Minus-Star Match Reviews: The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar – WWE WrestleMania XXX
By Alex Podgorski on 9 July 2024
This is the most famous match of the past ten years. I don’t think there has been a single match featuring either The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, or anyone else for that matter, that has been talked about more than this. People have analyzed and discussed it countless times as everything from a questionable business decision, to a genius marketing strategy (that, long-term, actually failed to generate all that much payoff), to a conspiracy surrounding Lesnar going into business for himself (because who the fuck is going to out-shoot Brock Lesnar if he wants to do something or fire him after doing the most shocking thing since the Montreal Screwjob)?
But there’s one thing that gets forgotten amidst all the talk about the match’s finish and its fallout, and that’s the match itself. Which makes sense because (cue Rock voice) it ABSOLUTELY SUCKED!
On paper the Undertaker facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania should’ve been a classic. It was two monsters clashing on the biggest stage in a sort of retread of a story that began over a decade earlier. Undertaker’s legend had evolved into something mythical and worthy of immediate respect and reverence within WWE’s canon universe. And for better or worse, there was no one else in the company at the time worthy of taking The Undertaker on that year so the company did their best to make the most out of the cards they were dealt.
But if WrestleMania was Blackjack then WWE drew sixteen with this match…and boy did things fall apart from there.
The Story
The build to this match was short and underwhelming, to say the least. By mid-February 2014 neither Lesnar nor Undertaker were penciled in for a match at WrestleMania. In ‘Taker’s case, it appeared that it was taking him much longer than previous years to clear WWE’s conditioning requirements to work the show, which caused some fans to speculate that he might miss his first WrestleMania since 2000. But on February 24th Undertaker appeared and signed Lesnar’s WrestleMania open challenge contract, but not before stabbing him with the pen and chokeslamming him through a table. That’s it. That’s all the hype that went into this.
It was presumed that these two men would sell tickets and deliver a WrestleMania-worthy match based on their name value alone.
As it turns out, they succeeded in selling the tickets; but when it came to delivering on the tickets, well…
The Match
This took place on April 6, 2014. It was rated *1/2 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.
Undertaker starts the match with punches. Lesnar reverses a corner whip and lands an overhead belly-to-belly. He clotheslines ‘Taker to the floor but ‘Taker lands on his feet. A slugfest ensues on the apron and Lesnar lands Sheamus-style forearm clubs until ‘Taker hotshots him on the top rope. ‘Taker lands more punches and drives Lesnar shoulder-first into ringposts. Lesnar interrupts Old School and lands some corner shoulder thrusts. He sends ‘Taker into a corner but misses a charge and damages his shoulder again. More ringside brawling ends with Undertaker landing his apron leg drop. Back in the ring Undertaker lands snake eyes and attempts a chokeslam. Lesnar escapes and teases an F-5. ‘Taker escapes but misses a corner running boot.
It’s back to the floor for a moment as we get some sluggish action. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when ‘Taker suffered his severe concussion but at this point he’s really starting to look slow, even for him. The match slows to a crawl as Lesnar hits random strikes with more and more space between each one. He briefly works ‘Taker’s leg while against the ropes which forces a break and gives ‘Taker time to bail to ringside. We get more of the odd strike here and there until Lesnar shoots ‘Taker into the barricade and throws him back into the ring where he lands a vertical suplex.
Lesnar lands knees to a kneeling ‘Taker and the Deadman barely registers. It should be clear as day to anyone watching this closely that something’s clearly wrong. Undertaker can’t even keep his hands up in defense position as Lesnar throws hands. The commentators’ tone turns serious; even they recognize that Undertaker’s hurt. Suddenly Undertaker counters a back body drop with a running DDT. He blocks a corner charge and lands a few big strikes of his own. ‘Taker lands two running clotheslines, snake eyes, and a leg drop for two. A chokeslam gets a two-count so Undertaker attempts a Tombstone. Lesnar counters into an F-5 for a near-fall.
There’s some blatant stalling as Lesnar gets into position to be trapped in the Hell’s Gate submission hold. Lesnar escapes by lifting ‘Taker up and slamming him down. Lesnar pulls him away from the topes but gets trapped in that same hold again, only for Lesnar to repeat that same strength escape spot. Lesnar locks in a kimura. Undertaker endures it and then counters into one of his own. Lesnar fights to the ropes but Undertaker only releases the ropes at the ref’s count of four.
Lesnar lands some corner shots but ‘Taker boots him down. ‘Taker tries Old School but lands a second F-5 for another near-fall. Lesnar lands two German suplexes and follows with more corner strikes until ‘Taker answers with a sloppy-looking Last Ride. That’s followed by a successful Tombstone for a near-fall. Undertaker signals a second one. He picks Lesnar up…but Lesnar reverses. He gets ‘Taker on his shoulders, and spins him into a third F-5.
One…
Two…
THREE!
THE STREAK IS OVER!
