The Undertaker's Streak has evolved into perhaps the most important thing in the wrestling world today. It is far bigger than any title. The prospect of defeating the Streak would dwarf any championship win. And yet, it seems as unfeasible as water not being wet. Like Tantalus, the Streak mystifies an opponent- it is always seemingly within reach, but never actually falls into your power to attain.
Surprisingly, the Undertaker was not always the greatest WrestleMania performer. His WrestleMania matches early on were far from even acquiring "match of the night" status, let alone from being considered all-time classics. Strewn in there were a trio of utterly terrible matches through his first ten WrestleManias. The Streak itself was not even a big deal until the mid-2000's, when a then-upstart Randy Orton declared that he would kill the legend of the Undertaker at WrestleMania 21.
From then on, the Streak became WrestleMania's biggest attraction. Champions and legends alike would fall. Each would seemingly take the Deadman to the absolute limit- but no man would ever be able to cross to the other side- the side of victory. All would fall back to the world of the dead from whence the Undertaker came.
Below is my own take on "The Streak." I of course understand that it is likely that no two people would agree on a precise order to these WrestleMania matches. They are simply my own opinion. You can see my video take on the subject here.
#21: Giant Gonzalez: WrestleMania IX
It is likely the worst match of the Undertaker's glorious career. It is the worst match at the WrestleMania many consider the worst. It is possibly the worst match in the history of WrestleMania (excluding excruciatingly stupid modern Divas or celebrity matches or several-second affairs).
Giant Gonzalez, billed as being eight-feet tall, certainly looked a threat to the Undertaker. He just couldn't sell to save his life. Accompanied by a dead crowd, the match was horribly worked. Undertaker seemed to do everything he could with the opponent given to him, but it just didn't gel. The ending was a disqualification due to Giant Gonzalez's use of a Chloroform cloth. Undertaker came back and took the big man down. It was a very yawning affair.
The only really good thing about this match was the Undertaker's entrance with the chariot and vulture. It is one of my favorites of his career.
#20: Big Bossman: WrestleMania XV
This match was slow and plodding in its entirety. It also had several other factors working against it to make it a perfect storm of terrible- an atmosphere that didn't warrant a Hell in a Cell match, the Bossman never gelling as a credible threat to the Undertaker, no standout spots, Michael Cole's commentary, a crowd that booed- yearning for the torture to end. Did I mention Michael Cole's commentary?
The point? Don't watch this match unless you're going to do a list like this. Save yourself the soft torture.
#19: King Kong Bundy: WrestleMania XI
After missing WrestleMania X due to injury, the Undertaker could have been served best to redeem himself of his disastrous match with Giant Gonzalez last time. The opponent the WWF gave him? King Kong Bundy.
Obviously a recipe for disaster. And it was.
There were no notable spots and the crowd was dead throughout. The Urn got more of a pop than King Kong Bundy. The match could have just been a stealth jostling for the Urn, as Undertaker got it back, and then Kama retook it for the Million Dollar Corporation.
The finish? An Undertaker flying clothesline. Bundy immediately got up afterward, letting the viewer know the match was as fake as Kim Kardashian's talent. A forgettable affair throughout. We'd be wise to do so.
#18: Jimmy Snuka, WrestleMania VII
This was the Undertaker's WrestleMania debut. It wasn't brilliant, but it did its job. The Undertaker concept was fresh and new in 1991, and the kids were visibly frightened by the Deadman. This was a squash match to build the Undertaker up into an unstoppable zombie. Don't expect a thrilling encounter with great in-ring work, but it isn't terrible by any means like the previous three.
#17: Jake Roberts, WrestleMania VIII
The Undertaker was in his first face run throughout 1992, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts was one of his first targets. Like the previous encounter, this was another squash match- but to build the Undertaker up as an unstoppable face rather than as an unstoppable heel. It had some better spots than the one against Snuka, which is why it edged it out.
#16: Diesel, WrestleMania XII
Diesel had a monster run in 1995, holding the WWF title for over a year. At WrestleMania XII, he looked a credible threat to the Undertaker, and the two big men would battle it out to see which of them was tougher.
Diesel dominated most of this match, and it was a bit plodding, but it was nice to see Undertaker truly challenged. Diesel couldn't put the Deadman down, and Undertaker came back for the victory.
