The Undertaker's 24 WrestleMania Matches Ranked - From Worst To Best
5. Vs. Edge - WrestleMania XXIV
Edge, as talented as he was, was almost difficult to take seriously as a threat to Undertaker’s Streak - by then fully established and marketed as the greatest accomplishment in WWE history.
He was massively over and just as talented, but slighter in physique and stature. That he relied on chicanery to win his matches didn’t much help his cause, either. The Streak looked to be very much alive - until Edge portrayed his Ultimate Opportunist character perfectly by revealing a series of sublime counters. He had an answer for everything. He reversed the Chokeslam with his Edgecution DDT. He jumped out of the Last Ride and floored ‘Taker with a neckbreaker. He wriggled out of the Tombstone and dropped ‘Taker with the Edge-o-Matic.
In the bout’s most convincing near-fall, Edge flattened him with a spear, but it did not put ‘Taker away. His goons, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, marched to the ringside, and the diversion was enough for ‘Taker to fall prey to a second spear - but ‘Taker, after months of being outsmarted by Edge on television, finally beat him at his own game, trapping him in the Hell’s Gate submission hold. It was last glorious reversal in a match built on them. Edge tapped out, but he gained so much in defeat.
Rarely does a wider storyline play out in the payoff match as well as it did here. It was a triumph to those who paid sufficient attention.