WWE IN DEPTH
With Johnathan Price
“Where do Lesnar & Taker go after Hell in a Cell?”
We are just days away from what looks to be the final chapter in the Brock Lesnar/Undertaker rivalry. It’s a journey that has been 13 years in the making and it is ending in much the same way as it started, inside Hell in A Cell. When this clash of sports entertainment titans is over, what will be the next step for these men?
Back in 2002 the powers that be in WWE had just handed the keys to the company to Brock Lesnar. At the time he was made the youngest world champion in the organization’s history and in his first major feud with the belt, he faced off against a man who had been at the top of the food chain for over a decade….Mark Calaway.
The new champion needed some credibility and going over Undertaker in a match he made famous set Lesnar on a path to being the number one star in the company. What wrestling fan could forget watching Brock hold the WWE title high about his head from atop the cell, after he defeated the Phenom.
Fast forward to 2004 and Wrestlemania 20, The Undertaker returned from one of his many sabbaticals as the dead man and Brock Lesnar was on his way out of the company to try his luck in the NFL.
Football wasn’t a place of success for Brock, but he became a world champion in the UFC, where “real” fighting happens.
The Undertaker was on hand to watch Lensar fall to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. During a post match on camera interview, Taker exchanged words with Brock. From there the speculation ran wild.
3 and a half years later, thanks to a resiliently healthy Undertaker and former ultimate fighter, who had returned to professional wrestling, WWE fans had their fantasy match.
At Wrestlemania 30, Lesnar was once again looking for credibility. Even though he should have been booked like an unstoppable monster, he had been jobbed out to the likes of John Cena and Triple H. Only one thing could correct those wrongs and turn Lesnar into a conquering beast….beating the streak. Vince Mcmahon asked his most loyal employee to give up his greatest accomplishment in order to “make” Lesnar again.
Overnight creative made Brock unstoppable. He took the WWE World Heavyweight Championship off of John Cena in dominating fashion and the only reason he lost it was because of a Money in the Bank briefcase cash in at Wrestlemania 31.
This past summer the dead man came back for vengeance against the man who became the 1 in 22-1 and at SummerSlam we saw Taker get his win back, although it was an extremely controversial victory.
Most people who think they know the wrestling business figured that we would get one more match in this storyline…at Wrestlemania 32….but instead it will happen later this month inside Satan’s structure.
It’s a great way to end this battle once and for all. I fully expect Lesnar to walk out as the winner, but what happens for each of these men after their story is over?
Undertaker has had a match with almost every star in WWE history. Most of those men he competed with at Wrestlemania. They only big name left for him to face on the grandest stage of them all is the current standard bearer for the company….John Cena. If Vince is willing to blow off the Taker/Lesnar feud ahead of next April in Texas, this is the only other acceptable match they can be put in its place. It’s hard to believe the last time we saw Cena/Undertaker on PPV was over a dozen years ago, when Taker was a biker and John was a white rapper.
For those of you wondering, Sting is in no shape to wrestle anyone. After Night of Champions his health has to come first,
As for Lesnar, I was hoping that not matching up against the Phenom at Mania would mean he was headed for a showdown with the man he beat for his first title back in 2002, but it looks like The Rock will be doing battle with Triple H, if he competes in a match at all. So the only other place for Brock is in the Title Match. I’m that angers those of you who want to a triple threat with the former members of the Shield, but it seems right that Lesnar goes away again after Hell in a Cell, only to come back to win the 2016 Royal Rumble. I won’t predict who the Beast will be challenging, but maybe he finally gets revenge on Seth Rollins for sneaking in the back door and running off with his championship a year earlier.
What do you think comes next for The Undertaker and Brock Lesner? If Vince is willing to end their epic war now, Wrestlemania could be surprising to say the least.
Feedback: johnathanprice @ live.ca