Quick Takes: Undertaker's WWE Retirement, Charlotte Flair, Moxley vs. Cage, More

WWE sure wants its fans to think that The Undertaker is indeed done as an active competitor, especially after the first half of Friday's SmackDown paid tribute to the soon-to-be Hall of Famer.

However, considering he never outright said he was retired from the ring on the final episode of Undertaker: The Last Ride, it seems both the company and The Deadman are leaving the door open for another match if the opportunity were to present itself. In other words, we may not have seen the last of Taker inside the squared circle just yet, for better or for worse.

What is known is that Charlotte Flair will be taking time off from WWE for the foreseeable future following her loss to Raw women's champion Asuka on Monday night, per Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com. Assuming she's out until SummerSlam at the earliest, her hiatus could be a blessing in disguise for the rest of the Raw women's division.

All Elite Wrestling, on the other hand, has two huge editions of Dynamite coming up in the form of Fyter Fest on July 1 and July 8, respectively. Unfortunately, Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage for the AEW World Championship, which is scheduled to take place on night two, could be in jeopardy coming off the news that Moxley's wife, Renee Young, recently tested positive for COVID-19.

What that means for the highly anticipated main event of Fyter Fest remains to be seen, but this week's installment of Quick Takes will look at how AEW could and should handle the situation. Additionally, Dolph Ziggler challenging Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules, Adam Cole vs. Keith Lee in a Winner Take All match headlining night two of The Great American Bash and more topics will be discussed.

Another Match Could Be in Undertaker's Future

The entire purpose of The Last Ride was to help The Undertaker to find peace in having a final match that left him satisfied before riding off into the sunset. The Boneyard match he had with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36 seemed to accomplish that, but he won't decisively call it quits.

Despite WWE's lengthy tribute to Taker on Friday's SmackDown, it's important to point out that The Phenom never officially announced his retirement. In fact, he emphasized that if CEO Vince McMahon came calling, he would at least entertain the idea of wrestling again.

Needless to say, Undertaker has nothing left to prove and should stay retired. That Boneyard bout may be as good as it gets for him at this point unless WWE has a grander farewell in mind for the legendary figure.

Although the best option would be for Taker to never compete again, the only match that would make sense for him to have would be against AJ Styles. It was fine for him to win at WrestleMania when he was in his element, but in a standard one-on-one matchup, a Styles victory would be imperative.

This would allow him to put over a newer name—something he hasn't done a ton of in the past decade—on his way out. Survivor Series in November will mark 30 years since he debuted in WWE at the 1990 installment of the event. If fans are allowed back into the buildings by then, that would be a fitting way for him to cap off his iconic career.

Again, retirement for Taker after what went down at WrestleMania would be ideal. Other than Styles, there isn't anyone else he should return to face to potentially ruin what should go down as his final match.

Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler Is a Filler Feud at a Filler Pay-Per-View

Despite the lack of live crowds since WrestleMania 36, Drew McIntyre has been doing everything right in the role of WWE champion. Almost all of his matches have been entertaining, his feuds have been compelling and his mic work has been the best it's ever been.

Although his upcoming title defense against Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules is bound to be a well-wrestled contest, it couldn't be any more apparent that it's designed to be a filler feud for McIntyre ahead of SummerSlam.

Aside from their history as allies, there is no reason for this rivalry. Ziggler is fresh off two losses to Otis and has won only one singles match since August 2019, meaning he is in no way deserving of a shot at the WWE Championship.

Ziggler, while talented, has been the ultimate stepping stone for up-and-coming stars for several years. He was in a similar spot during Kofi Kingston's WWE title run last year and also attempted to elevate Dean Ambrose as WWE champ back in 2016.

He hasn't held world title gold since 2013, and at this point, it seems unlikely he ever will again, at least in WWE. He thrives at enhancing others, but the issue is that it doesn't make McIntyre's latest title program all that interesting.

McIntyre and Bobby Lashley exceeded expectations with their match at Backlash, and thus a rematch with a stipulation should have been in the cards for Extreme Rules. Likewise, it's possible Jinder Mahal would have been contending for the championship instead of Ziggler had he not gotten injured again.

Here's hoping Ziggler and McIntyre can make the most of working with each other and not disappoint, even if the outcome is painfully predictable.

