I can say pretty confidently that Wrestlemania had redeemed itself from the lackadaisical crapfest it was last year, and that when the show was over, I definitely felt like I was entertained. I’m definitely happy to see that Daniel Bryan has gotten his long-awaited triumph, I’m happy that AJ Lee retained her title, and if anyone were to ask me, the high point of the show was most definitely, when Cesaro bodyslammed the Big Show over the top rope to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Let’s Get Everyone Else Onto The Card So They Can Get a Slice of the Payout Battle Royale.
But obviously, the biggest thing that happened in the night was the Undertaker losing to Brock Lesnar, thus putting an end to the supposedly immortal 21-year undefeated streak (AKA “the Steak”). Nobody saw this coming, nobody thought for a second that a cameo, gimmicky, part-time, more-name-than-talent guy like Lesnar had any chance at being given the honor of putting an end to the Steak. Even in spite of the build up, and that Lesnar is a legitimate physical force, it was hard to imagine that he had much chance of walking away in victory against the man whom for the better part of the last three decades, has always been viewed as the unofficial godfather of the WWE roster.
No way he was going to beat the Undertaker, and then conveniently vanish again when his temporary, lucrative contract expires after like two or three more scheduled appearances.
So when Lesnar did accomplish the impossible, the reactions from myself, my friends, the Internet, social media, and simply everyone out there that remotely follows wrestling was that of shock. Brock Lesnar wasn’t supposed to break the Steak; logic said so, convention said so, the respect of all full-time wrestlers that bust their ass on a regular basis said so. 22-0 was a definite, 21-1 wasn’t supposed to happen.
But that’s probably exactly why it did.
For months, I’ve been saying that the most intriguing thing about today’s WWE product is the fact that they’ve been taking traditional and predictable wrestling conventions and scripts, and flipping them around and defying them with regular basis. Quick turns, unconventional pushes and character changes, and a willingness to quickly scrap and modify cliched storylines, among other things that they’ve been willing to employ.
However, in spite of the newish wave of radical thinking heading into Wrestlemania, it still felt like that preservation of the Steak was going to be a sure bet. Lesnar was a tourist, a guy that has been notorious throughout his entire working career for ducking and running after taking lucrative payouts. A man who bit the hand that fed him when he got burned out on wrestling, tried his hand in trying to get into the NFL, failed that, hopped onto the MMA bandwagon, enjoyed some success there, got burned out, and came crawling back to the physically less demanding world of pro-wrestling.
Vince McMahon, ever the consummate forward-thinking businessman, seemingly willing to forgive any past discretion if he sees the potential for profit, naturally brought Lesnar back. His stamina long gone, his ring attire adorned with tacky sponsorships (Jimmy John’s Sandwiches), and not nearly as close to the physical freak of nature he once was when he debuted, came back for bursts at a time, only working with top-tier names, only getting prime pockets of television time, and very likely getting paychecks that would make most guys on the roster green with envy. And then he’d vanish.
Until it was time to bring him back again months later, where it would be the same song and dance, where he’d attack a top guy, only show up on Monday Night Raw, have a pay-per-view match where he’d have to be carried, and then vanish again.
There was little reason to believe that when Lesnar emerged again in January, it was obviously for a Wrestlemania appearance, and when it unraveled that he would be in a program with the Undertaker, it seemed transparent that he was to be the #22 in the increasing rogues list of the Steak. And then he would vanish again, and reemerge when Daniel Bryan, or Cesaro or whomever is in the upper echelon of the pecking order needs a fresh antagonist to oppose them.
Obviously, we all knew the Steak would eventually have to end. Whether it was by an actual loss, or if Undertaker decided to call it quits, we all knew it wasn’t going to go forever. But most people like me that think they have a decent grasp of the industry, would have assumed that someone who had been around, or the sure-bet next torch-bearer of the industry would be the privileged one to end the Steak. Or, the possibility that after going like 23-0, an aged and tired Undertaker finally decides that even one match a year is too much, and retires with a perfect record, and Wrestlemanias would need to find something else to latch onto as the annual event of the show.
But everything about the Undertaker/Lesnar was somewhat of a letdown. Not just the shocking finish, but what it really boils down to is the fact that it was also the weakest match on the entire card. Undertaker is old, and Lesnar is long past his prime, possibly lazy, and has no stamina. The dead New Orleans crowd was no help as everyone was sitting on their hands and quiet as corpses. So watching two big guys lumber their way through a slow match eventually began to feel pretty apathetic after the first three minutes.
In a way, the ending was the best thing to happen, because the shocking finish was the only thing to elicit any sort of reaction not just from them, but all of the company I was watching with. The crowd reactions said it all, with the cameramen strategically panning to numerous faces in the stands with flabbergasted expressions on their faces, none more iconic than the guy seen above, who is probably an Internet celebrity by now. And then there was Paul Heyman, Lesnar’s “manager” doing what he does best, and selling the whole thing with a performance worthy of an Oscar.
It was initially speculated that there was the possibility that an over-fatigued Undertaker simply physically failed to kick out in time, but any trained referee would find a way to fake a reason to stop the count if it were genuinely problematic. There’s no way I personally believe that this wasn’t planned; in today’s current product, the completely unexpected happening is what we should almost be expecting now.
But therein lies the more likely rationale for why, love it or hate it, the Steak is over.
Lesnar could very well be the next torch-bearer for the company, but history says he’s more likely to turn and run, the next time the wrestling schedule inconveniences him. Or maybe the Undertaker hand-picked him as the guy to end the Steak, regardless of his baggage, because if there’s anyone in the industry who has the right and the clout to pull a card like that, it’s the Undertaker.
Either way, regardless of it was the right decision or not, it definitely had a profound effect on the rest of the show. If the New Orleans crowd was dead before the Steak match, they were pretty much buried by the end. I like to think it was a calculated risk by the WWE to shock the crowd into silence like that, with hopes that the Daniel Bryan win would electrify them to new height of high, but it didn’t work. As monumental as the YES Movement is, it is still the flavor of the month in comparison to the 22 years of the Steak, and it’s obvious what the fans thought was more important. As hard as they’ve been developing the Daniel Bryan storyline, they kind of screwed the pooch right at its culmination (it also didn’t help having 8,000 lbs of confetti completely obstructing all television view of the entire celebration).
The bottom line is that the Steak wasn’t supposed to end like this; not now, and not to Brock Lesnar. And that’s exactly why it did.
I’d say CM Punk is never coming back, but that might just be what’s expected now, and that might be exactly what the WWE wants to become the perception, so they can use it to defy us.
I don’t really know what to expect anymore, which isn’t such a bad thing, looking big picture, but as a fan, it stinks that such had to be cultivated at the expense of the Steak.
