We’re at the end of The Streak as CM Punk steps up to face The Undertaker. This last hurrah for the Streak followed the same general story of the Deadman’s late career in that he’s the prize—he’s never been defeated at WrestleMania. Anyone who defeats him will have an achievement no one else can nab.
The Road to WrestleMania 29
Their story kicked off with Old School Raw when Taker showed up. This story was straightforward as he just opened the floor for the next victim he would spank. Randy Orton, Big Show, Sheamus, and CM Punk all stepped up and besides Big Show, the Undertaker stood to have a good bout with this pool of opponents.
Vickie Guerrero scheduled a fatal-four way which Punk won. Honestly, that’s all that needed to be done as far as that match being booked but Punk opted to put more seasoning on the match by crashing the Paul Bearer memorial tribute. The whole thing became Taker chasing Punk to get the urn back.
Again, it was pretty unnecessary since everyone figured out what the deal was with Taker’s WrestleMania matches by this point. The extra story is appreciated from an effort standpoint but eh, it’s unnecessary for the most part.
If anything, it just meant Taker would really need to spank Punk for turning his road to WrestleMania into an ordeal.
The Undertaker vs. CM Punk
While I wasn’t all in on the build-up of this match, the match itself was awesome! The crowd was hot, CM Punk was in prime form as a heel, and got the beating that was coming to him. Now, this wasn’t a one-sided match but Taker beating up on the snotty Punk was so satisfying.
The match had all the things you’d expect in a late-career big match from Taker: a physical strike exchange, someone kicking out of the Tombstone, his opponent managing a significant turnaround during a round of Big Evil’s offense, and most importantly those moments of real vulnerability in the Undertaker.
There’s a definite formula to Undertaker’s WrestleMania matches following the first match with Triple H. I’d say that the match against Punk was probably the cleanest and most textbook of those kinds of matches. It’s not my favorite of the Streak but this is definitely in the upper reaches of the Streak.
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