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Worst in the World: Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX

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(Special thanks to Frost for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.)
Anytime a wrestling promoter sets up a big, historic, marquee match, there has to be one thought that always creeps up in the back of their mind. After all the build, all the hype, and all the time that went into making the match feel like a big deal...what if the match just sucks? All that effort...just for the match to be bad. And by that, I don't mean matches that were underwhelming like AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34, which is a fine match on its own, but given the history between the two (and the fact that they had put on a Match of the Year contender at Wrestle Kingdom 10 just over two years prior), it was hard to come away from that match without think "well...that could've been better." I'm talking about matches that are just not good. Matches that just fall completely flat throughout. I rarely talk about matches that have any kind of very prominent significance (at least ones that are prominent for reasons other than that their bad like Hogan vs Warrior at Halloween Havoc 1998), with the two biggest examples of matches I've talked about probably being Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III and Hogan vs Sting at Starrcade 1997. Well, it's time to add another one to that group. WrestleMania XXX: Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker.
Even in a scripted environment like professional wrestling, The Undertaker's then-undefeated streak at WrestleMania is still an incredibly impressive athletic feat. Even in 2014, 27 years into his career and almost 50 years old, Taker was still able to go out and put on a lengthy, quality match at WrestleMania. Taker obviously slowed down the last few years of his career, but still, his matches with guys like Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and CM Punk at the prior WrestleMania's before still hold up. However, as the years went on, and the longer The Streak went, the more likely it was that we'd start to see that regression from Taker. There was no way he could do this forever, every athlete slows down the older they get (as a basketball fan who watched Cleveland Cavaliers-era Shaquille O'Neal, I know all about that), it was inevitable. I said before during Taker's match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 that Taker really shows his age at the end of that match, but this is really where the cracks start to show. Let's take a look at this match.
The Undertake has a very cool entrance, with 22 caskets set up on the stage. 21 feature the names of each person who has challenged the streak, and the final one with Brock Lesnar's name.
As Taker makes his way onto the stage, the casket with Lesnar's name opens. Taker raises his hand, causing the casket to erupt in flames. Michael Cole quickly jinxes the match by saying "this is not going to be pretty." The two go face to face before the bell rings. Lesnar tries to take the fight right to Taker, but Taker cuts him off and punches away at Lesnar. Taker strikes Lesnar into the corner, but Lesnar reverses an Irish whip attempt, throwing Taker into the opposite corner before hitting a belly-to-belly suplex. Lesnar follows up by clotheslining Taker out of the ring, only for Taker to land on his feet. Taker gets back on the apron and takes the fight to Lesnar, but Lesnar regains control by kneeing Taker in the gut. Taker regains control by pulling Lesnar's head into the top rope before getting back in the ring.
