This past week in the news section of eWrestlingNews.com, three matches rumored for WrestleMania XXX were reported. Throughout the weekend, I have broken down my thoughts on the two new matches. First, I took a look at the rumored bout between John Cena and Bray Wyatt. Second, I broke down my thoughts on Triple H vs. CM Punk. Now it’s time for the third and final rumored match that was reported, which features The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar.
The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
Straight out of the gate — I love this match. The heat for this one began after Lesnar lost his UFC Heavyweight Championship to the current champ, Cain Velasquez.
It was October 23, 2010 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Velasquez had just defeated Lesnar via vicious first round technical knockout. Lesnar was battered and beaten. Meanwhile, The Undertaker was being interviewed by a MMA journalist who goes by the name of Ariel Helwani.
A little side-story, I was supposed to work with Helwani a few years ago during a sale of the MMA website I started, MMANews.com. The sale ended up falling through, so Helwani ended up working for a website called MMAFighting.com. Long story short, after one telephone conversation between the two of us, he ended up going his way, and I mine. However, Helwani went on to become arguably the most recognized journalist in the sport.
Anyways, Helwani was in his early stages of becoming a major journalist in the MMA scene. The interview he conducted with Undertaker, which is where the seeds of the rumored Taker-Lesnar match at WrestleMania were planted, is one of the interviews that really put him on the map.
So there he stood. Helwani is in the crowd, interviewing the WWE legend. Things are going just fine. Undertaker is giving politically correct answers to all of Helwani’s questions. Nothing special. And then it happened. The beaten, now former UFC champ walks by. Taker turns his attention to his former WWE co-worker, looks at him, and simply says, “you wanna do it?”
You wanna do it. To borrow a phrase from The Rock, “what in the blue hell” was The Undertaker talking about? Do what? Many people have analyzed the interview, which has now been viewed over five million times (check it out here).
It’s hard to determine what they were talking about. The opinions varied. Some people seem to believe that there is some personal animosity between Undertaker and Lesnar, and Undertaker was basically challenging him to a fight in that moment. Others feel it was a setup. A work. Basically, it was pre-determined that the two would shoot an angle at the UFC event, an angle that would later culminate in a match at that year’s WrestleMania. Well, that never happened.
Lucky for us, it looks like in April of 2014 that match will happen. The reports came out this week, and in them several matches were revealed for WrestleMania XXX. While nothing is official, and often times in WWE plans change a thousand times, specifically in the case of WrestleMania, it appears as though this particular match is definitely going to take place. Anytime the rumors of matches planned for WrestleMania XXX are reported, one of them that has not changed is Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar. WWE realizes that Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania has become one of, if not the biggest selling point for the show each year. WWE is also aware of the drawing power of Lesnar, something he attained greatly from his success in the UFC.
So if the rumors are true, and WrestleMania XXX indeed features a Lesnar vs. Taker match, how will it unfold? Will it be a good match? Will the build-up be entertaining? In my opinion, the answers are yes and yes. Each year Undertaker has tremendous matches at WrestleMania. Most of them have been against “high work rate” type opponents in recent years, such as Shawn Michaels, Triple H and CM Punk. It’s no secret that Lesnar isn’t the greatest worker in the world, but what he is good at is being one-half of a formula that generally results in matches that end up being wildly entertaining brawls.
Upon returning to WWE, Lesnar’s matches against John Cena and Triple H were awesome brawls. The match Lesnar had most recently against CM Punk at SummerSlam was in my opinion the single greatest WWE match in 2013. Despite being snubbed at the Slammy Awards this year, it’s been reported that most within WWE feel the same way. Imagine now, if you will, the brawl that could unfold between Taker and Lesnar. If there isn’t any real-life animosity between the two, it still has all the ingredients needed to result in an awesome brawl. If there is real-life animosity between the two, all the better.
The build up to Taker and Lesnar should be awesome. It will be interesting to see if they choose to acknowledge the aforementioned Helwani interview as part of the build to the match, or abandon it and have the two simply portray their normal WWE characters. Regardless, Taker vs. Lesnar, in my opinion, has a “big fight feel to it,” much like real boxing or MMA matches. Every once in a while in pro wrestling, a match will have a “big fight feel to it.” This feels like one of those times.
Finally, will the streak end? That will obviously be a major focal point in the build to this match. Can the former UFC champion be the man who finally stops “The Dead Man” at WrestleMania? Personally, I don’t think he will. Additionally, I don’t think he should. Undertaker is a company man, and like I’ve written in the past, while those in WWE probably do not want the streak to end, as it has taken on a life of its’ own in recent years, I have the feeling that Undertaker himself, being a company man who is all about tradition, probably wants to pass that torch to somebody. If he does, I pray Lesnar is not the guy he passes said torch to. He doesn’t deserve it. Lesnar walked away from WWE without batting an eye in the past. He’s only back now because WWE gave him a ton of dough and a very custom deal to entice him into making a return to the world of pro wrestling. Frankly put, I don’t feel like Lesnar has the passion for the business. Anyone who gets the “streak rub” from Taker should at the very least love the business and should realize what an honor it would be to be the guy who ends the legendary streak. I don’t think Lesnar is that guy.
In any matter, Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX should be a good one. Maybe even a great one. Will it be as good as Taker’s legendary matches against HBK, HHH or Punk? Probably not. But will it be a bad ass brawl that has the “big fight feel” to it? You already know my thoughts there. April 6, 2014. I can’t wait.
What do you guys think about the rumored showdown between Taker and Lesnar? Leave your feedback in the “Comments” section directly below. You can also hit me up on Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBooneWZR.
