Looking Back At The Undertaker's WrestleMania Streak - March 17, 2011

Bonus Wrestling List this week. Hope you all are having a great week.

I want to give TNA the credit that they deserve this week. That statement could probably be taken as I'm about to rip on them for something. LOL. No, it is good. They have taken a ton of heat this week over how the Victory Road PPV ended. Fans feeling cheated. Well, TNA has informed fans that if you bought the PPV, they are going to offer you six months free of their TNA On Demand programming on their site. They put out a press release basically saying that they want to give their best to the fans and that they didn't do that this past Sunday. I have seen their On Demand site on their website and there is a lot of stuff on there to watch. Good for TNA that they are looking to make good with the disappointed fans. They are showing effort and I give them a bunch of credit for that. To get the six months free, you send your PPV purchase receipt, name, address, and email address to this address and they'll set you up with the info on how to get it.
TNA OnDemand Offer
209 10th Avenue South, #302
Nashville, TN 37203.

Ok, this idea goes to Corey. He suggested to me a few weeks ago about doing a look back on the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak. Memories of the matches and all. Sounds like fun to me so if it's good, thank him. If it's bad, blame him. Completely kidding!! LOL. I love his idea so here we go.

1-0 - WrestleMania VII - vs. Jimmy Snuka. Who knew how important that this match would be as far as setting up the future of the streak? There was no doubt who was winning this match. Even me as a kid knew who was winning this one. Snuka on the back side of his career against the WWF newcomer, The Undertaker. This was basically a squash. Undertaker got the win at the LA Sports Arena and the streak begins.

2-0 - WrestleMania VIII - vs. Jake The Snake Roberts. This was a match that I was looking forward to at the time. This feud basically turned Undertaker face. Remember that on Saturday Night's Main Event that Roberts had taken on Randy Savage with their continuing feud. Roberts lost and was waiting backstage on Savage and Elizabeth to come through the curtain so he could blast them with a steel chair. When they walked through, Roberts went to swing and the chair was caught by Undertaker. Savage and Elizabeth ducked out of the way and Savage pounded on Roberts. That was the face turn and set up the dark feud between Undertaker and Roberts. Now, the match wasn't what it could have been probably due to Roberts having a falling out with the company and this being his last match. Undertaker gets the win including him taking a DDT on the floor. 2-0 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.

3-0 - WrestleMania IX - vs. Giant Gonzales. Yeah, this is one of his matches that isn't remembered well. In fact that whole WrestleMania isn't remembered well. The idea was to put Gonzales in a furry costume which looked bad. The whole idea was how Undertaker would respond to having to face a giant of a man bigger than him. The end result was that it wasn't a good match. Undertaker got beaten down and was taken backstage. He returned a few seconds later looking for payback. 3-0 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

4-0 - WrestleMania XI - vs. King Kong Bundy. A lot of people can't stand WrestleMania IX. Well, I can't stand WrestleMania XI. That is my least favorite WrestleMania ever. Just a bad show with Shawn/Diesel being the only highlight on it for me. There was no Undertaker at WrestleMania X due to him taking time off from the company. They did the angle at the Royal Rumble where something like 15 guys beat him down in a casket match against Yokozuna. He would return at SummerSlam that year. Against Bundy, I don't have a lot of memories of this match mostly cause I don't try to think about this PPV at all. LOL. This was also during the whole Million Dollar Corporation gimmick but the focus of that was mostly on Bam Bam and LT. 4-0 at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, CT.

5-0 - WrestleMania XII - vs. Diesel. Ok, here is the one where I was clearly cheering against Undertaker as a fan. At this time in 1996, I was solidly behind Shawn Michaels and his partner in crime, Diesel. I was a big fan of Big Daddy Cool. I liked the build to this match with most opponents being afraid of Undertaker. Diesel was one of the first guys to really be built as I'm not afraid of you. I still remember the interview with Diesel saying "I'm not afraid of the dark". This also culminated in the big triangle that had been going for the WWF title between Undertaker, Bret Hart, and Diesel. Diesel had cost Undertaker the title at The Royal Rumble. Undertaker returned the favor by costing Diesel the title at the In Your House PPV in Louisville by coming up from under the ring during the cage match and pulling Diesel underneath it allowing Bret to retain. The big match would happen at WrestleMania XII. It was a typical big man match but I thought it was solid and have good memories of it. It was the biggest opponent for Undertaker to date at a WrestleMania. 5-0 in Anaheim, CA.

6-0 - WrestleMania XIII - vs. Sycho Sid. This match closed the show in Chicago and unfortunately had to follow the epic Bret Hart/Steve Austin submission match. Shawn Michaels was at ringside doing commentary. There had been a big battle for the title leading up to this show involving several guys including Undertaker, Bret Hart, Sid, Vader, and Shawn Michaels. Shawn of course dropped the title in February leaving the others to battle for it. The culmination of this would be Undertaker winning the WWF title for the second time in his career and getting a big WrestleMania moment. 6-0 in Chicago, IL

7-0 - WrestleMania XIV - vs. Kane. The brothers clash at WrestleMania. The build of this match went back to Kane's debut at the Badd Blood PPV in St. Louis. The match was built up and this was the big face off. Not a lot of memories for me on this match but it was a fine match. 7-0 in Boston.

8-0 - WrestleMania XV - vs. The Big Boss Man. The only cell match to take place on a WrestleMania event. Yeah, it wasn't a good one at all. The finish was disturbing and just didn't do anything for me. This was also during the evil Undertaker era which was just too much as well. Blocked this one out. This is actually one of my least favorite WrestleMania events ever as well. 8-0 in Philadelphia.

