The Undertaker Shoots on Sting Match; Roman Reigns Update; WWE Rumors on Matt Hardy

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Undertaker Explains Why Match vs. Sting Never Happened

With both The Undertaker and Sting having retired from in-ring competition, it closes the book on the potential of one of the biggest dream matches in wrestling history ever happening.

The Undertaker stepped away from wrestling nearly four years ago after his match against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36, while Sting wrestled the final match of his illustrious career earlier this month at AEW Revolution.

Speaking Tuesday on his Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway podcast (h/t Nikunj Walia of Ringside News), Taker discussed why a clash between The Deadman and The Icon never came to be:

"It just didn't work out. He had a short run in WWE and [former longtime WWE chairman] Vince [McMahon] didn't want it. For whatever reason, I don't know what it was. He didn't feel it. Everybody else was clamoring for this match for quite a few years. A year or two into that character change, I mean, people were already sending me artwork with the billboard or the poster. It just never worked out.

"The match would have been good, but I don't think it would have lived up to the expectations that people have for it. People always think about things in a certain sense. I think they thought in their mind of Undertaker, 2007 or 2008 versus Sting. It was later on than that. I can say I was way on the backside of what I was going to do when he got there."

For the vast majority of their careers, The Undertaker and Sting were in different companies, so their paths didn't cross often.

Once he joined WWE in 1990 and was given the gimmick of The Undertaker, The Phenom was essentially a WWE lifer.

Sting was the face of WCW from the early 1990s into the early 2000s, and when WWE bought WCW in 2001, Sting decided against signing with WCW and instead went to TNA.

At Survivor Series 2014, Sting finally made his WWE debut, and most assumed it would set the stage for a WrestleMania match against The Undertaker.

However, Sting faced Triple H at WrestleMania 31 instead, and in his only other major match for the company, he suffered a neck injury against Seth Rollins several months later.

That effectively ended Sting's in-ring career with WWE, and it wasn't until he showed up in AEW in 2020 that he was able to return to the ring and finish his career on his terms.

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Reigns Advertised for Go-Home Raw Before WrestleMania 40

All four combatants in the likely main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 40 are being advertised to appear on the final episode of Raw before WrestleMania.

On this week's episode of Raw, it was announced that The Rock would be present for the April 1 Raw at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, but he won't be alone.

The Barclays Center website is now advertising undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns for the show as well. Cody Rhodes and world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins, who are arguably Raw's two biggest stars, are also being advertised for the event.

Reigns, The Rock, Rhodes and Rollins had a heated confrontation at the WrestleMania 40 press conference in Las Vegas last month, and it eventually led to The Great One laying down a challenge for a tag team match on Night 1.

Under the stipulations conceived by The Rock, the Night 2 main event between Reigns and Rhodes will be contested under Bloodline rules if The Rock and Reigns win on Night 1. However, if Rhodes and Rollins win, The Bloodline will be banned from getting involved with the WWE universal title match.

The four Superstars traded verbal barbs on a recent episode of SmackDown, and things could get even testier on the April 1 Raw since it will be only five days before their WrestleMania match.

It is fair to wonder if things could get physical in an effort to build even more tension and anticipation for their WrestleMania match.

All four men figure to be in Philadelphia for the go-home SmackDown as well since it is one day before WrestleMania 40, so there will be plenty of opportunities for them to put the finishing touches on the build toward their match.

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Backstage Info on Matt Hardy Attending Raw

AEW star Matt Hardy got the internet buzzing this week when video surfaced of him attending Monday night's episode of Raw.

Hardy's wife, Reby Hardy, posted a video of Matt meeting and taking photos with fans at Raw on her TikTok page, which naturally led to some speculation about him potentially returning to WWE.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats), Hardy's AEW contract is set to expire soon, and while him attending Raw in a skybox in his home state of North Carolina initially wasn't considered a big deal, the fact that Reby posted a video "kind of changes it a little bit."

Fans openly wondered if Hardy may have been at Raw in order to talk to some of the powers that be about returning to the company, but Fightful Select (h/t Ortman) reported that Hardy did not meet with anyone from WWE while he was at the show.

Hardy is widely regarded as one of the greatest tag team wrestlers in WWE history, as he and his brother, Jeff Hardy, won eight tag team titles together with the company. Matt is a 10-time tag team champ in WWE, as he also had one title reign each with MVP and Bray Wyatt.

The 49-year-old veteran was last with WWE in 2020, but he opted to leave when his contract expired and signed with AEW.

Jeff joined him in AEW in 2022, and while there were high hopes for the Hardy Boyz to have one final great run as a tag team, it hasn't worked out that way.

Jeff getting suspended for a DUI was a big reason why, but even since he returned in April 2023, the Hardys haven't had much traction.

While it is unclear how much longer Jeff is under contract with AEW, it is fair to wonder if Matt is attempting to plant the seeds for the Hardys to go out on their own terms in WWE.

Even if Matt attending Raw was an innocent case of him wanting to take in some wrestling near his hometown, those types of situations tend to be viewed under a microscope when a wrestling rivalry is taking place, as is the case with WWE and AEW.

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