The Tainted Streak........

While The Undertakers' streak will be something that most WWE fans and wrestling fans in general will remember, just on how many occasions was the streak really at stake?

The Undertaker in my opinion last year came through his best match against Shawn Michaels, yes he won, however if this match was 12 years ago I wouldn't have been so sure of the outcome, timing as they say is everything, The Undertakers' WrestleMania legend will live long in the memory however very rarely has he faced guys who where considered guys at the peak of their WWF/E character when he faced them at WrestleMania

• Hulk Hogan in 91 and 92


• The Ultimate Warrior in 91 and 92


• Randy Savage between 91-94


• Bret Hart between 93-97


• Shawn Michaels between 95-98


• Steve Austin between 98-2003


• The Rock between 99-2004


• Brock Lesnar in 2003 and 04

Those where all guys that I believe in their peak could and would have been booked to go over The Undertaker, I also believe that with his Mankind or Cactus Jack gimmick between 1996 and 2000 Mick Foley would also legitimately be considered as a guy who could have went over him, also, if the WWE where serious about pushing Goldberg, he too would have IMO be a guy who would have went over The Undertaker.
In this current era, John Cena remains the one big WrestleMania omission for The Undertaker who in the last couple of years could easily have been booked to go over him.

Infact, in my opinion, there was only possibly three times looking back, has the streak looked in any sort of danger, once against Kane at WrestleMania XIV (although thinking about it, it was always highly unlikely) then again at WrestleMania XVII against Triple H, again at WrestleMania XXI against Randy Orton, while Shawn told a great story during their match last year it was never going to end the streak if the match was 10-12 years ago then I believe it would have been a different story and it would have went the other way.

Even in recent times when he has been in a World Title match against Batista and Edge I don't think it was ever likely to go against him, the Batista/Undertaker match was sandwiched in the middle of the show and while Taker/Edge headlined WrestleMania XXIV as the Challenger and the Elimination Chamber winner to get his spot, I never felt Edge really had much of a chance either.

The Undertaker's streak for me reads like a whose who from the Pro Wrestling 'Enhancement Talent' guide with a few big names thrown in to balance it out.

• Jimmy Snuka VII 1991


• Jake Roberts VIII 1992


• Giant González IX 1993


• King Kong Bundy XI 1995


• Diesel XII 1996


• Sycho Sid 13 1997 For the WWF Championship


• Kane XIV 1998


• The Big Boss Man XV 1999 Hell in a Cell match


• Triple H X-Seven 2001


• Ric Flair X8 2002


• The Big Show and A-Train XIX 2003


• Kane XX 2004


• Randy Orton 21 2005


• Mark Henry 22 2006 Casket match


• Batista 23 2007


• Edge XXIV 2008


• Shawn Michaels XXV 2009

While I agree that The Undertaker will forever be synonymous with WrestleMania he has had very few big WrestleMania opponents that would stand the test of time!

Whats your thoughts on The Undertakers WrestleMania streak and do you agree/disagree with my opinion and why?

Couldn't agree more although at the time of Wrestlemania 9 I thought he would lose to Giant González, but instead Taker won by DQ, lol!!

To be honest it's only since they mentioned the streak that it's become predictable and you go "Taker will win at Mania again" and the only exception is this year as i'm not sure who will win between HBK and Undertaker (although last year I knew Taker would win).

Well me being a Taker fan I obviously love the streak, I'd agree with your points to a certain extent but you have to remember nobody really noticed the streak till about Wrestlemania 14 and due to that fact the streak came about by accident.

What I have also gathered from watching old wrestlemania videos Taker never used to get the reaction he gets now, and wasn't viewed as a possible headliner hence the reason for not facing Hulk Hogan in 91 and 92 The Ultimate Warrior in 91 and 92 and Randy Savage between 91-94.

Vince realised during the Austin era the money lied with the Rock, hence why that match was repeated 3 times, although i think taker should've faced austin at mania 18.

