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What’s the story?
Vince McMahon's plans to end The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak started with WrestleMania 22 in 2006, according to Bruce Prichard. He was talking to 'Something to Wrestle' podcast when he revealed that the chairman of WWE wanted Mark Henry to break the streak.
In case you didn’t know…
The Undertaker's streak was something the fans loved and everyone was shocked when Brock Lesnar finally broke it at WrestleMania 30. Since then, the Phenom has lost one more time at the hands of Roman Reigns and both the losses did not go down well with the WWE Universe.
The heart of the matter
On 'Something to Wrestle' podcast, Bruce Prichard revealed the shocking details of how Vince McMahon was convinced that Mark Henry was the right one to break the streak.
“I was sitting at my desk in Houston and Vince calls me and says, 'I've got an idea. What do you think about ending Undertaker's streak? I said, 'Well, with the right guy he's made.' He says, 'Goddamn, that big b*stard Mark Henry – he's ready!' There was silence. I'm like, 'Really?' Mark had been here 10 years and it wasn't anything against Mark, but I didn't think that Mark Henry beating and ending the streak would catapult him to the next level,” Prichard recalled.
He continued, “And I ran it by him and his reaction was the same as mine. It was pretty much silence, and he asked what I thought and I told him, 'I don't think it's a good idea, but try it on. See if there's something you think that might work.' He came back and said, 'OK, if that's what you guys want to do - if that's really what Vince wants.' Vince, as we got closer to it, got cold feet I guess and just realized that maybe Mark wasn't ready at that time for it, and I don't know that there was a real solid plan on the other side either to make it work.”
“[Paul] Heyman hated it. I don't know anybody that was like, 'Wooo hooo! Let's go do this,' other than Vince. Sometimes you just got to try s--t on and throw it out there. Sometimes you throw it out there and you need to just throw it the f--k away, too, but that's how we got there,” added Prichard. [H/T WrestlingInc for the quotes]
Luckily, Vince changed his mind and the streak continued.
What’s next?
WrestleMania 35 is coming up and there is no confirmation about The Undertaker's appearance just yet. Some reports suggest that he won't be at the show of all shows this time and that he is retired for good.
However, there are a few who claim that he will make an appearance one last time and it might be only confirmed towards the end, just like last year.
What are your thoughts on Vince's original plans for Mark Henry breaking The Undertaker's streak? Sound off in the comments section below.
