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In a business that is always, and I mean always, wrapped in overstated hyperbole like "greatest night in the history of the business" and "greatest match in Wrestlemania history", I cannot understate how huge a moment the Undertaker's loss last night was, and now that we've all had a night's sleep to get over the sheer shock, let me give you all a bit of perspective on the end of the streak.
The Undertaker was 21-0 coming into Wrestlemania last night, and being that he missed Wrestlemania 10 and Wrestlemania 16, he had actually been undefeated at Wrestlemania for 23 years. That's nearly a quarter of a century, an absolutely unheard of accomplishment, and I'll drive that point home with a couple of comparisons.
Bruno Sammartino held the WWWF World Title for about seven and a half years from 1963 to 1971, and the fans got so comfortable with him being the champion that, when Ivan Koloff defeated him for the title in Madison Square Garden, the popular description is that you could hear a pin drop because the fans were so shocked. Now take Bruno's reign, triple it in length, quadruple the size of the crowd, and you get the scene we got last night.
Andre the Giant was billed as being undefeated for 15 years when he challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF Title at Wrestlemania 3. He wasn't, he had been both defeated and bodyslammed prior to Wrestlemania 3, but it was extremely rare, and as far as the majority of the fans knew, Hogan really did hand Andre his first loss.
Thing is, Andre's "undefeated" record was never mentioned before the build to Wrestlemania 3 and was fabricated specifically to give the match a little extra heat. Today's fans have been able to see every one of Undertaker's Wrestlemania matches, and they've seen some of the huge mountains he's had to climb in terms of opponents. Many of them have even been following the streak since people started realizing it existed around 1999 or so. Unlike Andre's storyline streak, the fans have actually spent 23 years watching it build momentum, watching it end was something I think the fans reacted way more emotionally to than Andre or anything else.
Speaking of emotional investment, I've heard from a few people saying that the streak ending was the biggest shock in the business since Hogan turned heel at Bash At The Beach 1996 and formed the NWO. The difference there is that the WCW fans had been booing Hogan since he came there and the turn was partially done in response to that. I'd guess the vast majority of the fans watching last night didn't want the streak to end, and never thought it would.
A lot of people took last night's loss to mean the Undertaker is done and ready to retire. While I think we're getting ahead of ourselves by saying that, the reality is that this is a huge game changer for WWE, Wrestlemania, and the Undertaker. He's never going on the road full time again, and without the streak to defend, I'm not sure what else there is for him other than the obligatory revenge match against Brock Lesnar.
Regardless, in a Wrestlemania full of big moments and game-changing events, the end of the streak is one of those key, jaw dropping moments that will keep people talking for years to come. Tonight's Raw will give us a better idea of where Undertaker goes from here, and what the rub of a lifetime will do for an already accomplishment-laden Brock Lesnar's career. WWE pulled one of the legitimately biggest triggers in the history of the business last night, and now that it's done, there's no going back.
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