While a combination of logic and UFC President Dana White’s dismissal make it fairly clear that Brock Lesnar will not be squaring off with The Undertaker in a traditional wrestling match at WrestleMania 27, there is still some hope that he will be involved in some capacity, notes a report in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Following the encounter between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, which WWE had planned after communicating its interest in a Lesnar WrestleMania appearance several weeks ago, WWE’s creative team was instructed to think about ideas for a crossover appearance at WrestleMania.
At present, the idea gaining some traction calls for Lesnar to serve as a guest referee for Undertaker’s match at the show, which is tentatively slated to be against either Kane or Wade Barrett. While Lesnar would not have an intensive physical role on the show, WWE would obviously tease a physical encounter in the spirit of the Mike Tyson/Steve Austin interaction from the 1990s.
The idea is still in the infant stages; there is doubt as to whether Lesnar was even given a formal offer, and he certainly has yet to accept or even show a strong likelihood of accepting the proposal. Sources close to WWE, nonetheless, believe the informal feelers suggested he could be paid in the seven figure range, and the hope is that the offer is enticing enough to get Lesnar to consider returning to WWE programming for a one-shot deal.
Although many doubt the story, MMA Fighting reporter Ariel Helwani, who was interviewing Undertaker on camera as the encounter with Lesnar occurred, maintains that he, like Dana White, was not given advance notice of the plans. Some sources do corroborate this story, noting that Undertaker would have asked Lesnar, “you wanna do it” regardless of whether a big media outlet was capturing the encounter on camera. The feeling is that the word would have gotten out regardless, and the Observer notes that had video not been available, it is possible fans in attendance would have exaggerated the interaction to create even more buzz for the intended WrestleMania program.
The interaction between Lesnar and Undertaker was absolutely worked. Some have tried to claim that it was a shoot based on past stories of heat between the two wrestlers, and while rumors do suggest they did not see eye-to-eye all of the time, specifically as it relates to putting the other over, the belief is that the two share mutual respect. Undertaker, a genuine UFC fan, is said to be a legitimate supporter of Lesnar’s work in the Octagon.