Report: Concerns For Taker VS Lesnar Causing WWE To Rethink Things?

[Cody Trail]

I honestly think Taker should've called it a day after Mania 26. Nothing is going to top his two matches with HBK. His two matches against HHH were like a 3rd and 4th set of sequels that nobody really cared about seeing, and his feud with Punk was, IMO, underwhelming. It's only saving grace? Paul Bearer's coincidental death. I have yet to see the drawing power of Brock Lesnar after his initial return. Yeah, I know he's a former UFC guy and was in WWE for 3 years. But does anyone really care? He's booked as unstoppable beast...which means he's going to lose. All in all, unless it's Taker vs. Cena (which will probably be the final streak match), I'm done with the Streak.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I don't know Mitch. The last two WM crowds have been ridiculously pro-Bryan to a painfully smark extent. Throw in Bryan's current popularity and WWE's inability to get heels over as heels especially to the most wrestling educated masses. I think the fans may cheer anything and everything in this match making it a psychological mess.

The Wrestlemania 28 match with Sheamus was the perfect recipe for a smarky revolt. In the eyes of the fans, WWE screwed their guy with a quick squash match for a generic muscular brute, who pounds on his chest like a caveman.

Still, I could see the frenzy of "YES!" chants before the match during an Undertaker/Bryan stare down, and dueling "yes, no" chants during the match. But a lot of that depends on WWE's booking for Bryan from now to Mania.

When Bryan turned his back on the fans this past Monday, you could clearly hear the boos. If Bryan comes to the ring, and he's playing to the crowd by shouting "Yes," then you know the crowd's going to join in. But if Wyatt Family Bryan walks to the ring with a dazed stroll, ignoring the audience, then I can't picture the crowd starting the chants to support him.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Let's be honest, if you were watching Lesnar vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania, and Lesnar threw Undertaker full force into the crowd barricade, could you really enjoy it? I'd be terrified that Undertaker is getting badly hurt. Hell, according to reports, Lesnar banged up Punk pretty badly. And Punk is in the prime of his life. Undertaker will be 49 by Wrestlemania.

Daniel Bryan vs. Taker would be much, much safer for Taker. Taker wouldn't be slammed on his back or hips. He would have to lift 200 pounds rather than 280 pounds, which becomes very important when you have 49 year old knees. He just has to endure getting kicked in the face and chest, and getting stretched. Hell, the stretches might be good for Taker.

Bryan would get a great match out of Taker, and he'd be much safer. To me, it's a no brainer.

I take all this.


To be honest this matchup has me a little excited coz I really think these two would have a great match. I'd love it if Bryan is in the ME though but if he , isn't, Taker vs Bryan would be cool.

 

[MCMG]

I've been saying this for a while. Lesnar is way too physical and, another option rumoured: The Rock wouldn't put in enough time to work a classic. That's why Cena/Taker is a must.

I realise Lesnar is at his best when he is physical but over the last few months, I have become more excited about this match. The Undertaker works 3-4 months a year and probably earns a 7 figure salary. I imagine that Lesnar would hold back, to an extent, and they would make it work. Taker is definitely a tough guy and Lesnar can wrestle. It will work but I'm desperate for Cena/Taker.

 

[Loveless]

Bryan VS Taker? We all know there's no chance in hell of anyone buying Bryan as a legit threat to The Streak.

You mean the Bryan that beat Cena clean? I'd buy it but you have to look at it from a different angle. You'd have to look at Bryan in terms of his speed, a technician and as a predator, essentially dissecting a slowed down Taker.

 

[WWECena4HOF]

We need Cena vs. Taker for WrestleMania this is who Taker would of been facing if WWE still had plans for Rock vs. Brock but do to how long Rock waited that match won't happen.This is WrestleMania XXX this isn't the time to have a guy who was only in WWE for 4 years lost to Sheamus for the WHC in 18 seconds end the streak.Yeah he beat Cena but from what every one knew he had an career-threatening injury.They could have Cena lose to Taker.Have Cena turn in to the way Bully Ray is currently in TNA disappear come back 3 months later claiming to retire.Come back at RR in a disguise setting Kane on fire destroying every one [gong] Taker appears taking him out unmasks him it's Cena who just walks away.Taker calls him out Cena apologises to Taker,Kane,the fans calls out Taker for Mania XXXI stating if he loses he retires for real.

