THIS Is The Greatest Thing WWE Never Did

The threat of the worst promised the best.

by Michael Sidgwick
Undertaker WrestleMania 24
WWE

The greatest match that WWE never promoted involved two legendary superstar wrestlers your writer isn't necessarily a big fan of. That's how powerful the story was. It was immune to the snarky pedantry of those who probably should have grasped that WWE is aimed at children some time ago. It was immune to the annual demand that Undertaker work a technically outstanding Match of the Year contender. It was immune to the fortress of apathy many of John Cena's detractors had built.

At WrestleMania 29, WWE should have booked John Cena to challenge the Undertaker's legendary Streak.

The Undertaker, to you, might be a Mount Rushmore legend with a sacrosanct career it is blasphemy to criticise. Or, to others, he might be a cringe shlock merchant whose magical powers justified the vicarious embarrassment felt by their father Peter.

At WrestleMania, for seven years, those fans were united by a brilliance that stunned them into place, much like the effect his chilling gait had to the haunted children of the early 1990s. The Streak held far more magic than any hokey lightning bolt he had summoned not from the sky, but the rafters of an arena. 'Taker in league with WWE had stumbled upon - and then retrospectively, stunningly curated the legacy of - his WrestleMania winning streak. It was seminal craft and spectacular theatre locking up; the beautiful stadium backdrop from which WWE never looked back became a permanent fixture at 'Mania 23. This, perhaps serendipitously, marked the beginning of the Streak-within-a-Streak of classic 'Mania matches.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!