Rock 3 of the mania's in the year 99-04 were occupied by scsa, add in hogan and you only have mania 16 where Taker didnr wrestle.

Lesnar was only there for 2 years, and of course at mania 20 it was his last match and they were never going to put him against taker, let alone go over him and vince thought he wasnt worth the risk as he always had his eye on NFL

I have to disagree that no one really noticed the streak, I recall them playing on the fact he is undefeated at WrestleMania during the build ups to the King Kong Bundy, Diesel and Psycho Sid matches, they might not have played on it but it was certainly an issue they where aware of even if the fans didn't always buy it.

Onto your point about Taker not being big enough to face Hogan or The Warrior at 7 or 8, I'll disagree, The Warrior/Undertaker match was the slow burner for WrestleMania VIII although since he got fired after SummerSlam 91 that didn't happen, also, The Undertaker headlined SummerSlam 91 with Sgt Slaughter against both Hogan and Warrior so I think you could say he was considered a worthy opponent during that time.

I understand that The Rock/Austin faced each other three times at WrestleMania, however that could easily have been changed, particularly with the whole Undertaker/Austin rivalry

Okay, here goes:

I don't question that there have been matches in which the streak has not been in any danger at all. Looking back through the list, Taker vs Mark Henry was possibly the most predictable Mania match of all time.

On occasion, however, it has been in danger - Warrior would have gone over him at Mania 8 (and it's the Warrior's fault that never happened when he decided to flounce off), Randy Orton was offered it at the height of his 'Legend Killer' phase (and this would have done wonders for Orton, the same as beating Hogan at Summerslam a few years back would have too, but Randy refused out of professional respect).

Tainted, depending on how you look at it. But surely it lies with WWE to make us actually think the streak could be in danger - when Shawn kicked out of the first Tombstone last year, I did wonder if it would be gone. That's why I wanted Taker vs Trips at Mania last year, if there's one man who could realistically be seen to challenge the streak at Mania, Trips would be the guy (due to his connections - and I'd love to see him try and pull that off).

Jack's pointed out some 'missing' opponents really well, but I'd add:

Hogan - 1991 & 1992. 1991 was the end of that awful angle with Slaughter, 1992 Taker was scheduled to face Warrior, and got shoved into a nothing series with Jake Roberts instead. Not to mention this lead to his face turn, which if he'd faced Hogan, would not have happened.

Savage, '91 to 94 - Randy finished his run with Warrior in 1991, then faced Flair at Mania 8 (and as we've both noted in other threads, Taker at this stage, his matches consisted of thrusts, chokes and a Tombstone. Chances of Savage vs Flair being much better than Taker vs Savage were huge!). By 1993 (Mania 9) Savage was a commentator, and Mania 10 he had slipped down the card and faced Crush. Undertaker didn't wrestle, following his match with Yoko at the Rumble.

Bret Hart (93 - 97) - in his peak years, Hart faced Austin (and helped build Austin as the face and middle finger of the Attitude era), Shawn Michaels (as Vince was going with Shawn as the face of the company), Owen (in a logical ending to their fantastic feud at Mania 10, when Taker was off-screen), Yokozuna in a title defence. No room for Undertaker in any of this.

Shawn Michaels (95-98) - having won 2 Royal Rumbles, he had 2 title matches (vs Diesel for the end of their feud), then Bret for the start of his reign. he then lost his smile nicely in time for Mania 13 (and the rematch with Bret), 14 he was busy with launching Austin with the help of Mike Tyson.

Austin and Rock have been covered very nicely by Jack, which leaves Lesnar:

Lesnar debuted after Mania 18, 19 was (again) the logical end of hius run with Kurt (and as Kurt was off for neck surgery the following week, it had to end there), and 20 was the 'dream match' with Goldberg. And I'd add that with Taker being reborn as the Dead Man, and his angle with Kane at the Survivor Series before that, those two matches had pretty much written themselves.

