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We are officially on the Road to WrestleMania, and as we urge closer and closer the 30th Anniversary of the ‘Showcase of the Immortals’, we’re beginning to see the card take shape.
We already know that Batista will be challenging for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and in just a few short weeks at Elimination Chamber, we’ll find out who he’ll be facing for the title. We’re also likely to see matches like Bray Wyatt vs John Cena and Daniel Bryan vs Triple H, but there’s one match that has people on the edge of their seat every year – the Streak. Will the Undertaker take his legendary undefeated streak to 22-0 this year?
The Streak has transcended the WWE, and is now regarded as one of the most impressive records in any sport. The Undertaker has walked into WrestleMania 21 times, and won each and every one of those matches. And since the Deadman’s at the stage in his career where he’s not able to wrestle a full-time WWE schedule, WrestleMania’s the only time of the year when we get to see the Phenom in action.
There’s a reason why every match that ‘Taker has been in for the last several years has been regarded as ‘Match of the Year’. He’s one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time, which is why his match at WrestleMania every year is so important.
If Undertaker loses at ‘Mania, if the Streak dies, then the character of the Undertaker dies with it. It’s that simple.
There’s one question that’s asked more than any other at the start of every year by WWE fans, and that’s simply “Who?”. Who will be the man to take on the Undertaker at WrestleMania this year? Who will chance his hand at immortality?
Well today, I’m going to discuss the top 5 wrestlers who I both want to (and think) will take on the Undertaker’s Streak, be it this year or at some point down the line. Let’s get to it.
5. Roman Reigns
I think Roman Reigns would be a very fitting opponent for Undertaker to face this year. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose would also be excellent choices, given the fact that the last time we saw Undertaker, he was being triple powerbombed through the announce table on SmackDown last April.
But looking at how things went down at the Royal Rumble, and how Roman Reigns will probably be the first member of The Shield to get pushed after they split up, I’d say Reigns would have the better chance of facing ‘Taker at WrestleMania.
Dean Ambrose is still my favourite member of the trio, but I think each man has an equal amount of talent in different areas, so I hope they all achieve great success. And out of the three of them, I see Reigns being the man most likely to take on the Streak.
I like the idea of Undertaker taking on one of the younger stars, and Roman Reigns has recently been impressing as one of the brightest young prospects in the WWE today. His Superman punch and Spear are two of the coolest moves in anybody’s moveset today, and the guy looks like a million bucks.
And after all, it was him who speared Undertaker through the ringside barricade last year, so if the Deadman has anybody to be pissed off with, it’s Roman Reigns.
While I do think the premise for the rivalry is there, I don’t see the match happening this year. Reigns will likely be facing Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose at ‘Mania 30, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see if this match happens over the next couple of WrestleManias (if the Streak even lasts that long).
If someone ever does defeat the Undertaker at WrestleMania, I reckon it should be a young guy. Someone that’s been around for a couple of years, but who you know is going to be a huge star. I think Roman Reigns is one of the best examples of that. Like I said, he’s got a great moveset, he can talk, he’s Vince McMahon’s ideal ‘big guy’ wrestler and he’s from a very large wrestling family, so he’s probably going to be a part of the business for a very long time. The Rock is his cousin, so maybe there’s some pull there too.
With all of this in mind, if he does happen to go one-on-one with Undertaker at WrestleMania, his chances of winning could be pretty high. I don’t really condone the Streak coming to an end, but at least it wouldn’t go to waste if someone like Roman Reigns did put it to rest. And since that Spear is seemingly the most dominant move in the WWE right now, it would be very interesting to see if the Deadman could kick out after it. There’s only one way to find out!
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4. Sting
Sting vs The Undertaker is the one WrestleMania match that a lot of people want to see, and for obvious reasons. These men are both icons in the wrestling industry, and the chances of the match actually happening are decreasing as the years go by, so 2014 would be the best time to do it.
Sting recently finished up his contract with TNA, and if you believe the dirt sheets, a match between ‘Taker and Lesnar could be off the table. So you never know. Perhaps there’s a verbal agreement in place between Sting and the WWE.
It’s quite surprising that a huge name like Sting has never set foot in the biggest wrestling company in the world, so if he does come in, I wonder how the WWE will handle it. The majority of the younger fans won’t know who Sting is, so they’ll have a fair job of explaining that, and the impact he made during his career, in order to build up this – potentially – huge bout.
Since Sting and Undertaker are both past their primes (and I use that phrase loosely, because they can still work), the quality of the match wouldn’t be as good as it would’ve been about 10 years ago.
Nevertheless, I’m sure the hype and build-up would be good enough to make this an iconic WrestleMania moment.
It would be hard to handle a winner though. It would be Sting’s first experience in the WWE, so a loss probably wouldn’t make him look too good. And if he did win, it would look like the only guy capable of beating the Undertaker at WrestleMania was a man who’s never set foot in the company before. That doesn’t exactly make the WWE look good, so I don’t know.
They would have to give it the perfect ending, and if they nailed that, then it would be one of the biggest matches in ‘Mania history. Icon vs. Icon, Legend vs. Legend.
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3. Bray Wyatt
“The Devil made me do it…”
I feel like this rivalry could be one of the eeriest in WWE history. The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt are both two creepy dudes, who can do some awe-inspiring things in and out of the ring, so the build-up would be indescribable.
Bray Wyatt has struck me as one of the best talkers in the modern WWE era, and I always look forward to hearing what this guy has to say. One of his most intriguing lines back in late 2013 was when he laid waste to Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, following it up with that bone-chilling phrase, “the Devil made me do it”.
I know that devil he was referring to is probably Triple H, but that was never specified, and if you think about it, we’ve never actually seen any evidence of Triple H and the Wyatt Family ever crossing paths. What if that ‘devil’ actually happens to be the Undertaker?