Taker strikes away at Lesnar in the corner before throwing Lesnar shoulder first into the ring post, causing Lesnar to slide out of the ring. Taker follows him out before throwing him into the post again. Taker rolls Lesnar back into the ring, following him before going for Old School. Lesnar blocks it, however, and starts hitting him with shoulder blocks in the corner. Lesnar whips Taker into the opposite corner, but Taker dodges a charging Lesnar, sending him shoulder first into the ring post and sending Lesnar out of the ring again. Taker follows him out of the ring before slamming Lesnar's head into the ring steps. The two trade blows at ringside before Taker lays Lesnar across the ring apron, hitting a big boot before hitting his apron leg drop. Back in the ring, Taker hits Snake Eyes and goes for a chokeslam, but Lesnar slips out and goes for the F-5. Taker slips out, however, and throws Lesnar into the corner. Taker goes for a big boot, but Lesnar dodges it, causing Taker to catch himself on the top rope. Lesnar takes the opportunity to slam Taker's leg into the ring post twice as Taker falls out of the ring to the outside.
The two trade blows at ringside, and this is where disaster happens. Lesnar picks Taker's ankle, causing Taker to fall backwards and smash his head on the ground. While I'm not 100% sure of this, from what I've read, this is generally considered the moment Taker suffered a severe concussion that led to him being taken to the hospital. And as a result, this is where this match falls apart. Lesnar rolls Taker back in the ring, stomping away at him. Lesnar beats down Taker, stomping and punching away at him for about two minutes before Taker slowly gets out of the ring, clearly wobbling. Lesnar follows him out, where the two trade blows before Lesnar throws Taker into the barricade. Lesnar throws Taker back in the ring where he hits a suplex before hitting Taker with knees. Lesnar continues to strike away at Taker until Taker hits a DDT. Taker follows up with two corner splashes before hitting Snake Eyes, a big boot, and a leg drop for a near fall. Taker sets up & hits the chokeslam, but Lesnar kicks out at two. Taker goes for a follow-up Tombstone Piledriver, but Lesnar slips out and hits the F-5, but Taker kicks out.
Lesnar stumbles around & sells for nearly a minute, likely to let Taker take a breather, before Taker locks in the Hell's Gate triangle choke. However, fights to his feet and slams Taker down onto the mat. After another extended period of selling by both men, Taker locks in Hell's Gate again, only for Lesnar to once again lift Taker up and slam him down. JBL points out on commentary that it has been several minutes since Taker has even stood up. More extended selling before Lesnar locks in the Kimura Lock, only for Taker to reverse it and lock in a Kimura of his own. Taker stands up for the first time since getting hit with the F-5 before going back to the ground to further lock in the Kimura. Lesnar breaks the hold by grabbing the ropes before driving his shoulder into Taker's gut in the corner. Taker regains control by catching a charging Lesnar with a boot before stumbling over to Lesnar to set up Old School. It's abundantly clear how bad of shape he's in. Thankfully, they don't entertain the idea of Taker hitting Old School for long, as Lesnar pulls him off the top rope and hits a second F-5, but Taker kicks out. I get that wrestling shows & matches have to be timed & scheduled pretty precisely...but that's where the match probably should've just ended.
Lesnar follows up the F-5 with two German suplexes before we get another extended period of selling. Lesnar stomps at Taker before going for the ten punches in the corner, only for Taker to spring to life and hit a Last Ride that doesn't look great. Taker follows up with the Tombstone Piledriver, but Lesnar kicks out. Taker sits up and calls for another Tombstone, but Lesnar slips out and hits a third F-5 for the three. The bell rings. No music plays. Heyman rushes into the ring to celebrate with Lesnar as cameras focus on the shocked fans in the crowd. This guy becomes a meme.
Justin Roberts finally announces Lesnar as the winner, still with no music. 21-1 pops up on the big screens.
Lesnar's music finally hits as he & Heyman walk up the ramp. The Streak is over. After Lesnar triumphantly leaves the ring, a war-torn Undertaker stays in the ring, soaking in the admiration of the fans as "Thank You, Taker" chants rain down upon him. The commentators give him a standing ovation. It's the perfect send-off for one of th-Yeah alright, I already did this bit.

