10 Iconic Wrestling Storylines Summed Up In A Single Frame
9. The Undertaker's WrestleMania Streak
The Undertaker, at WrestleMania VII, did not deviate from his one facial expression.
Like the corpses he embalmed, it was fixed in rigor mortis to convey his chilling, inevitable, impervious threat. As the years and so many WrestleMania victories wore on, 'Taker's face changed in a reflection of his newfound range, but he drew from the same, narrow brush. There was anger, in the blood feud with Kane. There was menace, in his psychotic take-down of Ric Flair. There was vengeance, in his retribution against Edge.
Almost decades later from the one-dimensional cartoon character that put Jimmy Snuka away (pause), he wore a very different expression at WrestleMania 25. When Shawn Michaels kicked out of the Tombstone, at the apex of a classic match, it felt like the end.
Imitated now to farcical parody, it worked so magnificently for the Undertaker because he captured a legendary career, and the full pathos of its metamorphosis, in a second. The undead zombie mortician had become a mere mortal, and wore - to incredible effect earned over decades - the weary and almost pitiful shock of an ageing soldier.