In two weeks on
February 24th, WWE Raw will be live in Green Bay, Wisconsin and The
Undertaker is expected to make his return to begin the build towards his match
at Wrestlemania 30.
Rumors are swirling about who the next challenger to the
streak will be. Most of those rumors point to Brock Lesnar being the
Undertaker’s next Wrestlemania opponent, but is he the best option?
I’ve made a list of the top three best candidates to challenge
the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. Here it is:
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3. John Cena
John Cena would be a great choice to challenge the streak at
Wrestlemania and there are some people out there that believe that we should
see this match at Wrestlemania 30. John Cena is a 14 time World Champion and
has competed in the Championship match at 8 of the last 9 Wrestlemanias, with
the only exception being his Wrestlemania 28 match against The Rock in Miami.
Challenging the Undertaker’s undefeated streak seems to be the only big match
that Cena hasn’t been involved in and I believe that he will have that
opportunity eventually, but Wrestlemania 30 isn’t the place for it.
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2. Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns would be a fine choice as well. He was dominant
in the 2013 Survivor Series when he eliminated four opponents and was the soul
survivor for his team. At the 2014 Royal Rumble, he broke the all-time record
for the most eliminations in a single Rumble match with 12. Some believe that
Reigns is the heir apparent to John Cena as the WWE’s top guy. Nothing would be
more helpful to Reigns than valiant performance against The Undertaker on the
WWE’s grandest stage. Surely, the WWE has big plans for Reigns, but should he
be the Undertaker’s opponent? I don’t think he is.
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1. Brock Lesnar
If the rumors are true about the WWE’s plans to have Brock
Lesnar challenge the Undertaker’s undefeated streak, I think the WWE has the
right idea. Brock Lesnar is the best opponent for the Undertaker at
Wrestlemania and the reason could be summed up in two words: Paul Heyman.
As the legacy of the streak grows, there aren’t many fans
left that actually believe that the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak will ever
be broken. If there’s one man that I think is capable of making me believe that
this year could be the year, it’s Paul Heyman. He’s the number one hype guy in
the wrestling business and will make the WWE Universe think that Brock Lesnar
will physically dominate Undertaker and will end the streak at Wrestlemania.
There’s no question that Brock Lesnar will back up that talk.
Brock Lesnar is the only WWE superstar that SUCCESSFULLY
made the transition to real fighting. Brock Lesnar is a former UFC Heavyweight
Champion and a NCAA Division 1 wrestling Champion. He’s the real deal and it
shows in his rough and stiff style in the WWE ring. There have been questions
whether the Undertaker could work that kind of style at his age, but I believe
that he’s done a good job at re-inventing himself in the ring and has
incorporated more MMA moves into his style. He’ll hold his own in there with
Lesnar.
As of this writing, I don’t believe that we’ll see any other
outcome than the Undertaker leaving New Orleans at 22-0 but the duo of Brock
Lesnar and Paul Heyman have the best shot at making the people believe that
Lesnar will do what CM Punk, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels couldn’t.
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Honorable mention: Sting
Rumors swirl annually around Wrestlemania season that WCW’s
last lone warrior is going to cross the line and join Vince McMahon’s “evil
empire”. The Stinger has been close to signing a few times, but has opted to
re-new contracts with TNA. This time, it seems like a done deal that Sting will
sign in some capacity.
In years past, the rumored match that keeps being discussed
is a “dream match” of sorts between Sting and the Undertaker. Sting himself has
stated time and time again that if he were to ever wrestle in the WWE that the
Undertaker would be the first guy he would want to face.
So, why is Sting on the outside looking in on my list of the
top 3 best opponents for the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30? It’s hard to
believe that a physically limited, 54 year old, Sting would be able to come in
and defeat the streak.
There needs to be some build to this match. You have to make
the people believe and I just don’t think they could pull that off in a month.
Not to mention, there are a lot of WWE fans, particularly of
the younger generation, who don’t even know who Sting is. If Sting were making
his WWE debut in 2001 fresh off the war with WCW, re-introducing him to the
crowd wouldn’t be necessary. This is 2014. This generation needs to learn who
Sting is and what he’s all about.
The launch of the WWE network will help with that since fans
will have access to the WCW video library at their fingertips. Exposure on WWE
television will help with that as well.
So, I say that if I were Vince McMahon, I’d build to the
debut of Sting and hold off until the Raw AFTER Wrestlemania to bring Sting in
front of the WWE crowd for the first time.
On that show, Sting walks out to the ring to confront the
Undertaker and challenge him to a match at Wrestlemania 31. ONE YEAR to build
Sting and re-introduce him to the WWE universe before facing Taker at Levi’s
Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Sting is billed to be from Venice Beach,
California. Wrestlemania 31 is right in his back yard.
Give him his Hall of Fame induction there and give the fans
their “dream match” there. Wrestlemania 30 just isn’t the right time for that,
but rest assured, things may be working out for the best.
Take my word for it. The Undertaker has THREE Wrestlemanias
left in him. It will be a match with Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 30 in New
Orleans, a match with Sting at Wrestlemania 31 in Santa Clara, and his farewell
match will be in his backyard, Dallas, Texas at Wrestlemania 32 against John
Cena.
Bank on that.
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Who do you believe is the best opponent for The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30? Leave me a comment in the comments section, tweet me at @majorlugo, or e-mail me at jlugo22@hotmail.com. Continue to show your support for "The Worked Shoot" Wrestling Blog by liking our fan page on Facebook.
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