The Streak (Wrestling)

The Undertaker

The Streak is a series of 21 straight victories for professional wrestler The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) at WWE's biggest yearly event, WrestleMania. Both WWE and news outlets used this term to refer to Calaway's victories.[1]

The winning streak began at WrestleMania VII in 1991 when he beat Jimmy Snuka, with the final win coming against CM Punk at WrestleMania 29 in 2013; The Undertaker was absent from WrestleMania X (1994) and WrestleMania 2000, owing to injury.[2][3] Overall, he defeated 18 men during The Streak, which included three matches with Triple H and two each opposite Kane and Shawn Michaels. At WrestleMania XXX in 2014, The Streak was broken by Brock Lesnar, who defeated The Undertaker by pinfall.[4]

Background

The current official WrestleMania logo

WrestleMania

WrestleMania is a yearly event of the largest professional wrestling promotion in the United States, WWE. Formed as a counter to Jim Crockett Promotions' successful Starrcade event, WrestleMania I was broadcast to one million nationwide via closed-circuit television and pay-per-view. WrestleMania's widespread success helped transform the sport of professional wrestling and made WWE the most successful wrestling promotion in the world, prompting WWE to promote the event as the "Super Bowl of sports entertainment".[5]

The Undertaker

Born Mark William Calaway on March 24, 1965 in Houston, Texas, The Undertaker is an American retired professional wrestler. He has worked for WWE since 1990, making him the company's longest-tenured in-ring performer. Calaway began his wrestling career with World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1984. After wrestling for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Mean" Mark Callous from 1989 to 1990, he signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) in 1990. In WWE, The Undertaker is a seven-time world champion, having won the WWF/E Championship four times and the World Heavyweight Championship three times, as well as the winner of the 2007 Royal Rumble. He is recognized as the fourth youngest WWF/E Champion in history, having won the title aged 26 years, 8 months, and 3 days.[6]

Match statistics

Undefeated WrestleMania streak of The Undertaker[7]
Streak Date Match time Venue Note
1–0
Jimmy Snuka 		March 24, 1991
WrestleMania VII 		4:20
Pinfall 		Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Los Angeles, California 		The Undertaker was managed by Paul Bearer.
2–0
Jake Roberts 		April 5, 1992
WrestleMania VIII 		6:36
Pinfall 		Hoosier Dome
Indianapolis, Indiana
3–0
Giant González 		April 4, 1993
WrestleMania IX 		7:33
Disqualification 		Caesars Palace
Las Vegas, Nevada 		The Undertaker was managed by Paul Bearer, while Giant Gonzalez was managed by Harvey Wippleman. This was the only match in The Streak to be decided via disqualification.
4–0
King Kong Bundy 		April 2, 1995
WrestleMania XI 		6:36
Pinfall 		Hartford Civic Center
Hartford, Connecticut 		The Undertaker was managed by Paul Bearer, while King Kong Bundy was managed by Ted DiBiase. Larry Young was the special guest referee.
5–0
Diesel 		March 31, 1996
WrestleMania XII 		16:46
Pinfall 		Arrowhead Pond
Anaheim, California 		The Undertaker was managed by Paul Bearer.
6–0
Sycho Sid 		March 23, 1997
WrestleMania 13 		21:19
Pinfall 		Rosemont Horizon
Rosemont, Illinois 		This was a no disqualification match for the WWF Championship
7–0
Kane 		March 29, 1998
WrestleMania XIV 		16:58
Pinfall 		Fleet Center
Boston, Massachusetts 		Kane was managed by Paul Bearer
8–0
Big Boss Man 		March 28, 1999
WrestleMania XV 		9:48
Pinfall 		First Union Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 		This was a Hell in a Cell match. The Undertaker was managed by Paul Bearer.
9–0
Triple H 		April 1, 2001
WrestleMania X-Seven 		18:17
Pinfall 		Reliant Astrodome
Houston, Texas
10–0
Ric Flair 		March 17, 2002
WrestleMania X8 		18:47
Pinfall 		SkyDome
Toronto, Ontario, Canada 		This was a no disqualification match
11–0
A-Train and Big Show 		March 30, 2003
WrestleMania XIX 		9:45
Pinfall 		Safeco Field
Seattle, Washington 		This was a 2-on-1 handicap match
12–0
Kane 		March 14, 2004
WrestleMania XX 		7:45
Pinfall 		Madison Square Garden
New York City, New York 		The Undertaker was managed by Paul Bearer.
13–0
Randy Orton 		April 3, 2005
WrestleMania 21 		14:14
Pinfall 		Staples Center
Los Angeles, California 		The first time the Undertaker was challenged explicitly to end The Streak. This was also where The Streak was given its name.
14–0
Mark Henry 		April 2, 2006
WrestleMania 22 		9:26
Casket 		Allstate Arena
Rosemont, Illinois 		This was a casket match
15–0
Batista 		April 1, 2007
WrestleMania 23 		15:47
Pinfall 		Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan 		This match was for the World Heavyweight Championship
16–0
Edge 		March 30, 2008
WrestleMania XXIV 		24:03
Submission 		Citrus Bowl
Orlando, Florida
17–0
Shawn Michaels 		April 5, 2009
WrestleMania XXV 		30:44
Pinfall 		Reliant Stadium
Houston, Texas
18–0
Shawn Michaels 		March 28, 2010
WrestleMania XXVI 		23:59
Pinfall 		University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, Arizona 		This was a No disqualification streak vs. career match, therefore Shawn michaels retired from professional wrestling.
19–0
Triple H 		April 3, 2011
WrestleMania XXVII 		29:24
Submission 		Georgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia 		This was a No Holds Barred match
20–0
Triple H 		April 1, 2012
WrestleMania XXVIII 		30:50
Pinfall 		Sun Life Stadium
Miami Gardens, Florida 		This was a Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as special guest referee
21–0
CM Punk 		April 7, 2013
WrestleMania 29 		22:07
Pinfall 		MetLife Stadium
East Rutherford, New Jersey 		CM Punk was managed by Paul Heyman
Brock Lesnar wore merchandise celebrating the end of The Streak

