What’s the story?
Wrestling Inc recently caught up with Justin Roberts. In this interview, the former WWE ring announcer talked about the strange reaction to the end of The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania 30.
In case you didn’t know...
Brock Lesnar stunned the world by ending The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania 33. The reaction from fans in attendance and on Twitter spoke volumes about the magnitude of the result.
Reports after the event indicated that only a handful of people in WWE had been clued in on the finish. Several employees of the company, from the referee to the timekeeper, were as shocked as the audience.
Also read: 5 things that only The Undertaker has done in WWE
The heart of the matter
Apparently, Justin Roberts thought that Lesnar’s pinfall on The Deadman was counted by accident, and he also said that the audience’s reaction to the finish was “weird”.
"I thought it was a mistake. I really did. My stomach dropped when the referee counted to three. I really thought it was a mistake and the bell was rung and I looked over at the person ringing the bell and thought, were you supposed to ring that bell?
I was cued to make the announcement, and making it was so strange because it wasn't going to be something that was going to be cheered or get booed, but everyone in the crowd including myself was wondering if it was supposed to happen, so when I got the cue to make the announcement I said, here's your winner, the winner of this match, Brock Lesnar, it didn't get a cheer or a boo, just a weird reaction, probably one of the weirdest announcements I ever called."
The 37-year-old, now signed to House of Hardcore, added that he thought the decision to end the streak was a creative error.
With a streak like that, why are you going to end it? If you are going to end it, why give it to somebody who doesn't need that? Brock doesn't need that, Brock is a beast."
What’s next?
Justin Roberts is still promoting the release of his book, so you can expect to hear more from him in the near future.
Author’s take
The ending of the streak is one of the most iconic moments in the history of professional wrestling. Even though the crew didn’t know about the finish, everything from the graphic to the announcement was produced to perfection.
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