Undertaker Match Is Bray Wyatt's Latest Attempt to Prove Elite Status

When Bray Wyatt steps foot onto the WrestleMania stage for his epic encounter with The Undertaker on March 29, it will mark the second consecutive year that the third-generation star has been booked in a marquee match on the most important card of the year.

More importantly, at least for the sake of Wyatt's status as one of the pillars of World Wrestling Entertainment's future, the contest marks yet another opportunity for the self-proclaimed "New Face of Fear" to prove his status as an elite talent in the sports-entertainment industry.

It is a status fans have gotten only glimpses of nearly two years into his main roster career.

Wyatt has been the recipient of one of the more impressive pushes in recent memory. He has regularly been paired with performers perceived by fans to be the greatest of their generation. Whether it was the series with John Cena, the feud with Chris Jericho or the early programs with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, Wyatt has been given every opportunity to deliver that one performance that proves his detractors wrong, supporters right and cements his status as one of the current generation's greats.

He has regularly delivered some of the best, most powerful and captivating promo work of any performer, in any promotion, in the world. His body language, facial expressions and camera presence have helped him strike a nerve with the audience en route to establishing him as one of the most striking personas on the show.

When it comes to his in-ring work, however, Wyatt has proven wildly inconsistent. For every near-classic with Daniel Bryan or six-man tag team war with The Shield, there is a curiously bad steel cage match against Cena or terribly underwhelming battle against Jericho.

It is that inconsistency that leads to questions as to whether or not Wyatt will ever develop into the in-ring competitor that can adequately support the quality of performance that he has delivered in other facets of his game.

To be considered truly elite, one must bring together a variety of elements to create a total package that Vince McMahon and management can trust to deliver on a nightly basis, both in televised and untelevised settings.

He has yet to do that.

Wyatt has the opportunity to change that come WrestleMania 31 and his date with The Deadman.

There is a certain level of pressure that comes along with sharing the ring with The Undertaker at the most important show of the year. The Phenom is as closely linked with WrestleMania as any other Superstar has or ever will be.

Delivering a show-stealing performance in a match against that guy on that stage not only cements one's status as an elite star, it could very well catapult them into immortality.

For Wyatt, there simply is no bigger statement to be made than to deliver the performance of his lifetime against wrestling's most respected performer.

Failure to do so will lead to the intensification of criticisms and the continued swirling of questions regarding his abilities to ever achieve a consistency to his ring work. More importantly, it could earn him the reputation of a performer whose need of parlor tricks and theatricality masked his weaknesses from bell to bell.

Worse yet, the once-strong foundation of WWE's bright future will begin to show its first major crack.