streak

>

> Hey Scott,

>

> Firstly, I want to say that I'm firmly in the "the streak should never be broken" camp but I think there's a way for them to have their cake and eat it too. What if, say Daniel Bryan takes Undertaker to the limit and the match ends in a draw, double pin, time limit expiry or however you want to book it. But 'Taker and Bryan won't have it and the match gets restarted. And then after a couple more false finishes, 'Taker finally wins after a tombstone.

>

> This way, the streak can still continue and Bryan can claim to be the only man to finish a match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania not having lost.

>

> Thoughts?

No buys. Either break it or don't break it. If you want to do that game, just put Taker over where it matters (WM) and then he can job a million times clean as a sheet every other day of the year if you want. Taker knows how to make guys look good in losing and could sell Bryan as a threat and then win in the end.

Fanwank alert: I'd tie in the Authority stuff by having HHH tell Bryan to prove that he's an A+ guy once and for all and he has to win every match from now until WM or join the Wyatts again for good. And of course with four weeks to go in his winning streak, HHH reveals that his last challenge will be breaking the UT's streak. So that gives you a guy in a massive win streak challenging Undertaker with real stakes (since fans HATED the Wyatt turn so much) on the line. If Bryan wins, great. If he loses, Undertaker can vouch for Bryan and stand up to the Authority on Bryan's behalf and destroy HHH or something.

Or they could just do Brock v Undertaker yet again, whatever.

> Hi Scott – long time, first time, yada, yada, yada. If my count is correct, Ryback has now been the loser in 8 straight PPV matches (including 4 title shots). Is that a record?
>
>   Wins and losses don't matter, they're telling stories.  Let it play out and see where it goes.

The Undertaker vs. Jimmy
Snuka – WrestleMania 7 – March 24, 1991

It’s funny how tame the sets
look back then. I mean, this is WrestleMania, and the entrance is nothing more
than a black curtain with the WWF logo on top. These days they must spend
millions on the entrance sets alone. The match itself, well there’s not much to
speak of. Snuka’s clearly off the cycles. They wrestle in slow motion for about
6 minutes then screw up a spot where Taker was suppose to catch Snuka and turn
it into the Tombstone.

Undertaker hits Snuka with
the Tombstone, getting the pin at 4:20 | *1/2

The Undertaker vs. Jake “The
Snake” Roberts – WrestleMania 8 – April 5, 1992

They trade punches for a
bit, and the match doesn’t really pick up until Jake hits the first of two
DDTs. When Taker sits up from the first one, from the crowd reaction, you can
clearly hear that you’ve got a future World Champion. After the 2nd
DDT, Jake could have scored the pin, but wanted the Urn instead. Where does one
go to fence an item that controls a supernatural wrestling zombie? Anyway,
while he struggles with Paul, The Undertaker comes from behind and delivers a
Tombstone to the outside. Of course, you can see clear as day that Jake’s head
is about 6 feet from the ground. But much like a present, it’s the thought that
counts. A much better bout than the one against Snuka.
Taker hits the Tombstone outside, then rolls Jake in for the pin at 6:36 |
**3/4

The Undertaker vs. Giant
Gonzalez – WrestleMania 9 – April 4, 1993

This match was set up after Taker
defeated Kamala in a set of matches and his manager, Harvey Wippleman, brought
in Gonzalez to exact revenge. Pretty cool entrance on Undertaker’s part. Bill
Alfonso is the ref, before he got a set of teeth that were apparently carved
out of rotted wood. I’ve never seen this match before, and right now I’m
considering GG to be the worst wrestler to have wrestled for the Big 2. Oh boy,
a really extended sleeper spot. This just keeps getting worse until GG gives Taker
the chloroform rag about 6 hours into the match. He’s stretchered to the back
while the crowd chants for Hogan. Yeah, like Hogan is just gonna rush out to
deal with a foreign bad guy when he uses an illegal substance on the good guy.
Gonzalez is DQ’ed for his use of a chloroform rag at 7:33 | DUD

