Dylan Waco Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I think it would be incredibly stupid for him to ever wrestle at Mania again, and I can't think of a single good reason for him to ever wrestle again. The idea of him wrestling Cena at next years Mania is just laughable. What possible value would that match have at this point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I think there could be some value in a celebratory tag situation, if only for the entrance and to make the crowd happy. He could hot tag and hit some of his big spots and it would be effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I agree with Dylan. I think that should actually be his last match period. He actually reminded me of a late career Dick the Bruiser or Crusher or someone like that. Time to go out. The way I read his reaction after it was "yes, that's me, I can't do this anymore". And, while sad, I think in years to come it will come to seem more and more profound. Especially if we don't see him again till Hall of Fame. The only thing I don't really get is that Brock didn't seem to get THAT much of a rub from it. I wasn't buying the idea that this makes Heyman the GOAT manager now that they were pushing on commentary either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s1rweeze Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I think there could be some value in a celebratory tag situation, if only for the entrance and to make the crowd happy. He could hot tag and hit some of his big spots and it would be effective. They can still do his full entrance with the HOF introduction. I really think him being the only member of the 2015 class is the best way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I was thinking if they could do one centered around Taker (like the one centered around Hogan) but there aren't a ton of great choices. They could have saved Jake/Bearer otherwise. Bossman, Bundy, Sid, Diesel (as Diesel), as streak entrants. DDP (THE STALKER), and Chuck Norris as your celebrity? Ok, maybe that's not so good an idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I know it's neither here nor there, but after Warrior dropping dead, the odds of old, tired, in pain and concussed Taker working one last match seems even more like a bad idea now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I think it would be incredibly stupid for him to ever wrestle at Mania again, and I can't think of a single good reason for him to ever wrestle again. The idea of him wrestling Cena at next years Mania is just laughable. What possible value would that match have at this point? Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I know it's neither here nor there, but after Warrior dropping dead, the odds of old, tired, in pain and concussed Taker working one last match seems even more like a bad idea now. I was going to say something along those lines too. It could be affecting him personally too, since his program with the Warrior was the first real one in the company and what shot him up from being a mid-card villain to an attraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sporadic Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 I was thinking if they could do one centered around Taker (like the one centered around Hogan) but there aren't a ton of great choices. They could have saved Jake/Bearer otherwise. Bossman, Bundy, Sid, Diesel (as Diesel), as streak entrants. DDP (THE STALKER), and Chuck Norris as your celebrity? Ok, maybe that's not so good an idea. He should go in alone, by himself. I can't honestly think of anyone off the top of my head you send in with him. Maybe Diesel...Maybe the nWo as a group...but there just isn't any real viable options you can put with him considering he's going to pretty much be the one everyone is going to be focused on. My thought: if you're going to induct him by himself, you do it as a true send-off as well. A set number of people come up and speak about him: Foley, Jacobs, Michaels, Hemsley, Austin, The Rock, Cena. Vince does the formal introduction. He comes out, accepts, either breaks character or doesn't, wrap up and walks away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Why should Taker go into the HoF alone? I don't even understand the argument? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Hogan and Austin went in as part of a class, nobody is "beneath" that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 As far as him working next year, he doesn't owe it to anyone and I didn't think the 30 match was an awful note to go out on. That said, I think its naive to say they haven't considered putting him in there next year with someone that could carry him and treat him with kid gloves to milk a retirement match. Warrior's death will hopefully give them pause. I hated the 28 match, but in any other form of storytelling that would have been a logical conclusion to the streak narrative they'd built. Everything since has been an epilogue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 I think it would be incredibly stupid for him to ever wrestle at Mania again, and I can't think of a single good reason for him to ever wrestle again. The idea of him wrestling Cena at next years Mania is just laughable. What possible value would that match have at this point? It would still be huge, just the selling point wouldn't be that of the streak (which was a huge mistake in my opinion). I outlined possible avenues above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Boricua Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 If Taker gets inducted, it will be as the headliner for the 2016 class when they're in Texas. Next year it'll be The Rock if he agrees to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 He's been wrestling one match a year since 2011 with a couple exceptions. He really shouldn't be doing a match in 2015. All things come to an end and it's time to let go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxnj Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Out of curiosity, did you people saying Undertaker looked like shit watch