The demonic duo had a short run-in with each other in 2005; at the Royal Rumble, Undertaker was in a scheduled match against the then-heel Heidenreich in a casket match. Before the match, Gene Snitsky, who was in a feud with the then-face gimmick Kane, told Heidenreich he would help him that night. Due to the interference, Heidenreich was positioned to win. However, when the casket was asked to be opened, Kane emerged from the casket coming to his aid, attacked, and battled Snitsky out of the arena, allowing his brother, The Undertaker to defeat Heidenreich and gain the victory. Originally, those plans were for this to lead up to a tag team match at WrestleMania 21, but was scrapped when The Undertaker instead decided to take on Randy Orton, and Kane would compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match.