Breaking News: The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak Ends

Welp, WWE shocked us all Sunday night when Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 30 to end the streak. Seriously.

Here is a recap from our play-by-play report:

The Streak vs. The Beast
– Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

The video package for Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar airs after the Daniel Bryan backstage segment. Up next is “The Streak vs. The Beast,” folks! I hope you’re excited, because I know I am!

Out first is Brock Lesnar, who is of course accompanied by Paul Heyman. Lesnar comes out in his UFC-style gear, shorts, gloves and all, complete with a “Eat, sleep, conquer, repeat” snow-hat on. Before he enters the ring, right at ringside, Heyman shouts some final instructions into Lesnar’s face to pump him up.

Next up, the Undertaker style church singing happens. Clips flash in with famous sound bytes and quick, flashy video excerpts from the past 21 appearances he has made at WrestleMania. Finally, the gong hits. As soon as it does, the 70,000-plus fans in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome go ballistic. The purple/blue lights dim, the fog spreads across the top of the stage, lightning strikes and finally we see the shadow of the most intimidating, legendary figure in the history of WrestleMania. That’s right children, Undertaker is here. ‘Taker remains still at the entrance way and off to the side, we see casket lids popping open. He slowly starts to walk a bit, only for fire to explode out of the aforementioned casket. He stops and looks at it briefly, turns and proceeds his slow walk down the aisle. An awesome, awe-inspiring ring entrance from “The Dead Man,” as you would expect. Finally, Justin Roberts gets on the mic and officially introduces him.

Taker finally makes it to the ring apron, slowly raises his hands and BOOM! Lightning explodes, fire erupts and the lights come back on. He enters the ring, whips his long coat off and slowly removes his hat. When he does, the lightning strikes again and he does the Taker eye-roll. I just have to say, each year seeing Undertaker standing in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania, it feels more legendary each year. It really is an amazing sight just to see him standing in that ring. A truly once in a lifetime performer and a guy who has built a legacy at WrestleMania that will never be touched. Not even close.

The bell rings and these two big boys immediately collide in the center of the ring. Lesnar suplex-throws Taker. Taker stands back up and goes right back after him. Taker gets Lesnar in the corner and lights him up with punches. Taker throws Lesnar shoulder-first into the ring post as the fans erupt in loud “Under-Taker” chants.

The action spills out to the floor and Taker again whips Lesnar into the ring post, shoulder-first. Taker goes for his classic “Old School” spot, but Lesnar stops him. As Lesnar finally starts building up a bit of offense, Taker cuts his efforts short and smashes him shoulder-first into the ring post yet again.

Once again the action makes its’ way out to the floor and Taker is in firm control of “The Beast.” Back in the ring, Taker continues his domination of the former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Taker slaps his hand onto the throat of Lesnar. Taker goes for the chokeslam, but Lesnar reverses it into an F-5 attempt. Lesnar doesn’t get it, however, as Taker escapes and goes back to work on Lesnar.

Finally, Lesnar cuts Taker off and starts mounting a legitimate offensive attack. Lesnar is targeting the leg of the big man now. He whips Taker’s leg into the ring post. The fight goes out to the floor again. Lesnar goes after Taker, but walks right into a back elbow from “The Dead Man.” Taker goes to follow up, but Lesnar manhandles Taker, slamming him down hard to the ground.

We’re back in the ring now and Lesnar bites his lips and begins stalking the WrestleMania legend. The fans try and rally behind Taker with chants, but to no avail, as Lesnar methodically stalks his opponent and continues to smash him. We see a shot of Paul Heyman, the evil genius himself, with a sick look of approval on his face, mixed with a slight bit of doubt behind those eyes, watching on as his “beast incarnate” continues to go to work on “The Phenom.” We over-hear Heyman shouting at Lesnar to “break him down.” Lesnar obliges.

The action spills out to the floor yet again and Lesnar continues to dominate the man with the longest undefeated streak in WrestleMania history. Taker tries fighting back, but his efforts don’t last long as the former NCAA champion easily regains control over the big man. Lesnar throws Taker back in the ring and arrogantly circles him, looking down at a beaten legend. Lesnar puts Taker up against the ropes and proceeds to pummel him with knees and punches.

The announcers start talking with their “serious” and “concerned” voices, as Lesnar continues to bash the big man with ease. Out of the clear blue, Taker blasts Lesnar with a DDT. Both guys are now down in the middle of the ring as the fans come alive upon seeing hope from their legendary hero.

Both guys slowly get back to their feet and start trading punches. Taker eventually gets the better of the exchange, whips Lesnar into the corner and follows him in with a huge clothesline. And another. Taker hits “Snake Eyes” on Lesnar and follows it up with a big boot. Taker is mounting a series of offensive attacks for the first time since the beginning portion of the match.