Maybe Bray attacked Punk and Bryan to get closer to a potential bout against the Phenom, the only man in the WWE with a bigger connection to the dark side than Bray Wyatt. Maybe Bray Wyatt and Undertaker have crossed paths before…
The story’s certainly there. I mean, no matter what Bray Wyatt says on the mic, it’s going to sound good. He could recite some lyrics from a Lil Wayne song, and it would still be solid gold, so I’ve got no doubt in my mind that this could be one of the coolest rivalries ever.
The two goliaths in the form of Erick Rowan and Luke Harper would undoubtedly play a pivotal role as well, helping Bray in his ceaseless attempts to out-smart the Undertaker and play mind games with the master of darkness. And as far as the match is concerned, that would be incredible too.
Personally, I already consider Bray Wyatt to be one of the best big men ever in WWE, due to his sheer size and ability to not let it get the better of him. He can move faster and is more agile than many of the smaller guys on the roster, and his demonic mind-set follows him to the ring too. He has grasped the character of Bray Wyatt to perfection, and he’d be a very formidable opponent for the Undertaker at WrestleMania.
It looks Bray will be facing John Cena at this year’s event, which is equally as huge if you ask me. Facing John Cena in your first ‘Mania match? That has to be one of the biggest debuts in the history of the annual event, and if it does happen, it couldn’t go to a better guy.
I would be unbelievably enthralled by a feud between Bray Wyatt and the Undertaker, so I hope to God that it happens some day. These characters have to come across each other at some stage, and if they do, it’ll be history in the making.
![image[3]](http://sltdwrestling.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/image3.jpeg)
2/ Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar is probably the most likely person on this list to face ‘Taker at WrestleMania. I know people are saying that WWE are taking Lesnar off the table this year, and could be replacing him with Sheamus, but I still see Brock getting the shot.
I think their rivalry could be brilliant, and although I’d be concerned for Undertaker’s health, the match would be an extremely intense, physical competition.
For personal reasons, I’d love this feud to be renewed for WrestleMania 30.
Brock Lesnar breaking Undertaker’s hand in 2002, leading to their Hell in a Cell match at No Mercy, is my oldest memory as a wrestling fan. I was only 6 years old and remember watching it on VCR. To this day, I still regard it as the rivalry that drew me in to professional wrestling. To see these two behemoths face off one last time, 12 years later, would be amazing.
This match wouldn’t be nearly as technically pleasing as the last few of the Undertaker’s ‘Mania classics, but a bit of variety never hurt anyone. It would be a brawl unlike anything we’ve seen from these two before, and the realism behind it would tell a story on par with some of the best matches we’ve ever seen. I can definitely see myself wincing every time Lesnar punches the Deadman or nails him with a belly-to-belly, but at least that means people will be interested (not that they wouldn’t be anyway).
With that said however, I worry that this could end up being Undertaker’s last match in a WWE ring. I mean, Brock Lesnar doesn’t exactly work at a slow pace. He’s got a very ground-and-pound style, and despite how tough the Phenom actually is, I don’t see his fragile body holding up well under a beating from the anomaly that is Brock Lesnar.
At the end of the day, the number one thing a professional wrestler has to do is protect his opponent, which I feel Brock Lesnar has a hard time doing. As long as they find a way to side-step serious injury on Undertaker’s behalf, then this match could be one of the most exciting bouts that the Streak has ever seen.
Like I said, it may not be pretty, but the storytelling and brutality would make The Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar one of the most exciting bouts in the history of WrestleMania. Out of all the matches talked about for this year’s ‘Showcase of the Immortals’, I hope this is the one they go with.
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1. Daniel Bryan
You shouldn’t see this coming as much of a surprise. The Undertaker is one of the best wrestlers of all-time, and Daniel Bryan is highly regarded as the best wrestler in the world today, so it fits perfectly. These two would just bring the house down, be it in New Orleans, North California or anywhere else in the world.
There was a report going around the internet last month about ‘Taker asking to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, and if it’s true, it doesn’t surprise me at all.
Last year, Undertaker took on the fastest rising star at the time, the Best in the World, CM Punk. So it’s no wonder that he’d want to face Daniel Bryan, who has become not only the most over wrestler in the world during the last year, but quite possibly the most talented too. ‘Taker only gets to wrestle one match a year, so you can’t blame him for wanting to face the highest quality of competitor at the ‘Show of Shows’.
One thing that I want to happen before this match is for Daniel Bryan to have a lengthy championship reign first. When CM Punk took on the Streak last year, he was just coming out of a record 434-day WWE Championship reign, and could afford to lose in one of the biggest matches of his career.
Although Daniel Bryan has already solidified himself as a future ‘Face of the WWE’, he still hasn’t had his defining moment yet. You could say it happened when he beat John Cena at SummerSlam last year, or when he turned on Bray Wyatt in January, but I just feel like he needs a lengthy title reign before he can take on the biggest streak in sports entertainment history.
That way, he could go into the match already having had his career-defining moment, so even if he loses, it won’t hurt him. If he goes the next year without winning the championship, and then faces Undertaker at WrestleMania 31, it won’t be as good. Bryan coming into this bout having just had a lengthy title reign would mean he’d be a bigger star and an even more formidable opponent, adding to the excitement and unpredictability of the match.
At this stage, only confirmed current or future stars should face ‘Taker at WrestleMania, and although Bryan will undoubtedly get to that stage, he still needs to do more before this match happens. If/when it does happen, however, it will undoubtedly be a nominee for ‘Match of the Century’ – in that it will feature two of the best wrestlers going at it on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
That’s about it for today, guys and gals. Your friendly neighbourhood AOB will be back next week with yet another edition of your favourite wrestling article!
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Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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