The Verdict

I don't want to put this match too low because, to me at least, a lot of what went wrong with this match was because of Taker's injury, but...man, this match was terrible. The early parts of the match are fine, albeit unremarkable, but after Taker gets hurt, the match just completely falls apart. So much stalling and very few moves in between, which again, was kind of necessary given Taker's concussion. What makes that part even worse is that Taker gets hurt early in the match, so this bad part isn't even really a part of the match, it's the majority of it. This match is over 25 minutes long, and almost 20 of it is watching a severely concussed near-50-year-old struggle to stand up, let alone wrestle. It's uncomfortable. 
As for the actual breaking of the Streak and my opinion on it, I still don't know how to feel about it. Yes, Lesnar was one of the few people who could be considered "big enough" to break the streak, but that's more of an indictment of WWE's outright refusal to build stars in most cases. In the same way Lesnar was a big star who could realistically end the Streak, he's probably also the person who gained the least by breaking it. Personally, I would've preferred WWE build someone new up and have them gain a huge credibility boost from ending the Streak, but given WWE, that wasn't something that was going to happen. But as for the actual match, there is zero reason to go back and watch it, outside of the very ending just for the reaction to the Streak being broken.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

  1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
  2. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
  3. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
  4. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
  5. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
  6. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
  7. The Concrete Crypt Match-The Great American Bash 2004
  8. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
  9. Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly-The Great American Bash 2004
  10. Luther Reigns vs Charlie Haas-The Great American Bash 2004
  11. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
  12. The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven
  13. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
  14. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
  15. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
  16. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
  17. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff
  18. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
  19. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
  20. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
  21. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
  22. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
  23. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
  24. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
  25. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
  26. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
  27. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
  28. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
  29. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
  30. EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii-Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Day 1)
  31. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
  32. Toru Yano vs Great O-Khan-New Japan Cup 2021 (Day 6)
  33. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
  34. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
  35. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
  36. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
  37. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
  38. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
  39. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
  40. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker
  41. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
  42. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
  43. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
  44. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
  45. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
  46. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
  47. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
  48. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
  49. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
  50. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
  51. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
  52. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
  53. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
  54. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
  55. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
  56. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
  57. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
  58. The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
  59. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
  60. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
  61. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
  62. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
  63. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
  64. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
  65. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
  66. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
  67. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
  68. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
  69. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
  70. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
  71. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
  72. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
  73. Santino Marella vs Heath Slater-WWE Friday Night SmackDown (9/27/2013)
  74. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
  75. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
  76. Allie vs Leva Bates-Fyter Fest 2019
  77. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
  78. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
  79. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
  80. Kenzo Suzuki vs Billy Gunn-The Great American Bash 2004
  81. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
  82. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
  83. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
  84. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
  85. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
  86. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
  87. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
  88. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
  89. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
  90. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
  91. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
  92. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
  93. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
  94. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
  95. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
  96. Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
  97. Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs EVIL & Dick Togo-The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (Day 2)
  98. Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
  99. The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
  100. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
  101. Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
  102. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
  103. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
  104. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
  105. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
  106. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
  107. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
  108. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
  109. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
  110. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
  111. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
  112. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
  113. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
  114. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
  115. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
  116. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
  117. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
  118. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
  119. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
  120. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
  121. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
  122. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
  123. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
  124. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
  125. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
  126. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
  127. Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
  128. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
  129. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
  130.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
  131. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
  132. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
  133. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
  134. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
  135. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
  136. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
  137. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
  138. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
  139. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
  140. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
  141. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
  142. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
  143. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
  144. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
  145. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
  146. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
  147. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
  148. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
  149. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
  150. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
  151. Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
  152. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
  153. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
  154. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
  155. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
  156. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
  157. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
  158. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
  159. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
  160. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
  161. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
  162. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
  163. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
  164. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
  165. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX
  166. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
  167. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
  168. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
  169. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
  170. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
  171. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
  172. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
  173. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
  174. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
  175. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
  176. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
  177. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
  178. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
  179. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
  180. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
  181. Toru Yano vs KENTA-G1 Climax 2021 (Day 1)
  182. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
  183. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
  184. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
  185. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
  186. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
  187. "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
  188. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
  189. Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
  190. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
  191. Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
  192. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
  193. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
  194. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
  195. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
  196. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
  197. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
  198. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
  199. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
  200. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
  201. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
  202. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
  203. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments. In two weeks, I'll be doing a triple feature focused on one of the Attitude Era's most underappreciated female wrestlers, and how the WWF proceeded to end each of her Women's Championship reigns in bad fashion. Stay tuned...
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 7, 2022 at 3:46 PM

    That ending to the match still gives me chills to this day because I never thought the streak would end. As for the guy I think should of ended the streak it should of been Bray Wyatt.

    My prediction for this female wrestler is Ivory.

