10 Reasons Why Undertaker Needs to Return to WWE ASAP

The Undertaker hasn't been around since WrestleMania 27, and man, has he been missed.

I guess we should be used to being without Taker for several months after the granddaddy of them all, as his post-WrestleMania hiatus has become the norm over the past few years. Still, that doesn't change the fact that his absence isn't exactly good for WWE.

He's the Deadman. The Phenom. The Last Outlaw.

When he's gone, WWE just isn't the same. He brings a certain mystique and excitement to the company that no other WWE star brings, and I think most of us can agree that when The Undertaker's around, the quality of WWE is typically better.

Perhaps that's why I want to see him back in the squared circle more than ever right now.

As we head into the final stretch of 2011, WWE needs something to breathe new life into its product. WWE needs The Undertaker.

Here are 10 reasons why the WWE would be a better place if Taker returned ASAP.
10. Someone Has to Stop Mark Henry
Mark Henry don't run on Kool-Aid, but he does destroy anyone who gets in his way on Smackdown.

The Big Show, Kane and even Sheamus (to a certain extent) have all felt the wrath of the World's Strongest Man, despite the fact that they're three of the WWE's biggest monsters.

So, if they can't stop Henry, then who can? The Undertaker, that's who.

We've been down this road before--Undertaker faced Henry at WrestleMania 22—but Henry isn't being booked like an unstoppable force for no reason. He's being booked that way to set up a potential feud with the Deadman.

Come on, we know that The Undertaker might be the only star on the WWE roster who the creative team will book to kill all of Henry's momentum.

That is if Randy Orton doesn't do it first, of course.
9. He'll Add Star Power to the Raw "Supershow," Smackdown and Pay-Per-Views
Stating the obvious here, but The Undertaker will make more people watch any show he's on.

He's a legendary performer who doesn't come around that often, so both old school and new school wrestling fans will tune in on the rare occasion when he's actually on TV or pay-per-view.

Now that the WWE is billing Monday Night Raw as "Raw Supershow," the show is expected to be loaded each and every week, with Smackdown's biggest stars now wrestling on Monday nights.

If the WWE brass really want to stack the show, there's no better way to do that than by having The Undertaker appear at least every once in a while.

He's generally stayed away from Raw since becoming Smackdown's top star several years ago (aside from WrestleMania time), so his appearance on the show would be a pretty big deal.
8. To Even out the Heel-Face Balance
Even if the WWE wanted to bring The Undertaker back as a heel (slim chance, I know), they probably wouldn't be able to. He's just too well-liked and respected to be anything but a face at this point.

Plus, the WWE needs more main event (and upper mid-card) level faces, despite the fact that Sheamus and CM Punk just joined that group.

The Faces: John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, John Morrison, Sheamus, Rey Mysterio (injured), Triple H (likely turning heel soon)

The Heels: Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Kevin Nash, Mark Henry, R-Truth, The Miz, Wade Barrett, Sin Cara?

Especially over the past two or three years, the WWE has been extremely heel heavy. The return of The Undertaker would go a long way toward correcting that.
7. To Have Him Put over Up-and-Coming Stars
It's not very often that The Undertaker loses clean. It's even rarer that he puts over the WWE's younger stars.

But he's accomplished everything he can at this point in his career, and putting people over is exactly what he should do.

That doesn't mean that Taker has to take clean losses. All he has to do is wrestle long, competitive matches with the company's up-and-coming stars, and it will put them over in a huge way.

Imagine if The Undertaker wrestled someone like Cody Rhodes at Survivor Series, and Rhodes took him to the limit in a 20-plus minute match that looked like it could have gone either way.

That one bout would do more for Rhodes than his entire Intercontinental Championship reign, and chances are it would help elevate him to a serious main event player on the Smackdown brand.
6. A Lack of Fresh Matchups
Here's a look at some of the recent main event level matches we've seen in the WWE (not necessarily full-fledged feuds):

CM Punk vs. John Cena, The Miz vs. CM Punk, Randy Orton vs. Christian, Punk vs. Rey Mysterio, Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio, Mysterio vs. The Miz, Del Rio vs. Christian, Daniel Bryan vs. Del Rio, R-Truth vs. Orton, Dolph Ziggler vs. Orton, John Morrison vs. Christian, Cena vs. Truth, Orton vs. Mark Henry, Sheamus vs. Orton, Sheamus vs. Henry, Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus, Barrett vs. Cena

And two we are about to see:

Punk vs. Triple H, Cena vs. Del Rio

For the most part, though, all of the WWE's top stars have wrestled each other at least once at some point over the past few months. I don't like it.

