Ex-WWE Referee Reveals Undertaker's Streak Nearly Ended In 2009

The Phenom's legendary Streak nearly ended by complete accident.

by Andrew Pollard
Shawn Michaels Undertaker WrestleMania 25
WWE.com

The Undertaker's iconic Streak finally came to an end on 6 April 2014, with the Phenom falling to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX. While the Deadman at one point managed to get a ludicrous 21-0 record at WWE's annual Showcase of the Immortals, it's been revealed that the Streak was close to ending back in 2009.

We've heard rumblings over the years that Randy Orton and Edge were two wrestlers mooted to end the Streak in their respective WrestleMania contests with the Undertaker, but former WWE referee Marty Elias has now detailed how Shawn Michaels nearly accidentally stopped the Streak at 'Mania 25.

Speaking on Talk is Jericho (via WrestlingNews.co), Elias explained how 'Taker told him to "shoot" count him out of that bout if needed. Of course, this was in reference to the infamous spot where the nowadays WWE Hall of Famer landed on his head outside the ring after Sim Snuka (disguised as a cameraman) failed to catch the falling Phenom.

Advertisement
"At WrestleMania 25, when I did my counts on 'Taker after the dive, that count was a shoot count. The only instruction I ever got out of that match was from 'Taker. He said, 'If I don't get back in, you shoot count me out'. And we came very, very close to counting him out. But if you go back and look at that, I was drawing my counts out, and I was drawing 74,000 people in with my counts. I took my time because I was still selling, because they had bumped me earlier. So I was still selling that. But at the same time, I was still dramatizing and I was elongating that count. So I was getting the people behind me. I was looking at 'Taker, and 'Taker and I didn't make eye contact until nine on the ten-count. So that Streak almost ended at WrestleMania 25 on a count out. He was concussed. He had a broken collarbone. He broke his ring finger. So yeah, he was pretty f**ked up."

Having made his refereeing debut back in 1988, the real-life Martin Rubalcaba was with WWE from 2007 until 2009. Following his WWE exit, Marty was utilised as the head referee in Lucha Underground during the promotion's run from 2014 until 2018.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.