WWE: 5 mistakes that ruined The Undertaker's legacy

Taker and Reigns looking at the Mania sign
Taker and Reigns looking at the Mania sign

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Whenever the WWE Universe talks about the greatest characters in the history of professional wrestling, The Undertaker's name always comes up among the top guns.

Ever since he debuted at Survivor Series 1990, The Undertaker has carved a niche for himself and has turned his character into quite possibly the greatest gimmick of all time. There was a time when his undefeated streak used to be the USP of WrestleMania, until it was broken by Brock Lesnar in 2014.

Almost 30 years since The Phenom made his debut, we've come to a point where the majority of fans don't want to see The Undertaker compete in another match, no matter if it's at WrestleMania or Saudi Arabia. There seems to be a sense of disinterest among the fans which was never seen before when it comes to The Undertaker.

How did we come to this? What went wrong? Let's take a look at 5 mistakes that have ruined the aura of The Undertaker's character.

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#5 He's way past his prime

Taker looked out of shape in the Royal Rumble match in 2017
Taker looked out of shape in the Royal Rumble match in 2017

Remember the Royal Rumble match in 2017? The Undertaker appeared in the match and a brawl with Goldberg was teased. That didn't end up happening though, but we saw Roman Reigns eliminate The Deadman.

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What worried the fans was how bad The Undertaker was looking. He had never looked worse, and was visibly struggling to hang with the young guys in the ring. After watching The Undertaker dominate a string of WWE Superstars and legends for years, this was a sad sight to witness.

Although WWE had advertised the match as being one of the most star-studded Rumbles ever, they could have done without the inclusion of The Undertaker. There was no way he would have been able to impress in the ring that night, and he certainly didn't. It has been 2 years since that match and The Undertaker's physique hasn't gotten any better.

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#4 Instagram influencer

Taker has never been this active on social media
Taker has never been this active on social media

This one's not on The Undertaker, but it still is a big mistake, considering that The Phenom is slated to appear at this year's Saudi Arabia event.

Over the past few months, The Undertaker has been more active than ever on social media. There's this intrigue and mystery that was attached to the character of The Undertaker. Even after seeing him make public appearances -like his confrontation with Brock Lesnar years ago- there was still a certain aura that wasn't dead yet.

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Now though, the fans see him promoting brands on Instagram, which isn't something anyone had ever thought of seeing The Undertaker do. Yes, he is a normal human being after all, and deserves to earn money outside of WWE.

But the fact of the matter is that he still hasn't retired and is advertised for the show in the Middle East. Vince McMahon spent years upon years protecting The Undertaker's character, and the role of an Instagram Influencer could have waited for a little while.

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#3 Constantly being fed to Lesnar

Lesnar, moments after destroying Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell
Lesnar, moments after destroying Undertaker inside Hell in a Cell

There was no one in WWE who had managed to put The Undertaker down. When Brock Lesnar came onto the WWE scene, he was touted as being "The Next Big Thing". He went over the likes of Hulk Hogan and The Rock before kicking off a feud with Undertaker.

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Ever since then, WWE has fed their top performer to Brock Lesnar on numerous occasions. Lesnar destroyed him inside Hell in a Cell in 2002, a Biker Chain match in 2003, WrestleMania XXX, and many more. The one-time Undertaker managed to beat Lesnar was done in controversial fashion, which wasn't something that looked good on an icon like him.

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Vince McMahon built The Deadman for more than a decade, only to feed him to Brock Lesnar during both of his runs in WWE. These losses sent a very clear signal to the WWE Universe: The Undertaker just isn't good enough for Brock Lesnar.

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#2 The breaking of the streak

Lesnar did the impossible that night
Lesnar did the impossible that night

Originally, Undertaker was slated to defeat Brock Lesnar and advance his WrestleMania undefeated streak to 22-0.

Reportedly, Vince McMahon changed his mind at the last moment, and it was decided that Brock Lesnar would break the streak that had lived on for two decades. Apparently, Vince thought that this could be The Undertaker's final match and he wouldn't be able to perform at his age going forward. The boss couldn't have been more wrong, as we're in 2019 and Undertaker is all set to appear at the Saudi show.

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The ending of the streak will go down in the history of this business as quite possibly the most shocking moment of all time. It also marked the beginning of the end for The Undertaker, who deserved to go out with his head held high after years of service to Vince McMahon and WWE.

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#1 The 2nd loss

Reigns after ending the streak
Reigns after ending the streak

Although the ending of the streak did cause tons of controversy in the wrestling world, the hullabaloo soon died down. By the time WrestleMania 33 rolled around, Undertaker's record had been advanced to 23-1, with Undertaker's wins against Bray Wyatt and Shane McMahon.

The numbers still looked good on paper, signifying the fact that The Undertaker managed to topple everyone who came in his path, except that one dangerous beast who was too tough, even for The Phenom.

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Roman Reigns' win ruined that too! When Reigns delivered a thunderous spear to a battered Undertaker, the sea of fans inside the stadium gasped in unison.

Now, the streak was at 23-2. These figures looked less impressive compared to when the streak was unbroken, or when only Lesnar had managed to put The Deadman down. This was the final nail in the coffin of The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak, as well as the aura attached to the legendary character that he spent decades building up.

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