R.I.P Streak

Last night during Monday Night Raw manager Paul Heyman and his pet monster Brock Lesnar came out to address the fact that Lesnar ended The Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak. This was on the news it was such a big deal. I have heard many reactions from folks about it ending and very few are happy about it. I have heard some upset that it is done. Period. The Streak should have never ended. Some wish that a future WWE star would've been the one to do it. Others are mad that Lesnar of all people was the one to do it. Here is what Heyman had to say on Raw courtesy of Ian Clark over at Angrymarks. Check their site out. It's pretty damned good.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman, and it is the greatest privilege of my career to serve as the advocate for the beast incarnate, Brock Lesnar! The conqueror of the Undertaker's streak! A streak that lasted nearly a quarter of a century, a quarter of a century that ended in three seconds at the hands of the conqueror, Brock Lesnar. I know how you feel, you're in shock, which demonstrates your lack of intelligence, because we hate to say we told you so, but we told you so! My client came out here with a t-shirt, I know it's hard for you to read, but it says 'Eat, sleep, break the streak'. And you have the temerity to doubt the strategy of the greatest manager in sports entertainment history, Paul Heyman, or the physical credentials of the greatest athlete in WWE history, Brock Lesnar!

Let's get one thing straight: Brock Lesnar is not here to put smiles on your faces, he is here to shock the WWE Universe and put tears in the eyes of children. But now that you know all the headlines, let's go off the script a little and shoot from the hip, shall we? Five seconds after walking through the curtain at Wrestlemania, the Undertaker collapsed, and as all the paramedics and doctors are panicking amid the chaos backstage, the most ruthless man I've ever had the fortune to meet, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, left Wrestlemania and rode to the hospital with The Undertaker. The Undertaker is being treated today for a severe concussion. He came this close to a broken neck, he came this close to a cracked skull, and the greatest thing that ever happened to The Undertaker was not getting his shoulder up for that third F5 because Brock Lesnar would have broken his neck, Brock Lesnar would have cracked his skull. Brock Lesnar was prepared to beat The Undertaker to such a degree that the complexion of this television show would have changed tonight because Brock wasn't done until the streak was dead.

Here's what really gets to me: When the match was over, John 'Bradshaw' Layfield and those other creatures that call themselves announcers, along with 83, 000 other fans in the Superdome-- Superdome, Hogan, not Silverdome, and gave a standing ovation to The Undertaker. Gave a standing ovation to the guy that lost the fight. Here's what I don't understand: Brock Lesnar always taught me that in every fight there is a winner and a loser, and last night The Undertaker was the loser! And the winner was Brock Lesnar! But since this is supposed to be the wildest crowd of the year, you should all feel empowered, because every single one of you is like everyone on the roster: You're all a bunch of wannabes. When Brock Lesnar got backstage, there was no ovation, everyone looked down. Because they know that Brock Lesnar doesn't respect them. Brock doesn't respect anyone, he barely tolerates me, and he's certainly not going to respect someone who's going to fly in from around the world to sit here on the Monday after Wrestlemania, trying to get noticed on worldwide TV! So notice this, okay?

There are a lot of people backstage who think they could be the one to jump from the ring to the octagon, but Daniel Bryan never competed in an octagon. John Cena never competed in an octagon, The Undertaker certainly never competed in the octagon. A lot of people wanted to be the NCAA champion, the Ultimate Fighting Champion, the undisputed WWE Champion. The Rock never pulled that off, Hulk Hogan never pulled that off, Stone Cold never pulled that off. You know why? They're all wannabes. Brock Lesnar is the one. And then you have a bunch of people coming up to me saying, 'Paul, I could've been the one to break the streak.' Why didn't you? Randy Orton couldn't do it, Shawn Michaels couldn't do it, HHH couldn't do it. They're all a bunch of wannabes. Brock Lesnar is the one. He's the 1 in 21-1. Are you people saying 'What' to me? I forgot who you are, I'll say it slowly: Brock Lesnar is the 1 in 21-1. Ladies and gentlemen, there are WWE Hall of Famers, there are legends and there are WWE Superstars, and the key to that is that they're all plural. They are all lumped together, and then there's only one that stands alone. There is only one beast incarnate, there is only one conqueror of the streak, there is only one Brock Lesnar!”

That is what is the coolest thing about The Streak ending. It can't be ended twice. In wrestling, like comic books, we see people go away and come back all the time. The problem in wrestling though is when they get a great sendoff and come back or go to another company and shit all over the good they did. The Undertaker can't come back and redo The Streak It's finished.

I remember people wanting CM Punk to end it a couple of Wrestlemania's ago. Can you imagine if that shit had happened? A guy that walks out when he pleases? Now, while Lesnar is not a full-time wrestler anymore it can be said that many guys at the top aren't. They had HHH fighting for a chance at the title and he isn't full-time. Batista isn't full-time. The Rock had the belt and he wasn't close to full-time. I have no issue with Lesnar ending The Streak because he is believable as fuck. Once I saw him kick out of every finishing move from Taker I knew something special could happen. I wasn't 100% sure. When it happened I cheered. As a wrestling fan for so many years it was nice to have something unpredictable happen. I honestly believe that this is why so many fans are upset. They bitch about everything being the same old shit but when something catches them by surprise they flinch like a little kid scared by a hiccup. We have entered a new era and I am fine with that.

Wrestlemania 7: Undertaker defeated Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka

Wrestlemania 8: Undertaker defeated Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Wrestlemania 9: Undertaker defeated Giant Gonzalez

Wrestlemania 11: Undertaker defeated King Kong Bundy

Wrestlemania 12: Undertaker defeated Diesel

Wrestlemania 13: Undertaker defeated Sycho Sid

Wrestlemania 14: Undertaker defeated Kane

Wrestlemania 15: Undertaker defeated Big Boss Man

Wrestlemania 17: Undertaker defeated Triple H

Wrestlemania 18: Undertaker defeated Ric Flair

Wrestlemania 19: Undertaker defeated Big Show and A-Train

Wrestlemania 20: Undertaker defeated Kane

Wrestlemania 21: Undertaker defeated Randy Orton

Wrestlemania 22: Undertaker defeated Mark Henry

Wrestlemania 23: Undertaker defeated Batista

Wrestlemania 24: Undertaker defeated Edge

Wrestlemania 25: Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels

Wrestlemania 26: Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels

Wrestlemania 27: Undertaker defeated Triple H

Wrestlemania 28: Undertaker defeated Triple H 

Wrestlemania 29: Undertaker defeated CM Punk
Wrestlemania 30: Brock Lesnar wins