Return (2008-2009)

On the July 25, 2008 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Vickie Guerrero announced that Edge would face the Undertaker at SummerSlam in a Hell in a Cell match, which The Undertaker won. After the match The Undertaker chokeslammed Edge from the top of a ladder and through the ring canvas. Following this match, Guerrero tried to make a peace offering with the Undertaker on SmackDown by apologizing, but the Undertaker told her that he is not the forgiving kind. At Unforgiven, as the Undertaker approached the ring to "take Guerrero's soul" and take her in a casket, the Big Show, who appeared at first to aid the Undertaker, betrayed and assaulted him. As a result of this altercation, the Undertaker and Big Show faced each other in a match at No Mercy, where the Big Show knocked the Undertaker out with a punch to the back of Undertaker's head. At Cyber Sunday the Undertaker defeated the Big Show in a Last Man Standing match after applying Hell's Gate. The Undertaker then went on to defeat the Big Show at Survivor Series in a casket match  John "Bradshaw" Layfield declared on the February 16 edition of Raw that he wanted to make history by defeating the Undertaker at [[WrestleMania XXV]]. However, Shawn Michaels, wanted to accomplish the same feat. The following week, Michaels defeated JBL to gain the opportunity to face the Undertaker at WrestleMania. However, SmackDown GM Vickie Guerrero announced Michaels had to defeat Kozlov to face the Undertaker. On the March 2 edition of Raw, Michaels defeated Kozlov and gained the opportunity to face Undertaker at WrestleMania. Before WrestleMania XXV, Michaels teamed with Undertaker to take down both JBL and Kozlov. After winning by planting the Sweet Chin Music and tagging in Undertaker when he was clearly winning, HBK then supposedly fled from the Undertaker backstage and emerged moments later when the Undertaker's back was turned and delivered Sweet Chin Music again. In the days leading up to WrestleMania XXV, HBK attempted to, in his words, "Get inside the head of the Undertaker" by visiting the graves of Undertaker's fallen foes in WrestleManias gone by and stopping at a grave marked 16-1. After explaining his view on the grave and what it represented, HBK superkicked the headstone into the grave and covered it with dirt. He finished his taunting by saying that the Undertaker's streak would "Rest...In...Peace...". The Undertaker was visibly less than pleased with the desecration of his sanctuary and targeted HBK over the following days. One night, after a match, HBK came out and confronted the Undertaker. After a long discussion, Shawn said that although he respected Undertaker, he didn't fear him. A black hearse pulled up to the outside of the RAW building one night and a casket was pulled out. The Undertaker's theme music was audible but HBK emerged from the coffin and said "You were expecting someone else?". Later on, HBK explained that the coffin wasn't for him but rather for the Undertaker's streak. The Undertaker emerged moments later to find the stage, which was made up to look like a funeral, devoid of HBK. Upset that HBK escaped him again, Undertaker destroyed everything but paused and approached the coffin and opened it but to his surprise, there was no HBK. He turned away from the coffin and HBK emerged and hit the Undertaker with Sweet Chin Music before leaving again. HBK's final act before WrestleMania XXV was a parody of Undertaker's entrance in which all that was associated with the Undertaker was white which represented good and pure things. HBK approached the ring and removed a white hat and instead of a scowl, a grin was upon the face of the Showstopper. Upon entering the ring, Shawn recited Genesis and compared him and the Undertaker to day and night, respectively. After his speech, Shawn's music played and he started to remove his clothes before the Undertaker grabbed him and attempted to punish him. Shawn escaped again while the Undertaker steamed in anger. Upon arrival to WrestleMania XXV, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels participated in a long overdue fight. After an extremely long match, the Undertaker emerged as the victor by using the Tombstone piledriver and pinning HBK, netting the Deadman victory #17.