The Undertaker will always be known for his WrestleMania streak, having racked up 21 straight victories at the event before finally suffering a loss at the hands of Brock Lesnar. While nobody should ever make the mistake of thinking that the streak was Undertaker's greatest accomplishment (it pales in comparison to the respect he's earned from his peers and the longevity of his career, for instance), it's still a feat that will likely never been equaled - and it had to start somewhere. In the early days of WrestleMania, the event was known for pageantry and celebrity involvement, but the wrestling wasn't as emphasized as it is today - not only were many of the matches far from being classics, but the booking was such that they were added to the card at the last minute, with no buildup between participants. Such was the case when The Undertaker - four months removed from his debut with WWE - first stepped into a WrestleMania ring, taking on Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka was an important part of WWE in the 1980s, but the young Phenom was riding an undefeated streak and could not be matched. He used his Tombstone piledriver to put Snuka away in under five minutes, starting the streak at 1-0.
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