WWE 2-21-11: How WWE Has Given Us So Many Theories and Not a Single Answer

The Valentine's Day edition of Monday Night Raw has come and passed, and while the most talked about event of the night unquestionably was the return of "The People's Champ" The Rock, WWE continued along with its former No. 1 attention grabber, the "2-21-11" promos.

The third installment of these mysterious vignettes seemed to be the most blatant and obvious one yet.  While the first two created the idea that The Undertaker would be retuning on February 21, the third finally gave us a glimpse at the man who will be appearing at the Savemart Center.

Or did it?

Millions of people watched at home and saw the familiar silhouette of a man in a long coat and trademark hat, one that could only be associated with The Undertaker, and even a brief glimpse at the figure's chest and chin. However, this has caused even more speculation than the first promo—the one that only showed a figure in a long coat, prompting so many theories you would need at least both hands to count them.

Each of the three promos have been unique in the fact that they all brought forth different thoughts and ideas from the IWC, however far-fetched they may be. 

The first promo only clued us in that someone would be making an appearance on February 21, but who that person would be was left out, leaving it to everyone's imagination.  I heard theories ranging from The Undertaker to Skip Sheffield, from Sting to Awesome Kong.  What seemed like an obvious answer for some, sounded stupid to others.  We had no answers, and no reason to think that we actually did.

The second promo gave us a little more to work with.  Lyrics to the Johnny Cash song "Ain't No Grave" were put into the end of the promo, and with ties to The Undertaker both lyrically and its use in a Wrestlemania 26 promo, the song pretty much informed us that The Deadman would be back in two weeks.  Add the fact that The Undertaker was now being advertised for the 2-21-11 edition of Monday Night Raw in Fresno, and it seemed pretty much set in stone.  Many people began to accept that The Undertaker was indeed the man behind the promos, insulting anyone who was still "crazy" enough to think that someone else, such as Sting, could be the true surprise.

Finally, we were given the third and final promo.  If one theory was laid to rest after the second video, two more took it's place after the third aired.  What seemed like a blatant showing of The Undertaker's silhouette and chest turned into the theory that someone else was pretending to be The Undertaker.  Toss in the unreliable rumor that Taker is scheduled to fight Triple H at Wrestlemania and a bad look at the man in the promo's chin, and you've got the idea that HBK is in the old, run-down house dressed like The Deadman.

There's also the "Two Person" theory for the third promo.  The begining of the video shows someone who at least looks like The Undertaker on the inside of the building, but at the end we see someone standing outside in the rain.  So what do we have on our hands here?  It's either two separate people, or a very poor editing job.  To me, both sides seem equally plausible, and we still have no answers.

So what have we learned from all of this?  Here are a few things that I believe.

1.  WWE knows how to turn nothing into the most talked about wrestling moment of the week/month/year.  Think about it, there hasn't really been much to these promos.  Some rain, an old house, and what could be any old member of the production crew standing in a trench coat theoretically turned into the biggest debut, return (2nd biggest now that The Rock is back) and match of the year.  There is very little evidence to back any of these ideas up, but they still keep coming, one after another, and they're not going to stop until next Monday night.

2.  WWE likes to mislead us.  However big or small the diversion may be, WWE always seems to throw us for a loop.  They inserted a code that corresponded to Shawn Michaels' nickname into a promo for Chris Jericho, they told us that Jeff Hardy was found unconscious in his hotel room the morning of a PPV and just last night they told us that the host for Wrestlemania was getting out of the limo, we see a woman's feet and then get The Rock.  Don't be surprised if something from the "2-21-11" promo turns out to be nothing more than a clever ruse.

3.  The Undertaker will be involved in some capacity.  At this point, I think it is safe to say that there is no doubt that these promos involve The Undertaker in some form.  Maybe it's the simplest theory out there and we're just going to get The Deadman back on Monday, that's it, end of story.  Maybe we'll get one of the crazier theories and we'll find out that Shawn Micheals was inside the house dressed like Taker while The Phenom himself stood outside.  Who knows what might surprise us on 2-21-11?  What won't surprise anyone is when the lights go out and The Undertaker returns at the Savemart Center in Fresno, CA.

4.  WWE has something up their sleeve that we probably haven't thought of yet.  This is the biggest time of the year for professional wrestling.  It's the time when everybody, not just the usual fans, pays attention.  WWE pulls out all of the stops when it comes to Wrestlemania and the road that leads to it.  Anyone who questions this only has to look at the ending of last Monday's Raw to see that Vince McMahon has shifted things into fifth gear and he's not slowing down anytime soon.  Some of us may correctly predict what might go down on 2-21-11, but if we think that what culminates on Raw next week is going to be lackluster, we're in for a shock, and I wouldn't be surprised if it rivals the surprise from last week.

5.  People are going to be angry.  You can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.  This famous quote pretty much sums up how the ending to this "2-21-11" business is going to go down.  I can hear the Undertaker marks and Sting fans now, whether it's an angry "that's the dumbest thing WWE could have done" or a joyous "I told you so," someone is going to get upset.  I honestly believe that if Eddie Guerrero rose from the dead to return on Monday and wrestle at Wrestlemania, there would still be members of the IWC who would throw a fit and complain that it wasn't Sting, Undertaker, etc. 

Personally, when it all finally goes down on Monday, I really hope that it's not just an Undertaker return with nothing else.  However, I feel like that is the most possible explanation for everything, so I guess that I'm in a good place, and even in my worst case scenario, I really won't be disappointed.

Whatever happens on Monday, happens.  If you find yourself upset after Raw goes off the air, remember that we, as WWE fans, were never promised anything.  A man wearing a coat, standing in the rain on a stormy night means nothing. Personally, I'm going to be glad that I was along for the ride and was able to contribute my thoughts on the subject.  I hope you all feel the same way.