Why Triple H Could End The Undertaker's Streak at WWE WrestleMania 28

You have to believe that there’s a chance Undertaker could be bowing out for the last time...

By David Pustansky /

The Undertaker taking on Triple H at WrestleMania 28 marks the Dead Man€™s first match in an entire year. Will it be his swansong? Has he simply returned so he can retire? It€™s not impossible, and whilst no retirement stipulation has been added to their Mania match, it is being heavily pushed in the storyline that Triple H feels that in order to beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, he has to end him. Over the years there have been many challengers to €˜The Streak€™ but there€™s never been any real doubts that The Undertaker would leave each year€™s WrestleMania victorious. Randy Orton€™s €˜Legend Killer€™ gimmick was especially suited to the angle of who would defeat The Undertaker at Mania, and at that stage of Orton€™s career would have given him a significant rub. These days Orton doesn€™t need it, but more importantly Triple H needs it even less. That doesn€™t mean it won€™t happen though. Shawn Michaels didn€™t need the fame of being the man who retired Ric Flair (not that it lasted) and The Undertaker certainly had enough accolades not to need to retire HBK. What these examples show are a pattern of WrestleMania matches that are unlike any other match you get throughout the rest of the year. A new streak is forming each year at WrestleMania and that is the streak of €˜Live or die€™ moments. The movie €˜The Wrestler€™ featured Mickey Rourke as the old broken wrestler fighting to have one last stab at glory and was certainly the inspiration for Chris Jericho taking on legends Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania 25. Rourke himself appeared at the show and punched out Jericho. A year earlier and before The Wrestler had even finished production we had Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels. In the closing moments of the match an emotional Flair forces himself to his feet knowing his career was over. A regretful Michaels could then be lip read to be saying €œI€™m sorry. I love you.€ and a superkick later Flair€™s career was over. This was a masterful moment, and one WWE has every year since tried to recreate. Whilst Steamboat€™s heroic return to the ring allowed him a few more matches in the spotlight it was Michaels going against Taker that would truly bring this moment back to life. Shawn Michaels first attempt to break the streak was one of the greatest wrestling matches of all time, and it also set up Michaels retirement angle a year later and our next live or die moment. In the closing moments of WrestleMania 26 a determined Undertaker went to signal for the end, but hesitates as he becomes aware that an utterly exhausted Michaels is clawing at his legs, struggling to get up. A remorseful Taker looks down on his opponent and calls €œStay down€. And just like an old cowboy from Texas HBK defiantly decides to go down fighting, striking the Undertaker one last time before being put out of his misery. The old guard continued this tradition the next year as Triple H stepped up to challenge €˜The Last Outlaw€™ and in the most recent live or die moment a less compassionate Helmsley called for the Undertaker to €˜just die€™ before attempting to finish him off. In a twist to the story the Last Outlaw was able to overcome adversary and ride into the sunset (or be carried into it on a stretcher) but as we now approach WrestleMania 28 the rematch is set. The possibility of the streak reaching 20-0 surely seems too good an opportunity for DVD€™s and t-shirts for the Dead man to stay dead, but if this new emerging streak of live or die moments gains momentum you have to believe that there€™s a chance Undertaker could be bowing out for the last time.