Winner after 25:12: Brock Lesnar (The Undertaker goes 21-1)
Post-match, the crowd is completely shocked almost silent. I wasn’t alive for Ivan Koloff pinning Bruno Sammartino in 1971 but I presume for a moment that the initial shock of it went something like this. Undertaker remains motionless for minutes as Lesnar and Heyman exit the ring. The atmosphere turns from shock to silence to dismay to despair, and then finally to disappointment. ‘Taker finally gets up after minutes of minimal motion and is met with a standing ovation. He slowly makes his way backstage in the least theatrical manner possible (where, as we learned later, he collapses and is sent to a hospital).
Review
Many people hated this match (and still do, passionately in some cases) solely due to the finish. For those fans the idea of Undertaker’s Streak ending – either to Lesnar of all people or to anyone in general – was a dreadful idea. But given how much this match has been, is, and will be, discussed, then by at least one metric it was an overwhelming success. It’s the ultimate example of the moments-over-matches philosophy central to WWE management’s thinking when it comes to putting big events together.
But the journey to that final destination didn’t have to be so fucking DULL!
Picture the following scenario. You’re The Undertaker in this match. You’re way past your physical peak and despite wrestling only once a year by the time this match rolls around you’re in worse physical shape than in previous years. Still you pass the physical requirements to compete at WrestleMania but you’re facing Brock Lesnar, a skilled athlete who is very strong but not exactly the most delicate of performers. Then at some point during the match you suffer a serious concussion. Instinct compels you to continue the match but it becomes clear to you that you’re far too out of it to continue everything as planned. The match becomes a blur. You have no wherewithal to figure out your situation and your movements can best be described as either instinct or muscle memory from years of doing the same thing on a nightly basis. But there’s still a match to finish. And since you know how the match is supposed to end, you have plenty of options on the table. Even if you’re so concussed you can’t even remember where you are, you could still do one of two things to adjust on the fly:
- You can signal to either your opponent or the ref that you’re not ok and the match needs to be adjusted; or
- You can mutter the words “Go Home”.
If those simple options are available to you, why on Earth would you continue the match and not cut it short?
It simply doesn’t make any sense for this match to have gone on as it did if the Undertaker was severely concussed. Whether he was allowed to have his match his way out of respect, or whether people presumed he was hurt but didn’t know to what extent, it’s hard to say. But given how much the man has talked about his pride in his work since he has lifted the curtain on his career, why would he allow his Streak-ending match to go as badly as this? Was it a matter of something to prove that he continue wrestling through a concussion?
And it’s not like cutting the match short would’ve been a hindrance; hell, ending it sooner would’ve both amplified the shock factor and would’ve lifted the pall the match had cast on the audience. Since Undertaker was going to lose, why not halve the match and have Lesnar win in even more dominant and one-sided fashion to compensate for the lackluster build? People were going to be shocked with the result anyway, so why not up the ante and make Lesnar look like an even more dangerous force by winning in much less time than expected?
But if we presume for a moment that Undertaker wasn’t concussed then we can look at this match and conclude that it was still bad. Lesnar looked gassed early on, his face turning purple a few times. Undertaker had sloppy, almost pitiful offense that barely registered and looked mistimed. They didn’t have the best chemistry here and limited what they did to basic and plodding action that was better suited for a house show or a RAW TV match than for WrestleMania. I’ve read some wild opinions out there that’ve suggested that this match was meant to be bad on purpose as some kind of subversion of the Undertaker ‘Mania classic’ trope, which goes to show how far some people out there will go to defend their delusions surrounding their favorites.
Final Rating: -*1/2
Just like Undertaker’s match with Roman Reigns three years later, this match was a debacle that could’ve been salvaged by better decision-making. It should’ve been crystal clear that Undertaker was in significantly worse shape going into this WrestleMania compared to past ones and so he shouldn’t’ve been shoehorned into wrestling a forced 20-minutes-plus false epic that went long just for the sake of it. This match dragged on forever, featured limited and plodding action while it was going on, and didn’t feature anything that either man hadn’t shown before. Hell, the matches these two men had in 2002-2003 were much better than this in every measurable way.
There’s a reason everyone remembers the ending to this match and not the match itself. There was little entertainment to be had between the bells. The lackluster build for this feud was met with an equally lackluster payoff that it only remembered for its result and nothing else. If the match between these two had been halfway decent then maybe more people would’ve been forgiving of the result (“yeah, my childhood died on that night but man, what a way to go out”. That’s the reaction WWE was probably hoping for but missed the mark bigtime).
While the moment will live on forever here and elsewhere across the internet, the match that got us there is definitely best forgotten.
If you want to see something involving Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker that entertains you more consistently and isn’t just a momentary shock that fades shortly thereafter, there are some good alternatives to this. Their first HIAC at No Mercy 2002 is a passable carnage-filled brawl, their second Cell Match in 2015 is excellent, and their singles match at SummerSlam ‘15 is memorable for, among other things, the only time the Undertaker ever laughed during a match.
Thanks for reading.