 

[Quinn30Colo]

Eh, did you actually read my post? I have no objections to Bryan VS Taker, at all. But if you're comparing legit threats, Brock (for obvious reasons) is the better choice, and it's not even close. And yeah, I get what you're saying about Bryan and The Wyatt Family. That's why I said the timing of the heel turn is perfect, because the fans are not going to side with Bryan over Taker at Wrestlemania of all places.

I read your post. I probably shouldn't have use "Why not" to agree with you. (in my head I was agreeing with you by saying yeah why not) You are spot on with Brock being the legit threat, but at Taker's age and body breaking down after two matches a year now and Lesnar's style I just don't see how Lesnar v Taker happens, the probability of Lesnar hurting taker accidentally is to great. I mean I know we're looking at threats but how many of us actually believe the streak will ever end.

If Lesnar wrestles Taker the chance of an injury increases much more and give a slight chance of the match ending pre-maturely/right to a finish and annoying us as fans.

The Wyatt involvement intrigues me with the psychological buildup.

 

[capnwillie]

If this is the Taker Streak Match they want to feature this year, why are there concerns? Let Brock and Taker work their issues out in the ring. You're talking about two guys who are some of the most physically intense and stiff workers in modern mainstream pro wrestling. Add Hell in a Cell or something similar. Let them beat the crap out of each other. The match would be incredible.

 

[Redrum]

If this is the Taker Streak Match they want to feature this year, why are there concerns? Let Brock and Taker work their issues out in the ring. You're talking about two guys who are some of the most physically intense and stiff workers in modern mainstream pro wrestling. Add Hell in a Cell or something similar. Let them beat the crap out of each other. The match would be incredible.

Yeah who cares that brock is known to be sloppy and could end up doing major damage to taker forceing him to retire and hurting his quality of life from then on so you can see your awesome match. Yeah lets bring back the pile driver while we are at it and throw people off the top of cells their health be damned!


Really?

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I would love to see Brock Lesnar against a healthy Undertaker, it would be a great match. I love their HIAC war from back in Lesnar's original WWE run!

However, it's pretty much exactly how other posters have put it...Lesnar's power and physical style, which can be dangerous may, could put Undertaker at risk, and that is something that WWE do not want to do. The Deadman is right at the end of his career, and takes months to recover from a single match these days, so should he really go in there with a guy who is reckless and could seriously injure him?

As there are other options for Undertaker, such as John Cena, Daniel Bryan and others, it may make more sense for 'Taker to face one of them, rather than Brock.

 

[unfunnier]

smart money for me would be a taker vs. bryan with the current storyline with bray wyatt. bryan is currently at the top of his game and would be an excellent rub for him working a storyline with taker. doing a lesnar vs. taker would be dumb, would serve no purpose at this point. neither will come out any further than they went in and more than likely one will wind up injured. don't get me wrong, when taker loosely challenged lesnar at the ufc fight years ago, it made since, now it would be like throwing money in the air and seeing where it landed. you might have a decent buy rate for that ppv, but at this point i'd rather have multiple ppv earning potential vs. a one time buy. this isn't the 80's or wrestlemania 3 where they can afford to do that. vince spent way too much for a lackluster performance from lesnar. don't get me wrong, lesnar has an amazing look and intensity, but so did the warrior in his prime. let lesnar work with one of the young cats and put him up against a decent challenge. lesnar facing a 40+ year old is just a dumb idea, you can't work a good match having to worry about that level of protection.

