The Streak Lives: The Unbelievable Winning Streak of the Undertaker

The Undertaker retired a legend and in the process raised the streak to 18-0.

The streak started in 1991, but who would have ever thought back then that the Deadman would have the immortal streak. When the Undertaker first made his debut, people did not know what to make of this giant of a man.

Many fans knew him as Mark Callous from the WCW. No one could have predicted the man defeated by Lex Luger in less than six minutes at the Bash in 1990 would go on to have one of the greatest streaks and greatest careers in pro wrestling history.

Jimmy Snuka

Jimmy Snuka was the first victim for the Deadman at WrestleMania VII. The match lasted less than five minutes.

Snuka was a WWF mainstay in the 1980's and had some memorable feuds against Roddy Piper and Don Muraco. He was well past his prime when he met the Undertaker.

Jake Roberts

WrestleMania VIII saw the Undertaker raise his streak to 2-0 against his former ally, Jake Roberts.

The Undertaker was coming off his first World Title reign and was one the four finalists to face Flair for the World Title at WrestleMania. Savage was chosen, but the Deadman had other snakes to fry.

Undertaker found a sense of ethics when he saved the Macho Man and Elizabeth from a chair shot from Roberts. The match at WrestleMania lasted a little over six minutes and the Deadman went to 2-0.

Giant Gonzalez

Now a fan favorite, the Undertaker was beginning to look like the new generation's Andre the Giant. Taking on all the new monsters and giants to come into the WWF.

Harvey Wippleman was the man who wanted to end the Deadmans career by bringing in Kamala and Gonzalez to take out the Undertaker.

The match at WrestleMania IX was not exactly a classic and one of the few matches that the Undertaker was the smaller man. Taker won the match by disqualification in a little over seven minutes.

King Kong Bundy

Yokozuna and a host of villains made sure the Undertaker would not be at WrestleMania X. The Spirit of the Deadman vowed to return.

Ted Dibiase was the next manager to make the Undertakers life miserable. Dibiase hired Bundy to destroy the Undertaker at WrestleMania XI, but the Phenom overcame Kama's stealing of the urn to defeat Bundy at the 6:36 mark.

Big Daddy Cool

Big Daddy Cool cost a masked Undertaker the World Title at Survivor Series. This incident set the ball rolling for a match between the two big men at WrestleMania.

The match was very good for two big men. Diesel was on his way out to start the n.W.o. in WCW, so the outcome was fairly predictable. The Undertaker got the pin after a hard fought 16 minute bout.

Psycho Sid

This match would not have been for the title had HBK not lost his smile a few months earlier. The setup was to have a rematch for the World Title between Bret and Shawn.

As fate had it, Sid was able to win the belt from Hart thanks to interference from Stone Cold Steve Austin. The win set up the Stone Cold-Bret Hart classic at WrestleMania XIII and made the Undertaker the number one contender to the belt.

The Undertaker won his second World Title after a 21 minute battle.

Kane

Kane was the first man to face the Undertaker twice at WrestleMania.

Kane was brought in by the Undertakers former manager, Paul Bearer. He was to extract revenge for what happened in the brothers' childhood. Kane made his debut during a Hell in a Cell match between HBK and Undertaker.

The interference by Kane allowed the Showstopper to defeat the Undertaker.

The Undertaker vowed not to face his brother, even after constant interfering by Kane cost the Undertaker several matches. The two even formed a brief alliance until Kane betrayed his brother, once again in a match featuring HBK.

This was the last straw for the Undertaker as he declared he will have his vengeance at WrestleMania XIV. After numerous tombstones, Kane was victim number seven.

Kane drew the ire of the Deadman once again leading up to WrestleMania XX. The little brother interfered in a Buried Alive match pitting McMahon against Undertaker, which allowed McMahon to get the win.

The Undertaker returned from the American Badass to the Deadman at WrestleMania XX and made Kane once again the victim, this time number 12.

Big Bossman

In one of the worst Hell in a Cell matches, the Undertaker defeated Vince McMahons enforcer at WrestleMania XV in less than 10 minutes.

HHH

The Game became the victim as the American Badass defeated HHH in a grueling bloody eighteen minute classic at WrestleMania XVII.

The Nature Boy

The Nature Boy was irritating the Undertaker for months leading up to this epic encounter between two future Hall of Famers.

The American Badass demanded a match with Flair at WrestleMania XVIII, after Flair cost the Undertaker a match against the Rock for the World Title.

