21 - 0: A Look Back at The Undertaker's Wrestlemania Streak

[HBK89Bill]

http://www.pwmania.com/tag/undertakers-wrestlemania-streak


This year in the lead up to Wrestlemania XXX, I will personally be going back through The Streak of The Undertaker. We are going to go through all 21 victories one match per day which will climax with the quest for Brock Lesnar to become number 22. Try to think of this as a 21 Days of Wrestlemania Marathon. The Streak begins today March 16th as we start at the beginning against Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka at Wrestlemania VII for the first victory. I’m excited because we get to go back through and watch some great matches. We’re going to go through the trilogy of Triple H, the Wars with Kane, the title wins and the history of The Streak. It is undoubtedly the greatest record in wrestling history and I never sat down and thought about how important The Streak has been and how it is the untouchable record of professional wrestling.

 

[enviousdominous]

Taker's first Wrestlemania match made an impression on me. I was only eight years old at the time, and I thought I had everything pretty well understood regarding how the show worked. I wasn't that much older than I was when I had my ultimate epiphany that the show is scripted.

I had no idea what the card was going to be, I just wanted to see some action. Jimmy Snuka came out and I was satisfied, I hoped I would get to see a top rope move. I had never seen The Undertaker before this night.

I was literally terrified of this guy, in a good way. Seeing him slowly walk to the ring with the death march music playing in the background haunted me for weeks after watching that match. I knew that it was just a show and I knew that it was all part of the script, but for an eight year old that was like watching the beginnings of a revolution.

It was a good thing because it gave me back my desire to watch a show that I no longer thought was all real. I desperately wanted to see him take on the best in the WWF, and he was brilliant when he mixed it up with the top card.

Snuka, the commentators and (rest his soul) Paul Bearer all made that moment something special. Mark is far and away one of the greatest performers of all time, everyone else helped to make that the most vivid memory I have of Wrestlemania VII. It was like watching Count Dracula take on Tarzan, if Tarzan had no clue of what he was in for. It was brilliant storytelling for me, I was getting to watch two totally different worlds collide.

Looking back, the match isn't nearly as chaotic as I remember witnessing as a child. Makes me more sympathetic to kids who cheer incessantly for Cena.

 

[Hulkamaniac Forever]

i do agree the streak is awesome and has its moments i dont think its that impressive seeng how 80% of the opponets wont be in the hall of fame. Does anyone remember andre the giants undefeated streak of 15 years back when they wrestled twice a day sometimes 3 and how bout goldbergs streak 174 and 0 a much better streak then takers imo also facing the same guy 3times like hhh is rediculous also taker hbk 2 was so predictable and imo is not top 10 in mania history

 

[IanCook94]

Goldbergs '174-0 winning streak' is better than The Undertakers? are you mental? i dont believe for a second that you have seen Goldbergs streak. most of his matches lasted only a few minutes and cannot be compared to Undertakers at all. i don't even have to say any more than that.

 

[FlairFan2003]

This whole "Look At The Streak" thread has been to death. The first couple matches were bottom card filler although the early win over Jake Roberts was impressive (given Roberts status on the show and the fact he just main evented all over the house show circuit vs Randy Savage in the high profile feud that ended Macho's retirement angle). If anything it proved WWE was committed to the guy and his Survivor Series title win wasnt just a momentary swerve to distract fans in the Hogan-Flair feud.

I wont go over future matches here since this thread is just about Taker-Snuka, given the fact Snuka was primarily a mid carder with only a handful of top tier feuds in his career, especially the last 10 years, and he was close to retiring, it wasnt that shocking they gave Taker the win. Solid match that enhanced Taker's image of infallability.

 

[Hulkamaniac Forever]

ian coo yes goldbergs streak is better because he defeated more hall of famers and he beat hogan whos the goat imo taker beat snuka jake diesel kane hhh hbk bigshow flair orton batista edge and punk they will be in the hof not bundy gonzales sid bossman or henry will get in i like takers streak but seriously its over rated plus andre the giant was undefeated for 15 yrs that is more impressive then takers streak as well imo

 

[IanCook94]

well fair enough but i disagree. i wasnt around for andre and i doubt companies would want to pay that much money for him only for him to lose. wheres the logic in that?

 

[JJV]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1lj7Jytrrg

Unlike the usual promos of the streak every year, this one focused more of his opponents almost beating him in the recent years. This is pretty cool, and I think this is how Taker can retire. After defeating Brock this year, he can face Sting if that's part of the plan, and finally at Wrestlemania 32, he faces John Cena in his last match (I wouldn't mind even if it is for the world championship whilst it's not needed for this match). They can talk about how Shawn Michaels and Triple H almost beat him and Brock destroyed him this year (which is most likely to happen lol), and Cena can talk about him getting in the ring with all the greats and beating all of them and how he's going to end the streak. They can also use some of their old encounters in their promos, including this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O24Mo2mWtCo
This would be awesome and I really hope this happens. Undertaker defeats John Cena and retires. That's the best ending to one of the greatest careers of all time.

 

[TheICChampion]

At this point, as much as I don't really like Cena, he's the only guy left that I want to see challenge the streak and the only one who is established enough that win or lose he comes out pretty much unscathed as far as his character goes and could even still benefit from breaking the streak by turning heel (although imo at this point it's too late for anyone to care too much if he did). But the kids and women are gonna like Cena no matter what and us guys are gonna boo him no matter what, so either way Cena doesn't really lose.

 

[Im4Ryback]

Lets be realistic, the undertaker v brock Lesnar match will be the main event of wrestle mania. There is no match to compare. If wwe think that the match between orton and Batista will even come close they a deluded. The only way that match could be anywhere comparable is if Daniel Bryan is included and it becomes a triple threat and then wins the title. The undertaker is arguably the greatest superstar of the modern era and to even consider his streak at mania being broken is doing the deadman a disservice. He needs to beat Lesnar at mania and go away 22 to 0 and be remembered as the legend he is and be put in the hall of fame. I place the taker above cena even though he has won less tiles, above hbk, above triple h, above Samaritano who had less people to wrestle against. No one will come close to the takers record so let it remain. His arrival to the ring, his overall popularity regardless of him being a face or a heel is unmatched. I would place punk under the taker as great entertainment value and the best speaker in wwe. You have already stuffed up with several superstars like, ryback, ziggler. Don'to make the same mistakes. Learn from your previous blunders and give the fans what they want at mania, undertaker at twenty two and o and Daniel Bryan as the new wwe world heavy weight champion. He is after all the superstar of the year despite being, as triple hh terms it a b grade player. I,m for ryback