The Undertaker vs. King Kong
Bundy – WrestleMania 11 – April 2, 1995
For those who don’t know, Al Bundy was named after KKB himself. And his
neighbors Steve & Marci Rhodes were named after The American Dream. It
wouldn’t shock me if Dusty tried to get royalties. This match was set up after
KKB interfered in Undertaker’s match against IRS at the Rumble, and they stole
the urn. For a while the focus is more about The Undertaker trying to get the
urn back on the outside. He does at first, but while back in the ring, Kama
runs down and takes it away. Afterward, Bundy and Taker put on a quality match
that could sell out a gym in any state. At one point, Taker bodyslams Bundy,
however I’m not sure if it was a body-slam, or a botched Tombstone attempt.
Either way, a flying clothesline finishes it.

Bundy gets hit with a flying
clothesline, then pinned at 6:36 | *3/4

The Undertaker vs. Diesel –
WrestleMania 12 – March 31, 1996
Funny that the babyface Nash did shit as champion, but heel Nash made
boat-loads of cash for the competition. The match is a lot better than I
expected, with plenty of fists thrown in between power moves like sidewalk
slams and big-boots. At one point The Undertaker receives two jack-knife
powerbombs, but refuses to die. Soon after, it’s the typical Undertaker
formula, but leading up to that is a pretty decent match.
Undertaker delivers the Tombstone, earning the pin at 16:46 | ***

The Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid
[C] – WrestleMania 13 – March 23, 1997 – WWE Championship

After Hall and Nash left,
Sid became my main man. So, I was pretty bummed out when I saw this PPV,
knowing that as cool as I thought Sid was, there was no way he could beat The
Undertaker. Bret shows up to dress down Shawn, who’s at commentary, then tells
The Undertaker they aren’t friends anymore. He then calls Sid a fraud, and Sid
offers a powerbomb in response. I was too young to truly appreciate the
fantastic work Bret was doing as a heel. As for the match, well, it starts off
with a long bear-hug spot and doesn’t pick up much after that. Honestly, the
best word to describe this match is slow. Very slow.
Taker with the Tombstone & the pin at 21:19 | **

The Undertaker vs. Kane –
WrestleMania 14 – March 28, 1998
One of the most anticipated matches in my history as a fan. I loved me some
Stone Cold, but Undertaker vs Kane was why we got WM14. According to Cornette,
Vince Russo wanted Undertaker to chokeslam Kane through a table 2 weeks after
Badd Blood. Now, that would have blown the wad of the angle and completely made
everything they were trying to do pointless, so I have a hard time believing it
was Russo’s idea. Unless the angle was suppose to end with Russo winning the
title and having to forfeit it because his dick was too big to wrestle
full-time.

I forgot just how strong
they booked Kane in the beginning, I mean, he’s not even selling straight
right-hands from The Undertaker, and you may or may not know this, but he’s the
best pure striker in the game. It’s a decent enough match, but despite having a
million more together, they just don’t have very good chemistry.
Undertaker delivers 3 Tombstones in order to put Kane down for the pin at 16:48
| **

The Undertaker vs. Big Boss
Man – WrestleMania 15 – March 28, 1999 – Hell In A Cell
When people call this one of the worst matches of all time, it’s not hyperbole,
it really is. They bumble around and punch each other for the duration of the
match until ‘Taker has The Boss Man hung from the cage. JR says it’s symbolic.
Symbolic of what? A hanging?
Undertaker forces Boss Man to eat a Tombstone for the pin at 9:46 | DUD

The Undertaker vs. Triple H
– WrestleMania 17 – April 1, 2001 – No DQ

They dub over Taker’s
Rollin’ theme, but we’re stuck listening to Lemmy guess the lyrics to a song
he’s apparently never heard. This is God-awful.”It’s all about the Game, and
how you game, it’s all about The Game and if you can game, game…blargel
cermudgen…the game you can’t game is flip de floop claude toot ala smoore
time to game the game”.
This match is without a doubt one of the hardest hitting I’ve ever seen.
These guys go full tilt on each other to the point where I’d still stand behind
my previous statement even if there were no weapons. But of course there are,
with the highlight being Triple H pummeling The Undertaker with a chair so many
times that it’s bent to a crescent. One hell of a match, and my favorite from
WM17.
Undertaker gives HHH the Last Ride into the pin at 18:57 | ****1/2

The Undertaker vs. Ric Flair
– WrestleMania 18 – March 17, 2002 – No DQ

Scott –

Everyone makes a big deal about the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania – and rightfully so.  My question is – was it planned to be that way?  I doubt that Vince and Company said “We’ll bring in this Mark Callous kid, push the crap out of him and have him wrestling 25 years from now – and along the way we’ll have him go undefeated at Wrestlemania!”

