This is not about whether The Undertaker's 20-match Wrestlemania winning streak will be broken this Sunday by CM Punk, because it won't. WWE has all but extinguished any doubt about the result by making this rivalry an extended tribute to the recently deceased Paul Bearer. Punk has plumbed the depths of villainy to dishonour the memory of the Undertaker's former manager. Taker has fumed and seethed, but much to his frustration has not been able to give Punk the beating he deserves. There is no way this storyline doesn't end with the disrespectful villain getting his comeuppance at the hands of the furious legend. So this is not about whether Undertaker will lose to Punk - this is about whether he should.
Not since Randy Orton squared off against the Deadman eight Wrestlemanias ago has there been such a strong calling from hardcore fans to end the most famous streak in wrestling history. Since then, The Undertaker has faced Mark Henry, Batista and Edge on the grandest stage, and famously taken on Shawn Michaels and Triple H twice each. We knew Undertaker would win those matches, and accepted it without fuss. So what is different about Punk?
Professional wrestling works on a well-established model. Over time, a series of victories over increasingly high-profile opponents gives a wrestler credibility in the audience's eyes. When the wrestler has proven his ability to draw crowds, he becomes a star. He will be featured in main events where he will mostly win to protect his stardom. But after a while, he does not need victories because the audience has come to respect him for his tenure. He can now lose matches, and does so - usually to elevate new performers and build their credibility so they can be future stars. The cycle continues.
In such an environment, winning streaks are wasted opportunities. This is not a real sport. For example, it is of little use for a wrestler to win his retirement match and go out on top when he can lose and give someone the opportunity of bragging about ending his career. He can help make a star on his way out. Personal records have no meaning in pro wrestling.
And so, the greatest personal record is also the greatest opportunity. In his 22-year career in WWE, the Undertaker has won 20 matches at Wrestlemania, and lost none. It is an incredible figure that will probably never again be matched. "The Streak" is arguably WWE's best ever storyline and certainly its longest-running: It has played out over twenty years as one challenger after another have tried and failed to make a name for themselves by ending the Undertaker's dominance at Wrestlemania. But if the Undertaker retires with the Streak intact, who benefits from it? The Undertaker's legacy is already immortal, and is bigger than the Streak. His mystique is too massive to be diminished by one loss, even if it is the loss that ends his Streak. Won't WWE be squandering the chance to create a star for life? The person breaking the Streak would not only become a main eventer for the rest of his career and make WWE pots of money, he would probably instantly punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame.
But here's the tricky part. Whom can WWE rely on to shoulder the enormous responsibility of breaking the Streak? Veterans can be trusted, but they do not need the victory. Can the company ever put that much faith in any youngster? What if the audience rejects him? What if he decides to leave WWE for movies or mixed martial arts, as some who achieved early stardom have done? What if he makes poor personal choices and embarrasses the company? Ending the Streak is an enormous risk. Who can possibly be worth it?
If there is anyone, it just might be this man.
CM Punk is the most extraordinary talent to emerge in WWE in years. He calls himself "The Best in the World", and it is a very fair claim. He is definitely several miles ahead of anyone else in WWE at the moment. He is one of the very best in-ring performers in the world, and he is truly in a league of his own with the microphone. He will be remembered as one of the best talkers in history, maybe even the best. He is so brilliant with his acting that it doesn't even look like acting. He truly makes the audience believe that he means every word and gesture. In the 3-hour RAW episodes that abound with dull storylines, flat writing and one-dimensional characters, CM Punk is consistently the shining highlight. He is an artist who never disappoints.
Punk has long been an Internet darling, but after his famous "pipe-bomb" promo in 2011, he has caught fire with the larger WWE audience as well. When he was a babyface, he was cheered as much as John Cena, often more. He was the first person in a decade to beat Cena in merchandise sales - nobody had even come close for years. Now that he's a heel, nobody else gets nearly as much heat from the audience as he does. He can manipulate crowds at will. In short, CM Punk is over with the audience - he has established his credibility beyond doubt.
At 34, Punk is probably in the optimal phase of his career - he is neither too old to be considered the old guard, nor too young to be a rookie. He probably has 7 to 8 years of wrestling left in him, and that's a conservative estimate going by average career spans. And although CM Punk may be a rebel, he is a very good employee. He can be brash and outspoken, but with his clean lifestyle he will never be pulled over for drunk driving, suspended for drug abuse or found unconscious in a hotel room. He is not likely to be a liability to the company. If ever WWE had to bet on someone to beat the Streak and be able live up to it, they would have to bet on CM Punk.