Charlotte Flair's Hiatus Could Create New Opportunities for Raw Women's Division

Initially, it was odd to see WWE announce Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair with the Raw Women's Championship on the line for Monday's Raw instead of saving it for SummerSlam or Extreme Rules. However, Flair's decisive submission loss to The Empress of Tomorrow in addition to the "injury" she suffered at the hands of Nia Jax later on in the night made it clear she will be off TV for at least a little while.

As overexposed as Flair has been in 2020 (specifically in the past few months), she has been an integral part of that women's division on Raw for some time. With Becky Lynch pregnant and Flair on the shelf indefinitely, WWE is feeling the consequences of refusing to build around any other women on the show beyond Asuka.

Shayna Baszler and Bianca Belair were both brought up to Raw this year but haven't accomplished much of note. Worse yet, neither has been on the program for months, so it's going to take longer for fans to view them as being the top talent they are.

Meanwhile, Liv Morgan, Natalya and Lana have been regulars on Raw lately, yet their angle has been fairly dull. In light of Flair's upcoming absence from Raw, WWE needs now more than ever to try to create new stars and exciting storylines within the Raw women's division.

Baszler and Belair should be the first women to be built back up, as either one of them would be an ideal opponent for Asuka at SummerSlam. Jax already had her opportunity at the title, but Kairi Sane is another intriguing option as well.

Asuka vs. Sasha Banks is a great feud in the interim, but once it wraps up after Extreme Rules, Raw will be forced to focus on more than just the same one or two women.

Adam Cole vs. Keith Lee in a Winner Take All Match: Who Comes Out on Top?

By virtue of his victory over Finn Balor and Johnny Gargano in the main event of Wednesday's NXT, North American champion Keith Lee will now face NXT champion Adam Cole in a Winner Take All match on the July 8 edition of NXT.

It will mark the first time in the history of the black-and-gold brand that two titles will be on the line in the same matchup. Cole has been on the roll of a lifetime over the past year, while Lee has had a tremendous run as champ since the start of 2020.

Something has got to give, and between the two, Lee is the best choice to emerge with both belts.

With it being a TV main event and not a TakeOver special, it is possible that NXT books some sort of non-finish to get out crowning a dual champion. Karrion Kross is still waiting in the wings for a shot at the strap and could factor into the outcome, but Lee scoring the clean win and becoming the new titleholder would make for a memorable moment, to say the least.

As for Cole, he's virtually done it all as NXT champion and doesn't need to hold the gold any longer. In fact, a call-up to the main roster could be imminent for him and the rest of Undisputed Era, especially if NXT has star power to fall back on if they were to depart the brand.

Either way, Lee and Cole have clashed only one other time on television, and that was during the Worlds Collide tournament over Royal Rumble weekend in 2019. They had a fun match that night, but fans can expect their upcoming encounter to be 10 times bigger given what will be at stake.

Is Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage at AEW Fyter Fest in Jeopardy?

WWE's lack of testing for COVID-19 before recently has been a hot topic of discussion this week, with everyone from on-air talent such as Renee Young and Kayla Braxton to backstage producers like Adam Pearce and Jamie Noble confirming they have tested positive for the disease.

How WWE moves forward with its TV tapings and whether the situation will get worse (as it's expected to) is unknown. Just as concerning is how it will affect AEW, which, by all accounts, has tested its talent before every show since the start of the pandemic and has taken all the proper precautions.

For example, as a result of Renee contracting the coronavirus, the main event of AEW's Fyter Fest event on July 8 is in jeopardy. AEW world champion Jon Moxley, Renee's husband, voluntarily missed Wednesday's Dynamite taping. And if he's in quarantine for the recommended 14-day period, that would be cutting it awfully close to showtime.

Even if he does test negative for the virus in the coming days and weeks, the risk isn't worth it. Nor would it be a good look for AEW. It would be in the promotion's best interest to hold off on Moxley vs. Brian Cage for the title for at least another week or two, as officials likely already have plans in place for All Out and won't want to wait until then to deliver on the blockbuster bout.

It will be a big blow, but health and safety should be the top priority, and AEW is aware of that. Now that the promotion knows in advance, there's enough time for it to reshuffle the cards for the two nights and not miss a beat.

Moxley will be back before long, and his battle with Cage will happen sooner rather than later. But it's a shame WWE's actions could be responsible for the suffering of others outside of the company.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.