Why Brock Lesnar Had To End The Streak
It was no accident. Yes, there have been a handful of screwjobs and accidental pins over the years. There have been a few changes on the fly. With a match of that magnitude though, you can bet the house that on Live TV, nothing short of a heart attack will affect the outcome. WWE, along with The Undertaker, intended to have Brock Lesnar defeat him at WrestleMania XXX. Nobody called an audible. That was how the match was supposed to end.
People will argue that Brock Lesnar was not the right man to end The Undertaker’s streak. People will say that John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, or even CM Punk would have been better options in recent years. Legend has it that Taker once offered it to both Cena and Kane, but they refused.
I've long believed that Undertaker had to let someone "new" end it, someone like Daniel Bryan or Roman Reigns. I always felt that ending the streak would have made someone’s career and it would be forever engraved in the hearts and minds of fans. My personal choice would have been Reigns, next year at WrestleMania 31. If I had pulled the trigger on that move, I would have been very wrong.
In my internet travels today, I found this comprehensive and profound explanation for the end of The Streak, which explores the one thing I never would’ve considered. The reason The Undertaker handpicked Lesnar is because, in reality, Lesnar was the only man in the company who could carry the heat for it. Undertaker has made it obvious to many that he wanted The Streak to end. He believed that the young, upcoming talent would not be able to handle carrying the burden of being known as the one who beat him at WrestleMania.
The Undertaker wanted an established star who could run with it and Lesnar was the only option left. John Cena is a babyface for life. The only way he could have ended The Streak is if he turned heel. Cena has refused this on numerous occasions. He is WWE’s top merchandise cash cow. He has set records for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There’s no way in hell Vince McMahon is pissing that away, no matter how stale Cena gets as a goody two-shoes.
The old Shawn Michaels might have been able to handle it, but not the born-again HBK. He’s too active with his church and as an official WWE ambassador to risk being painted a real-life heel. As for Triple H, the last thing a corporate executive needs is a controversy that could bury the company in bad publicity. Pre-determined outcomes aside, Triple H beating The Undertaker would have been truly bad for business.
With CM Punk, it was a case of bad timing. He was next in line, but then Paul Bearer died. The Undertaker needed to win last year as a tribute to him. Putting CM Punk over would have been disrespectful. Plus, Punk needed time off due to injuries. He wouldn’t have been able to capitalize on it in storylines.
For a guy like Reigns, who is supposed to be the next torch bearer for the company, beating Taker at Mania would kill the goodwill he has built with the fans and he’d never realize his full potential.
Ironically, Lesnar was supposed to be “The Guy” back in 2003. He was billed as “The Next Big Thing.” Unfortunately, the rigors of the job, the travel commitments and the physical toll on his body was too much for him to bear at the time. In many ways, it’s fitting that Lesnar is the man to kill The Streak. He did everyone a huge favor. It was now or never for The Undertaker to lose.
So, why not retire undefeated at WrestleMania? Because that’s not how wrestling (or sports-entertainment) works. There’s always a passing of the torch. Undertaker can’t cut it in the ring anymore. It was obvious last night. He probably realized in the weeks leading up to the big day that he couldn’t give it another go-round. He had to lose, and Brock was the only man ready and willing to do it.
The 2003 Lesnar would have folded under the public eye. The 2014 Lesnar doesn’t know the meaning of the word public. Having learned from his past experiences, he is now notoriously private. According to Paul Heyman, Lesnar lives in a “compound” in Minnesota off two dirt roads. You can’t find his home on a GPS. All of his mail goes to his attorney’s office in Minneapolis, where they screen everything. Lesnar drives to and from there once a week to collect legitimate mail and phone messages.
Plus, with his $5 million annual salary, I’d imagine Brock Lesnar has hired help. Suffice to say, you’re not going to run into him at the supermarket to give him a piece of your mind. Lesnar is safe from the heat and the backlash of ending The Undertaker’s streak.
I did have issues with the buildup for the match. WWE did not emphasize their past encounters in Brock's first run, nor did they mention Taker's "impromptu" run-in with Lesnar in MMA in 2010. Granted, I can see how WWE would not want to draw attention to a competitor, and so they ignored the MMA incident. Still, these two men had wars in 2002 and it was Undertaker who legitimized Lesnar as a WWE Champion. For an organization that picks and chooses when to reference their history, they could have drawn more interest in the match.
As it was, Brock was pegged as just another challenger. Even fans with the least inside knowledge could tell you that Undertaker doesn’t lose at WrestleMania, not even to Jesus Christ. That would explain the overall indifference of the crowd throughout the whole match.
With that in mind, I had a hard time believing Lesnar would come back to WWE and agree to lose at two consecutive Manias. Yes, he got millions of dollars per year to work a few dates. However, WrestleMania is a whole different animal. Lesnar's persona is that of a Beast Incarnate and Conquering Lord. If he's such a badass, why is he jobbing to an aging Triple H in 2013 and a done Undertaker in 2014? In hindsight, I should have figured out that Lesnar had to kill The Streak, even in kayfabe. If anything, it makes Triple H beating him last year all the more puzzling.
So, what’s left for The Undertaker? Despite overtures of a Sting match, he’s done. Even if healthy, anything Undertaker does from this point on is anticlimactic. His career was defined by The Streak. It should die with it.
What’s next for Brock Lesnar? Anything he wants. If it were me, I’d put him against Daniel Bryan for the title at SummerSlam. It has the potential to be Bryan’s ultimate WWE moment. The end of The Streak overshadowed his big win last night. What better place than at SummerSlam, a year after Bryan’s title journey began, to cement his legacy by slaying The Streak Killer.
Last night had to happen at some point. Whether by default or by design, Brock Lesnar had to beat the streak. Two years ago, The Undertaker promised the end of an era. Last night, we witnessed its true end.
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