The Undertaker's WWE Career: 9 Ups & 5 Downs

2. Five-Star Phenom

'Taker already had a pretty legendary career halfway through his three-decade stint but there was something unearthly about the fact that it wasn't until he entered his '40s that he found his prime. He had already enjoyed what we thought was his prime between late '96 and '98 as he put on some cracking matches with Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Kane but his recreation of that between 2006 and 2009 far exceeded that.

A lot of that had to do with the fact that WWE had finally figured out how to use him best, reuniting him with wrestling machines like Kurt Angle and smaller, more agile athletes like Rey Mysterio and, of course, Shawn Michaels. But a lot of it was also down to his own capabilities because for every technical masterpiece with Michaels, there were also brutal barn-burners against bigger men like Batista and Triple H and an underrated SmackDown gem against Kane.

In the best shape of his life, this 'Taker earned his 'Phenom' moniker, defying odds, injuries and age to deliver consistently high quality matches - and his string of WrestleMania showdowns between 2007 and 2013 were all 'Match Of The Year' candidates, strengthening the prestige of The Streak and adding a new layer of brilliance to his already phenomenal career.