If you look at some of the matches he had (the Giant Gonzalez one where he won by DQ comes to mind), the Streak wasn’t a mythical quest at that point.  However, along the line someone picked up on it and it became a story unto itself.

So – when did “The Streak” become “The Streak”?  And was there a mastermind behind it?  Vince?  Taker?

I recall the streak becoming something that was noted around Wrestlemania 18, with someone basically going “Hey, Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania, that’s pretty neat.”  It certainly wasn’t the focal point of the show, as the first time I remember them making a big deal out of someone challenging the streak was Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21.  I think it just kind of grew organically out of people talking about the streak, rather than being something that anyone came up with a cool marketing point.

Of course, this year HHH and HBK are in cahoots and have a SECRET PLAN so it’ll probably end, right?

Scott –

Everyone makes a big deal about the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania – and rightfully so.  My question is – was it planned to be that way?  I doubt that Vince and Company said “We’ll bring in this Mark Callous kid, push the crap out of him and have him wrestling 25 years from now – and along the way we’ll have him go undefeated at Wrestlemania!”

If you look at some of the matches he had (the Giant Gonzalez one where he won by DQ comes to mind), the Streak wasn’t a mythical quest at that point.  However, along the line someone picked up on it and it became a story unto itself.

So – when did “The Streak” become “The Streak”?  And was there a mastermind behind it?  Vince?  Taker?

I recall the streak becoming something that was noted around Wrestlemania 18, with someone basically going “Hey, Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania, that’s pretty neat.”  It certainly wasn’t the focal point of the show, as the first time I remember them making a big deal out of someone challenging the streak was Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21.  I think it just kind of grew organically out of people talking about the streak, rather than being something that anyone came up with a cool marketing point.

Of course, this year HHH and HBK are in cahoots and have a SECRET PLAN so it’ll probably end, right?

Scott –

Everyone makes a big deal about the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania – and rightfully so.  My question is – was it planned to be that way?  I doubt that Vince and Company said “We’ll bring in this Mark Callous kid, push the crap out of him and have him wrestling 25 years from now – and along the way we’ll have him go undefeated at Wrestlemania!”

If you look at some of the matches he had (the Giant Gonzalez one where he won by DQ comes to mind), the Streak wasn’t a mythical quest at that point.  However, along the line someone picked up on it and it became a story unto itself.

So – when did “The Streak” become “The Streak”?  And was there a mastermind behind it?  Vince?  Taker?

I recall the streak becoming something that was noted around Wrestlemania 18, with someone basically going “Hey, Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania, that’s pretty neat.”  It certainly wasn’t the focal point of the show, as the first time I remember them making a big deal out of someone challenging the streak was Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21.  I think it just kind of grew organically out of people talking about the streak, rather than being something that anyone came up with a cool marketing point.

Of course, this year HHH and HBK are in cahoots and have a SECRET PLAN so it’ll probably end, right?

Scott –

Everyone makes a big deal about the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania – and rightfully so.  My question is – was it planned to be that way?  I doubt that Vince and Company said “We’ll bring in this Mark Callous kid, push the crap out of him and have him wrestling 25 years from now – and along the way we’ll have him go undefeated at Wrestlemania!”

If you look at some of the matches he had (the Giant Gonzalez one where he won by DQ comes to mind), the Streak wasn’t a mythical quest at that point.  However, along the line someone picked up on it and it became a story unto itself.

So – when did “The Streak” become “The Streak”?  And was there a mastermind behind it?  Vince?  Taker?

