That Was Then, Is This Too? 03.02.10: The Deadman Cometh

Welcome to yet another installment of That Was Then, Is This Too?, the column that looks for parallel lines in all the right places. As usual, we have comments:

A show like WWE NXT would be completely unheard of fifteen years ago as, like Tough Enough before it, it completely blows kayfabe out of the water. Of course kayfabe is as dead as managers in WWE, so that doesn’t really matter.

…what makes you think that? The rookies have already cut in-character promos, not to mention The Miz’s kayfabied comments on Daniel Bryan. I dont think we’ll be seeing anything out of character on the show, although I could be wrong.

Posted By: Capt. Sassypants (Guest) on February 23, 2010 at 03:10 PM

The thing is, the whole show is going to be Kayfabe. They are all in character. It is a cross between Kayfabe and reality, as they will acknowledge their lives outside of wrestling, but be in character while doing it.

Posted By: Kayfabe (Guest) on February 23, 2010 at 04:38 PM

I say just let the hack writer nerdrage about kayfabe, he’s the only one on this site that has brought it up so it must mean something to him. Let him be.

Posted By: Guest#1982 (Guest) on February 23, 2010 at 04:54 PM

Wow, one passing comment about kayfabe is considered nerdrage now? All I said is that this show, in its current format, would not have been possible fifteen years ago. What mainly makes this different is that the performers readily acknowledge that they’re simply playing a character rather than being a character, and that charisma and personality is something that can be taught in stead of being something that you’re born with.

The real question is: will WWE properly support NXT, unlike ECW.
Not only did ECW not get regular PPV time, but wrestlers were moved out with nothing planned for them. If there is nothing in store for Swagger, why reduce his air time and bury him on RAW? Continue his development. If there is nothing there, cut him. If he is good, build him up before moving him out.
The belt isn’t made to look like anything. It should be hyped up, so when Drew McIntyre goes up against Kane, it looks like an even bigger uphill battle to go up against a former Heavyweight, Tag Tam, and ECW title holder.
WWE also bypassed ECW, devaluing its use as a developmental territory. Why watch ECW for the stars of tomorrow when you debut Drew McIntyre, whom you apparently have all the real faith in, on Smackdown? Why was Escobar on SD? Why was the R-Truth rebuild done entirely on SD?

So, even if NXT build real interest in separate wrestlers, will Creative be ready to run with it when these wrestlers debut? Will the things they did on the show be respected or downplayed? If not, viewers will quickly lose interest.

Posted By: Guest#3943 (Guest) on February 23, 2010 at 09:04 PM

That’s exactly the problem NXT is presented with. When ECW was finally put out of its misery, WWE creative was left with a gap that needs to be filled. The potential for the show is definitely there, and the amount of airtime NXT rookies have gotten outside of their show is definitely promising, but then again WWE creative can have a notoriously short attention spawn. After all, the Highlanders were given weeks of vignettes before their eventual arrival, and were all but forgotten about two weeks afterwards. WWE seems to have the right idea at the moment, but only time will tell whether or not they’re willing to go through with it.

That leads us to Banner 2.0!

At last Monday’s edition of Monday Night Raw, all three main events of this year’s WrestleMania were announced. Royal Rumble winner Edge would be challenging former tag team partner Chris Jericho, John Cena, who had been screwed by Vince McMahon the previous night, would challenge Batista, and, in a rematch of last year, Shawn Michaels would wrestle the Undertaker. Shawn Michaels had been trying to get a rematch out of the Undertaker ever since he won the 2009 Slammy Award for match of the year for his performance at that year’s WrestleMania. At the award ceremony, Michaels confessed that even after all these months, he was unwilling to accept his loss. He had made one mistake, one badly timed moonsault, and that one mistake ended up costing him the match, reducing him from the greatest performer WrestleMania had ever seen to just another one of Undertaker’s victims. It was too much for Michaels, and he announced that he would do whatever it would take to get his hands on the Undertaker once more.

The fact that Undertaker initially refused his challenge was of minor concern to Michaels. After all, Undertaker was the world heavyweight champion, and all Michaels had to do was win the Royal Rumble. This was no small feat, but Michaels had done it not once but twice, once managing to do so even though he had entered the match at number one. Furthermore, he had come incredibly close just three years prior. If anyone could do it, it was Michaels. However, it was not to be, as he was eliminated by Randy Orton.

The failure to win the Royal Rumble seemed to snap something inside Michaels. The fact that he failed to qualify for the Elimination Chamber, getting rolled up by Orton while attempting his signature kip-up, seemed to drive Michaels even further over the edge. He had even gone as far as to attack referee Charles Robinson and SmackDown general manager Theodore Long. His strange behaviour even alienated long time friend Triple H, and ended up costing them their tag team championships. Everything Michaels has done over the past few weeks was to get Undertaker into the ring at WrestleMania again. Finally he decided to hit Undertaker where it hurt – right in his world heavyweight championship. He managed to break into the elimination chamber, hitting Undertaker with Sweet Chin Music and costing the Deadman his title. The following night, Michaels finally got what he wanted: a rematch. The Undertaker wasn’t willing to just give him what he wanted however. Even after all that Michaels had done to get his shot, Undertaker demanded that he put something on the line that was of equal value to his legendary streak: Shawn Michaels’ career. This was all fine with Shawn Michaels. He had become so obsessed with beating Undertaker that, in his mind, a career without a victory over Undertaker at WrestleMania might as well be no career at all.