Flair continued to say no to the Badass until the Undertaker started assaulting those close to Flair. Finally, Flair agreed to a no disqualification match where he became the tenth to fall.

This was also the first match the streak was publicly acknowledged on air.

Big Show & A Train

The match at WrestleMania XIX was supposed to be Nathan Jones and the Undertaker vs. Big Show and A-Train. The match turned into a fiasco as the Undertaker went at it alone until Jones came from the locker room late in the match allowing for the American Badass to get the pin on A-Train.

The match had the feel of a way to end the streak without having the Undertaker really lose. But in the end, the Undertaker goes 11-0 at WrestleMania.

The Legend Killer

At WrestleMania XXI, it appeared the streak would be ended by an up and coming star, the appropriately named Legend Killer.

If Randy Orton would have won the match, it would have cemented his legacy and established himself as the true and only legend killer. Fate was not on his side as the Undertaker vanquished his opponent in a little less than 15 minutes.

Mark Henry

Finally a match the fans could easily predict. The Undertaker runs the streak to 14-0 at WrestleMania XXII.

Batista

The Undertaker is finally rewarded by getting another World Title match at WrestleMania XXIII. He got the title shot by becoming the first man to enter number 30 and win the Royal Rumble. Who did he last eliminate in that match? None other than HBK.

Batista and the Deadman put on a good match with the Undertaker getting the pin and the World Title in a little over 15 minutes. The two fought as hard as two super heavyweights could and in the end the streak was at 15-0.

Edge

For the second consecutive year, the Undertaker goes into WrestleMania as the challenger to the World Title.

Edge was also claiming to be undefeated at WrestleMania, but in the end, the true streak holder was victorious at WrestleMania XXIV.

The match was a great one and could have been the best on the card had it not been for the emotional retirement match between Flair and HBK.

HBK

What started out as a man who never lost to the Undertaker wanting to beat the Deadman at Wrestlemania and end the streak, ended up in obsession and the end of a career.

HBK was the second man to face the Undertaker twice and first to face the Deadman in consecutive years.

The first match had no titles on the line, but plenty of emotions. One mistake by HBK cost him the match. The bout ended up being the Match of the Year and one of the greatest in WrestleMania history.

Sequels usually do not live up to the hype, a few exceptions being The Godfather Part 2 and The Empire Strikes Back. HBK and Undertaker did their best to make the sequel even better than the original.

The match was setup by HBK at his acceptance speech at the Slammys. One comment, "I can beat him," turned into an obsession and cost HBK tag titles and almost a lifelong friendship.

HBK finally got his rematch when he agreed to put up his 20+ year career against the streak.

At WrestleMania XXVI, The Undertaker proved once again he cannot be defeated at the grandest stage of them all. After a few tombstones, a defiant HBK was pinned after a 23 minute war.

Who is Next?

After four years of grueling bouts, lets have the Undertaker defeat someone easy for number 19, setting up the epic battle for 20-0.

Any young stars defeating the Undertaker at WrestleMania will become an instant legend.

The critics of the streak complain the Undertaker has not faced enough quality opponents to merit it being such a big deal. The critics point out the Deadman never faced Angle, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, or the Rock at WrestleMania. Looking at the overall talent the Undertaker has faced at WrestleMania, the streak has merit.

The Deadman has defeated four members of Evolution, a 16 time World champion in three different organizations, two members of D-X, and three legends of the 1980's. 10 of the 15 opponents are former World champions, that's 66 percent of his opponents, a pretty impressive record.

So who will be the one to end the Streak, or will the Undertaker retire undefeated at WrestleMania?

A few years ago one could have made the case to have Brock Lesnar break it, but Lesnar's heart was not one to carry the company.

Rumors are that Goldberg is in talks to return to the ring in the WWE. This could make a good match for the Undertaker, but Bill is not going to beat the streak.

The next logical opponent for the Deadman is John Cena. Cena is the face of the WWE so lets get him into the WrestleMania match up versus the Undertaker.

Young stars such as Ziggler, Morrison, Dibiase, MVP, and McEntyre have been mentioned to defeat the streak. If Ric Flair, HBK, HHH, Randy Orton, Big Show, and Edge could not get the job done, then what makes anyone believe a former Nitro boy, a cheerleader, or a million dollar son can do the impossible.

Chris Jericho could be a possibility, but he has accomplished so much in his career, so what would beating the Undertaker add to it?