I recall the streak becoming something that was noted around Wrestlemania 18, with someone basically going “Hey, Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania, that’s pretty neat.”  It certainly wasn’t the focal point of the show, as the first time I remember them making a big deal out of someone challenging the streak was Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21.  I think it just kind of grew organically out of people talking about the streak, rather than being something that anyone came up with a cool marketing point.

Of course, this year HHH and HBK are in cahoots and have a SECRET PLAN so it’ll probably end, right?

Scott –

Everyone makes a big deal about the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania – and rightfully so.  My question is – was it planned to be that way?  I doubt that Vince and Company said “We’ll bring in this Mark Callous kid, push the crap out of him and have him wrestling 25 years from now – and along the way we’ll have him go undefeated at Wrestlemania!”

If you look at some of the matches he had (the Giant Gonzalez one where he won by DQ comes to mind), the Streak wasn’t a mythical quest at that point.  However, along the line someone picked up on it and it became a story unto itself.

So – when did “The Streak” become “The Streak”?  And was there a mastermind behind it?  Vince?  Taker?

I recall the streak becoming something that was noted around Wrestlemania 18, with someone basically going “Hey, Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania, that’s pretty neat.”  It certainly wasn’t the focal point of the show, as the first time I remember them making a big deal out of someone challenging the streak was Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21.  I think it just kind of grew organically out of people talking about the streak, rather than being something that anyone came up with a cool marketing point.

Of course, this year HHH and HBK are in cahoots and have a SECRET PLAN so it’ll probably end, right?

Scott –

Everyone makes a big deal about the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania – and rightfully so.  My question is – was it planned to be that way?  I doubt that Vince and Company said “We’ll bring in this Mark Callous kid, push the crap out of him and have him wrestling 25 years from now – and along the way we’ll have him go undefeated at Wrestlemania!”

If you look at some of the matches he had (the Giant Gonzalez one where he won by DQ comes to mind), the Streak wasn’t a mythical quest at that point.  However, along the line someone picked up on it and it became a story unto itself.

So – when did “The Streak” become “The Streak”?  And was there a mastermind behind it?  Vince?  Taker?

I recall the streak becoming something that was noted around Wrestlemania 18, with someone basically going “Hey, Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania, that’s pretty neat.”  It certainly wasn’t the focal point of the show, as the first time I remember them making a big deal out of someone challenging the streak was Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21.  I think it just kind of grew organically out of people talking about the streak, rather than being something that anyone came up with a cool marketing point.

Of course, this year HHH and HBK are in cahoots and have a SECRET PLAN so it’ll probably end, right?

Scott –

Everyone makes a big deal about the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania – and rightfully so.  My question is – was it planned to be that way?  I doubt that Vince and Company said “We’ll bring in this Mark Callous kid, push the crap out of him and have him wrestling 25 years from now – and along the way we’ll have him go undefeated at Wrestlemania!”

If you look at some of the matches he had (the Giant Gonzalez one where he won by DQ comes to mind), the Streak wasn’t a mythical quest at that point.  However, along the line someone picked up on it and it became a story unto itself.

So – when did “The Streak” become “The Streak”?  And was there a mastermind behind it?  Vince?  Taker?

I recall the streak becoming something that was noted around Wrestlemania 18, with someone basically going “Hey, Undertaker is undefeated at Wrestlemania, that’s pretty neat.”  It certainly wasn’t the focal point of the show, as the first time I remember them making a big deal out of someone challenging the streak was Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21.  I think it just kind of grew organically out of people talking about the streak, rather than being something that anyone came up with a cool marketing point.

Of course, this year HHH and HBK are in cahoots and have a SECRET PLAN so it’ll probably end, right?

Heya Scott,
I’ve caught a few episodes of TNA lately and from the sound of it, that
Crimson guy has a pretty decent win streak. Knowing Bischoff, it’ll come
to an unsatisfying end.
Has there ever been a satisfying end of a winning streak? What are your
thoughts on a good way to wrap one up?