Quote :

Hogan - 1991 & 1992. 1991 was the end of that awful angle with Slaughter, 1992 Taker was scheduled to face Warrior, and got shoved into a nothing series with Jake Roberts instead. Not to mention this lead to his face turn, which if he'd faced Hogan, would not have happened.

The dreaded face turn, that hurt him, he should never have turned face in 1992!

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Savage, '91 to 94 - Randy finished his run with Warrior in 1991, then faced Flair at Mania 8 (and as we've both noted in other threads, Taker at this stage, his matches consisted of thrusts, chokes and a Tombstone. Chances of Savage vs Flair being much better than Taker vs Savage were huge!). By 1993 (Mania 9) Savage was a commentator, and Mania 10 he had slipped down the card and faced Crush. Undertaker didn't wrestle, following his match with Yoko at the Rumble.

I do actually realise what matches Savage was in at 7 and 8, thats not the point, it was about if he woudl have went over and I say YES, it doesn't matter if those matches where better or not without Taker, which they 100% where, it was about if they would have went over him, Savage was in WM7s biggest match and the World Title match the following year, in1993 he was the last man in the Royal Rumble along with Yoko when the winner went to Mania for the first time, so again I'd argue he was still more than a big enough name.

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Bret Hart (93 - 97) - in his peak years, Hart faced Austin (and helped build Austin as the face and middle finger of the Attitude era), Shawn Michaels (as Vince was going with Shawn as the face of the company), Owen (in a logical ending to their fantastic feud at Mania 10, when Taker was off-screen), Yokozuna in a title defence. No room for Undertaker in any of this.

I don't agree, there was room at WrestleMania XI instead of the shoddy two matches both of them where given, also, your looking at it from the point of view of the matches that where already booked, they could have easily booked Taker NOT to lose the title at 94 Rumble then go on to face Bret at WM10 instead of Yoko

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Shawn Michaels (95-98) - having won 2 Royal Rumbles, he had 2 title matches (vs Diesel for the end of their feud), then Bret for the start of his reign. he then lost his smile nicely in time for Mania 13 (and the rematch with Bret), 14 he was busy with launching Austin with the help of Mike Tyson.

Would Shawn/Taker have been better than Diesel/Shawn at WM11? I'd say yes, and if Shawn/Taker was booked for 97, the year they had some cracking matches, instead of the initial booking being Shawn/Bret then I could have seen Shawn being booked to go over him at WM13

No one is suggesting The Undertaker vs any of those above would have been better than the origianl matches, thats not the point, the point is he was continaully kept away from the companys biggest guys at WrestleMania

A lot of the guys on Taker's Wrestlemania list at one stage could have concieably went over Taker but when he faced them they were past their prime, Snuka, Bossman, King Kong Bundy etc.
There were some guys that were on their way to being big but weren't quite there yet, Diesel, Sid.
Now he's one of if not the biggest star in WWE so in recent years he's gone over some big names at Mania, Triple H, Batista, Edge, Michaels.
As tghe years go by there are less and less guys the look like they could take Taker's streak, at themoment I could see two guys possibly ending the streak, CM Punk or John Cena.
Personally I could see only two guys who were a serious threat to the streak, Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21 and Kane at Wrestlemania 14.

Kane at WM14 Triple H at WM17 and Orton at WM21 where my only real picks as well

Also, I mentioned earlier in a reply to Jck that The Undertaker Co headlined SummerSlam 91 against Hogan and Warrior, he didn't, school boy error, Hogan/Warrior fought him Sheik and Slaughter in either a Saturday Nights Main Event or just a colloseum home video they used to do, I always get those two matches mixed up

I posted this on your same thread somewhere else, so i'll repeate it here:

You have a point Gaffer because most of the time it became predictible and you knew before hand that Taker would win (especially when the streak went into the 10's) and the only time I thought the streak was in danger was this wrestlemania against HBK and with that being said I still wouldn't be supprised if HBK won.

I agree with you as Taker should have fought the people you named in that list because like someone said on an MMA show I watched the other day "if your undefeated then your not fighting the right people" and although WWE is scripted, it's still the same sort of thing.