Okay, may as well avoid making a bunch of white noise in the thread and take the concept seriously.
Assuming WWE were to TRY this angle, The Undertaker Reborn, what would be needed?
The Wrestler Himself: Most will look to Taker's specific gifts- approaching 7 feet and 300 pounds, powerful, shockingly agile, reasonable mat ability with a good potential to improve- as the exact template needed. I can understand why, as Taker's base set defied conventions and could be considered unique, and that when anyone visualizes a fearsome monster-like character, it's always someone around Taker's size. Here's the thing; you actually COULD get away with a base set and size that doesn't match Taker, so long as you had definite strengths in that set and the wrestler involved was a shockingly good actor when it comes to playing the part. Trouble is, anyone THAT good to play Taker would undoubtedly be playing someone new unless WWE thought bringing back the Dead Man would be a significant ratings/revenue boost. Granted, nobody likes the idea of the Dead Man reduced in size by any real degree, but if the role is acted good, you can theoretically get by.
The Booking: This is where the wheels come off, as the best possible idea I could come up with simply won't happen now. This was an idea I had prior to WM 30, when the Streak was intact. It's also an idea that pretty much borders on fanfiction in terms of 'you sappy sack of shit' storytelling. But I've never believed myself to be better than Vince Russo, so what the hell. As silly as the thread is, I can't possibly make it any worse, right?
Anyway, here's how it went; The Young Challenger, preferably a hotshot on his way up, does not challenge Taker for the Streak; rather, for unfathomable reasons, Taker chooses him. Well in advance of Wrestlemania season. Enough time for the drama and the dread to settle in- why was he chosen specifically? Will he crack under the wait? Does it affect his pursuit of a title belt? That's asking a lot out of creative, and the wrestler involved, and it might need some assistance, such as someone in Management or even someone else who wants to challenge the streak trying to nudge him aside or make him crack. For the young buck involved, the key thing is that at some point, the dread and hopelessness of the ticking clock gives way to something specific; a kind of Stockholm Syndrome if you will. The performance has to make you believe this man has gone so far off to the other side that he has embraced the horror. You want the man so profoundly changed that when the gong finally hits and the Dead Man stalks his way to the ring.... the challenger can only smile.
The match at Wrestlemania needs to be brutal. It needs to be punishing. Think 'End of an Era' or 'Streak vs. Career' for the impact that the match needs to aim for. The biggest problems are, can you steer the crowd towards the challenger rather than Taker, and can said challenger actually perform good enough to justify this long-winded plot? In both cases, the burden is on the wrestler to deliver. He has to win the crowd in the months prior with a genuine underdog story and he has to prove to everyone backstage that he deserves this moment and he can make it pop. By now this is 'Lightning in a Bottle' odds already. The challenger cannot have an easy victory, not even an easy finishing sequence. You almost have to believe that he's half-dead when he finally drapes his body over Taker's and gets the pin. He has to out last the Dead Man, and genuinely look like it ruined his career just to do it.
The aftermath should be as profound and stunning as the end. (By way of example, bottle up the crowd reaction when Taker lost to Brock at WM 30 and transfer it to the challenger). The conquerer of the streak does not crow, does not bathe in the accolades, does not express delight in what he has accomplished. If anything, he should look like his soul has burnt out within him. As far as Taker's concerned, all he should say is, "He'll be back, and he'll come for me." You can run with this changed-man angle for a fair bit, especially through the lean post-wrestlemania PPVs. It sounds terrible when you think about it, all but stifling whatever push that victory would gain a man just to continue the storyline. If anything, have the guy actively OPPOSE the push, display his apathy for the title, state that he knows it's not finished. And with Taker not saying a word during all of this, much like after WM 30 not even showing his face, you can have any multitude of fellow wrestlers and authority figures try to convince him that he's won and there's nothing that can be done to change that.
Finally, one day, maybe on the end note of a Raw, another such argument between the challenger and someone above him ensues, only, before the challenger can rebuff the claim...
GONG
The Challenger finally smiles, first since Wrestlemania, while his debator displays his fear. Undertaker returns, faces down the wrestler, and proclaims his challenge for a rematch.
