The Undertaker’s streak ended at 21-1 when Brock Lesnar defeated him at WrestleMania XXX, the Deadman’s 22nd WrestleMania outing. However, on five previous occasions, the streak was actually booked to be broken, twice before it was even ever acknowledged by WWE, only for the result to be changed.
I look at the five scenarios and rate them on a scale of 1-10, using my “Close-o-Meter.” With 10 being the closest to happening and 1 being the least close and most far-fetched.
#5 WrestleMania 27 – Dana White saves the streak
Plans for WrestleMania 27 were very different to what ended up transpiring. Initially, the WWE wanted Brock Lesnar, who was contracted to the UFC at the time to end the streak. They even sent The Undertaker to UFC 121 to engage in a worked shoot face-off with Lesnar, after his loss to Cain Velasquez.
The plan was to pay Brock $5m to take part at two WrestleMania PPVs, 27 and 28. Brock would end the streak at 27 but would look up at the lights for John Cena at WrestleMania 28. However, despite Brock being keen, Dana White did not authorise the plans and would not allow Brock to face The Undertaker.
The WWE then reached out to The Rock to replace the missing star-power due to Dana White’s refusal. The People’s Champion negotiated a verbal deal to appear at WrestleMania 27 to 30, beginning with him hosting at WrestleMania 27. The original host for WrestleMania 27 was pencilled in to be Justin Bieber.
The Rock hosted 27 and wrestled Cena at 28 and 29. His proposed match at WrestleMania XXX with Brock Lesnar was cancelled, when he was too injured to participate in an angle on the Raw after WrestleMania 29, where Brock was meant to attack and injure The Rock.
Close-o-Meter rating: 3/10.
This ranks the lowest, as Brock was never allowed to wrestle while under his UFC deal. Therefore, the match was always a no-go, despite the fact that The Undertaker did show up at UFC 121 (see video below).
#4 WrestleMania 27 (again) – Bad News for Barrett
The Undertaker ended up facing Triple H at WrestleMania 27. Even this was a late change, as The Undertaker was originally set to face Wade Barrett after the Brock Lesnar deal fell through.
The Undertaker was very keen to retire in 2011 and Barrett was actually chosen by the Deadman himself. However, WrestleMania 27 signified the first time that Vince has done what he has done many times since, convinced The Undertaker not to retire!
The Undertaker agreed to a two-year program with Triple H and even set up the rematch at the end of the WrestleMania 27 match with Triple H, by leaving on a stretcher.
Close-o-Meter rating: 5/10.
Unlike Brock, Barrett was actually in the WWE. The WWE had already blown the Nexus storyline and the streak would have completely re-built Barrett. Unfortunately, Vince never saw Barrett at that level, which became clearer over the years, based on the way Barrett was booked.
Barrett vs. The Undertaker was scrapped in mid-February, so despite being planned, it never got that close to happening.
#3 WrestleMania 9 – A Giant mistake avoided
Can you imagine the streak never existing because The Undertaker lost his third WrestleMania match to The Giant Gonzalez?
Fortunately, Hulk Hogan’s politicking saved the day. The WWE had big plans for Gonzalez, which included going over The Undertaker and Hulk Hogan, before re-visiting The Undertaker feud in the summer.
However, instead of simply doing his tag match at WrestleMania 9 and then losing to Gonzalez at the 1993 King of the Ring on his way out, Hogan pitched the idea to leave WrestleMania 9 with the WWE Title after the Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna match (see video below), with him then dropping the belt back to Yokozuna at the King of the Ring.
Vince agreed, resulting in Gonzalez and The Undertaker ending in a lame feud-extending DQ. Fortunately, Vince soon soured on Gonzalez due to his poor in-ring performances and Gonzalez actually never scored any victories over The Undertaker at any event.
Close-o-Meter rating: 7/10.
The WWE did not need Gonzalez to beat Undertaker to move him onto Hogan. The DQ finish at WrestleMania 9 did not weaken Gonzalez too much and Undertaker could have sold the beating properly if they wanted him to take time off. However, rumours indicate that was indeed the plan until Hogan’s politics saved the day.
Nobody knows when exactly Hogan and McMahon planned to have the former win the belt, therefore, it is hard to judge exactly when the Hogan-Gonzalez program was scrapped, resulting in the streak being preserved.
#2 WrestleMania 12 – Money over streak
Kevin Nash, as Diesel, was booked to beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania 12, until Eric Bishoff came in with a huge offer to take Nash to WCW. Mick Foley, as Mankind, was set to debut and interfere, costing The Undertaker the match.
Diesel would then go on to face Shawn Michaels for the belt at the next PPV, while The Undertaker would feud Mankind. Despite his loss, Diesel would illogically still receive his title shot the next month and lose to Shawn Michaels, while Mankind would debut the next night on Raw and attack The Undertaker on that show instead.
Close-o-meter rating 8/10.
Definitely a close call. The booking after WrestleMania 12 certainly indicated Diesel was winning. Triple H and Kevin Nash have both said Nash was torn about leaving the WWE for WCW, therefore, the fact that the decision to leave WWE for WCW lay in the hands of Kevin Nash, meant that the future of the streak lay in Nash’s hands too.
If Nash has opted to stay in the WWE, he would have beaten The Undertaker.
#1 WrestleMania 21 – A WrestleMania morning decision
I remember being at WrestleMania 21, in the lobby of the Sheraton Universal, in Hollywood. An intoxicated and irritated Randy Orton asked me and my friend Craig for a cigarette, which we gave him. Something wasn’t right. Orton stormed in and out of the hotel several times that night, while most of the other talents had gone to bed early, knowing that WrestleMania was the next day.
I don’t know why Randy was angry or what time he eventually went to bed. I also didn’t know what I know now. That being that, Randy Orton was ending the streak the next day, although I certainly expected it.
Never had the streak been so heavily acknowledged on TV at the time and it was because Orton was the “legend killer.” Orton had been replaced in the main event by Batista, after a failed face-turn, therefore, turning him heel and having him defeat The Undertaker was planned to rebuild his momentum.
Unfortunately for Orton, information about his behaviour from the night before got back to Vince McMahon, and McMahon was not willing to reward this behaviour by having him end The Undertaker’s streak. That night, Kurt Angle of SmackDown beat Raw’s Shawn Michaels and SmackDown’s Undertaker also beat Raw’s Randy Orton.
SmackDown was not initially booked to defeat Raw 2-0 in the Raw vs. SmackDown matches. This was a result of Orton’s behaviour over the weekend.
Randy Orton has often spoken about these dark years and his struggles with substances and depression, which almost lead to him committing suicide. Orton is a very different man these days and has overcome all the demons in his life. In a September 2006 interview with WWE Magazine Orton discussed the issue, saying:
“My problems came to a head when I decided to smoke a joint and someone smelled it and stooged me off. You know who you are, so if you’re reading this, thanks. But I also had a few outbursts of anger on the road. But I’ve nipped that part of me in the bud. I attended an anger management clinic in Atlanta. The first week I was there, I was like, OK, I’ll do what I have to do to get out of here.” But then I started to realize, wow, I was wrong in a lot of these situations. I just got this reputation of being hard to work with. But the truth is, I don’t flip out anymore.”
Close-o-Meter: 9/10.
It doesn’t get closer than a decision being changed on the day of the show. It’s especially incredible when you consider the fact that all that had to happen for the streak to end at WrestleMania 21, was for Randy Orton to apply some common sense and go to bed at a sensible hour.
Unfortunately for Orton, he did not. As you can see from the video above, the stage was set for Orton to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania 21.
