Can you feel it? Deep down in your gut? Do you still have that feeling? You went to sleep last night (or this morning, if you’re like me and live in England) and woke up with the feeling. Did it actually happen?
Sadly it did happen. It was inevitable, but nobody knew when exactly, nobody knew how, nobody knew who would end it. Last night, quite possibly the most shocking moment since Bruno Sammartino lost the WWWF title… The Undertaker lost at Wrestlemania.
To actually type that .. he lost. Damn .. it’s surreal. It’s like someone died almost. It will be difficult to imagine Wrestlemania going forward without the annual streak. It will be difficult to imagine Wrestlemania without the awe of The Undertaker slowly walking towards the ring. I understand why it had to happen though, and even though I feel rather upset, I can also feel relief for the man who plays The Undertaker, Mark Calloway.
We have to think that Mark has been wrestling since 1984 (before I was even born) and wrestled consistently until 2010. We have not seen much of him over the last four years, and that is down to his injuries, that he may have to live with for the rest of his life. He has made a lot of sacrifices for us over the years, and although he was never “The Man”, he was always the man at Wrestlemania. Now that it’s gone, he has no reason to return to the ring. He can finally retire, and he can do that while still being able to walk freely. Nobody can be selfish about this, nobody can blame WWE or Brock Lesnar for this, it is down to The Undertaker himself. He has wanted this for a while, and he always expressed that as soon as he was unable to keep up the level of performances we expect, he would retire.
I see so much outrage. I see so much hurt. I see the outcry. Did Brock Lesnar cheat?? Was the script changed?? Was The Undertaker screwed?? Sadly none of those questions are true, I am sure every single wrestling fan would love to see The Undertakers streak remain intact, so he could retire with the streak. However, there is a big problem with that, which I didn’t really think about until last night.
In the case that The Undertaker had retired with the streak, could you imagine the amount of fans who would beg him to return to end the streak? Despite him being retired, you could imagine how annoying that would get. This was the only way out, it was the only way for The Undertaker to retire, and it had to be done with Brock Lesnar.
“Why?? Brock Lesnar sucks! Why did it have to be him??”
Although Brock Lesnar is not one of those wrestlers who everyone loves to love, he is one of those superstars that everyone loves to hate, and if any legend (one who has true passion for the business) had ended the streak, could you imagine the hate the fans would give them? Whether it was HBK, Triple H, CM Punk, or even a newer guy like Roman Reigns, the fans of The Undertaker, those who grew up watching him, would absolutely despise that guy. I personally feel like none of those guys would have agreed to end the streak, because it would have defined their career as being the guy who robbed everyone of the streak.
There is no “passing of the streak”, as the streak was never intended to happen anyway. It was something that started small, became something noticeable, and gradually became a necessity for the wrestling business. It cannot be repeated so soon, it is a streak that comes around once in a lifetime, and I personally cannot see anyone fit enough to “carry on the streak”. If the WWE decided to purposely create a streak, it would never have the same impact. People would just say they were copying Undertaker’s streak and no one would buy into it. The streak was great because it was natural, and ended up becoming a requirement for Wrestlemania, and it would be completely wrong and disrespectful for the WWE to force a guy into starting a new streak.
I am still in shock obviously. I mean .. I knew Undertaker was getting old, but I felt like he may have had a couple of more years in him. However, seen as it was Wrestlemania XXX, the next milestone Wrestlemania would be WM XXXV, and I couldn’t see him lasting that long with his injuries. It was the right time to do it, but it wasn’t obvious that it would happen. The fans saw this feud as just another year for him to continue the streak before he retires for good, they never expected to see him pinned.
My first Undertaker streak match was against Triple H when he went 9-0 at Wrestlemania X-Seven. I still love that PPV to this day, and that match is a classic to me. It might not be a classic to some, because well, it’s Triple H, but at the time, that match was huge to me. It was around the time that the WWE really began to acknowledge the streak and marketed it. I grew up from that moment, watching every single Wrestlemania, never thinking for a second he could actually get beaten.
What was ironic about the streak, the bigger it became, the better the matches become. The wrestling and storytelling over the last five Wrestlemanias has been a benchmark for the future. I will fondly remember Undertakers last victory at Wrestlemania against CM Punk. They laid it all on the line that night, and the match didn’t get as much credit as it deserved.
In the end, the man known as Paul E Dangerously, the former manager of Mean Mark Callous, was the one who would pay a part in the downfall of the streak. I feel like The Undertaker really wanted someone legitimate to beat him, someone who didn’t care if people hate him for it, someone who has only ever cared about winning. Paul Heyman is someone who will take this, and cut promos that will eat away at the hearts of the fans. This is why Paul Heyman is one of the best managers/talkers in the history of the business, only he could take on this heat and use it to his advantage.
I also feel like the decision to end the streak was partly down to the passing of Paul Bearer. The Undertaker paid tribute to his former manager, and on the same weekend, lost the streak. Maybe it was a sign to the Undertaker, that his time was done.
In the end, you have to realise, that the end was inevitable. It was going to happen eventually, and when it did, it was historic. We witnessed a legend end last night, and we shouldn’t be negative, we shouldn’t be hateful, we shouldn’t hate on the WWE, Lesnar or Paul Heyman, the only thing we have the right to do, is to thank The Undertaker for putting his body on the line for us for over two and a half decades.
I’m sure we will have plenty of time to do that, as he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame next year. Hopefully he will finally break character and share a piece of his soul with us. Or who knows? Maybe he will be there again next year at Wrestlemania, for one last retirement match?
This is why I love wrestling, and it’s moments like these which make you all love it too. Having written all of this, I feel a little better, almost like I can accept this moment. I want to thank the WWE for allowing the streak to last as long it did, I want to thank Brock Lesnar and Heyman for having the balls to end it, I want to thank all the fans who believed in the streak with me, and of course, I want to thank the man himself.
R.I.P. The Undertakers streak. 21-1. (1991-2014). Never forget.
