Taz Shares Why He Thinks WWE Canceled Undertaker Vs. Rusev Casket Match
To further the hype of the Greatest Royal Rumble WWE Network event scheduled for April 27 in Saudi Arabia, WWE announced that The Undertaker will be competing in his first non-WrestleMania match, since being an entrant in the 2017 Royal Rumble, against Rusev. This bout was scheduled to be a Casket Match, which would have been Rusev's first. It is also The Undertaker's first Casket Match in nearly 10 years, as he defeated The Big Show at Survivor Series in 2008.
Rusev and Lana were interviewed by TMZ to share their thoughts on the match. Rusev told TMZ Sports, "Undertaker is a little bit in the past. I'll beat him so bad it may be his last fight." However, Lana lobbied on social media to put Rusev out of the Casket Match gimmick, stating, "I've already spoke with WWE officials to change that match because I REFUSE to let my husband compete in a Casket Match." As a result, Rusev has now been replaced by Chris Jericho.
Taz, who was the color commentator for Undertaker's last casket match, shared his thoughts on why WWE may have canceled Rusev and replaced him with Jericho. He feels that it stems from the "bury me softly" tweet from Rusev.
Bury me softly, Brother https://t.co/IWnBvL20Ez
? . (@RusevBUL) April 11, 2018
"I was surprised that Rusev tweeted this because he's worked there long enough," said Taz. "I'm not surprised if, maybe, this is just me speculating... just maybe it's a situation where WWE got ticked off by his tweet. Basically saying, 'Well, what is that?' Basically stooging off that you're gonna lose the match. You're basically saying, you know, bury me softly, it's a Casket Match, so you're basically saying that you're doing the job. I can see [WWE] getting ticked off from that. Yeah, I mean, everybody and their mother probably knows that no one's beating The Undertaker right now, and that's no disrespect to Rusev, but you know it's just not gonna happen. But still I got a funny feeling that [the tweet] might have ticked them off."
Following the announcement that he will be replaced, Rusev tweeted, "Life is life..... it will be #RusevDay somewhere." Despite Rusev being replaced, Taz feels that Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho will be a good match at the Greatest Royal Rumble event.
If any of these quotes are used, be sure to credit The Taz Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Taz Show