Taker throws his mighty hand up now, calling for the chokeslam. Meanwhile, Heyman is slamming his hands on the mat and freaking out. Taker chokeslams Lesnar and covers him. 1-2…NO! Lesnar kicks out. We see replays of the first successful chokeslam this evening from The Undertaker. The fans start chanting for Taker.

Taker hoists Lesnar up for the Tombstone Piledriver, however Lesnar quickly reverses it into a F-5 attempt. He hits it. Lesnar covers Taker immediately, but only manages to get to a count of two-and-a-half. The fans start stomping their feet, clapping their hands and chanting for “The Dead Man.” Heyman is overheard screaming at Lesnar to “finish him.” Taker goes to do his legendary “sit-up,” but keeps struggling to do so.

Lesnar goes over to grab onto Taker, but Taker snatches him out of the blue with his Hell’s Gate submission move. Lesnar signals his hand, showing that he was contemplating tapping out, but eventually uses one last surge of energy to hoist Taker up — still in the hold — and slam him down in powerbomb-style fashion. Heyman yells out to Lesnar, “now he’s yours!”

Once again, Lesnar arrogantly stalks a grounded Taker. He goes to pick him up, but Taker once again catches Lesnar in the Hell’s Gate out of nowhere. The same scenario plays out here, as Lesnar struggles briefly, but ultimately lifts Taker and slams his way out of the submission hold. Both guys are down now and the fans start stomping and clapping again, encouraging Taker to get back into the fight.

Out of nowhere, Lesnar slaps on a submission of his own. Taker is stuck in Lesnar’s dreaded Kimura lock now as Heyman proudly brags that “it’s over.” Michael Cole points out the history of Lesnar’s Kimura, noting that Lesnar has injured guys like Triple H and Shawn Michaels with this hold in the past. Taker eventually reverses and now Taker has Lesnar in his own Kimura hold. Lesnar screams out in pain as Taker wrenches away on his arm. Lesnar finally makes it to the ropes, forcing Taker to break the hold.

Taker grabs Lesnar’s arm again while standing and begins to climb the ropes. He goes for his famous “Old School” spot, but Lesnar yanks Taker off the top rope, with Taker falling perfectly across Lesnar’s shoulders for an immediate F-5 follow-up. Lesnar covers Taker, but again only manages to get a count of two-and-a-half. We see a glimpse of Heyman at ringside looking befuddled at what’s taking place in the ring.

Meanwhile, Lesnar fights on. Lesnar hits a German suplex on Taker. And another. Lesnar is slumped over in the corner now, clearly fatigued. Heyman gets right in his face and yells at Lesnar, informing him that “this is his destiny.” He screams at Lesnar, reminding him that he’s a “conquerer.” This ignites some passion in Lesnar, as he viciously proceeds to pummel a clearly and visibly beaten “Dead Man.” Out of nowhere, however, Taker nails Lesnar with The Last Ride.

Taker staggers up to his feet and waits for Lesnar to do the same. Lesnar finally does, only to turn around, directly into a Tombstone Piledriver. 1-2…NO! Lesnar kicks out again. Taker has a look of disbelief on his face. Both guys are down.

Undertaker does his trademark “sit-up” and then does his trademark throat-slashing hand gesture. Taker goes for another Tombstone, but Lesnar counters and F-5’s him. 1-2-3. The Streak is over ladies and gentlemen. I’m shocked.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

After The Match: The Streak Is Over

As soon as the pin happens, there was complete silence in the arena. Almost a sense of confusion. Did that really happen? Is someone going to come out and say he cheated, or something like that? Nope. He didn’t. Fair and square. We see a ton of shots of different fans in the audience with their hands on their heads, their jaws dropped. Total and utter shock. As time goes on and reality sets in, and equal amount of disgust from large sections of the arena. They did not want to see that. No Lesnar victory music, just silence. Well, silence other than Paul Heyman freaking out, shouting to Lesnar that he did it. Finally, Lesnar’s music plays and he and Heyman make their way to the back.

After all of that, the music stops and we see Taker down in the ring. After a bit more silence, finally the fans rally around Taker and start applauding and chanting for him. “Thank you Taker” chants break out as we see Taker finally make it to one knee, where behind him on one of the giant screens in the arena, we see 21-1. Unbelievable guys. I’m in total shock. Really am. A very weird feeling as more time passes. Everyone is doing the “Thank you Taker” chants. Everyone is standing and applauding. We see everyone at ringside, the ring crew, the announcers — everyone — standing on their feet and clapping. Finally Taker stands tall and looks around. The place explodes even louder with cheers. Taker finally slowly exits the ring and begins his walk up the ramp. Insane. Absolutely insane. Crazy. Just plain insanity. Wow. It’s all over, folks! The gong hits, the lights dim and Taker continues his walk up the ramp.

VIDEO: BROCK LESNAR DEFEATS THE UNDERTAKER – THE STREAK IS OVER!!!