idea.
Taker said, “The first thing I asked us everybody on board with that? Because you run the risk of being a huge distraction to something that’s been two years in the building, so that was my first question.”
The WWE legend then added that Triple H told him that everyone was on board with the plan. Taker then told HHH that if they needed him, he would be in Philadelphia. However, he made it clear that he didn’t want to be a distraction to the “final story.”
Thereafter, The Deadman revealed that he didn’t hear anything from anyone for the next couple of days. With that, he and his family packed up and went to Philadelphia. He then mentioned that on Sunday (WrestleMania 40 Night 2), when he was in his suite with his family, he received a text mentioning his appearance at the Grandest Stage of Them All in a couple of minutes.
The Undertaker stated that WrestleMania XL gave him closure.
(Six Feet Under Podcast) pic.twitter.com/T6pj5WBqBD
— Knockout News (@KnockoutNews10) April 15, 2024
Thus, it seems Taker received confirmation for his appearance in the main event of WrestleMania XL at the last moment. Meanwhile, it can be understood that he was afraid that his appearance might affect Roman and Cody’s story. However, it is to be noted that nothing like that happened, and everyone enjoyed their own respective momentums during the historic main event.
Stone Cold Fans Were not happy After Undertaker’s WrestleMania Appearance
The Undertaker surprised the entire WWE universe with his appearance at WrestleMania XL. However, it seems The Deadman reportedly replaced another WWE legend during his appearance at the Grandest Stage of Them All. The WWE legend in question is none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Previously, prior to WrestleMania 40, there were reports that Stone Cold Steve Austin might appear during the main event of WrestleMania. However, nothing was officially confirmed by the largest wrestling promotion in the world. The speculations about Austin’s appearance began because of The Rock’s involvement, who had a history with Stone Cold.
In that regard, it is worth mentioning that The Rock was a part of Roman Reigns’ Bloodline. In fact, he and Roman defeated Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the main event of WrestleMania 40 Night 1. Thus, it was apparently evident that The Great One might run interference during Roman’s title defense against Rhodes. On the other hand, Austin and Johnson were previously involved in a legendary feud.
The outcome of the feud saw The Rock challenge Stone Cold Steve Austin to a match at WrestleMania XIX. With that, Johnson defeated Stone Cold at the event. Not to mention, following that match against Johnson, Steve Austin didn’t participate in another match for 19 years. With that, many speculated that Stone Cold would return to WrestleMania 40 to help Cody settle his score with The Rock.
However, that clearly didn’t happen, and The Undertaker made a shocking appearance and took down The People’s Champion. Meanwhile, following WrestleMania 40, Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Steve Austin was originally planned for WrestleMania 40.
Stone Cole Steve Austin was originally earmarked for the spot at the end of Cody Rhodes v Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL, but in the end WWE & Austin couldn’t reach a financial agreement & as a result Undertaker was put in his place.
— WON pic.twitter.com/65IEcGxA04
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) April 12, 2024
However, he and the Stamford-based promotion couldn’t come to a financial agreement, which led to him being replaced by The Undertaker. Thus, it might very well be the case that WWE informed The Phenom about his WrestleMania appearance at the last moment because they were still in negotiations with Steve Austin.
However, once the negotiations fell through, the largest wrestling promotion in the world replaced Austin with Taker. Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that Steve Austin’s fans were not happy with Taker’s WrestleMania appearance in his place. Whatever the case, the main event of WrestleMania 40 Night 2 became a memorable one.
With that, pro wrestling fans will look forward to more appearances from The Deadman on WWE television. Also, they would be glad if Steve Austin appeared in the world’s largest wrestling promotion sooner rather than later.