10 Steps In Re-Booking The Undertaker Vs. Brock Lesnar WrestleMania XXX Feud

The only memorable part of this feud was the end of the ‘Mania match…

Lesnar Undertaker WrestleMania XXX fan art
WWE/DeviantArt

The Undertaker versus Brock Lesnar. For many years, fans had been salivating at the possibility of seeing these two men face off at WrestleMania. Despite initial rumours suggesting they’d face off at WrestleMania XXVII, they’d end up holding off on that confrontation until 'Mania XXX. There was so much hype and excitement when they first signed the contract for the match.

Afterwards, however, thing fell flat.

So much so that if you tried to picture the ‘Taker-Lesnar feud of 2014 as a white line, there would be an enormous gap in the middle. At the time, this feud was built solely on the names of the wrestlers involved, and the only effective hype segment was when Undertaker ‘stabbed’ Lesnar with a pen and Chokeslammed him through a table. 

Other than that, the feud was incredibly dull, especially in comparison with Undertaker’s previous Streak storylines which, for the most part, have been among the best parts of WrestleMania season.

Looking back at that short period between the 2014 Royal Rumble PPV and WrestleMania XXX, a lot more could've been done to build up this match. WWE could've made better use of what limited resources they had, and used both ‘Taker and Lesnar as much as possible.

This article proposes 10 things that should’ve been either added or done differently that would have not only improved the build-up to one of the most important clashes in recent memory, but also improved the match itself.

10. January 27th, 2014: Brock Lesnar Demolishes Kane

Lesnar Undertaker WrestleMania XXX fan art
wwe.com

The seeds of this confrontation would begin not with a simple promo by Paul Heyman, but by Lesnar continuing to show his ruthlessness and dominant power. This would be achieved by having Lesnar demolish Kane, which would initially be presented as a random attack without any greater justification.

However, the following week, Heyman would claim that the attack was done ‘to awaken Lesnar’s greatest challenge’, and it’s at THAT point that the feud would be introduced. This would not only give the feud more time to develop, but would give Heyman more material to work with in his taunts towards the Undertaker.

With ‘Taker’s health in question, he wouldn’t show up that often, which would give Heyman more time to accuse the Undertaker of being old, frail and, most importantly, scared of Brock Lesnar. The 2014 storyline felt incredibly rushed because there were very few weeks to hype the match. In this scenario, adding three additional weeks would grant the Creative department more time to better flesh out storyline justifications and promotional directions for the match.

Moreover, it adds an additional level of importance for the Undertaker, because even though the Kane character was a pro-Authority heel at the time, the relationship between these 'brothers' has transcended the heel-face dynamic before, so why not use it again here as the launching pad for a major feud?

Contributor

Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.