    Speaking of the Attitude Era do you plan on doing a multi feature of Wrestlemania 15 where it has so many bad eggs such as a wrestler being sent out to die at the hands of a trained fighter just because Vinnie Mac didn't get his way and a man being hung after a pretty bad HIAC match that would rival the Rollins/Fiend one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleAugust 7, 2022 at 5:37 PM

      It really is surreal, especially with the crowd. You can literally see the shock on people's faces in the front row right after the pinfall. All credit to WWE for how they presented it with the delays in Justin Roberts announcing the result and Lesnar's music not playing also, it really adds to the shock of the moment. I also agree that Wyatt would've been right choice to end the Streak. I know I've written a bout a ton of Wyatt's matches in this series, but I do think the guy is great and could've been a big deal had WWE booked him right.
      As for the next post, it is Ivory.
      And I'll definitely take a look at Mania 15. Maybe it's because it has the first Austin-Rock WrestleMania match, but it definitely gets looked over how there's really only two good matches on a 10 match card. Thanks for the suggestions!

      Delete
    2. AnonymousAugust 8, 2022 at 4:53 PM

      Yeah the crowds defining silence really made the moment feel impactful. Your right, even though Wyatt's had some stinkers he really is great although if Wyatt comes back hopefully HHH books him well.
      I can't to see what horrible matches that Ivory has been in your going to do.
      I heard the only best matches were X Pac/Shane and Austin/Rock but the rest of the show was terrible. You're welcome!

      Delete
    3. AnonymousAugust 8, 2022 at 5:19 PM

      But yeah this is the worst match Lesnar/Taker had together because they never had a bad match together. I think had Taker never got concussed the match would of been good.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousAugust 7, 2022 at 5:58 PM

    Can you make the worst in the world about triple H vs Randy Orton at Wrestlemaina 25

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleAugust 7, 2022 at 6:52 PM

      I absolutely can. It's been a while since I've seen that match so I'll definitely take a look at it. Thanks for the suggestion!

      Delete
  3. Otter EmpireAugust 7, 2022 at 8:38 PM

    Me personally I always believed they shouldve ended the streak at Wrestlemania 28 End of an Era. If not, then never

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleAugust 8, 2022 at 7:51 PM

      That's a fair choice, especially with how that match was billed.

      Delete
  4. FrostAugust 7, 2022 at 8:47 PM

    Thanks for covering this one, CJ! It really isn't too often that a marquee match winds up being a flop, but this one was just an unfortunate circumstance.

    So, as far as my growing list of requests is concerned, I decided to throw a bunch of wrestlers on a wheel, spin it, and see where it landed. This time's contestant is an interesting one: New Jack. Obviously one of the most notorious performers in the history of the industry, but from what I have seen from his rated matches, the tag matches he had with Mustafa Seed as the Gangstas were pretty darn good. One that wasn't so good? The match he had *against* Mustafa at ECW Living Dangerously '99. Obviously not every former tag-team partner grudge match is going to be as excellent as Michaels-Jannetty, but that one just didn't do it for a lot of people.

    New Jack had a few others that were just not good, but it could also lead to a new category or a post for Worst in the World that we can move the shoot matches/big incident matches to; throw the Mass Transit incident, the Mickie Knuckles incident, the Ghastly Match, and any others that fit the bill to there. Possibly even Andre-Akira just so we can say that Jenna Morasca had the worst match ever.

    Rambling thought from there: I would like to petition for Los Villanos vs Psycho Circus to be "elevated" to the Worst Match Ever as it was a worked match featuring trained wrestlers while Andre-Akira devolved into a shoot and Jenna-Sharmell featured two non-wrestlers.

    Once again, sorry for the rambling, but I am loving this series! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleAugust 8, 2022 at 7:48 PM