We need some more fresh matchups that we haven't seen recently, and with the way the WWE's currently situated (and rushing feuds like Punk/Triple H), that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Throw someone like The Undertaker into the mix, though, and that could change rather quickly.
10 Reasons Why Undertaker Needs to Return to WWE ASAP
The ratings breakdown for last Monday's Raw is scary...and not in a good way.

The Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler match lost 276,000 viewers from the opening segment, continuing a trend of viewers tuning out after the first segment. The segment setting up John Cena & Sheamus vs. Mark Henry & Christian gained 204,000 viewers while CM Punk vs. The Miz lost 200,000 viewers in the 10pm timeslot. This is bad for the 10pm timeslot as the pattern is to normally gain 500,000 or so viewers.

Sin Cara vs. Jack Swagger lost 423,000 viewers, normal for that time slot.

So, let me get this straight. Five stars who the WWE is building its future around--Orton, Ziggler, Punk, The Miz and Sin Cara--lost almost 1 million total viewers?

That's got to be a trouble sign for WWE officials, especially when you consider that Monday Night Football's regular season has yet to begin.

If the WWE's top stars aren't drawing viewers, you can expect to see the returns of more stars from the past (a la Kevin Nash) in an attempt to boost the ratings.

Aside from maybe Stone Cold, Chris Jericho and The Rock, no one's going to do that quite like The Undertaker.
4. The Build to Survivor Series

The Undertaker was forced to miss last year's Survivor Series because of an injury, but he's played a critical role in the build to the pay-per-view throughout his career, especially since 2006.

Let's take a look.

2006: Mr. Kennedy defeated The Undertaker in a First Blood Match

2007: Batista defeated The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

2008: The Undertaker defeated The Big Show in a Casket Match

2009: The Undertaker defeated The Big Show and Chris Jericho to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

Even if the Deadman isn't wrestling for a World title, he's still booked in huge matches at the show, typically gimmick ones that the fans really want to see.

Survivor Series and The Undertaker are synonymous with each other, and he needs to be around for what could potentially be his last Survivor Series pay-per-view.
3. To Help with the Battle Against Monday Night Football

The intrigue for the 2011-12 NFL season is higher than it has been in quite some time.

With the way the 100-plus day lockout clouded the chances of the league even having a season, football fans are likely going to tune into the games in record numbers this year. That's especially true for Monday Night Football.

It's one of the most watched shows on television, and a lot of its viewers also watch Monday Night Raw.

From the first game next week to early January, the WWE and the NFL are going to fight for viewers. The NFL is going to win--there's no doubt about that.

But, if the WWE wants to prevent the NFL from blowing them completely out of the water, they'll stack the show as much as possible.

That should include appearances from one of the WWE's biggest legends, The Undertaker.
2. He Only Has a Little Time Left

No one knows for sure how much time The Undertaker has left in the WWE, but the widespread expectation is that he'll appear at one or possibly two more Wrestlemanias.

Either way, he's not going to be around much longer.

Though one might argue that The Undertaker should only appear when he wants to, I'd argue that the WWE should get as much out of him as they can while he's still with the company.

Obviously, they shouldn't work the man to death or anything like that. But they should certainly use him in any way, shape or form that will help the product, as long as we don't get Undertaker overkill.

If the WWE brass don't take advantage of the precious little time that Taker has left, then they'll more than likely regret it.
1. The Lack of Main Eventers on Smackdown
How many legitimate main eventers does Smackdown have?

Sorry, Mark Henry, but you don't count. As for Sheamus, Christian and Randy Orton, you do.

But seriously, is that it? That's the only main eventers the blue brand has?

In my opinion, yes, it is. Though that could change if the WWE goes full speed ahead with the brand split, that's not the case at the moment.

Smackdown needs all the help it can get in its main event and World title picture, and there's really no one better to fix that problem than the man who's carried the show's main event scene several times throughout the years: The Undertaker.

Ojalá no le echen a Henry en WrestleMania, ya se enfrentaron una vez.