Triple H vs the Undertaker 2: The Most Overrated Match Ever?

Hey bleachers, my name is Matt. I have been a wrestling fan for the better part of 13 years, starting young, right at about the time WWE took over the Monday Night Wars.

This is my first article and I decided to go after what most people seem to love about an event that pretty much sucked and a match that was nowhere near as good as the majority of people are saying it was.

The returns were epic, the stand off was amazing, the silent challenge was great. The throat-cut followed by the crotch chops was one of the best segments of RAW this year.

Many people will agree with me in saying that the build-up to this match was pretty lame. Both men just spoke of their accomplishments for the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania 27 and then HBK made an appearance and that was a segment that started off hot, and then left us all saying "huh?".

When the smoke cleared and The Undertaker was 19-0, I was rather disappointed and I honestly thought most people would feel the same. 

Twenty-four hours later I am reading all over the place how this match was an instant classic and how it was match of the night. I was honestly shocked at the way the majority of the WWE Universe took to this match.

No doubt, this match was match of the night, but that is because it was the only match that received more than 15 minutes. It stole the show because it was planned to steal the show. There are rumors running rampant across the internet that are saying every match was cut short due to The Game and The Deadman wanting more time.

Now on to the match itself...

The opening minutes were fantastic, from destroying the Cole Mine, to the 10-foot back drop HHH took, to the spinebuster through the Spanish announce table to the Undertakers botched leap over the top rope. This match started out on fire. However, the match went from a full on sprint to a crawl in the matter of seconds. 

I understand that the legends in this match are getting up there in age and this was not going to be a wrestling clinic. That is why they gave this match the no holds barred stipulation. But I expected a little more than one move every three minutes. This did make this match entertaining with the finishers and kick-outs, but it was a finisher, kick-out, wait seven minutes, finisher, kick-out. And that was the pattern for the rest of the match. However, after about the Undertaker hit the tombstone and HHH kicked out, that was when the rest of the match got boring and ruined it.

The last 15-20 min was literally just the Game beating on the Undertaker and Undertaker withstanding it. It did make it believable that the streak was coming to an end, and even when HHH hit the third pedigree and the tombstone, I thought the streak was going to end. But what makes a great match is the back and forth action, not just one man delivering a beating and the other guy making a come back and winning at the last possible second (John Cena anyone?). 

Was the match good? It was ok. Was it legendary? Hell no.

And the ending really kind of screwed the pooch.

If you are a fan of pro wrestling above the age of eight, then you know that the moves and submissions are not "real". When HHH fell into Hell's Gate (modified Triangle Choke) he was fighting for almost two minutes before tapping out. He made almost no attempt to get out of it and was conscious the entire time. I do MMA, and I'm sorry but that was just BS. If HHH would have tapped maybe 30 seconds into it or if the ref would have done the arm drop thing and Triple H would have fought after that it would have made for a far more entertaining ending. Instead the WWE decided to go with Trips being choked out for nearly two minutes and being conscious the entire time. 

Did Undertaker oversell the beating after the match? Does Matt Hardy tweet?

I get that they wanted to sell how close Triple H was to ending the streak, but c'mon The Undertaker was rolling around like a fat kid that just ran a lap. If he was legitimately hurt, I take this all back and I apologize ahead of time, but that was around the over-selling of Shawn Michaels vs Hulk Hogan at Summerslam 2005. 

This match did steal the show, no other match even compared. But that is because they were not allowed to. No other match delivered the show-stealer, because Triple H and Undertaker would not allow it. Is it unfair? Yes, but that is the world of the WWE and I was ok with it. 

This match may go down as one of the most overrated matches of all time, right next to the Rock/Hogan from 9 years prior. 

But hey, thats just me.

Please I would love to hear all your thoughts, negative or positive. Bring 'em on.