      I'd actually been debating on what to do in cases like the Ghastly Match because of how what makes it bad is less about wrestling and more about gross misconduct by one of the participants. I think I am going to keep it as one list & one series, but matches like Yoshiko vs Yasukawa, Knuckles vs Mike Levy, and Mass Transit (and various other New Jack incidents), among other matches with that kind of misconduct, will have their own kind of tier on the list. Basically Tier 1 will be matches that are bad for purely wrestling & booking reasons, while Tier 2 will be matches that go beyond just bad wrestling and venture into morally wrong territory. I don't think I'd put Maeda vs Andre in that second tier because, while it does devolve into one wrestler shooting on another, there's still so much of an actual match that happens before that. If Maeda had started shooting right out of the gate like Yoshiko does in the Ghastly Match, then I could definitely see it being placed in that tier, but since there's a real attempt at a match, I'm going to keep it in that first tier. I think this is the best way I can go about it, as the lowest match in Tier 1 is still technically the worst match, albeit if you take out "matches" that are pretty much glorified assaults in a wrestling ring.
      As for moving Los Villanos/Psycho Circus to the worst spot (or at least below Jenna/Sharmell) I've thought about doing some kind of a "revisit" for certain matches and then re-rank them if necessary. I thought of that mainly because I think my writing style has changed since I started this series 7 years ago, and now that I've actually gotten a request to re-rank a previous match, I think I'll have to take another look at that match.
      Also, I will definitely add New Jack vs Mustafa to the list. I'd actually never seen that match and don't know much about it, so that'll be a completely new watch for me. I'll also definitely do a post centered around New Jack's various shoot incidents like Mass Transit. The XPW Freefall match with Vic Grimes is already on my list as well. As always, thanks for the suggestions!

      Delete
    2. FrostAugust 8, 2022 at 8:41 PM

      I understand what you mean with Andre-Maeda not being in the "beyond bad wrestling" tier; I haven't been able to find a place to watch that full match on my own so all I have is your review of it. My argument for Villanos-Circus being the worst match was that it consisted of professionals in a fully worked match that cooperated to produce something on a major PPV that they felt was not only presentable but also was a worthy send-off for Arturo Diaz (Villano III). That match gave Arturo Diaz the distinction of being one of the few guys to have worked in a WON Best Match of the Year winner and also a Worst Match of the Year Winner. Should he have been working in that match? Definitely not. But the other guys in the ring with him didn't really help either.

      Delete
  5. FrostAugust 9, 2022 at 10:26 PM

    Hey CJ, wanted to put this one in writing before I forgot: an idea of another wrestler with traditionally awesome matches to try and find any bad eggs he had: Kenny Omega. So, I did some research, and while most of his matches are all 4+ stars from Uncle Dave, there was one instance where he failed to impress. NJPW G1 Climax 2017 Day 6, a match that only garnered one (1) star from WON. I doubt you'd need more than one guess to determine his opponent in that match...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleAugust 11, 2022 at 2:46 PM

      That's another one I'll have to add to the list. That should be an interesting one because unlike the other Yano matches I've covered, Omega was very much in his prime in 2017, so they should've been able to put on at least a passable match had the comedy not gotten in the way. Thanks for the suggestion!

      Delete
  6. AnonymousAugust 14, 2022 at 4:37 PM

    I got a stinker for you, The British Bulldog vs Diesel In Your House 4 1995.
    It was so bad that Vince (who worked commentary at the time) threw his headset down, went backstage and had a fit about how awful the match was!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleAugust 15, 2022 at 12:35 AM

      I'll add it to the list! That's an infamous one that hasn't made it into the series just yet. Thanks for the suggestion! Considering how he loses the WWF Championship at the very next pay-per-view, you've gotta wonder if this match was enough to make Vince give up on Diesel as the top guy.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousAugust 15, 2022 at 5:13 AM

      You're welcome my dude! It probably was it also might be because, he wanted to do HBK vs Bret Hart at WM 12 since HBK already fought Diesel at that years Wrestlemania (another stinker of a ppv) so that's probably why Diesel dropped the belt to Bret Hart in the next ppv!

      Delete
  7. E.Y.D.August 15, 2022 at 4:37 PM

    Ah, this infamous match. Bad as it may be, it's still one of those "when everything changed" moments in wrestling history.

    I've been wondering: that SmackDown tag match where the referee apparently tried to "fuck on" Ted DiBiass Jr, does that fit the bill? I haven't seen the full match myself, so I've no idea how good or bad it is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ BiddleAugust 15, 2022 at 9:55 PM

      I can't remember much about that match outside of the finish (which is entirely because of the Cody story) but I'll definitely take a look at it. Thanks for the suggestion!

      Delete

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