(Your reaction. Enjoy it before it gets taken down.)
By Seth Falvo
I know how some of you don’t like it when we bring up professional wrestling in these parts. Professional wrestling is scripted. Professional wrestlers are on steroids, and not the cool ones that MMA fighters take/the ones MMA fighters used to be allowed to openly take. Professional wrestling is built around silly, drama-based plots, instead of serious things like a former Olympian seeking revenge against a barista who once made him cry so meatheads will respect him. The WWE’s rankings are purely a popularity contest, while the UFC has super scientific rankings that award title shots to only the most deserving fighters. I know all of this.
But can we please talk about how Brock Lesnar snapped The Undertaker’s undefeated Wrestlemania streak at Sunday night’s Wrestlemania XXX at 21 straight Wrestlemania victories? Because holy shit, Brock Lesnar snapped The Undertaker’s undefeated Wrestlemania streak, and I’d really like to talk about it.
I probably don’t speak for the majority of fans when I write that I was getting pretty sick of The Streak. It was next to impossible to get excited about his Wrestlemania matches when everyone already knew the routine: ‘Taker kicks out of his opponent’s finisher a few times, hits the tombstone, roll credits. (The irony of wrestling fans complaining about predictable booking, then celebrating The Streak wasn’t lost on me, either.) And let’s face it, if The Undertaker won on Sunday night after spending the overwhelming majority of the match on his back, it would have felt cheap.
That being said, something just doesn’t feel right about Brock Lesnar being the guy to actually break it. Lesnar is essentially a part-time wrestler — one who left the WWE in his athletic prime to try out for the Minnesota Vikings, and eventually became a the strongest draw for Vince McMahon’s biggest rival (no, we aren’t pretending TNA is a legitimate threat). He only returned to the WWE because he could no longer stay competitive in the UFC; a fact that doesn’t stop him from threatening to go back to MMA every time his contract expires. I’m just saying, Cesaro breaking The Streak with a two minute giant swing. You would have loved it.
Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming…