 

[Kidpolean]

smart money for me would be a taker vs. bryan with the current storyline with bray wyatt. bryan is currently at the top of his game and would be an excellent rub for him working a storyline with taker. doing a lesnar vs. taker would be dumb, would serve no purpose at this point. neither will come out any further than they went in and more than likely one will wind up injured. don't get me wrong, when taker loosely challenged lesnar at the ufc fight years ago, it made since, now it would be like throwing money in the air and seeing where it landed. you might have a decent buy rate for that ppv, but at this point i'd rather have multiple ppv earning potential vs. a one time buy. this isn't the 80's or wrestlemania 3 where they can afford to do that. vince spent way too much for a lackluster performance from lesnar. don't get me wrong, lesnar has an amazing look and intensity, but so did the warrior in his prime. let lesnar work with one of the young cats and put him up against a decent challenge. lesnar facing a 40+ year old is just a dumb idea, you can't work a good match having to worry about that level of protection.

Not every match has to be done to elevate someone. WM isnt even the place to do this anyway. WM is to showcase your best stars and put together money making matches. Brock-Taker is bigger than Taker-DB. If you look back at the history of WM you will notice that the only time up and coming stars main evented was in transitional periods between era's where huge stars had just left the company, or when the roster was just so bad that they didnt have a choice. Neither of these situations fits the current roster going into WM30 so DB vs Taker is highly unlikely.

 

[shalliin]

I was a firm believer that Taker shold face Cena at Mania until I watched Lesnar manhandle Mark Henry on Raw this past Monday. That was fun to watch as it was the most believable brawling I've seen in a while. All I kept thinking while Lesnar drove Henry through the barricade and delivered the F5 was, "Man, that needs to be Taker in the ring with Brock at Mania."

Now, if they decide to put Brock in the title match, I for one will be all for it. I would love to see him win the championship one more time. And maybe, though I doubt it, they could even work out Brock vs Taker, streak vs title.

I think Cena and Lesnar are the only 2 options. That goes for this year and next. We all know the streak isn't going to end, but we all still want a great opponent for Taker who gives believability that he can pull it off.

I would not look at Daniel Bryan and believe Taker might go 22-1. Plus, I don't think it would be smart to put Taker up against someone as popular, if not more popular than him. There's a real chance the crowd could be on fire for Bryan and boo Taker every time he took control of the match. Maybe even boo like crazy once Taker delivered the tombstone and got the win.

Then there's Sheamus who has been the latest rumor or a possible opponent for Taker. Physically, he would make sense, but then again, so would Ryback. If you turn Sheamus heel again, that would be a start. I somewhat liked him as a heel, but completely despised him as a babyface. I don't know, Sheamus is just a guy you throw in there if you don't have anyone better to put in the ring with him. But they do. Realistically, Undertaker probably only has 3 WrestleManias left in him. I can't imagine a better venue for him to retire in than WM32 in front of 100,000 or more fans at Cowboys Stadium, in his home state of Texas. His last 3 opponents should be elite stars. Sheamus is not in that category.

This is my short list of the guys who deserve (or eventually will deserve) to share the spotlight with Mark Calloway on the grandest stage of them all...
Cena, Lesnar, The Rock, Reigns, Wyatt, and possibly even Kane one last time (I wouldn't count that out as the retirement match for both of them). Taker isn't going to be around for much longer. They need to take advantage of every opportunity to book the best opponents possible for him.

So no to Sheamus as he's not big enough a star, but yes to Reigns and Wyatt? What is wrong with you? Reigns and Wyatt are nothing and will barely be blips on the radar by the time Taker decides who he wants for his opponents. Neither have done or will do anything in the next couple of years to deserve a shot against Taker at Mania. Sheamus has earned at least some consideration to face Taker. NO more Kane/Taker WM moments. 2 is enough, and need new opponents instead of repeats. Between Kane, HBK, HHH, that's 7 matches and wins, 1/3 of the streak against 3 people. Let the reruns and repeats end there.

The only possible exception to this would be one more match against HBK, if both are able to go. And only as a one night only, both agree that no matter who wins, last match for both type of stipulation. The only fair way, both of them putting once last cap in their careers.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I think that Brock Lesnar versus a healthy Undertaker would be an awesome match. However, a Lesnar versus Taker match in 2014, with his degree of degradation and age, doesn't interest me in the slightest. While I don't believe the Undertaker is the invalid that many people portray him as, Lesnar is a very physical dude who hasn't been participating in pro wrestling matches on a regular basis for some time now. He has always been very physical but he has also been a little reckless and rough around the edges. Lesnar's aggressiveness and potential rustiness could be a recipe for disaster for the Undertaker.