The stage has been set for what could be the most epic match in both men’s careers, not to mention WrestleMania history. With Shawn Michaels’ career and Undertaker’s undefeated streak being on the line, it seems that the match itself is more than worth the price of the PPV. However, they set quite a standard for themselves last year, and one might wonder if they’re able to live up to it…

That Was Then…

There are few sports entertainment traditions as hallowed as the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania. For almost twenty years now, Undertaker has been undefeated on the grandest stage of them all. The mere fact that the Undertaker has appeared on more WrestleMania shows than any other wrestler is in itself an achievement, but the fact that he has been undefeated in all that time makes it all the more incredible. Over the past few years, it seems that pretty much anyone who challenged Undertaker at Wrestlemania did so to be able to be the one to claim the legendary streak. Even if there was a title involved in the match, it seemed that the true prize was to become the first person to beat Undertaker at WrestleMania. Last year, at the silver anniversary of WrestleMania, the challenger was no other than Shawn Michaels, arguably the greatest WrestleMania performer in the history of the show.

What made this match even more spectacular is that these two men, the last two remaining performers who were present in the company during the debut of Monday Night Raw, hadn’t had any serious interaction for over ten years. They had clashed in the first ever Hell in a Cell match, and then in a casket match (the very same casket match that nearly forced Michaels into an early retirement), but despite the length of their WWE careers the two men only had one serious feud.

The importance of Undertaker’s streak was highlighted by the way Shawn Michaels came to challenge him at WrestleMania XXV. He had just finished an extended feud with JBL, which revolved around Michaels signing on as JBL’s whipping boy after he had lost all his money due to the recession. JBL treated Michaels about as well as could be expected, and the two soon ended up having a match for Michaels’ freedom, which the Heartbreak Kid ended up winning. However, the two men would go on to have one more match on the February 16th episode of Raw, with the winner earning the right to attempt to end the Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania. After beating JBL, then Vladimir Kozlov, who also wanted to end the streak and who actually held a pinfall victory over Undertaker, Shawn Michaels was on the road to WrestleMania, getting ready to face the Undertaker in one of the biggest maches in both men’s WrestleMania careers. As the weeks wore on, the rivalry between the men errupted into full-blown psychological warfare. This was not unusual for feuds involving the Undertaker, but unlike most of Undertaker’s opponents, Shawn Michaels was not intimidated. In stead he fought Undertaker on his own ground, going so far as to visit graveyards to show that he did not fear the Deadman.

Both men came into the show with huge expectations. After all, these two men had made a career out of their WrestleMania performances, and now, for the first time in the history of the event, the two men would face off. Shawn Michaels would come out in an entrance that was arguably even more spectacular than descending from the rafters at WrestleMania XII, as he descends from the stage dressed as the Anti-Taker. Undertaker has the chants but is surprisingly lacking in druids this year. All in all, both men take nearly five minutes to make it to the ring.

What followed was one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history, as both men showed exactly the kind of skills that made them into the legends they are today. Despite the fact that they were both suffering from numerous nagging injuries, they both tore the house down just over half an hour in what was a nearly flawless match. The only true blemishes on the match were a botched dive from Undertaker and a sloppy DDT counter from Shawn Michaels. In the end, Shawn Michaels made one mistake, just one mistake that ended up costing him the match, as Undertaker caught him in the middle of a moonsault attempt and nailed him with the tombstone piledriver for the three count.

It was that one mistake that would drive Shawn Michaels to the brink. Everything that he has done since winning his Slammy was to get Undertaker into the ring one more time, to get one more chance to prove himself that he is truly the Showstopper, the Main Event, Mister WrestleMania. In his eagerness to get Undertaker back into the ring, Michaels has proven himself willing to put everything on the line. The question remains, will they be able to live up to the standard they set for themselves last year?

…Is This Too?

The first time Undertaker’s streak truly played a role was at WrestleMania X-7, which I still consider to be the greatest WrestleMania of all time. At the show, it was Triple H who fell to the unstoppable Deadman. The two ended up in the ring together after Triple H had beaten Steve Austin at that year’s No Way Out, and ended up bragging that there was nobody left for him to beat. Undertaker, who at this point wrestled under his American Badass gimmick, took exception to that and the rest is, as they say, history. In my opinion, the streak now presents quite a problem. After seventeen WrestleMania victories, it seems that ending the streak is simply beyond the power of mortal men. Anyone who would break the streak would end up carrying a burden that’s simply impossible to live up to.

As I have said before, we have reached the point where the streak itself is reason enough to challenge Undertaker at WrestleMania. Undertaker seems to have finally realized this, as he has decided to demand something in return. In 2007 and 2008, he was challenging for the world heavyweight championship. In 2009, it was a matter of pride. But now, in 2010, even after Michaels has cost him his world heavyweight championship, Undertaker simply has nothing to prove against Michaels. However, with Michaels’ career on the line, it seems that WWE creative has managed to put together a scenario in which the clash between HBK and the Undertaker will be even more monumental than last year’s encounter.

At this point, it seems that it’s now or never. If Shawn Michaels can’t beat Undertaker this time around, I simply can’t imagine anyone else coming anywhere near beating the Deadman at WrestleMania. At the same time, it seems that Shawn Michaels is one of the few wrestlers who has the credibility to succeed where wrestlers like Ric Flair, Triple H and Kane have failed. Last year both men needed several weeks off to recover from the injuries caused by their match. This year, with Shawn Michaels’ epic career on the line, I think we can be sure that both men will be fighting harder than ever, if only because the status of the Undertaker’s streak is now more uncertain than it has ever been before.