Welcome to Last Word on Mania month at Last Word on Sports! All month long we will be doing articles to build up for Wrestlemania 31 on March 29, 2015. Be sure to read everything this month by clicking this link. Enjoy!
When it comes to wrestlers whose names are synonymous with WrestleMania, one of the biggest is that of The Undertaker. In a career that started out typically enough, one can’t help but wonder when his WrestleMania victories stopped being coincidence and began to morph into what has become known as The Streak. A feat that may never be duplicated, The Streak became something very real for fans of the fantastical world of professional wrestling, and of the Deadman. Some would say that The Streak almost became bigger than The Undertaker himself, but The Streak wasn’t unbreakable.
WrestleMania 31 Preview: The Undertaker VS Bray Wyatt
The Sacrificial Lamb
It seems very odd, unnatural even, to refer to The Undertaker and The Streak in such a vulnerable and weak fashion, but at WrestleMania XXX that is very much what The Phenom and The Streak became, a sacrifice. A tribute given to a mighty beast to make him stronger, more brutal, and more intimidating.
Prior to breaking The Streak, Brock Lesnar had suffered losses to John Cena and Triple H. While he still looked dominant in those matches, the losses still served as dents in his armour, but all of that was erased after WrestleMania XXX.
Lesnar breaking The Streak wiped the slate clean. While he still had notches in the Loss column, no one cared. He did the impossible, he broke The Streak, transforming him into The Beast Incarnate, an unstoppable force in the WWE, but what did that loss do to The Undertaker?
It was widely known after WrestleMania XXX that the match with Brock Lesnar took a toll on The Undertaker, who was taken to hospital when he collapsed immediately after reaching the backstage area. The Deadman has been more or less a part time wrestler for the last few years, wrestling a few matches per year, but this may be the first time that he hasn’t been seen from one WrestleMania to the next. Undertaker’s WrestleMania matches, at least within the last six years, have often left their mark on The Deadman and he has regularly taken time off, but he would usually return by the Summer. For him to be absent this long leads to wonder what the extent of his injuries were, and if he has truly recovered.
Personally, I thought The Undertaker was done after last year. The Streak was broken, there was no longer an unattainable goal for other wrestlers to aspire. A year ago I had thought if The Phenom were to return at WrestleMania 31, the only logical match would be one of redemption, facing Brock Lesnar again to avenge his loss. However, in breaking The Streak, Lesnar became bigger than anyone could have imagined and that dominance led him to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and as Brock’s year of destruction continued, the chances of a rematch seemed less and less likely.
The Lantern In The Darkness
As bleak as the chances of that rematch had become, there was still a light in the distance, there was a plan. If The Undertaker was indeed going to be physically ready for a match at the Showcase of the Immortals, the question then became who would he face? To capitalize on the questions of if The Undertaker could return, keeping him absent from television would be fundamental, but who then does he face? Who not only has the talent to put on a match worthy of what The Undertaker at WrestleMania has become, but who could also carry the feud on his shoulders without a single confrontation with The Deadman? Enter Bray Wyatt.
The New Face of Fear, the man who at WWE Fastlane called out The Undertaker and week after week since, has cut some of the best promos of his career, which is no easy feat, as he is considered to be one of the best talkers in WWE today. The mystique that comes along with The Undertaker as a character has played a significant role, of that there’s no doubt, but Bray Wyatt has taken that mystique and twisted it, moulded it into one of the most anticipated matches on the card. His words are always eloquent, his delivery magnificent, with this series of promos he has woven a story of intrigue that has fans awaiting their confrontation with baited breath.
Bray Wyatt will need to get by with more than just a silver tongue however, but given his track record in the ring, that shouldn’t be an issue. Wyatt has had consistently excellent matches regardless of the opponent, but the better the opponent has been, the more Bray shines. His match with Daniel Bryan at the 2014 Royal Rumble was a standout to say the least, and at WrestleMania XXX, despite tasting defeat Wyatt proved that even on the Grandest Stage he can excel and put on what some have called the match of the night, which was no simple task given that Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan, another exceptional match, was on the same card.
Bray Wyatt can carry himself well on the microphone and in the ring, but is he truly prepared for the task at hand, facing the legacy of The Deadman?
The Dance With The Devil
This match, in no uncertain terms, may be the most important match in The Undertaker’s history with WrestleMania. Most years it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that The Phenom’s streak would continue, adding another notch to the one-sided tally, but after last year is that still the case? The Undertaker as a character seems mortal now, flawed. No longer is he undefeated at WrestleMania, and if it can happen once it can certainly happen again.
Does The Undertaker, once again, give back to the business, much like he did last year? And if so, what does that say about him, and about the legacy of The Streak? Going undefeated at the Show of Shows for over two decades just to lose two years in a row, it would certainly cast an unwavering shadow of doubt and sadness among the faithful followers of The Phenom, but it would undoubtedly catapult the young Wyatt further, to a height no one may have ever expected him to reach. However, maybe that is what this is all about, a passing of the torch. Wyatt has proclaimed himself to be The New Face of Fear and many have said he is very much this generations equivalent to The Undertaker of old, so perhaps this is a changing of the guard, the valiant yet tired grim spectre of death, stepping aside for one a little younger, a little hungrier and perhaps, in some ways, scarier.
There is as much of a chance that The Deadman could return to his winning ways, however. Bray Wyatt’s career would surely not suffer from a loss to The Undertaker, if that were the direction the fates would take, but unlike most other years, the outcome of The Deadman’s match at WrestleMania is in question, and it is a question that cannot be answered until March 29, 2015, when The Undertaker makes his return to the show that his name is so synonymous with, WrestleMania.
