SmackDown’s Royce Keys Picks Three Stages of Hell Match With The Undertaker as Ultimate Dream Bout

Royce Keys has made no secret of his appreciation for WWE’s rich history, and when asked about the dream match that tops his personal wish list, he didn’t hesitate: a Three Stages of Hell match against The Undertaker.

Keys, who currently calls Friday Night SmackDown home, has touched on hypothetical matchups with members of WWE’s active roster in the past. This time around, though, he set his sights on a legend — naming The Deadman as the opponent he’d most want to share a ring with, and specifically citing the grueling Three Stages of Hell format as the setting for that encounter.

The Three Stages of Hell stipulation is one of WWE’s most demanding match structures, requiring a competitor to win multiple falls — each under a different stipulation — before being declared the winner. It’s a concept that suits The Undertaker’s legacy perfectly, given the Hall of Famer’s long history with high-stakes, stipulation-driven bouts throughout his career. Framing a dream match around that particular concept says something about how Keys sees himself: as a performer willing to go the distance in the most brutal of settings.

While The Undertaker has been officially retired since his Final Farewell at Survivor Series 2020, dream-match conversations involving him remain a staple of the industry — a testament to just how large he still looms over professional wrestling. For Keys, naming him as the ultimate target is as much a statement about his own ambitions as it is a tribute to one of the all-time greats.