Why WWE Would Be Crazy to Let Shawn Michaels End "The Streak"

Let me preface everything I'm about to write by stating that I think this is the best build to a WrestleMania in years.

There are three matches I'm legitimately excited about (Undertaker/Michaels, Edge/Jericho, Punk/Misterio), and five others I think should at least be fun (Hart/McMahon, Batista/Cena, MITB Ladder Match, HHH/Sheamus, Tag Title Match).

That leaves just one stinker, which is a damn good ratio for WWE's biggest show of the year.

However, in terms of long-term booking and the future of the company, I think WWE has made a mistake in having a rematch between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Why? Because there's no way they should let Michaels end the streak. None.

Michaels is 44 years old. He's a four-time World Champion. He's a founding member of arguably the most over group in WWF/E history, Degeneration X.

He has been in the main event at WrestleMania three times (four if UT/HBK closes the show this year, which it should). Does this sound like a guy who needs the rub?

And make no mistake, that’s what Undertaker’s streak has become—the biggest rub in the wrestling business. But the thing is, it can only be cashed in once.

Some may say that Michaels has "earned" the right to end the streak based on what he has meant to the company during his career—the great matches, the feuds, the promos, etc.

They can point to the fact that he has delivered the goods more consistently than perhaps anyone else in the last 25 years, maybe even ever.

That is all true. No one deserves the honor more than Michaels. Unfortunately, if I may quote William Munny from Unforgiven, "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."

Look at HBK's career since he returned from his back injury. Despite consistently possessing a spot at or near the top of the card, he's held the heavyweight title once in almost a decade.

Perhaps that perennial bridesmaid status makes him even more worthy of ending the streak, but it still shouldn't happen. Nostalgia and sentiment is the realm of the fans. WWE is a business, and from a business perspective it's a bad move.

Imagine this. It's March 2012, WrestleMania XXVIII. Your main event is John Cena defending the WWE Championship against The Undertaker. Title vs. Streak. New School vs. Old School.

Imagine the build for that match. You could have Cena as the reigning champion demanding the match, followed by Michael Cole overselling it and telling us 4,286 times that the streak is so revered Cena put his title up just to have a shot at ending it.

Whatever you think of Cena, THAT is a WrestleMania main event. Millions would watch to see Cena end the streak, which would now be at 19-0 (and 20 is such a great, round number to push). Millions more would watch to see Undertaker maul Cena and take the strap.

One could argue that a match like that wouldn't need the streak to have juice, and that's 100 percent true. However, you can't deny it would have a much more epic feel if the streak was in jeopardy. Plus, given how they book Cena, he's perhaps the only guy in the company right now that people would think might earn a clean win.

Now fast-forward to the end of the match. Undertaker has done it, 20-0. New WWE Champion. Confetti starts to fall, and then... someone's music hits. Pure shock.

The winner of the Money in the Bank match from earlier in the evening is walking down the aisle, briefcase in hand. An exhausted Undertaker can barely stand. The bell rings, 1-2-3. New champion. The streak is over. The PPV ends.

You're telling me 95 percent of wrestling fans wouldn't HATE whoever won that match and ended the streak that way?

And that's the point. Beating the Undertaker at WrestleMania is a way to make a star overnight, more so even than making someone World Champion at this juncture.

Doing it in such an underhanded fashion does two things: 1) Protects Undertaker and sets up a natural Mania 29 rematch, and 2) creates a pure villain that fans will want to pay their money to see beaten up.

Who do you put in that position? Who do you give that rub to? I don't know. Maybe it's CM Punk, or maybe he doesn't even need it anymore. To be honest, I'm not sure the right person is even on the roster now.

It doesn't matter. The bottom line is that Undertaker's streak means too much in the fans' eyes not to use it to build a star. Michaels doesn't need this. His place is secure. He can lose and then return in six months and everyone will welcome him back, no questions asked.

Capital of this magnitude takes a very long time to produce and can be only be used once. If WWE is smart they won’t play their trump card this Sunday.