9-0 - WrestleMania X-7 - vs. Triple H
Undertaker didn't make WrestleMania 2000 so his next match would be at Wrestlemania X-7 in Houston. This was a big match at the time and one that WWE is not bothering to mention in their current build. Guessing that they want us to forget that they have wrestled before at a WrestleMania. Triple H was on a major role at this point and Undertaker was on to the biker gimmick. Good match that ended up around the building. I remember being such a Triple H fan at the time that I uttered the words after the pinfall of Undertaker winning that this ranks right up there with Hogan/Warrior on garbage moments at WrestleMania. LOL. I was kidding of course. This was part of one of the best WrestleMania events ever. 9-0 at the Astrodome in Houston.

10-0 - WrestleMania X-8 - vs. Ric Flair. The streak continues as Undertaker has to battle a legend. I don't think any of us really expected Flair to be given the win but it intrigued us by having a legend as Flair challenging the streak. My favorite memory of this match had nothing to do with either guy. It involved a run in from Arn Anderson who hit a spinebuster on the Undertaker. It got my room into a big time pop of cheers. It was awesome!! Good back and forth between Undertaker and Flair and it was a solid match. 10-0 at the Skydome in Toronto.

11-0 - WrestleMania XIX - vs. A-Train and the Big Show in a handicap match. Yeah, this is another one of those not great matches. Feels like a pad the stat kind of match for 2003. 11-0 at Safeco Field in Seattle.

12-0 - WrestleMania XX - vs. Kane. This was a very anticipated match from fans based on this being the return of the original Undertaker gimmick. Gone was the biker gimmick and back was the original Undertaker. Big entrance as expected and the MSG crowd ate it up. The match was what it was. It wasn't a classic but the match itself wasn't the attraction. It was the return of the Undertaker. 12-0 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

13-0 - WrestleMania 21 - vs. Randy Orton. I have good memories of this match. This was the build of could Randy Orton add to his list of legends? He was doing the legend killer gimmick at the time and could the youngster end the streak? Really fun match and my big memory of this match was Orton countering Undertaker's chokeslam into a RKO. It looked awesome and got the crowd on its feet. Really fun match. 13-0 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

14-0 - WrestleMania 22 - vs. Mark Henry. My first thought when this match was announced was that I knew that the streak was safe. If Mark Henry ends the streak, something is wrong. Just felt like a filler kind of match for that year with the streak. This WrestleMania is one of my favorites and it had a hot crowd backing it up. 14-0 in Chicago.

15-0 - WrestleMania 23 - vs. Batista. This match was better than I expected it to be. I'm not a Batista fan which all of you should know by now. LOL. I thought Undertaker got a good solid match out of him. Undertaker won the World Heavyweight title for the first time. 15-0 at Ford Field in Detroit.

16-0 - WrestleMania XXIV - vs. Edge. This was a match that I really looked forward to and got the honor of closing the show. I looked forward to seeing what the two of these guys could do. They had good chemistry. Undertaker wins his second World title which both wins taking place at back to back WrestleMania's. 16-0 at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

17-0 - WrestleMania XXV - vs. Shawn Michaels. Well, what can be said here? I mean really. What a match at the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania. Just incredible. One of the best matches in WrestleMania history and one of the best matches that I've ever seen in my life. These two showed everyone just how you work a crowd into a frenzy. We were hanging on every pinfall attempt. There were so many false finishes in this that it just had you cheering. You didn't know when it was going to end and you didn't want it to end! This match had the feel of that the streak could very well end. If anybody was going to do it, it could have been Shawn. After a match that left us exhausted watching, Undertaker's streak continued. The bad thing about this match? They messed up and didn't put it last leaving Triple H and Randy Orton having no chance to get the crowd with them after that. One of the greatest matches ever with Undertaker and Shawn. 17-0 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.

18-0 - WrestleMania XXVI - vs. Shawn Michaels. Streak vs. Career. Which would give? The build to this match started back in January with Shawn wanting his rematch. The story would have Shawn be so obsessed with the streak that nothing else mattered to him. Shawn would get no for an answer for a rematch. So, he would go for the Rumble win so he could challenge him as champion. Shawn would lose and then superkick everyone out of frustration when he was eliminated. The story would have Shawn getting his match after his interference in the Elimination Chamber to cost Undertaker the title. The match was set and a deal was made to have Shawn put up his career. This was a great story build to this match. Great job to WWE cause this gave us a great match to care about. They had yet another classic that had the drama all the way to the end. I still remember watching the finish of Shawn climbing off the mat up to Undertaker while he yelled for Shawn to "just stay down". Shawn then was defiant right to the end with the throat slash and slap to Undertaker's face. This was followed by a jumping tombstone that had me saying that is definitely the finish. No kickout of that monster tombstone. It would be the end of Shawn's career and the two built a great legacy that will have their careers at WrestleMania revolve around each other forever. 18-0 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix.

That brings us to WrestleMania XXVII in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. A WrestleMania rematch with Triple H. Will the streak end? I hope not and don't think it will. This streak has become such a great thing in WrestleMania history and deserves to continue. There won't be anything else like this again. I just don't see anyone getting that kind of build. The question for me is just how many WrestleMania matches are we going to see out of Undertaker? I would love to see him go an even 20-0 but he is banged up pretty bad. Can you keep him as an attraction kind of star and have him back next year for another match? I could see it happening. His health is a concern on that one. What a lot of fun it has been though and it's wild to look back on it all.

So, there you go. If anyone has any ideas of stuff like this that you'd like me to do for a future Wrestling List, please let me know.

That is it for tonight. Have a great weekend and get out and enjoy this great weather!! Take care and God bless!!