#15: Kane, WrestleMania XIV
This one had a very emotional atmosphere. The Undertaker was going to relent on his promise never to do battle with his younger half-brother. After months of torment and provocation in 1997, the Undertaker came out with the druids for the first time, and vowed to take his brother down.
Unfortunately, the match couldn't live up to this atmosphere, and many label it as the worst match of WrestleMania XIV. It had a decent spot where Kane countered the Undertaker's suicide dive by putting him through the announcer's table, and he was generally made to be stronger than the Undertaker. It took three Tombstone Piledrivers to put Kane away, and the Undertaker was laid out by his brother afterward.
The match was slow and tedious at times and was beset with bad pacing, diminishing these spots.
#14: Kane, WrestleMania XX
Now the tables were turned and things had gone full circle. After being buried alive at Survivor Series 2003 by his brother Kane for, in the latter's words "being one of you," the Undertaker turned his back on his biker gimmick and reemerged as the Deadman, coming out to his best entrance ever at WrestleMania XX.
Undertaker looked to be stronger than Kane and the match was a simple and methodical destruction of Kane by the returning Phenom. That was all it was intended to do, and it did that well.
#13: Sycho Sid, WrestleMania 13
Many consider this match to be the worst WrestleMania main event of all time, but I disagree with them. I didn't find this match so bad. Surely it was slow, and Sid dominated throughout, but like Diesel before him, he couldn't put the Deadman away. Undertaker looked good, slowly building momentum and coming back to win his much-deserved second WWF Championship.
Bret Hart's interference ruined the flow of the match in my opinion, and that was one of its major flaws.
#12: Mark Henry, WrestleMania 22
After costing the Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship, Mark Henry wanted to prove that he was not afraid of the Undertaker. The two would go on to face each other in a casket match at WrestleMania.
Mark Henry works well for a big man, and he put on a decent performance against the Undertaker, coming across as someone that was too big even for the Undertaker to knock to the ground. The two battled in the casket, Undertaker executed his first successful suicide dive at a WrestleMania, and ultimately defeated Mark Henry with the Tombstone, rolling him into the casket.
#11: Big Show/A-Train, WrestleMania XIX
Undertaker's presumed partner Nathan Jones was taken out by the monstrous duo earlier, so this was now a handicap match.
I liked how Undertaker remained on his toes throughout the entire match, battling Show and Train and not succumbing to their combined assault. He held his own and it was not the demolition derby you would expect. That was entertaining to watch.
#10: Triple H, WrestleMania XXVII
I was opposed to this match. I wanted Undertaker to face a younger guy who could use the rub. We'd already seen a match with Triple H. Not only that, the match itself cheesed too much off of the previous encounters with Shawn Michaels with the false finishers. The fact that it was Triple H doing it and not someone else added to my criticism, because Triple H didn't need to look so dominating against the Deadman. Him standing up first at the end after the Hell's Gate was also a head-scratcher.
Nevertheless, there was a well-executed fight between them, the crowd was very much into it, and the sheer lack of quality of many of Undertaker's earlier matches ensures this makes its way into the top ten.
#9: Ric Flair, WrestleMania X8
The emotion of this match was very high, as the Undertaker had previously taken out Ric Flair's son and best friend. An underdog throughout, Flair sold that line well and continued to battle against the Undertaker's dominant frame. He clawed tooth and nail, hitting Undertaker with a lead pipe and taking help from Arn Anderson's interference on his behalf.
Undertaker would recover and prevail, of course. Jerry Lawler's commentary was perhaps the real gem of this match. It was hilarious. King at his best.
#8: Batista, WrestleMania 23
Batista had never been defeated for the World Heavyweight Championship, and this match would be tense: it was Streak vs title. The crowd was really into it- booing the face Batista and cheering Undertaker on wildly. Undertaker looked godlike in his entrance as well.
Batista battled and battled, and so did the Undertaker, executing a suicide dive while Batista put Undertaker through a table with a Powerslam, overpowered a Chokeslam, and hit the Batista Bomb.
Undertaker would kick out of course, and hit the Tombstone for the win, proving once again that the Streak is greater than any title. It was also a nice way for the Undertaker to win his fifth world title (back when it was still a proper world title, of course).
#7: Edge, WrestleMania XXIV
This was payback time. The Undertaker had a major bone to pick with the World Heavyweight Champion, Edge, for having screwed him and gotten under his skin throughout the course of the past year. Each time he was seemingly within reach, Edge managed to slip and slime away. WrestleMania XXIV was upon him, and Edge would now have nowhere to run.
