How Can the WWE Replace the Undertaker When He Retires?

Though Wrestlemania 28 is some time off, there is a lot of speculation that win or lose, it will be the Undertaker's last event with the company.  Considering that by that time Wrestlemania happens he will be 47, that isn't too surprising.

Some wrestlers can go a little longer than that but the Undertaker has had a particularly brutal career that has put strains on his body which would crush lesser men.  The fact that he has survived this long and continued to put on incredible matches is just part of what makes him "The Phenom."

When he finally does retire, whether it is at Wrestlemania 28 or a little after the event, we'll have lost its third serious draw.

The first was Shawn Michaels.  Losing Mr. Wrestlemania is something that had to happen sooner or later, but it did weaken the event, as he truly was "The Showstopper" and someone who was intrinsically linked to the event as much as it was to him.

The second was Money in the Bank.  It's understandable that the WWE decided to make this a pay-per-view because of the interest it draws, but taking it off Wrestlemania did weaken the biggest show of the year.  There is something about the unknown factor of who will win and having multiple contenders in a match that leaves something to the imagination.

The third is going to be the Undertaker.  Once he leaves, Wrestlemania will need to find something iconic to keep it going and keep fans coming back.  It needs to find the one event that will keep making it the Super Bowl of wrestling.

The WWE could do this in one of two ways.

One is to create a new style of match that grips the fans.

The other is to find another superstar wrestler who resonates with the fans.

The second one is harder to do and needs to be organic.  The WWE can't manufacture this star.  Then again, if they could, they already would have done so.

With that said, there will never be another streak.  Even if the wrestler becomes an event unto themselves inside Wrestlemania, they will still never replicate what the Undertaker has done.

And they shouldn't try to.

Another streak would seem mechanical and a slap in the face to a veteran who had earned it before them.  The wrestler would need to find some other way of connecting themselves to Wrestlemania and making there match into a new tradition.

All in all, it is something that has to be decided by the fans.

The first idea is a little easier.  Creating a match that only occurs at Wrestlemania and grips the fans is something that can be completely made up and manufactured by the WWE.  It just has to have the same key ingredients that some of their biggest events have.

A large amount of participants.

An inability to know who the winner will be.

A certain stipulation that makes it a little more difficult to get rid of the other wrestlers.

The best examples of this are the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank.

Both involve a lot of wrestlers from the WWE, and while the match isn't easy to win, there is something truly worth having for the victor.

It also has a lot of wrestlers who most fans know won't win and only a few who fans are sure will be victorious.  It removes fans from trying to anticipate any possible scripted endings only because there are too many to possibly detail or guess correctly.

The WWE would have to somehow come up with a match that incorporated that or move an event like King of the Ring to Wrestlemania in order to make up for the loss of the Undertaker and The Streak.

When Wrestlemania 28 does come, the clock may chime one last time for the Deadman.

And when it does, it will be up to the WWE to come up with another phenomenal idea to keep Wrestlemania fresh.