Following the Undertaker's WrestleMania XXX loss to Brock Lesnar, he had further matches at the annual event against Bray Wyatt (WrestleMania 31),[8] Shane McMahon (WrestleMania 32),[9] Roman Reigns (WrestleMania 33),[10] John Cena (WrestleMania 34),[11] and AJ Styles (WrestleMania 36),[12] winning all but the Reigns encounter. The Undertaker announced his retirement from professional wrestling at Survivor Series (2020), therefore ending his career with a 25–2 WrestleMania record.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Undertaker". WWE. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  2. ↑ Shoemaker, David (August 14, 2014). "What's at Stake When John Cena Wrestles Brock Lesnar at 'SummerSlam'". Grantland. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  3. ↑ Woodward, Buck (January 29, 2011). "Undertaker, Royal Rumble, Vickie Guerrero and more". PWInsider. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  4. ↑ Schwartz, Nick (April 6, 2014). "The Undertaker lost at WrestleMania and fans can't believe it". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Home of the Jets and the Giants Will Become Body Slam Central for a Night". The New York Times. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Powers, Kevin (9 August 2013). "10 youngest WWE Champions ever". www.wwe.com/. WWE Official Website. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "WrestleMania Cards". www.profightdb.com/. The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Caldwell, James (March 29, 2015). "CALDWELL'S WM31 PPV RESULTS 3/29: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of WWE World Title match, Taker's return, Sting vs. Triple H, Cena vs. Rusev, Rock/UFC surprise, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  9. ↑ Caldwell, James. "4/3 WrestleMania 32 PPV Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report on Mainland PPV". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ Burdick, Michael. "Roman Reigns def. The Undertaker". WWE. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  11. ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "The Undertaker def. John Cena". WWE. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles". WWE.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  13. ↑ Chaudhury, Shuvangi Sen (November 23, 2020). "My Time has Come" – The Undertaker Gives an Emotional Speech on his Final Farewell at Survivor Series". Essentially Sports. Archived from the original on February 20, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2020.