By Glenn Schouw
Durban - The Undertaker’s work will not be done after he is inaugurated into the WWE’s Hall of fame in Dallas .
A freshly dug grave awaits the Dead Man to bury Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar after his failed attempt to knock Tribal Chief Roman Reigns from The Head of the Table on the second night of WrestleMania 38 on Sunday.
The biggest event in sports entertainment is set for the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Dallas in the lone star state of Texas.
Millions of fans will question this outcome, but the WWE scriptwriters, under the watchful eye of WWE owner and CEO Vince McMahon, appear to favour this no fairytale ending for the mighty Lesnar.
The build-up has seen a frustrated Lesnar planning the demise of Reigns, particularly after the Tribal Chief left him bleeding after an ambush in the ring two weeks ago.
Lesnar was smashed with a steel chair before being deposited like a rag doll into a steel staircase by an almost unhinged 1.91m and 130kg Reigns. Lesnar was left unconscious and humiliated with blood streaming from his forehead.
A week later Lesnar drove a forklift into Reigns’ SUV before ripping a door off Reigns’ getaway car. The following week, in another entertaining storyline, Lesnar entered Reigns’ upmarket change room with the hope of finding his rival there, but he was absent.
In frustration the 135kg and 1.91m Beast tore Reigns’ locker room apart despite the Head of the Table warning Lesnar to get out of there. Reigns had been tipped off about what was happening and was breaking speed limits in his limousine to get there.
On his arrival Reigns entered the ring for a scheduled speech about his upcoming bout with Lesnar while the cameras panned to Reigns’ locker room with the devastation shown on a giant TV screen.
There was no sign of the Beast until he suddenly appeared making his way to the ring as fans parted like the biblical Red Sea. Despite eliminating six security guards, Lesnar was unable to get to a fleeing Reigns – he was clearly luring Lesnar into a false sense of security ahead of their awaiting no surrender and no quarter given battle.
Leading to this drama Lesnar’s character months back had been changed into a likeable smiling cowboy which includes a Western hat.
In recent months Reigns has come across as a villain, rapidly losing the support of fans.
Logic suggests that Lesnar would avenge months of frustration, crush Reigns and leave Dallas with both titles. However, Reigns and Lesnar have clashed on this stage before but never have the stakes been so high – the Universal and WWE Championship belts will be held aloft by the winner.
With this taken into account it would be in the WWE’s interest that Roman’s 500-plus-day reign as the Tribal Chief on Friday nights (SmackDown) continues.
Reigns, in my opinion, is the best character WWE has to offer in The Head of the Table.
The show-stopper fight is about Reigns, a guy who evolved into the star the company so hoped he would be.
Reigns’ continuously repeated line is “Acknowledge Me'”. On Sunday after his greatest bout he will be ‘Acknowledged’ as the best of the best.
WrestleMania 38 will be LIVE on SuperSport Channel 128 (SA time from 2am Sunday and Monday morning) and streaming LIVE on WWE Network.