The response? On three conditions; Survivor Series, Buried Alive... Soul vs. Soul, and the Loser will once and for all... Rest. In. Peace.
Still with me on this one? You seriously need something this built up to even remotely have a chance of selling this change.
Anyway, assuming Taker's capable and willing, Survivor Series takes place, and we see the burial mound. The challenger is almost back to normal, surprisingly. Not haunted, not waiting. He should have the look of a man who, come whatever end, will have settled the score entirely by the end of the night and is content with it. The match itself, again, as brutal as the Wrestlemania Match. It can't be any easier or worse for the young guy. It has to look like he's barely surviving against Taker and still getting in great offense. And at the end, it really looks like he'll have it in the bag, as he somehow, someway, has managed to push Taker into the grave. He gives the signal to dump the dirt...
And Taker's hand shoots up from the grave, grabbing the challenger, and dragging him in. The dirt piles on, regardless. The contest is ruled a draw.
In the months that follow, there is no word, no news, about Taker or the challenger. I dare say that it should extend past Wrestlemania. Give the crowd a Undertaker Tribute during the event if necessary, but this will be the first PPV in a long while where the Dead Man is not part of the event.
Then, perhaps the Raw after WM, maybe in the end, the gong hits. The darkness envelops the arena. And Taker- either on the ramp or appearing in the ring like that one trick he used to do- makes his appearance. But then, it's not Taker. It's not the same man. It's the Challenger, you see, who wears the Stetson hat and the coat and the fighting gloves. It's he who has become the Undertaker.
Okay.... how do you book him afterwards?!:
Just about everyone in this thread has expressed the opinion that, if they ever TRIED a new Undertaker gimmick, nobody would ever give it a fair shake, because the new Taker is not the old Taker and a comparison between the two will always leave the new guy wanting. I'm not disputing that; it's an all-too-real scenario that kills the angle if it's played straight and quick.
...about the only way I can see the gimmick getting through that scrutiny, and even then with astronomical odds, is if you embraced that part in all its negativity.
The New Undertaker cannot be business as usual. He has to visibly grapple with the sheer burden of what has been bestowed upon him- selling the Kayfabe plotline that the original Undertaker chose him to carry on the task, to claim souls, to put down all comers... to be the moral center of the WWE. In other words, this man has been given a responsibility that threatens to eat him alive.
Nobody who goes against him should give the benefit of the doubt. Indeed, this new Undertaker simply HAS to spend at the rest of the year taking on all the doubters, proving he should be as feared as the Original was. This is where you see opponents brazenly disrespecting the character and doing what they can to rattle him, to break him, to bury him. And he has to fight them all. Time and time again. By the new year you start to see the new Taker's initial internal strife start to bubble over, just in time for the KEY Feud. For this you want someone who can be sinister, who can play Mind Games. You want a genuine heel for this part.
It should be noted that in the midst of this long-ass storyline, the New Undertaker... really doesn't do what the Old Undertaker did. The moveset is different. It's a part of the internal strife, you see. It's the man's way of fighting his fate. More than once you should see a moment where the New Taker's got someone at his mercy, and the crowd shouts for a Tombstone... and he won't do it. He'll finish him, but not that way. That's deliberate. A way to assert his individuality, even though it weakens him in the process.
The Key Feud continues up to Wrestlemania, and ideally, you want the crowd support to go to the New Taker, and you want the villain to reeeeealllly ratchet up the rage factor by any means necessary. Whatever angle that can be used to bring up intense heat, giving NewTaker a reason to be enraged, go for it. You want things to come to a boil at Wrestlemania.
The payoff comes at the end of the once-more brutal match. All the tricks, all the cheats, everything the villain does, NewTaker fights through, has the man down on his knees after a long time, and he's just looking down in unrestrained murder and finally, FINALLY, he gives the crowd the throat slit.
The Tombstone is finally brought back in that match, to end this feud and to show for once and for all, that the Undertaker has truly returned. The End.
You can see why this no longer works- the plot requires a relatively healthy Undertaker, both the old and the new one, it requires capable acting in every facet just to have a fighting chance of not being booed out of the buildings, and it requires the Streak. This is literally the best I could do just to give the gimmick even a toe-hold for survivability.
Otherwise it's as hopeless as everyone says.
