On 6th April 2014, Brock Lesnar ended The Undertaker’s 21 match winning streak at
WrestleMania [1-screen].
While some outlets have reported this was the closely guarded plan along, others claim
Lesnar only won because Undertaker suffered a concussion.
But there’s a third theory, thanks to Brock’s advocate Paul Heyman, that Lesnar went into
business
for himself.
Heyman’s ‘conspiracy theory’ - that Undertaker was meant to win - fits in with
a fan report who claimed to be at the show:
“Right after The Undertaker completed his entrance, when the match was about to start,
for a split second a big white "0" number graphic appeared inside the "X" on the right
(of the three XXX) of the WrestleMania XXX stage.
It appeared for just a split second and then it disappeared...
one of the things we initially thought was that the match wasn't supposed to end like
that and the Streak was actually supposed to continue, that maybe Undertaker could no
longer continue and they called an audible.”
One reason WWE might’ve called an audible is that Undertaker suffered a severe concussion
early on which affected his performance.
Because of that injury, the match itself wasn’t well reviewed.
However when the final bell rang it wasn’t the match people were talking about but the
finish.
Following 3 F-5s, Brock Lesnar pinned The Undertaker for the very first time at WrestleMania.
The audience fell into a stunned silence.
Meltzer wrote in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, “At first, the announcers didn’t know
what to do.
The graphic wasn’t ready right away, nor was the music ready.
The delay made fans think that maybe it was a mistake.”
The confusion might have been because so few people knew about the finish:
Amazingly what is consistent across all these accounts is that the referee wasn’t told:
“Referee Chad Patton, who knew the same finish that everybody else thought they knew,
hit the mat once, and then twice, and then didn’t know what to do.
He was told Undertaker was winning, but the rule every referee is told is that if the
guys doesn’t kick out, you continue the count.
Undertaker wasn’t kicking out.
There was slight hesitation, which is why people were confused.
Because he was confused.
But he did his job.”
Following the match, The Undertaker immediately went to the hospital and Vince McMahon went
with him, leaving Triple H and Stephanie McMahon to run and produce the final two matches of
WrestleMania 30.
This was the first WrestleMania Vince had ever left.
And Heyman insinuates it’s because Undertaker wasn’t meant
to lose.
Reports from the time claim that only a handful of people knew about the finish, but there
are some conflicting reports.
Alvarez wrote in Figure Four Weekly that it was Vince McMahon’s decision to end The
Streak, while The Torch noted it was a joint decision made by Vince and Undertaker.
Meltzer agrees with The Torch, but notes that Brock and Heyman also probably knew as did
Triple H and Stephanie.
However Meltzer also wrote that one of his sources told him that it was all McMahon’s
idea, and he talked Undertaker into doing it.
So is Heyman just doing what Heyman does best and blurring the lines between work and fiction,
or is there something more to it?
What do you all think?
Was it all planned?
Did Undertaker’s concussion mean WWE had to change the match finish?
Or did Brock go into business for himself?
Let us know what you think in the comments below.