The Undertaker Return Date Finally Revealed !!!!!!

The 900th episode of SmackDown was a gigantic event for WWE fans, as it featured the highly anticipated return of The Undertaker, who claimed that WrestleMania would no longer define him and that he was “back.” It’s now been a month since we last saw The Deadman, and there have been no hints of his return. So, the question now is: When will we see the future WWE Hall of Famer again?

According to SportsKeeda, WWE is holding off on bringing The Undertaker back to television until the end of the year. So, it’ll probably be at least two weeks before we see him on SmackDown again.

Shortly before he returned to WWE television, a photo of The Undertaker on crutches made the rounds. Apparently, The Deadman had surgery on his hip, and he was in the middle of recovering at the time of the photo. It’s been reported that he’s still in the recovery process and that WWE is hoping that he’ll be 100 percent for the Royal Rumbleevent on January 29.

The target date for The Undertaker’s return could be the December 27 SmackDown show in Chicago, Illinois. It’s already been announced that John Cena will make his return on the show, and WWE could book The Deadman’s return on the show as well in an effort to boost their Tuesday night show’s falling ratings.

There’s a rumor going around, which was first reported by Forbes, that suggests The Undertaker will challenge AJ Styles for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship upon his return.

On Tuesday’s SmackDown, Dolph Ziggler earned a shot at Styles’ WWE title, and he’ll get that shot on the December 27 show. Will The Undertaker come out and confront Styles after he successfully defends his title — which he presumably will — and challenge him to a match at the Royal Rumble? It’s quite possible, but it’s also possible that The Deadman will end up in the Rumble match and not in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the returning John Cena will get a shot at Styles before The Undertaker, as WWE is planning to reignite the hot summer feud between the former 15-time world champion, and The Phenomenal One.

“Where AJ goes… I mean, the Ellsworth thing isn’t gonna be a house show program, and AJ is gonna be waiting for Cena when he gets back, which is right after Christmas. So, it looks like [Cena vs. Styles] is where we’re going.”

WWE is reportedly looking at doing a John Cena vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania 33, and there’s even some talk that The Undertaker will put his career on the line in that match, which will end up being his retirement match. Of course, we’ve heard the Undertaker retirement rumors for the last several years, and they never turn out to be true. So, it’s one of those things that nobody will believe until it actually happens.

Right now, The Undertaker’s return to the ring is dependent on how quickly he can recover from his recent hip surgery. He is able to get around without crutches, but he is still rehabbing his hip.

As of this writing, The Undertaker isn’t advertised for any of the upcoming SmackDown shows. So, when he does return, it’ll likely end up being a surprise, although we’ll probably hear rumblings of his return date before he returns to television.

The Undertaker, who will be 52 next spring, hasn’t wrestled since WrestleMania 32, and he didn’t look all that great there. Could this finally be the year that The Phenom hangs it up? It could be. Every year, we get closer and closer to his inevitable retirement, and as previously mentioned, one of these years, the retirement rumors will actually end up being true.