The Undertaker
The Undertaker's legendary WrestleMania winning streak came to an end with a loss to Brock Lesnar, and WWE fan reactions ranged from stunned to genuinely devastated. Flickr/Simon Q

WrestleMania 30 was the scene of perhaps the most shocking moment in WWE history, as Brock Lensar defeated The Undertaker and ended The Streak. While fans and wrestlers have expressed their frustration with the decision to make The Undertaker finally lose in his 22nd WrestleMania match, Lesnar’s victory is paying dividends for the No.1 wrestling company.

At SummerSlam 2014, Lesnar defeated John Cena to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The former UFC champ put on one of the most dominant displays ever in the main event of a WWE pay-per-view, hitting Cena with 16 German suplexes and essentially squashing the company’s biggest star.

Giving Lesnar the victory over The Undertaker has allowed WWE to turn Lesnar into the most dominant force the company has seen in years. Shortly after WrestleMania 30, many felt that the honor of ending The Streak was wasted on Lesnar because of his part-time schedule. However, it’s Lesnar’s part-time schedule, along with his victories over top superstars, that has made him such a compelling character.

Lesnar will likely do more with beating The Undertaker than any up-and-coming WWE superstar could have done. All three former members of The Shield have bright futures, but it’s unknown what kind of careers they will have as single wrestlers. Daniel Bryan might have been a popular choice to beat The Undertaker, but conquering the iconic streak is better off left to a heel. An argument can be made for Bray Wyatt being the man to finally beat The Undertaker, but he took on Cena at WrestleMania 30 and there’s no guarantee that he’d get the chance in 2015.

A loss for Lesnar to The Undertaker would have limited his potential in WWE. It would’ve marked a second straight WrestleMania defeat for Paul Heyman’s client, making him that much less of an attraction, upon his returns throughout the year. While he’s been involved in interesting programs with CM Punk, Triple H and Cena, Lesnar never would have reached the level he’s currently at by not conquering The Streak.

At 37 years old, Lesnar potentially has a long future ahead of him in WWE. The same can’t be said for The Undertaker. The Deadman will be 50 years old by the time WrestleMania 31 arrives, and there are rumors that his retirement is likely, after he was rushed to the hospital, following his loss in New Orleans.

Not only did Lesnar’s WrestleMania 30 victory make him an even bigger attraction, but it could have a domino effect and help create WWE’s next top star. The wrestler that eventually takes the belt from Lesnar, potentially Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 31, will get benefit greatly from defeating the man who conquered The Streak.

Even though The Undertaker’s streak was broken, his legacy remains untouched. After joining WWE in 1990 and having a career that spanned nearly 25 years, The Undertaker will go down as one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time, no matter the result of his match with Lesnar. While he may never have reached the heights of legends like Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, no wrestler ever spent as many years as a main eventer as The Undertaker.

Vince McMahon might not have had a long-term plan in mind when he decided that The Undertaker would lose to Lesnar. The build to the WrestleMania 30 match was underwhelming, and Shawn Michaels told Jim Ross on “The Ross Report” that the outcome of the match was determined just hours before the event.

No matter how WWE arrived at the decision, they are proving that Lesnar was the right person to end The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak.

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