The crowd was a bit dead for this match, but the wrestling was good. Edge countered everything Undertaker threw at him, and it really looked like Edge had the Undertaker's number. He played the part well. Edge was perhaps a bit too dominant to remain within suspension of disbelief, but the Undertaker had some good spots, chokeslammed Zack Ryder onto Kurt Hawkins, and locked in the Hell's Gate to force Edge to submit and win his 6th world championship.
#6: CM Punk, WrestleMania XXIX
In a similar fashion to Diesel, CM Punk had a dominating run with the title for over a year, and he wanted to prove that he would be the one to attain even greater immortality- ending the Streak (yes, we've seen this before).
I do believe this match, much like others in recent years, was cheesing off of the matches with Shawn Michaels with all the false finishers, but CM Punk hit some good spots such as the elbow onto the announce table from the top turnbuckle. Both men battled. CM Punk schemed like a good heel, and through counter after counter, the Undertaker, as is so often the case, wound up on top.
Oh, and Paul Heyman provided some typical comic relief.
#5: Triple H, WrestleMania X-Seven
This was just a brawl. A no-holds barred slugging contest that got the crowd really hyped. At the best WrestleMania of all time, it provided even more highlights: the entrance with Motorhead, Undertaker letting loose with the bike, the downed referee (making the match essentially a no-holds barred contest), the battle in the crowd, the Chokeslam from the top level of the tech station, the sledgehammer interrupting the Last Ride.
As you can see by the description, it was action-packed with a lot of spots. Definitely not one to miss. This was easily the Undertaker's best WrestleMania match of the first decade or so of his career.
#4: Randy Orton, WrestleMania 21
I liked this match, perhaps more than others. Randy Orton was a then up-and cocky kid that professed himself to be the "Legend Killer." He looked to slay the ultimate dragon: the Undertaker, by ending the Streak. This was, as mentioned before, the time when the Streak first became a very big deal, and both men acted accordingly.
There were lots of attacks and counters that did not rely on false finishers throughout, a well-paced course of action with typical heel tactics in Cowboy Bob Orton's interference. Randy Orton's famous magic counters into RKOs perhaps first became famous here. Nevertheless, they weren't enough, and the Deadman walked out victorious.
#3: Triple H, WrestleMania XVIII
If the match the year before was a bit over the top in my opinion, this one was perfectly executed. It was a proper Hell in a Cell match, and having Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee added a further (and much needed) layer of intrigue. Shawn was shoved and abused by both competitors. It was also an open question whether he would stop the match at times.
Although this was more a hardcore match in a cage that is typical of modern HIAC matches, Undertaker and Triple H brutalized each other with weapons, and this was the Phenom's way of rectifying the situation from a year before. After Undertaker kicked out of a Sweet Chin Music/Pedigree combo, he went to town on Triple H and decisively beat him, with Shawn Michaels not daring to do anything to hamper him.
All three men would eventually exit together in triumph, to the delight of the crowd.
#2: Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania XXVI
If the Streak were to end, it would be HERE with Shawn Michaels' career on the line. There would again be brilliant spots and counters. Shawn Michaels with the Moonsault onto the announce table, putting the Undertaker and himself through it, is probably the most classic moment of the match.
Amazing counters and finishers were exchanged throughout, and with an emphatic Tombstone Piledriver, the career of the Heartbreak Kid was made to rest in peace.
#1: Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania XXV
There is probably as close to universal agreement in the wrestling world as you can get on this one. Out of all of the Undertaker's WrestleMania matches, this is number one without question.
Undertaker and Shawn Michaels hadn't faced each other in many years, and fans were clamoring to see them go in the twilight of their careers. They didn't disappoint. Instead, they put on what is probably the best match of the past ten years.
There were so many spots that it was a roller coaster ride. It appeared that Undertaker could have been legitimately hurt when he seemed to land on his head after a suicide dive (wherein Shawn Michaels pulled a cameraman in the way), adding a layer of real-life concern to a kayfabe situation. It was then that Undertaker nearly got counted out, falling down when making his way to the ring at 9, getting back in at 9 and 3/4.
This was where the now-tropish false finishers in Undertaker WrestleMania matches originated. But it worked, and worked brilliantly, this and the next time. Amazing commentary by Jim Ross only added to this perfect storm of brilliance.
If you'd like to rank the matches yourself, vote on my Squidoo tribute to the Deadman here.
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