But should WWE take this bet? The Undertaker's Streak was always a formidable thing, but it has taken on mythical proportions in the last four years with his awe-inspiring series of matches with Shawn Michaels and Triple H, which culminated in the spectacular Hell in a Cell encounter last year. CM Punk is many things, but he is not nearly as big a name as Michaels or Triple H. There is a very real possibility that a CM Punk victory would seem like an anticlimax to a story that probably peaked last year with the "End of an Era" match. This has been the best argument I have come across so far in favour of keeping the Streak alive. But I believe there is another, more important reason why the Streak shouldn't die - the Undertaker himself.
Many names are thrown around when the greatest WWE wrestlers of all time are discussed. Bruno Sammartino was WWF Champion for a total of around eight years. Hulk Hogan was the first to truly capture the imagination of a mass audience. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the hottest star at the hottest time in the industry's history. The Rock has achieved more crossover appeal than any other wrestler. The all-round abilities talents of Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and now CM Punk have seen them feature as regulars in the discussion.
I am a big fan of these great performers, but in my opinion nobody has come close to encapsulating what it means to be a professional wrestler more than the Undertaker.
Since his debut in 1990, the Undertaker has been a towering presence spanning multiple phases in wrestling- the colourful, over-the-top early 1990s, the Attitude Era that followed, the transition period in the early 2000s and the current PG Era - and he has been the one constant factor in all of them, without ever seeming anachronistic or out of date. He has portrayed two drastically different gimmicks - "The Deadman" and "The American Badass" with equal skill. He has won seven world championships, seven tag team championships and a Royal Rumble. He has faced mat technicians, luchadors, high fliers and giants - and had great matches with them all. He moves with incredible speed and agility for a man standing 6 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 300 pounds. He has actually gotten better with age - wrestling one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches in history at the age of 47 last year. In addition to all this, he possesses unparalleled in-ring presence and definitely the best entrance in wrestling history.
But the Undertaker is not just a wrestler, he is a professional wrestler. This is one of the few men who stuck with WWE when Ted Turner's money was luring the biggest talent to rival company WCW in the 1990s. He is the only wrestler to have wrestled on the very 1st episode of Monday Night Raw (twenty years ago) to remain an active performer to this day. His contemporaries have retired (or been forced to), departed for other promotions or left to try their luck in Hollywood at other forms of entertainment. The Undertaker has been unwavering - a WWE wrestler through and through. He is renowned as a locker room leader, a rock for his peers to lean on and look up to during the ugliest moments in the company's history - the steroid trial in the 1990s, the Montreal Screwjob, the Chris Benoit tragedy. Stories of his physical toughness are legendary. To quote one - In the 2010 Elimination Chamber, his coat caught fire during his entrance. After dousing himself with water, he wrestled an intensely physical, 35-minute match with bad burns on his chest.
In his 23rd year with WWE, the Undertaker has not been associated with one single illicit affair, drug scandal, DUI arrest, bar brawl or backstage fight. He has never so much as given a controversial interview or taken a shot at a celebrity. He has as many incidences of unprofessional conduct on his record as he has losses at Wrestlemania - zero. Each of his peers has had at least some detractors - Ric Flair is crtiticized for his lifestyle, Shawn Michaels for his early drug problems, Bret Hart for taking himself too seriously, Steve Austin for his lack of longevity, and so on - The Undertaker is arguably the only wrestler in history to have commanded universal respect - from his employers, his peers and the fans.
I said earlier how the Streak would logically have to end given the traditions of professional wrestling, but the normal rules don't apply here. It's not that the Undertaker is bigger than wrestling, but he truly does encompass it. In a sense the Undertaker really is undefeated, because no other performer approaches his achievements. Just as Paul Bearer's urn symbolizes the Undertaker's soul, the Undertaker and his Streak have come to symbolize the soul of professional wrestling -unmarred by its creaking bones and scarred flesh. We fans spend the large part of our time complaining about all of wrestling's warts and moles - lackluster rosters, poorly written storylines, idiotic gimmicks or real-life controversies. But once a year, when that gong sounds, we are transported to the last surviving corner of purity in the industry, and we get to witness the very heights of what professional wrestling can be.
And so, the Streak must live on. Rest in peace, Punk.
