Where do you think Undertaker would be now if it wasn't for The Streak?

[shalliin]

Interesting topic.

I feel that even with out the Streak going as long as it has, the Undertaker would still be considered in the "upper echelon", even if he had lost some bouts.

I think that WrestleMania would be the same, but the Streak is what people look forward to because they know it is consistently going to turn out a pretty good match,
and obviously people get on the edge of their seats thinking, "Is this the year it ends?

I believe his work schedule would definitely be different without a streak to defend,
I just think maybe he would have went another route and maybe have like Hell In A Cell matches every WM or something.

I've always thought that the Streak was essentially a crutch because, no matter how sub-par a WrestleMania can be, the Streak will always be the thing people can bank on as a selling point.

I am drawing a blank, did they always acknowledge the Streak (as they do today), while it was in it's early to mid stages?

good post, nothing against any of it really. just wanted to try and answer the question you posed.

It was mentioned in passing simply as a fact that he was undefeated but it wasn't until around WM 18 that they started to hype it, and it really took off when he faced Edge, since Edge at that time was also 7-0 and was talking about giving Taker his first loss at Mania and being the only one left unbeaten on the biggest stage of them all.

it wasn't like they planned it or anything it just kind of happened that most of his major feuds started/ended at Mania with a blow off match after a series of matches on raw (pre monthly ppv era) or at the previous major ppvs. Sometimes injuries caused delays in matches that had been planned out for earlier times or were pushed ahead from plans for later in the year, but it just worked out for him that he ended up with one of the most iconic career moments out of a lot of luck (good and bad for him and others) some weird coincidences of timing and reactions from the crowds that extended or shortened feuds at various times.

 

[shalliin]

Up till 5 years ago the streak meant nothing(maybe not 5 years but you know what I mean). As a kid I hated Yoko with his 20 partners pushing taker in the casket and so on. Look at takers matches at mania, they are not his legacy. The streak might be, but until him and hhh at 17, they are not great, then after that we need wait a bit for another great show. Taker is my god, but mania isn't his legacy. It's the years he's been here, beyond the rest, there is no one like him

that wasn't a mania match so it's completely off topic as it has nothing to do with the streak or his legacy. And it was 10 wrestlers with Cornette and Fuji outside the ring. I just watched it again a few days ago, can't remember them all, but Bigelow, Jerrett, Nash, Crush, Adam Bomb, Yoko, 2 Japenese wrestlers, I can't recall the other 2. Some of the early matches were not as you say great, but that doesn't mean they were all scrap. He had good matches at mania prior to HHH at 17, but that is the one that really elevated the status of his matches. his match with Diesel/Nash was pretty good, something I rarely say about any Nash match. I would have loved a Taker/Bret at mania as they worked well together and the contrast in styles and size is always good. Could have been as good as either Taker/Shawn match if done when Bret was healthy enough to still go, Taker/Rock, Taker/Austin were also nobrainers that should have happened, but for some reason didn't. It's a shame that they flat out ignored it and threw it under the bus during the last few years. I don't even recall if they have ever officially mentioned that their last one was their 3rd mania match. At least not until after it happened. and even then only in passing.