This isn’t about whether or not it was right or wrong to end the Streak, but this is more of a thank you for the Streak.
[adinserter block=”1″]The unthinkable has happened folks, on April 6th, 2014 the Streak has ended. For twenty three years (Barring two missed events), the one constant of WrestleMania was the Undertaker. Whether it was facing the monsters like Bundy and Gonzalez or two epic bouts with Shawn Michaels and three with Hunter, you knew that The Undertaker was going to be at WrestleMania. Did the quality dip from time to time to the point on unwatchable bouts? Yes, but the last few years saw The Undertaker putting on top level matches like never before against Edge, Michaels, Haitch and Punk.
That is no more, the streak has died and it seems to be on the level of Superman dying. I was sitting on my chair, watching on my Kindle Fire HD as Brock hit the last F-5. When the bell rang and Heyman ran in, I honestly thought that it was a screw-up or something like when the phantom victory during Andre/Hogan. All that was missing was Howard Finkel in a booming voice announcing that Brock Lesnar had indeed won. I presume that the WWE expected heat to be downright nWo-like. They might have envisioned garbage pelting the ring in droves and the sound of the announcers being drowned out by hatred from the crowd.
In reality, there was a stunned silence by the fans expecting for some type of ruse (Thank god for season four of Archer) and the match would continue. Brock would stand over Taker and Taker would grasp him in Hell’s Gate. Brock would pass out and the streak would be preserved. Instead the 21-1 graphic came up and the bullshit chants began. Fans began leaving in drove according to many in attendance; grown men were crying according to some. The internet has reacted in the way you’d expect, anger towards the machine and those who worked for it.
In all of that what was ignored was what might be the last match of a stalwart of the Hulkamania, New Generation, and Attitude Era. It has always been said that when the Streak died, that at this point the Undertaker would retire back to Texas. Think about it like this, The Undertaker started wrestling back when World Class Championship Wrestling still had four Von Erich kids alive. He worked Memphis back before the presence of wrestling on Monday night slowly killed wrestling at the Mid-South Coliseum. He took a trip to Atlanta and WCW that saw what will probably the first and only match with Sting, a wrestling tape artifact that might be on the level of the Last Battle of Atlanta right now. Then, he came to the WWE and the rest at they say is history.
Tonight’s Monday Night Raw will be a large indicator as to what direction the Undertaker will take. Will he stay on television or will this be it. Heck, we’ll probably know before this article is even posted in our social-media driven wrestling news cycle. It could be that The Undertaker is still a regular character on television, or the character might be retired all together.
[adinserter block=”2″]All I want to say is thank you to The Undertaker for The Streak and everything he has contributed to pro wrestling. He made my dad who was adamantly anti-Attitude still a guy who would watch a show or a PPV if the Undertaker was wrestling. The Undertaker was the first wrestling figure that I ever gave my nephew, Christmas Day 2010. So, thank you Undertaker for all the memories, the great matches and memorable moments. You’re presence in this industry in the ring and the locker room will truly be missed and I believe that nobody can fill your boots.
Thank you.
Robert Goeman has been writing for CamelClutchBlog since 2014 and has written for FiveOuncesofPain and What Culture. Follow him on twitter at https://twitter.com/RobertGoeman. After every article, Robert usually does “Talking Points” on twitter, bringin up points that didn’t make the article.
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