In pro wrestling, as in life, there are certain universal truths. John Cena will always emerge victorious, Dolph Ziggler will never receive the kind of push most feel he deserves, and The Undertaker’s Streak will remain in tact for all eternity.
Whether Cena should remain at the head of the pack whilst the undeniably talented Ziggler languishes around the midcard is a topic of much debate, though it’s hard to argue against the idea of The Dead Man continuing to have his hand raised in victory for as long as he chooses to show up each Wrestlemania.
Few things in wrestling are bigger than WWE as a whole. The Undertaker and his Streak are a notable exception.
The Defending of The Streak is an event unto itself, possibly bigger than anything else in wrestling. People talk about The Streak, they debate its merits, and likely challengers, endlessly. They pay money and tune in to witness the once-a-year spectacle of seeing The Undertaker fend off another challenge, add another name to the list of those who tried and failed, and usually have the best match of the night.
This year, perhaps the only thing fans are talking about more than The Streak is Daniel Bryan. After Wrestlemania season ends and normality is resumed, it’s likely that the only subject which occupies more forum discussions on a consistent, year-round basis than The Streak is who is, or isn’t worthy of a Hall of Fame induction.
The Streak makes WWE money. It gets people talking about the product. As long as it continues to do that, there’s no viable reason why it should end.
Though if that’s all there was to it, this article would end here. Instead, for the sake of argument, let’s play devil’s advocate and say that it not only should end, but that it should end this year, at the hands of Brock Lesnar.
Why? The answer is simply this:
Brock Lesnar is a wuss
A little harsh, sure, but in this writer’s not-so-humble opinion, Lesnar’s return to WWE television over the last couple of years has been far from compelling.
Lesnar is a former UFC champion, a legitimate tough guy who should bring an aura of being genuinely terrifying to a land where every Superstar looks as though they could kick the ass of mere mortals like you or I.
Yet whenever he makes an appearance, the other guy still looks as though he could stand up against Brock and hold his own.
Since his return, Lesnar has clocked up victories against bonafide main event players such as CM Punk and Triple H, but in both these instances, his opponents looked as though they stood a chance against him.
He may have come across as the aggressor in most cases, including his brief tussles with Mark Henry and The Big Show, though even then you never really got the impression that anybody feared Lesnar and his reputation for being the baddest of the bad. They were just unlucky enough to get their backsides handed to him by the erstwhile Minnesota Viking hopeful.
And that, for this fan, is where things have gone wrong for Lesnar. He should be presented as a terrifying beast, bigger than the biggest, tougher than the toughest, more dominating than them all. Other wrestlers should be afraid of Lesnar, so that when somebody does eventually stand up to this monster of a man, that somebody automatically looks like the bravest S.O.B on the planet, a wrestler fans would gladly get behind and tune in to support in his crusade against The Baddest of Them All.
There’s still a chance that Lesnar could achieve this kind of reputation, simply by doing what nobody else could do; walking through the valley of infernal hell with The Undertaker and emerging on the other side with his hand raised in victory.
Played correctly, being known as The One Who Ended The Streak could add more credibility to the right performer than any championship reign or main event spot ever could. In Brock’s case, this is certainly true.
Imagine if Lesnar was The One, an aura would surround his every appearance the likes of which this writer can hardly imagine. Boy, that Lesnar guy must sure have something special if he could stand toe-to-toe with the legendary Undertaker and pin his shoulders to the mat at Wrestlemania.
But wait, isn’t Brock Lesnar one of those crusty, old part-timers we all resent for coming back, working a reduced schedule and taking the top spots away from guys like Punk, Ziggler and their ilk? Why the hell should he get the honor of ending The Streak?
Because:
The Undertaker won’t be around forever
Let’s face it, The Undertaker can’t continue to compete at the top level (even if it is only once a year) forever. The man made his professional debut in 1984. That’s thirty years between the ropes, twenty six of those spent working a tough schedule crammed with high calibre matches for WWE. Ultimately, there will come a time when The Phenom rides off into the darkness, never to return.
Conversely, Lesnar is in his mid-thirties and made his professional debut fourteen years ago. Despite his much-publicized foray into MMA, he isn’t in bad shape. He could, if he chooses to, keep working for a long time to come, especially if he preserves his health by continuing to work a part-time schedule as a special attraction.
And therein lies the main appeal in Brock Lesnar: Streak Destroyer.
The Undertaker is a special attraction whose time is drawing slowly to an end. Brock Lesnar is also a special attraction, one who could easily fill the void left behind by The Dead Man. If he does so as The One Who Killed The Undertaker, his star could be as beneficial to WWE as The Undertaker’s Streak is today.
But hey, that’s just one man’s crazy argument. What do you think? Should Lesnar end The Streak? Should anybody ever end The Streak? Am I completely off the mark as far as Brock’s recent WWE run is concerned? Let me know below.
About Chris Skoyles: Chris Skoyles is a writer who once saw Shawn Michaels hurl Marty Jannetty through a window and has been hooked on pro wrestling ever since. He tweets about wrestling at @Allpwrestling