Wrestlemania 30 came in and, like promised, shocked the world. It brought us Daniel Bryan finally getting his moment that has been building for eight long months. It brought three of the biggest pro wrestling icons in one ring. It also brought us the biggest shock of any Wrestlemania, Undertaker was finally pinned 1-2-3. Did you hear that? It was 80,000 people in attendance (and millions watching around the world) give a collective gasp. Stunned silence; we could not believe it, some of us still refuse to believe it. Brock Lesnar's third F-5 finally ended the undefeated streak of The Phenom. We hated it and it was the completely wrong move.
I'll start by saying I was, and am, a firm believer that the streak was going to end and a proponent that it should be broken. The undefeated streak is nice but the Undertaker has a hall-of-fame career regardless. It is the duty of talent to one day put someone over and the honor of breaking the streak would give one superstar a distinction that no one would ever have again. It could literally make some one's career. Which is why I thought the streak would indeed be broken someday. I just didn't think it would be April 6, 2014 at Wrestlemania 30 to Brock Lesnar. (Sidebar: I've never been a Brock guy. I've never bought into his hype. I don't think he's as talented as some other superstars. I understand he is a very valuable asset, a brand name but I just don't put him in my top 10... well, my top 10 anything that is pro wrestling related. This is not a "I hate Brock" campaign.)
Brock was the wrong guy to break the streak. I said earlier, this distinction could make some one's career. It's safe to assume, we all know who Brock Lesnar is. He is one of the few household names WWE has alongside The Rock, Stone Cold, Hulk Hogan and John Cena. He transcends this sport for things he has done inside and outside the squared circle. This is a guy that can disappear for four months off TV and come back and be a main event attraction right away. So does giving him the rub of breaking the streak really do that much for him? Jim Ross seems to think this means Brock will be the title holder in a year. Does Brock breaking the streak put him there? Brock could have just as easily forged a path of destruction next January and take the title there. A storyline could easily be put in place for Brock to get a title shot. Breaking the Undertaker's streak does very little for Brock's career. His legacy doesn't get a lift.
It's not like Undertaker has a problem putting younger talent over. Years ago, when Taker was rasslin' more than once a year, he was putting guys like Mr. Kennedy over. Last year after Wrestlemania, he worked an angle helping put the Shield over. I will address the fact that Taker handpicked Brock to break the streak later.
Speaking of the Shield, let's address my pick for Undertaker's opponent for Wrestlemania 30. Roman Reigns. How does this sound? Roman Reigns w/ the Shield in his corner vs. the Undertaker. The Shield, as I mentioned earlier, took out the Undertaker a little bit after Wrestlemania last year. There is your storyline set up. Roman Reigns looks like a superstar in the making. The build to Reigns vs Taker would have much more drama than the build for Brock vs Taker had. The build for Brock vs Taker was getting hammered before Wrestlemania and in retrospect, it looks to have real merit. Brock vs Taker seemed to be an after-thought, and the only reason it got co-main event status is because of the names involved but as far as the storytelling and drama to this match, there was very little. Part of it was due to two part time workers trying to put a program together. Look at Cena and Bray Wyatt's match, it oozed storytelling because two full-time workers were able to build drama the past month. The storytelling of Taker/Lesnar? Taker comes out intimidates Brock for four weeks and Brock gets the upper hand a week before WM. The Streak was its own entity. It should have been treated like a World Championship match. The opponent should have been built up as a legit contender to take down the streak (Like CM Punk last year). By not building Brock up, it just seemed like any other day at the office. It wasn't, and maybe Vince and the team decided let's go for pure shock value. If that's the case, they got the emotion they wanted. But shock value has a time a place, for something as prestigious as The Streak it should have been treated with more respect. The match should have been built up with the Undertaker looking vulnerable and should have closed out Raw. (Much like Taker/HBK part 1 and HBK/Flair should have been) A young up-and-coming talent like Roman Reigns would have had some fans believing that Taker could lose and I think much more respect would have been given if an up-and-comer vanquished the Streak.
Another reason the ending was flawed and the match was misplaced on the card. It sort of marred Daniel Bryan's crowning moment. The crowd never fully recovered. It took half the main event before everyone really zoned back in and truthfully, all of our minds were back at that moment when Taker was pinned. It didn't feel as jubilant as it should have felt. WWE didn't want to end with Taker losing and leaving fans in disbelief but by having that match at this Wrestlemania, Daniel Bryan's moment was not as sweet as it could have been.
The news is starting to come out that Undertaker hand-picked Brock Lesnar to beat him. I get it, we want to respect his wishes. This was not a "Best for Business" decision. Undertaker, Vince and the team should have met, discussed options and chose the successor. You don't just throw the title on anybody and I think if they had fully discussed it, they could have found a more worthy opponent. (Not to take anything away from Brock, I'm not a fan, but he is definitely one of WWE's big names right now. Can't take that away from him.)
I'm not going to get to big a deal out of this point, I also thought the Taker/Lesnar match was painful to watch. The injury to Undertaker had something to do with that, but even so, you're asking a 50-year-old once-a-year wrestler to carry a match and when he couldn't, Brock couldn't step up to the plate.
Maybe we shouldn't be calling shenanigans and screaming from the rooftops. WWE has been known to make decisions that we don't like, only to reveal a master plan three months later. This is just one of those times, that personally, I feel can't end as positively as it would have if Undertaker had won. If this was truly Undertaker's last match, it feels like it was the wrong time, wrong match, wrong opponent...just feels wrong.
#ThankYouTaker
