10 Worst Anticlimaxes In WWE History
1. Ending With A Whimper Instead of A Bang - WrestleMania XXX
A lot of ink has been spilled over the ending of the Undertaker’s vaunted undefeated streak at Wrestlemania, and – just for a change – in this article we have no intention of going into the ins and outs of whether it was the right move, the right guy and/or the right time to do it.
What’s pretty much undisputed by everyone who’s ever had an online slanging match on the subject is that the match itself left the crowd in attendance and the millions watching at home cold, playing out to an unusually muted reaction even as the climax arrived, with all the usual multiple false finishes. Lesnar’s reversal of a second Tombstone attempt into a third F5 and the pinfall victory should have been predictable… it was basic WWE main event storytelling, choreography everyone had seen a dozen times at Wrestlemania.
The stunned reactions as the bell rang said something different, though. Where Undertaker’s matches with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, even CM Punk had had the crowd on tenterhooks wondering if this was the finishing move that would finish the Streak, the match with Lesnar didn’t inspire the same feelings. People have speculated as to whether the crowd simply hadn’t bought into the idea that Lesnar could win, but Punk’s match with ‘Taker the previous year had had the fans on the edge of their seats, and Lesnar, booked as a ruthless, superhuman monster, was far more legitimate a choice to end the Streak.
No, the truth was that WWE fans were used to the Undertaker and his opponent delivering one of Wrestlemania’s best, most exciting matches, and this match had been dull. The crowd weren’t disinterested because they knew Lesnar couldn’t win, they were disinterested because they were waiting for the match to get good.
Scuttlebutt (like gossip on an off day) says that it was the single leg takedown outside the ring around six minutes after the bell rang that did it: the Undertaker suffered a nasty concussion when the back of his head bounced off the padded concrete. After that, he was on dream street for at least another six minutes, the pacing of the match slowing to a crawl as Lesnar covered for him.
Even when the Dead Man seemed a little more compos mentis, able to hit some of the planned spots, the bout was off-centre. The only story ‘Taker’s facial expressions told was one of exhaustion and disorientation, even when Lesnar kicked out of the Last Ride and the Tombstone piledriver, and he took punishing moves like the German suplex and the F5 like he was half asleep. He wasn’t really selling Lesnar’s devastating offence, either – all of his focus was on keeping it together enough to make it to the end.
When that end finally came, it was one of the biggest anti-climaxes fans had ever experienced. Many people genuinely did think that the Streak might end one day… they just expected it to be a huge moment when it did, the culmination of one of the most exciting, dynamic matches in wrestling history, not this damp squib. This, as much as the loss itself, depressed the hell out of the crowd in attendance and at home.
What’s the biggest anti-climax you’ve ever experienced watching WWF/WWE? Tell s all about it in the comments!