Undertaker Vs. Bray Wyatt Preview: Will Undertaker Redeem Himself, Or Is His Gas Tank Empty?

One of the highest profile WrestleMania matches this year was a natural fit. Bray Wyatt, the young, charismatic, psychotic character looking to take the torch in which WWE legend The Undertaker has carried for two and a half decades.

The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt look to break a mold. Bray Wyatt is a different breed of opponent for the Undertaker, but falls into a lot of the guidelines of former foes. Giant Gonzalez was a freak of nature. Kane was a deranged psycho. Jake Roberts was cerebral, relying on mind games more than athletic prowess. Bray Wyatt is a unique combination of the three.

Uncharted territory isn't something that often happens for the Undertaker, who has been with the WWE since 1990. For the first time since WrestleMania 12, Undertaker will face an opponent for the first time at a WrestleMania. The closest Bray Wyatt and Undertaker have had to a face-to-face confrontation was a Nexus beatdown in 2010, in which Wyatt, then known as Husky Harris, was absent from.

Wyatt does have a brief, albeit documented history with Undertaker's wife Michelle McCool. When McCool and Layla were serving as Kaval's coach on season 2 of NXT, Wyatt was also on the program. Again as Husky Harris, the future Wyatt made a pass at McCool and was rejected immediately.

Prior to last year, The Undertaker had an unbelievable string of fantastic matches at WrestleMania. By the time he met Brock Lesnar, everyone knew he would win. The story had played out before. Well, there was a kink in that situation: The Undertaker didn't win. The crowd was stunned. People weren't really talking about how flat the match was, or how the two underperformed.

It probably didn't help matters that early in his match with Lesnar, Undertaker sustained a concussion. Immediately after going backstage he was joined by Vince McMahon and rushed to an area hospital. This came 11 months after he was put on the shelf by the Shield, derailing a short-term comeback. The years have taken their toll on Undertaker, and we don't know what kind of condition he'll be in.

This is The Undertaker's 23rd WrestleMania, and will likely be one of his last. Despite the aura that surrounds him, he hasn't been shy about sharing his secrets, even giving his opponent Wyatt some advice. On Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast, Wyatt said "I was talking to him and he told me you'll feel it. Never stop learning."

Undertaker's own advice could end up backfiring. Make no mistake, he's feeling it.

Bray Wyatt himself is looking for a signature win. He had good ones over Daniel Bryan and John Cena, but not on the grand stage at WrestleMania. A loss to Cena last year seemed to halt his momentum. His once cool, edgy promos became standard procedure. Soon after, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper were taken from him as well. He was off TV for months, despite being touted as being main-event quality shortly before.

Things haven't exactly been storybook for Bray Wyatt. He overcame a terrible name and situation in the Husky Harris character and reinvented himself. After reinventing himself he found a fantastic niche working with the Wyatt Family against the Shield, a feud that wasn't given nearly enough time.

Bray Wyatt doesn't have to be invincible. He's not a bodybuilder, an Olympic-level athlete. He's that guy you see in a horror movie that just loves chaos. He doesn't really care about wins or losses because he's guano crazy. He's Leatherface, and now Leatherface gets to live out his wildest, most twisted fantasies.

This is Wyatt's dream match. He said as much on Stone Cold Steve Austin's Podcast, saying "In the realm of the world I live in, Undertaker. There would be nothing bigger than facing off with the Dead Man at WrestleMania. That would be number one. That's my dream match. "

Will Bray Wyatt's dream play out, or will The Undertaker make it a nightmare at WrestleMania?

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