I thought that Andre’s came to a pretty satisfying end.  So did Mr. Perfect’s, actually, aside from being on a house show.  But if you could Wrestlemania VI as the ending, it was pretty good too.  The key, which I think is an obvious point, is that you should end the streak when the guy is a heel, so that people will WANT to see him lose.  If the Goldberg-Nash feud had more lead time, they could have turned Goldberg a couple of months in advance and made the fans actually want to see Nash be the one to end it.  Probably would have been easy to turn the fans on him, too:  Just have him do the opposite of what he was doing.  Instead of having him physically impressive feats against monsters, just keep having him defend the title against luchadors and then brag about how he only faces top competition.  Kind of like how Perfect was undefeated for a year, but he only fought scrubs and midcarders, so no one took him seriously as a threat and Hogan was able to convincingly beat him at the top.  Using a win streak to get a babyface over is great, but you need an endgame. 

Heya Scott,
I’ve caught a few episodes of TNA lately and from the sound of it, that
Crimson guy has a pretty decent win streak. Knowing Bischoff, it’ll come
to an unsatisfying end.
Has there ever been a satisfying end of a winning streak? What are your
thoughts on a good way to wrap one up?

I thought that Andre’s came to a pretty satisfying end.  So did Mr. Perfect’s, actually, aside from being on a house show.  But if you could Wrestlemania VI as the ending, it was pretty good too.  The key, which I think is an obvious point, is that you should end the streak when the guy is a heel, so that people will WANT to see him lose.  If the Goldberg-Nash feud had more lead time, they could have turned Goldberg a couple of months in advance and made the fans actually want to see Nash be the one to end it.  Probably would have been easy to turn the fans on him, too:  Just have him do the opposite of what he was doing.  Instead of having him physically impressive feats against monsters, just keep having him defend the title against luchadors and then brag about how he only faces top competition.  Kind of like how Perfect was undefeated for a year, but he only fought scrubs and midcarders, so no one took him seriously as a threat and Hogan was able to convincingly beat him at the top.  Using a win streak to get a babyface over is great, but you need an endgame. 

Heya Scott,
I’ve caught a few episodes of TNA lately and from the sound of it, that
Crimson guy has a pretty decent win streak. Knowing Bischoff, it’ll come
to an unsatisfying end.
Has there ever been a satisfying end of a winning streak? What are your
thoughts on a good way to wrap one up?

I thought that Andre’s came to a pretty satisfying end.  So did Mr. Perfect’s, actually, aside from being on a house show.  But if you could Wrestlemania VI as the ending, it was pretty good too.  The key, which I think is an obvious point, is that you should end the streak when the guy is a heel, so that people will WANT to see him lose.  If the Goldberg-Nash feud had more lead time, they could have turned Goldberg a couple of months in advance and made the fans actually want to see Nash be the one to end it.  Probably would have been easy to turn the fans on him, too:  Just have him do the opposite of what he was doing.  Instead of having him physically impressive feats against monsters, just keep having him defend the title against luchadors and then brag about how he only faces top competition.  Kind of like how Perfect was undefeated for a year, but he only fought scrubs and midcarders, so no one took him seriously as a threat and Hogan was able to convincingly beat him at the top.  Using a win streak to get a babyface over is great, but you need an endgame. 

Heya Scott,
I’ve caught a few episodes of TNA lately and from the sound of it, that
Crimson guy has a pretty decent win streak. Knowing Bischoff, it’ll come
to an unsatisfying end.
Has there ever been a satisfying end of a winning streak? What are your
thoughts on a good way to wrap one up?

I thought that Andre’s came to a pretty satisfying end.  So did Mr. Perfect’s, actually, aside from being on a house show.  But if you could Wrestlemania VI as the ending, it was pretty good too.  The key, which I think is an obvious point, is that you should end the streak when the guy is a heel, so that people will WANT to see him lose.  If the Goldberg-Nash feud had more lead time, they could have turned Goldberg a couple of months in advance and made the fans actually want to see Nash be the one to end it.  Probably would have been easy to turn the fans on him, too:  Just have him do the opposite of what he was doing.  Instead of having him physically impressive feats against monsters, just keep having him defend the title against luchadors and then brag about how he only faces top competition.  Kind of like how Perfect was undefeated for a year, but he only fought scrubs and midcarders, so no one took him seriously as a threat and Hogan was able to convincingly beat him at the top.  Using a win streak to get a babyface over is great, but you need an endgame.