I love Daniel Bryan, but I don't see him as a legitimate threat to the streak against Taker. For one thing, I'm not convinced he's going full heel turn as that is beyond asinine. I think he is going to "join" the Wyatt family for a little while, then turn his back on them later. And Bryan versus Taker only works if he is full blown heel, which I simply don't see happening. Plus, no matter how much people hate to hear it, for me, Bryan is simply not big enough to pose a viable threat to the streak, even against a deteriorating Undertaker.

Personally I would rather see Brock Lesnar versus Randy Orton at Wrestlemania. Lesnar would obviously remain heel, which by default would involve leaning Orton back in the face direction. Which would leave the door wide open for a current face to undergo a heel turn and challenge the Undertaker, someone who would be seen as a viable threat to the termination of the streak, and someone who could easily main event the evening, or at least be in the second last match of the night. If only there was some superstar who could really turn the professional wrestling world upside down by turning heel on the grandest stage of them all, ending the revered streak in the process. But whoever could it be.....

 

[kadroan]

Not every match has to be done to elevate someone. WM isnt even the place to do this anyway. WM is to showcase your best stars and put together money making matches. Brock-Taker is bigger than Taker-DB. If you look back at the history of WM you will notice that the only time up and coming stars main evented was in transitional periods between era's where huge stars had just left the company, or when the roster was just so bad that they didnt have a choice. Neither of these situations fits the current roster going into WM30 so DB vs Taker is highly unlikely.

True, I could see that. I couldn't see Taker/Bryan being sold as a legit match, anyways

 

[WWECena4HOF]

hopefully it doesn't happen and we get Cena vs. Taker

 

[thebarber]

of course it isnt happening, Brock Lesnar was planned all along to face The Rock at Wrestlemania 30, versing Taker was all internet scuttlebutt.
Lesnar vs Taker would be a tragedy, Lesnar the legitimate hard ass and well known to be a legitimate fighter with his UFC history against a near 50 year old guy who wrestles 1-2 times a year. And WWE have booked Lesnar to lose already to HHH in a shoddy Wrestlemanos match to appease one ego already. Surely Vince has worked out that building Brock up and having him kill his opposition and eventually putting the WWE title on him means he will have to be on tv more, increasing ratings and the eventual guy who beats Lesnar for the belt will be over hugely(Punk/Bryan/Cena).
I really cannot understand how anybody who is remotely a fan of wrestling would think on the grandest stage of all, they would have Lesnar job to Undertaker. Lesnar was booked to domiante him in 2002, 12 years later...NOBODY would believe Taker could beat Lesnar, even in a scripted sports entertainment matchup

 

[King26J]

D.Bryan vs.Taker > Brock vs. Taker

It be a nice & different change to see Taker not being the underdog for once. Every year WWE makes Taker the underdog, why not make the opponent the underdog for a change?

 

[unfunnier]

Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar?
Undertaker vs. John Cena

Both matches would be irrelevant to WWE's current product and the direction in which to go. Lesnar v. Taker would serve absolutely zero sense as neither one of them are currently working a full time schedule with WWE. Cena vs. Lesnar happened what, 3 or so years ago? It would make sense from a product and storyline standpoint to have a Bryan v. Taker match. Protect Takers streak while having an amazing match that can still make Bryan look incredibly strong. Taker is no spring chicken and Bryan has been getting rave reviews for almost every match in the last year. Why would WWE waste time on a Lesnar v. Taker one off match at Wrestlemania, secondly, why would you want to crap on both of them. They want to make Lesnar look strong, but have him lose to Taker? Lets look at the flipside, have Lesnar go over Taker, killing the streak, do we honestly want Lesnar. . . who only wrestles part time, to beat someone the caliber of Undertaker? Hell at least with Bryan, you can have a decent build, a match at mania, and then follow it up with a month or two of filler.

 

[Irig]

Undertaker shouldn't face John Cena because Cena can't lose another mania and if undertaker ever wants his steak to end he might opt for it to be ended by character which can play heel so that they can get heat every time they mention it.