Let me clear the air right now and say what everyone else was thinking after last night’s debacle of a show: The Undertaker should have stopped at 20-0.
After all, you are never going to get another storyline as compelling as the HBK-Taker / HHH-Taker series that wrapped up last year after four stunningly good matches … and last night on Raw we witnessed what looked like a hastily thrown together thread where four guys call out the Dead Man as if they were all on his level and worthy of such a historic encounter.
If you remember in years past, the way they started the Undertaker-Michaels-HHH sagas each time around were just as effective and important to the stories as their respective finishes were:
Year 1: Michaels was God and Taker the Devil, you have to go through Hell to get to Heaven
Year 2: Michaels wants one more shot, but has to fight for it, and ultimately put his career on the line
Year 3: Triple H wants to avenge his fallen friend while doing what his friend couldn’t do
Year 4: “When you come back, I’ll be waiting”, leading to the Hell In A Cell culmination
So, what do we get to kick things off this time around?
–Punk wanting to end The Streak because … he’s mad at the fans and wants to take their Precious Streak away.
–Orton (fine), Sheamus (lol) and Big Show (LOL) being thrown in with Punk in a “we want Taker too” bit that came off extremely poorly
–two Taker entrances, the first of which came off awkward and seemed like it was squeezed into the beginning of the show without any real point
My point is that Old School Raw was one of the most elongated yawns in recent memory during a WrestleMania season show, and man, that crowd was just dead the entire time.
Unfortunately, that’s the same sentiment I have towards this whole Punk-Taker saga, which is off to a very hollow start.
That’s all from me — CB
