WWE's reticence to treat its product as anything resembling legitimate competition led to a severe devaluation of the company's championship belts in the 2000s. At the same time, though, a new sports-style standard of excellence arose - The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania. First acknowledged in earnest prior to 'Taker's win over Ric Flair at WrestleMania XVIII, the streak became one of the main drawing points of WrestleMania - especially when Undertaker put it on the line against Shawn Michaels in 2009 and 2010, and then Triple H in 2011 and 2012. It was once assumed that Undertaker would eventually lose to an up-and-coming talent - maybe the company's next major star - but as the streak grew, many fans and insiders started to think that it would simply be his legacy. He would continue to rack up wins until he retired, and his WrestleMania record would always be perfect. Unfortunately, the lack of drama took some of the excitement away from his matches. While the bouts with Michaels and Triple H were excellent enough to grip fans, his clash with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX was a dull bout (due in no small part to 'Taker suffering a concussion in the early goings). The crowd was underwhelmed until, after a third F5, Lesnar cleanly pinned The Undertaker, ending the streak and bringing the Phenom's WrestleMania record to 21-1. The most untouchable accolade in WWE was destroyed, and the world was shocked.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
