Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialCan We Move On From The Undertaker's Streak Now?

Can We Move On From The Undertaker’s Streak Now?

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Not a bad question to ask? Hi everyone, I’m so behind this month. I have some cool things in the pipeline but I needed a subject to sink my teeth into and give you people something to read while I get them together.

One of the biggest questions I saw after Survivor Series was … “What about Undertaker’s Streak? Does that not matter to WWE?” The answer is that the importance of The Streak died the moment Undertaker wrestled Bray Wyatt at WM31. It told me that it doesn’t matter if he lost, he remains an attraction and people pay to see him; not a fictional streak. The Undertaker’s legacy .. while The Streak was certainly a big part of it, he was already a legend before anyone paid attention to it. Therefore, The Undertaker is and has always been a bigger legend than his own streak. To place so much emphasis and importance on it after The Undertaker himself said he’s more than a streak is disrespectful to the man behind the character.

Brock Lesnar beating the streak was a way to give him momentum, but it was never the key motivator for anyone to beat him. I don’t think anyone thought that .. if Cena beat Lesnar .. that would be like Cena beating the streak, or if Orton beat Lesnar it would be like Orton beating the streak. I cannot deny that Lesnar beating Undertaker at WMXXX gave him a major boost to his image and reputation as a monster. But Lesnar is more than that, Lesnar has always been more than a man who beat a fictional streak. You have to realize that Lesnar’s worth, his reputation, everything has been built up over years. Lesnar didn’t NEED to beat the streak to be who he is. WWE would have found other ways to garner him the same dominance, but it was easier to kill two birds with one stone and shock the world with a memorable moment.

Only Lesnar could realistically beat him without people saying, for example, “Yeah right, Daniel Bryan beating the streak! What a joke!”, and you could insert any other name in there aside from Lesnar and people would still call it a joke. Vince didn’t want The Undertaker to be about the streak anymore, he wanted Wrestlemania to focus on the talent instead of fans only tuning in to see the streak defended. Vince wanted to move on .. and just like anything in life things need to end.

And that’s what happened at Survivor Series. Take out Lesnar beating the streak, he’s had an amazing run. Even in matches he didn’t win (triple threats), no one dominated over him. Heyman has been pivotal in maintaining his image with promos. Heyman is very capable of saving his reputation while hyping the next fight for his client.

All of Lesnar’s years of dominance was used as a story device in the match itself. Watch his body language, Lesnar was brimming in confidence, he was cocky, he was taking liberties with his older opponent. In Lesnar’s mind, there was 0% chance Goldberg could beat him. While Lesnar has displayed these tendencies before, he’s always had a degree of focus against his opponents. He didn’t underestimate Undertaker, Cena, Triple H, or Randy Orton, and he beat them easily.

However, many didn’t see Lesnar in his first run in WWE. He wasn’t always a machine who ran over his opponents. Near the end of his run he lost Heyman as his manager and was nowhere near as dominant as before; he was just another big guy like Big Show or Mark Henry. The key thing is, Lesnar has, and will make mistakes because of his character. Once his confidence grows too much he takes opponents for granted, and in the case of Goldberg he saw an aging man with no chance of winning. He let his guard down.

In the story, Heyman will explain that they underestimated Goldberg and Lesnar made a pivotal mistake. Lesnar turned his back .. just for a second. Heyman will say Goldberg can only win matches by hitting someone from behind. Had Lesnar suspected Goldberg was physically capable of delivering the first spear as quickly as he did, he wouldn’t have turned his back. Lesnar is smart, but only when he’s focused, and had he taken Goldberg seriously the outcome may have been different.

This gives Lesnar motivation to target him in the future. Lesnar will feel embarrassed that he got beat by an “old man” who hasn’t wrestled in 12 years. Lesnar always accomplishes his goals, but at Survivor Series he didn’t. This means that when WWE gets around to Goldberg vs. Lesnar III, Lesnar will be deadly serious, and a focused Lesnar is dangerous. Lesnar has everything to lose, while Goldberg doesn’t. In their third encounter, it will be Goldberg with the confidence. But the thing about Goldberg is (and was back in the day in WCW) he’s always focused, and he doesn’t waste time.

People pay to see Goldberg dominate. Much like people paid to see Austin giving everything that moves a stunner, much like people paid to see Hogan do a leg drop and pose for the crowd, fans pay to see Goldberg dominate. They certainly do not pay to see Goldberg work a 60-minute Ironman match with mat wrestling, submissions, and a back-and-forth reminiscent of Japanese wrestling. Goldberg is not that man, he is not a “5-star match guy”, he’s a beast who finishes matches as quickly as possible. They pay to see his intensity, and any fan who pays should never expect him to work long. Back in WCW he didn’t have long matches. He could have worked longer matches .. but that’s not him. A long Goldberg match is not an exciting one, he wasn’t trained for that. The way he is booked sinks in more into the memory of fans.

