WWEditorials: The Undertaker & The Streak (21-1)

WrestleMania XXV – The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (17-0)

The next match pitted The Undertaker against Shawn Michaels. Michaels made his entrance descending on a platform to symbolize the light; in sharp contrast, The Undertaker entered second, ascending from the floor with fire shooting up from the stage. The match started w/ a fast pace by both men going for strikes to have them countered before Michaels feigned a knee injury to gain the advantage, and the pace slowed. This led to an exchange of signature moves and submission holds, which saw Michaels escape The Undertaker’s Hell’s Gate and dodge multiple attempts at the choke-slam while his adversary blocked attempts at Michaels’ Sweet Chin Music. The action went to the outside of the ring with Michaels attempting a moonsault, only to have The Undertaker stop the attempt. This was followed by The Undertaker doing a suicide dive over the top rope, only to have Michaels pull the nearby cameraman (played by Sim Snuka) into Undertaker’s path. The spot, however, did not go as intended. The idea was for Michaels to push the referee out of the way, and pull Snuka into the path of Undertaker and for Snuka to catch Undertaker before he hit the ground. However, Snuka was standing too far back and Undertaker landed almost head first on the protective mats surrounding the ring. He remained on the floor of the arena for some time, while Michaels revived the referee, rolling him back into the ring and having the referee start to count out the Undertaker. The official started to count as the Undertaker started to revive, and when the official got to the count of 9, Undertaker rolled into the ring, managing to beat the count of 10. The match continued with both men performing all of their respective finishing moves. The Undertaker hit The Last Ride and Chokeslam, and Michaels hit the Sweet Chin Music at two points in the match. Both men were unable to win through these moves. The Undertaker even hit Michaels with a massive Tombstone Piledriver, but Shawn kicked out. Undertaker finally won the match after Michaels ascended the top rope, attempting to perform another moonsault only to be caught in mid-air by The Undertaker and hit another Tombstone Piledriver and pinning him. As a result of this victory, The Undertaker remained undefeated at WrestleMania, extending his record to 17–0. Throughout the match, fans were split, chanting for both Undertaker and Michaels, and at one point chanted “This is awesome”, referring to the match itself.

WrestleMania XXVI – The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels II (18-0)

It was billed as “The Undertaker’s Streak vs Shawn Michaels Career” for WrestleMania XXVI. A rematch was made as Michaels has challenged Undertaker to a rematch at next year’s Wrestlemania. However, The Undertaker refused, telling Michaels that he has nothing to prove to him anymore. After Shawn Michaels caused him to lose the World Heavyweight Championship to Chris Jericho inside the Elimination Chamber by hitting him with his signature Sweet Chin Music, The Undertaker changed his mind and accepted the rematch but only if Michaels agreed to put his career on the line. Michaels did, and two weeks later it was announced the match could only end by pinfall or submission. Though not reaching the height that their Wrestlemania XXV match did, the added stipulation made this match an automatic classic for any wrestling fan.

(Continue to pg. 4 – ‘WWEditorials: The Undertaker & The Streak: XXVIII, 29, XXX‘)