the match while knowing the result ahead of time? I could understand finding it boring if you watched it like the live crowd just waiting for an inevitable Undertaker win, but as a mostly puro guy who doesn't regularly follow WWE and just watched it because I knew the streak was ending, I really appreciated all the acting touches Undertaker brought in telling a story of him trying all his usual stuff but simply being overmatched by this freak. I'm surprised more people here aren't digging his performance given the praise Memphis smoke-and-mirrors stuff gets here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Taker looked like a giant carrot in tights, and he was concussed out of his mind. It's a miracle the match was as decent as it was. And this should be it. It was the perfect ending to his career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 I turned out a little worse than I expected to be. I thought it would be much shorter, however I can see how they stretched it out given the ending. A shorter match with that ending would have gotten a less desirable reaction and Taker probably would have gotten a lot of heat for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 I thought Lesnar looked blown up during the match. Am I seeing it wrong, or was he slowing down for Taker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJRogers Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Just realized this thread is 5 pages long and no one quoted Dean Malenko with simply "Home!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 From The Observer: It wasn't the Undertaker's decision to end his undefeated streak at Wrestlemania XXX this year. However, if he truly didn't want to end the streak, he could have fought the decision and stopped it. It was Vince McMahon who made the call to have Brock Lesnar win. The original plan was for Undertaker to get the win. A few days before the show, McMahon changed his mind, likely having seen the Undertaker's physical condition and thinking that it could be his last match. Vince decided that if the streak was going to end, it was now or never. There are mixed reports on Taker's reaction to the decision, one source claims he had to be talked into the decision while another said he didn't argue at all. Very interesting. So the theory now is that Vince basically ended a selling point for future Wrestlemania's without fanfare because he saw that the Undertaker looked like crap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted April 24, 2014 Report Share Posted April 24, 2014 Out of curiosity, did you people saying Undertaker looked like shit watch the match while knowing the result ahead of time? I could understand finding it boring if you watched it like the live crowd just waiting for an inevitable Undertaker win, but as a mostly puro guy who doesn't regularly follow WWE and just watched it because I knew the streak was ending, I really appreciated all the acting touches Undertaker brought in telling a story of him trying all his usual stuff but simply being overmatched by this freak. I'm surprised more people here aren't digging his performance given the praise Memphis smoke-and-mirrors stuff gets here. I watched it live and haven't re-watched it. Knowing that Taker got concussed early and knowing the result I might have a different take on second viewing, but I thought it was very disappointing and probably Taker's worst WM match since the handicap match against Big Show and A-Train from WMXIX. Possibly since Kane at WMXX....but to be fair I haven't seen that in years (but remember liking it a lot at the time). That said, I liked it better than the HIAC from XXVIII....but I hated that match for reasons that had nothing to do with Taker's performance. Compared to the matches with HBK, XXVII with HHH, Batista, Orton, Punk, Edge, Mark Henry.....the bar was very high and it didn't deliver IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidebottom Posted April 25, 2014 Report Share Posted April 25, 2014 That Mark Henry match was rotten, it sure doesn't belong with the other matches you quoted which were all excellent. The Mark Henry match would have been better if it happened 5 years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted May 7, 2014 Report Share Posted May 7, 2014 Shawn Michaels claims the decision to end Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania 30 came four hours before the show: http://www.cagesideseats.com/2014/5/7/5690130/decision-to-end-undertakers-streak-at-wrestlemania-30-came-four-hours-before-the-show Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Shawn Michaels claims the decision to end Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania 30 came four hours before the show: http://www.cagesideseats.com/2014/5/7/5690130/decision-to-end-undertakers-streak-at-wrestlemania-30-came-four-hours-before-the-show I'm betting it was on the cards as a strong possibility ahead of this time though. The more that emerges, the more I'm inclined to think that Taker had been talking about this one being his "last match" in the months preceding the event. Every year since the Michaels' matches, he's basically had to take an extended hiatus to undergo surgery, then spend several weeks prior to Wrestlemania getting into ring shape and laying his match out. Last year, he had to step into the ring at a throwaway house show in Waco, Texas just to shake off the ring rust and see if he could make it through the match with Punk. Choosing to stick around for a bit longer, he then got carried away when he chose how to be written off TV for a hiatus and took a risky bump (the Triple Powerbomb through the announce table) that apparently sidelined him for real once again. I believe there was also a report several months back, that when trying to come up with a main event for XXX,they were discussing options such as "Undertaker's retirement match". Whether this is relevant or not, it does suggest the thinking that he was talking about being done after the next match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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