The Streak is Over

WrestleMania XXX has come and gone.  It was much better than yours truly initially expected following the results of Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber.  More so than in years prior, WrestleMania as an overall show was fun and thoroughly enjoyable.  There were a good number of great moments from Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock all in the same ring and Daniel Bryan's winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after having the odds stacked against him to Cesaro slamming Big Show over the top rope and The Shield's triple powerbomb on both members of the New Age Outlaws.  While a couple matches did not live up to this writer's expectations namely John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt and Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar, it was a pleasant surprise to see the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and Daniel Bryan vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton exceed my low expectations.  Out of everything that happened at WrestleMania XXX, one moment in particular clearly defined this event and cemented its spot in wrestling history.  That moment was the end of The Streak at the hands of Brock Lesnar.

Over the course of the Undertaker's illustrious career, no accomplishment has been greater than his winning streak at WrestleMania.  As countless wrestlers fell to the Deadman at WrestleMania year-in and year-out, The Streak grew in prestige and importance.  One could easily argue that The Streak was the most prestigious and important accomplishment in the WWE and professional wrestling as a whole.  To break such an unprecedented streak would be greater than winning any match or championship in wrestling.  Considering the lacklustre events leading up to the match between Undertaker and Brock Lesnar, no one could have imagined The Streak would end in that very match.  You would expect the WWE to pull out all the stops and put together some epic build for a result this monumental and polarizing to even considered.  Wrestling fans have been so invested in The Streak that it is understandable to see such a wide array of emotions come from it ending.  Being of the camp that never wanted The Streak to be broken, I am personally surprised at how well I have received it.  Even though Brock Lesnar is a part-timer and has already established himself as a premier athlete, I am perfectly fine with him ending The Streak.  Actually, having Lesnar end The Streak gives the Beast nuclear heat that will never wear off and establishes him as THE dominant force in the WWE.  Also it sets up whoever beats Lesnar next, which better be Bryan, as a bona fide superstar in the WWE.  Personally, I am bummed out that Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar could not develop into a great match.  While it was still a pretty good match at best, they could never take the match to the next level and really get our blood pumping like all of the recent Undertaker matches at WrestleMania.  Not putting on an excellent match to rival the moment of The Streak ending just made things feel surreal and uncomfortable.  The match did show that it is definitely time for Undertaker to hang up the boots for good.  People may be concerned about how WWE will book a possible Sting vs. Undertaker match for next year, but this writer would rather not see that smoke-and-mirrors show become a reality especially since neither Sting or Undertaker can perform anywhere close to the level they use to.

WWE could not rely on The Streak to solely sell WrestleMania forever; now is the time to let it go and make new selling points for WrestleMania.  To launch the WWE into a new era, it is beneficial to honour both the Undertaker and The Streak as an important part of WrestleMania and wrestling history with Raw tonight and the 2015 Hall of Fame at WrestleMania 31.  As hard as it may seem for some, the unthinkable has happened.  The Streak is over and we all have to come to accept it one way or another.  WWE took an incredible risk with ending The Streak, but the only way to know if it was truly the right call or not is to see what happens next.  Tonight's Raw is the first page of this next chapter.  Will you be watching?

Top 5 Turns of the Past Decade

In the world of professionally wrestling, a wrestling is either face or heel.  While these classifications seem very basic and restrictive, they are not the only things that determine a wrestler’s character.  There are plenty of other factors that this writer can go into length about, but that is a topic for another day.  Being face or heel does not mean a wrestler is stuck in that classification for the rest of their career.  Movement between the classifications is a huge part of the wrestling industry.  A face or heel turn keeps the product fresh, builds excitement and brings in viewers new and old.  When one thinks about face/heel turns, the images of Bret Hart not letting go of the Sharpshooter on an unconscious Stone Cold, Hulk Hogan embracing Kevin Nash and Scott Hall and Stone Cold shaking hands with Mr. McMahon comes to mind.  Having only been a wrestling fan for a decade now, this writer did not experience these legendary turns firsthand, but has experienced some amazing turns nonetheless.  Here are this writer’s favourite turns of the past decade.

5. A Belfast Sized Slap

Sheamus has been criticized for his face character on many occasions.  While this writer agrees with all of those criticisms, it did start out with a whole lot of promise.  After a long run as a heel, WWE Creative gave the Great White a chance at being a fan favourite.  Rather than build it for weeks and months on end, this face turn came out of absolutely nowhere.  One Smackdown during the Summer of 2011, Mark Henry made a challenge to anybody in the locker room to fight him.  Sheamus answered Henry’s challenge with a huge slap that literally knocked the sweat off of the World’s Strongest Man.  With one slap, Sheamus turned from one of the most hated heels in the WWE to the most popular.  No matter the now infuriating result, it was one amazing turn.

4. End of the Legacy

Animosity between Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes, the group known as Legacy, had been growing for months leading up to their eventual implosion.  Rhodes and DiBiase were playing some games with Orton by giving the Viper mixed messages and costing him numerous title shots.  Eventually enough was enough for the WWE’s Apex Predator and Randy Orton cut his ties with the two younger stars by way of a Rope-hung DDT and RKO.  Due to all the build, seeing Randy Orton take out all his aggression on his former protégés and in turn change from a dastardly villain to a no-nonsense anti-hero was a sight to behold.

3. The Return of the Old Michaels

In Shawn Michaels’ later years in the WWE, he played the role of tweener, never being labeled as either face or heel because it would change depending on the storyline.  Before taking on this role, Michaels made one final heel turn that shocked the world with how sudden it was.  During the spring of 2005, Shawn called upon the iconic Hulk Hogan to team with on a few occasions.  From what was shown on camera, there was no visible animosity between these two.  Deep down in the darkest corners of the Heartbreak Kid, he grew jealous of Hulk Hogan.  Michaels’ jealously came to a head with a thunderous Superkick to Hogan’s jaw.  This one kick started a feud that saw the return of a side of HBK that has not been seen since the early days of the Attitude Era and it was glorious.

2. “You were supposed to be my friend!”

Sometimes a fresh start is all a wrestler needs to get fans interested in their character once again.  Back in 2009, Batista was stuck in that situation.  The development of Batista’s face persona had reached a standstill.  There was nowhere the Animal could take his character as a fan-favourite and people were starting to get bored.  Well at the Bragging Rights PPV, the Animal’s fortunes changed.  After losing a Fatal 4 Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship, Batista and Rey Mysterio, Batista’s best friend, were left in the ring.  Filled with rage over Mysterio breaking a possible three count, Batista beat the living hell out of Mysterio.  Batista’s ferocious beat down on Mysterio came to climactic end after screaming the now iconic quote that serves as the title of this paragraph.

1. Y2J No More

Chris Jericho has never been a wrestler to rest on his laurels.  His Y2J persona was easily one of the most popular characters in the late 90s and early to mid 2000s.  When Jericho returned in 2007, the Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla knew it was time for a change.  That change meant the death of Y2J and everything associated with said character.  The death of the beloved Y2J character happened on one of the final episodes of the Highlight Reel where Jericho turned on Shawn Michaels and the WWE Universe.  By plunging Michaels’ face right into the Jeritron 5000, Jericho changed more than his character.  Jericho changed the perception of what it means to be a heel in this modern era and set a benchmark for all wrestlers to strive for in creating a character and setting up a feud.