April 6, 2014. WrestleMania XXX. The night The Streak died. The Undertaker, WWE’s longest tenured performer, won his first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania VII in March of 1991 and he carried that winning streak through 23 years, 21 matches, and 18 opponents, an achievement unrivaled in the wrestling business. It was a record that many fans never wanted to see broken. Seeing Brock Lesnar defeat the Undertaker, snapping the Streak and leaving the record at 21-1 was one of the most shocking moments not only in WrestleMania history but in wrestling history as well. Since it happened, the moment has been discussed, dissected, debated, and deliberated almost non-stop. The problem is, all the attention has been focused on whether or not the Streak should have been ended. This question misses the biggest elephant in the room: what happens now? What should WWE do with the Undertaker now that the Streak is dead? It’s a tricky situation; one that most of us never thought we’d see and one for which WWE doesn’t seem to have a plan.
The future of the Undertaker breaks down into two parts, the short term and the long term. Obviously, the short term answer is the Undertaker will be back to face Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 31 this year. It’s a match that has been teased on television for the last few weeks, and now the challenge has been formally made and accepted. That part is easy, the plan for that match and what happens afterwards becomes more difficult to figure out. The problem lies in the fact that there are only a few possible options for how this match will end and—in the long run—none of them are good.
It’s a forgone conclusion that Undertaker will walk out victorious. We aren’t going to see Bray Wyatt beat him, and we’re not going to see the Streak drop to 21-2. Taker losing a second time on WWE’s biggest stage has no upside at this point, and would actually cause more harm than good across the board. The only person that would benefit would be Bray Wyatt, of course, but his benefit would be minuscule at best. Sure, he’s beating a previously unbeatable legend, but the Streak being broken at WrestleMania has rendered the Undertaker mortal. The rub that would come from beating him has already been taken, at this point a Wyatt win would be tantamount to picking the bones left by Lesnar. Simply put, it doesn’t carry the same weight anymore because Lesnar already did it. Worse still, Undertaker losing a second straight match at WrestleMania would serve to further tarnish the Streak. Having it broken by a multi-time World Champion who is being pushed as a killer and was a legitimate UFC champion is one thing, being put into a losing streak by a mid-carder who hasn’t held a singles title is something entirely different. The awe of seeing Undertaker lose once would be dimmed by seeing it happen again, especially so soon, and the significance of the WrestleMania XXX moment would be diminished.
Strangely, one of the biggest effects of an Undertaker loss would be felt by a man not even in the match: Brock Lesnar. Don’t get me wrong, Lesnar won’t look weak, I’m not sure he even could be made to look weak at this point, but the feather in his cap that was created by beating the Undertaker would be completely eradicated if the Phenom falls again. Lesnar conquered the Streak and Paul Heyman is the one behind the one in 21 and 1, two separate claims to fame that lose value when there is a second conquer and another loss to tally. Lesnar has an extensive list of accolades behind him, but it would still be a mistake to erase one of the biggest. WWE is notorious for devaluing its own titles and achievements, making certain feats all but meaningless. Treating the conquering of the Streak with the same nonchalance would be a travesty, and it would be downright silly for WWE to squander what was for all intent and purpose a very costly gift to Brock Lesnar.
So, if it is a mistake to have Undertaker lose to Bray Wyatt, the question becomes what happens when Undertaker wins? Not much for him; Taker has nothing left to prove. He’s a man in the twilight of his career, and I don’t foresee him taking on any more of a schedule then the one-match-a-year plan he’s been working lately. Without the Streak to defend anymore, it’s hard to fathom a reason for Undertaker to even work Mania anymore, aside from the fact the he is still way over and will still be a huge draw. He beats Wyatt, chalks up another win, and goes back into hiatus until next Mania. The record goes to 22-1, but the Streak is still dead, so the record doesn’t mean much. On the flipside of the coin, losing would actually be a pretty big blow to Bray Wyatt. The guy is already seeing what initially seemed like a huge push starting to sputter, and losing to the Undertaker isn’t going to help. It can be argued that, on a certain level, a loss to the Phenom at WrestleMania isn’t entirely negative. The list of victims who made up the Streak include a collection of Hall of Famers and World Champions; it’s a veritable who’s who of WWE’s last two decades. Just wrestling Undertaker at WrestleMania is an achievement for sure, but that doesn’t change the fact that a loss is a loss, and a loss would be more painful to Wyatt than it was to the last few men that fell to the Deadman. Prior to the Lesnar match, Undertaker’s previous 5 victories were against CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. Before that, he wrestled a title match against Edge and a title match against Batista. All of those guys were firmly cemented at the top of the card when they lost to the Undertaker, Bray isn’t. And Bray probably isn’t going to get a second shot at the Undertaker, either, so he’ll just take the loss and have to deal with it, giving the fans one more nostalgia pop for a part-timer at the expense of a full time guy trying to get over.
There is one more question that needs to be asked – what happens with the Undertaker after the Wyatt match? I think we will see at least one more match from him. There has been a lot of rumors and speculation that Undertaker will meet Sting at WrestleMania XXXII in 2016. At that point, Undertaker would be 51 and Sting would be 57, and it would be hard to expect much from that match considering both men’s ages and career status. However, the novelty and the symbolism of the entire spectacle would make it a legendary moment. It would be a fitting cap stone on both men’s careers, the final swan song of the Monday Night Wars and the WWF/WCW feud. Truth be told, the storyline of that match might even be better without the Streak looming over it, but a match like that is the only one that is going to matter. Without the Streak to defend, without men looking to conquer the Streak, there isn’t much left to build an Undertaker WrestleMania program on.
There is only one more long term idea that makes sense and, in all honesty, I think it’s the best directive. The Undertaker should win this year, but his last match should be a loss at WrestleMania that allows him to pass the torch to an up and coming superstar; maybe someone with an eerie, macabre gimmick, maybe someone like Bray Wyatt. As I’ve said above, I don’t think that Bray should win this year, but if he was given a rematch and effectively retired the Undertaker, it would give him retribution for the loss and give him a serious push. Considering that Brock Lesnar’s time with WWE is appearing limited, Bray winning in 2016 or later would more than likely come after Lesnar left, leaving no one to cash in on the broken Streak anymore. If the match was actually the Undertaker’s retirement, it would be a special moment Streak or not, and by doing it after this year it would ensure that Undertaker didn’t retire with a multi-match losing Streak. This plan isn’t foolproof though, as it would either deprive everyone of a rumored Undertaker-Sting bout or force Wyatt to wait until WrestleMania XXXIII in 2017, which may be too far out for people to even care, which would be an unforgivable waste of the Undertaker’s last sacrifice.
I never wanted to see the Streak broken, it was an honor that Undertaker should have carried until his retirement. But, as it turned out, the Undertaker’s career outlived the Streak, and now WWE has to figure out what is left for the Undertaker to live for with the Streak gone. I don’t expect that, after his retirement, we’re going to see Undertaker showing up on a lot of Legends Panels or working Pay Per View pre-show groups like Shawn Michaels or Ric Flair. The possibility is very good that once he’s done, he’s done, which is all the more reason for everyone involved to carefully consider where this is ending. While the Undertaker’s career may have had life after the death of Streak, the day is quickly approaching when the bell will sound no more for WWE’s greatest Phenom.