It’s like … people who cry out for epic wrestling matches. Sure, I’m a wrestling fan too, I love a good 5-star match now and then. But I don’t expect that out of Lesnar, or Goldberg, or Strowman, or Henry, or any big guy for that matter. The Undertaker is the only exception, but even he needs the right opponent to make magic. Wrestling has many, many smaller wrestlers who are amazing athletes. NXT Takeover: Toronto we had a great tag team match between DIY and The Revivial. But guess what? People won’t remember it. When people look back at November 2016, they will say “Remember when Goldberg DESTROYED Lesnar in two minutes?”. As much as smarter fans want every match to be a back-and-forth competitive contest, casual fans simply do not care. This is cold hard truth.

I showed the match to my sister (she’s not really a fan, although she is aware of guys like The Rock, Austin, Hogan etc) to see her reaction and she LOVED it. She was really into Goldberg and couldn’t believe how great he looked for his age. She didn’t give two shits whether Lesnar had beaten Taker’s streak .. or conquered Cena, Orton, or whoever. All she was bothered about was how wicked those spears were. She popped when Goldberg beat Lesnar just like that. And I imagine that’s what many casual fans did on Sunday night, they tuned in to see a heavyweight contest and were blown away. They didn’t complain because “that spot could have gone to someone else”. Most fans were just happy that Lesnar finally got what he had coming. The fact it was Goldberg and not a full-time wrestler did not take anything away from their excitement.

But let’s sit back a second and think “What if someone else beat Lesnar?”. Who though? Strowman? No way he’s not ready. What about Owens? Nah, he’s Universal Champion but can we really see him beating Lesnar? Not really. What about AJ Styles? Very possible, he has the experience, but he’s heel at the moment and his size would still make casual fans say “Yeah right that was dumb .. no way someone that small could beat Lesnar!”. Rollins? Hmm, he’s not a big enough star yet. Orton and Ambrose had a go but didn’t come close. Basically .. what it took was someone as big and strong as Lesnar, with no fear, and no hesitation, to take advantage of his cocky attitude. No one on the current Raw and Smackdown rosters could “squash” (not really a squash) Lesnar and make it believable. Lesnar had to get what was coming to him eventually, and what better way to put Goldberg over (like he would have in WCW) and hype his next appearance at the Royal Rumble?

We live in a society of “NOW NOW NOW!”. We want everything now. We want an epic back-and-forth between two monsters but WWE didn’t give it to us despite months of build. Why give us everything? If they gave us everything right away there would be nothing to look forward too. It’s like starting an action movie with the best scenes .. only to sit there another hour waiting for something better. It’s called “build”. WWE are going to build to a third encounter between them which should definitely be a more competitive contest. I can wait for that, it’s going to be epic if it’s at Wrestlemania. But if it does end up being shit .. then absolutely .. fans will have reason to complain.

At the end of the day it was an old school heavyweight contest. At this level in any real sport (so yeah .. wrestling is pre-determined, but back when kayfabe was maintained main events were always booked like this), all it takes is one blunder and it’s over. Back in the day, it was common for heavyweight contests to end after a few minutes. I like to think of it as a reverse of the CM Punk UFC fight. This time it was the young dog who underestimated his opponent. This time it was the older guy who showed he can still go and have no mercy. Goldberg was intense, yet calculating. Lesnar was cocky and gave him far too much opportunity.

No one on the full-time roster needs a win over Lesnar, this is what I don’t understand when I read complaints. Does AJ Styles need to beat Lesnar to be a legend? No. What about Roman Reigns? Again no. I don’t understand why a full-time guy NEEDED to be the one who beat Lesnar. It had to make sense for it to work, and I can’t think of any scenarios where someone could beat him and have it make sense. Ok I lie .. if Big Cass had fought Lesnar and won that would have been great for his career. But again .. does Big Cass need to beat Lesnar to forge his legacy? Nope. Would it be believable? Or would it hurt Lesnar’s image if he lost to Big Cass? Despite some saying otherwise .. Lesnar will bounce back after losing on Sunday, and he will come back stronger. Had he lost to Big Cass .. there’s no recovering from it.

Lesnar and Goldberg are in the twilight of their careers and have unfinished business so it made sense to reintroduce Goldberg and show what he can do to a new generation of WWE fan. He is a guy who can beat Lesnar in two minutes provided he is given half a chance. It showed Lesnar is human. It showed that in the WWE .. it doesn’t matter who you are, how many titles you’ve won, how big you are, how destructive you are, how much assistance you have, how many guys you have dominated before, how many streaks you’ve ended, how many skulls you’ve bashed in, anyone can be beaten at any given time and that’s not a bad thing .. it’s a good thing!.

And isn’t that great? That it’s not so predictable? Makes more memorable moments. I’m certainly going to remember this more than any Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn match. I’m going to remember it more than DIY vs. The Revival. And so will others, it’s not just me. WWE is about sports-entertainment and creating special moments with men who harness star power. WWE has always been that way, and it should come as no surprise. Men that are larger-than-life will always get more attention than the athletic “wrestlers”.

To round this up .. no, it did not hurt The Undertaker in any way (Goldberg beating Lesnar quick does not mean Goldberg could beat Taker just as quick .. in fact I think Taker would be smart and use his intensity against him), it did not hurt Lesnar, and it was not a waste of his two years of build. The crowd popped, the fans were excited, and I’m pretty certain it will be talked about for many years to come. That’s all that matters .. right? Thanks for reading.

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