The Undertaker at WrestleMania – Well, Now What?

Well, Now What?

I wrote a piece for a now defunct digital wrestling magazine about how the (at the time) rumored Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt match for Wrestlemania should stay just that, a rumor. That piece never got published but it did get me this gig at 411mania. That’s how good it was. However, it’s no longer a rumor and I still have a problem with it. Let me tell you why I hate this, you might already agree. If not, you should.

The Streak

For the last several years, the storyline has been simple for “Wrestlemania season” when it came to the Undertaker, “The Streak”. Every year another opponent would come forward (sometimes the same guy from the previous year) to try to put a blemish on Undertaker’s pristine record. They failed and some failed more than once. “The Streak” became such an easy angle, they didn’t have to do much with it. One year, they had Paul Bearer’s death to “spice it up” a bit. It was just so easy, every year, who could beat Undertaker?

The Decision

In New Orleans last April, VKM made the call to end “The Streak”, in front of 70,000+ people. A decision that quite possibly could be the last real “shocking” moment we have in the wrestling business. I loved the moment. I thought Brock Lesnar was exactly the right guy, at the right time, to end “The Streak”. A forty nine year old man is not going to beat a human killing machine like Lesnar. Not on any planet and not even in the fake “Universe”. VKM knew that the window for Undertaker to “give back” was closing and closing fast. Even working, often times, just one day a year, signs of wear & tear were beginning to become overwhelming obvious.

So VKM decided that it was time to pull the trigger. He’ll standby that decision, like he will every other decision that he’s made and will do the same for the ones he hasn’t made yet. That includes Roman Reigns. However, unlike with Reigns, I standby Vince on “The Streak” decision. The plan, was simple, Lesnar ends Undertaker, then beats Bryan, then beats Cena (over and over), then he loses to the new man, Roman Reigns. So, Undertaker losing to Lesnar is going to help Reigns look real strong. The “IWC” was up in arms with why they’d let a “part-time guy end the only prestigious thing left in wrestling”. Vince didn’t. He let a monster take out the old dog, so that the new monster can takeover.

The Repercussions

When Vince decided to end “The Streak”, he should have been deciding that he would no longer be using Undertaker at Wrestlemania. There’s no point. Why? Because for the last several years, the WWE has only sold us on “The Streak”. That was it. Well, it’s dead. Oh I get it, Bray Wyatt is after the Undertaker’s “soul”. Sorry, Michelle McCool already has his soul, or is that Sara who has it? We’d have to ask him. Michelle definitely has him wearing her pants. Alright, I’m getting off track…

Bray Wyatt beating Undertaker at Wrestlemania does what? Nothing really, he wasn’t the first guy to do it. Does it make Bray a bigger star? I mean, I guess, if beating a man who was once unbeaten but now has lost two in a row makes him a bigger star then, sure. What if Bray loses to him? Bray is the young cat who can’t beat the guy who used to be undefeated and turns fifty five days before Wrestlemania. I get that Undertaker is already a Hall of Famer (if that means anything if you look at this 2015 class) but what will that do to his legacy? I mean, people would say, “he was 21-0 at Wrestlemania…” What if Undertaker loses next month? 21-2? I guess, they hide the loses by always talking about how he was once “21-0 on the grandest stage of them all”. What will fans discuss in ten-twenty years? He was undefeated and then lost two in a row on his way out. Maybe I’m just putting too much real thinking into a fake sport? I’ll go with that.

So, Now What?

I understand that there are some fans who are excited to see Undertaker work Wrestlemania. There might be a reason why they might not have him show up until March 29th, we might be shocked at what we see. Although I doubt it, he has been seen on Instagram dressing like Michelle McCool. Oops, there I go again, I digress… I know that some fans will enjoy seeing Undertaker come out with all his show, roll his eyes into his head, it will tickle their nostalgia nut. It’ll give them goosebumps, they’ll feel like a kid again, except the man they’re looking at is fifty and he’s about twenty five percent the athlete their nine year old self would remember.

I saw one article where someone claimed that the match was going to “steal the show”, or that it might. That “might” be wishful thinking. If it does steal the show, it’ll be because Bray Wyatt carries it. Not because Undertaker is out there stealing the show. Who does he think he is? Dolph Ziggler? We all know Ziggler steals the show, he makes sure to tell us that in every promo, even those “app exclusive” promos (yawn).

I’m not an Undertaker “hater”. I’m a realist. He was built on “The Streak” for the last several years and that’s over now. We need to all move on. We can see him next year in Texas to go into the Hall of Fame. But since the match is going to happen, I will maintain that Bray Wyatt needs to beat Undertaker in March. If it’s a casket match, he needs to stuff that old man in it, and we don’t see him until 2016 on the night before Wrestlemania.

If Undertaker beats Bray Wyatt, then what?

(Feel free to tweet me your thoughts @spinitB or email me)