I’m still in shock.
History was made on Sunday night, April 6, 2014 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The date will now officially be remembered as the night that Undertaker’s legendary undefeated streak at WrestleMania came to an end.
Undertaker’s streak began on March 24, 1991, where at WrestleMania VII he defeated “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka. That night, little did anyone realize that “The Phenom” would begin a legendary WrestleMania undefeated streak that would last throughout another 20 matches, or 23 years.
That’s right, twenty-three years.
8,395 days.
On Sunday night in New Orleans, “The Beast Incarnate” put an end to all of that. What’s done is done. Nothing can change that fact. It’s too late to go back and say, “oh, we change our minds, it never happened.”
WWE tends to re-write history more than any other entertainment company I can think of, but there’s not one human being on the planet that will forget the shocking sight of Brock Lesnar pinning Undertaker’s shoulders to the mat for a count of three.
It happened.
The big question now becomes, “what’s next?” How does WWE follow up on the fact that they killed the one record in their history that nobody wanted to see come to an end.
I’ve been called a bit of a braggart at times, and probably rightfully so. However, I’ll be the first to say that after years of claiming Undertaker was a “traditional type of professional wrestler” who would insist that he pass the torch on his way out, I too eventually jumped on the bandwagon and adopted the mindset that “the streak” should — and would — never end.
It became larger than life. It just shouldn’t happen.
But it did.
So, what happens next? Undertaker decided to give what he spent 23 years building up to a guy who once walked out on the company — and sued them — because his heart wasn’t fully into the gig. Now, he’ll forever be known among WWE fans as the guy who ended the streak. Will he be around long enough to get the proper mileage out of that claim? I guess time will tell.
I would be a liar if I didn’t admit that I feel a little unsure about the decision both to end the streak, as well as the decision to give that monumental “rub” to a guy like Lesnar.
Let’s be honest, the guy has a part-time schedule, and only agrees to working four matches a year. In a business that has no off-season, and depends on guys making towns, working regularly and busting their asses to entertain the passionate fans in the “WWE Universe,” on Sunday night, Undertaker passed the torch to a guy who will only “grace us with his presence” on a few “special” occasions.
The ball is in WWE’s court. It will be extremely interesting to see where they go from here. Can they find a way to capitalize on ending the streak that nobody wanted to see broken? Can they use the “rub” that was given to Brock Lesnar and turn that into dollar signs and entertaining programs going forward? Once again, only time will tell.
What do you guys think of WWE’s (and Undertaker’s) decision to end the streak? What are your thoughts on Brock Lesnar being the guy who did it? Leave your feedback in the “Comments” section below. You can also hit me up directly and follow me on Facebook for in-depth coverage of pro wrestling and mixed-martial-arts by going to Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR.
