Posted in: Doctor's Orders
Doctor's Orders: Taker's Last Opponent in His Last Match
By Dr. CMV1
Aug 18, 2011 - 9:59:41 PM

Morpheus is in the midst of his 30-Day Challenge and the other day he mentioned that he thinks that the Undertaker’s entrance is the best in wrestling. At Wrestlemania XXIV, I happened to be there live to see his entrance. It was a chilly evening that night in March. Taker’s entrance alone warmed up the entire open air stadium. My dad was with me that night and he remembers that entrance as the most memorable thing from the experience of going to the Show of Shows. So, combine that with the recent posts on the main page about Taker making his return as soon as October and it’s got me thinking ahead to next year’s Wrestlemania, where the Deadman will (in my opinion) be making his final appearance. At this time a couple of years ago, I wrote a very flattering piece about Shawn Michaels – who you probably know by now has no bigger fan than yours truly – but suggested that he needed to retire at Wrestlemania XXVI. There was no need for the WWE’s version of Michael Jordan to actually channel his inner “Airness” and stick around longer than necessary. Retire as the best and move on with your life before you ruin your body was what I figured would be best. HBK agreed. Well, Deadman, it’s your turn…

I’ve already written a flattering piece complimenting the Taker. I did it earlier this year and it was the nicest stuff I’ll ever write about the Last Outlaw. To quickly re-iterate, I look at the last five years of what he’s done at Wrestlemania – an unprecedented streak of 4 star or better matches that not even Shawn Michaels ever accomplished – and I see a wrestler that has earned my respect forever and always. He already had it as a character, but to earn it as a wrestler ranks much higher in my book. It’s the wrestling equivalent of winning the Super Bowl. Just as Peyton Manning validated his Hall of Fame career by winning a Super Bowl and making it to one other, Taker put the stamp on his resume by having five consecutive matches on the grandest stage that all currently rank in my top 25 matches in Mania history. I’m a history buff, especially of the Mania era, and I’m also a match rating guru who studies and breaks down film like few others just because I find star ratings and such fascinating. To claim five of the top 25 matches in Mania history in a span of five years is just downright incredible. Don’t bother arguing with me on this. It’s a dead end. Make like Jake Roberts and “Trust me.”

Outside of Mania, I don’t really care about Taker anymore. He’s too old and broken down to be consistent, but I do think he should go on a little bit of a farewell tour. He should wrestle at Survivor Series and get the rematch with Triple H out of the way at Madison Square Garden. What WWE wrestler wouldn’t want to get one last chance to wrestle there before they retired? Flair got the chance to do that with the Royal Rumble in 2008 and Taker now has that chance, too. He should get to take advantage of that and have one more showdown at the place where he had one of his greatest WWE title matches (against Austin in 1998) and made his return as the Deadman (in 2004). Personally, I would love to see Taker vs. Triple H again, but I don’t really want to see that at Wrestlemania again. Despite the WWE’s attempts to cover it up, I remember that Triple H has already lost twice to Taker at Mania. I don’t need to see that a third time anymore than you do. But at MSG at the PPV that he debuted at 21 years ago? That’s a moment.

So, let’s say that he does wrestle at Survivor Series. Given his physical limitations, wouldn’t it be nice if his Wrestlemania 28 feud was set-up that night? That’s an easy way to get over whoever he’s going to face and launch that individual into the spotlight reserved for those guys that take out the Taker. If handled right, Taker can hold off on returning again until Elimination Chamber. Who’s it gonna be, though, ladies and gentlemen? I’ll tell you…my suggestions aren’t going to be based on stupid questions like “Who would the fans legitimately buy as a threat to Taker’s Streak?” Let’s be honest…nobody is a threat to the Streak and no one has been since Batista and Edge in back-to-back years where they could have really used the wins. That doesn’t matter nearly as much as whiny people with nothing better to do than criticize would have you think. It’s simply about presenting a compelling story and allowing that wrestler to step into the ring with Taker and make you believe he’s got a shot during the course of the match – just like what has happened in six of Taker’s last seven Mania matches.

In my heart of hearts, Chris Jericho would be the ideal final opponent for the Deadman. That’s a dream feud for me, but I’m resigned to the fact that the opportunity came and went for it to happen. In the event that it does happen, I may just have to toss my plans of speaking at the largest health and wellness show in my area that weekend and find my way down to Miami. I am going to assume, however, that such a storyline is just a pipe dream. Thus, you can separate the potential “Streak breakers” into two categories: the old guys and the new guys. Of the old guys other than Triple H, Kane has to shoot to the top of the list since he’s got the long-established feud. They’ve feuded approximately 8,000 times according to Wikipedia, so why not one more time? I certainly don’t favor this option, having seen all eight thousand matches of theirs. Big Show is due a major match at Mania after two nothing bouts in consecutive years and he’s always the type of guy that has instant credibility. Combined with his natural chemistry with Taker as shown during their feuds in 2003 and 2008, it wouldn’t surprise me to see that one restarted, but again it’s not one that I favor. In fact, it doesn’t matter if it’s Kane, Show, Mark Henry, Triple H, Kamala, King Kong Bundy, fake Undertaker, or Randy Orton, I really don’t care to see any star that’s been a major player for over 5 years in that spot against the Taker.

I want to see someone from the new guy group. The candidates are limited because it has to be someone with the patented resume of someone with serious skill and a seriously big push. That rules out the majority of the newer talents. Two months ago, I would have said the guy at the top of that list could’ve been CM Punk. Despite having lost at two straight Wrestlemanias, Punk is the kind of guy that can talk his way into anything. Given what he’s said and done since the end of June, it would seemingly only strengthen his position to potentially face Taker. Just imagine the promos that Punk could cut against the Deadman given what happened two years ago. Unfortunately, I think Punk is wrestling himself into a spot where they’ll want to protect him. It’s crazy to think, but Punk has gone from upper mid-card to main-event guy worthy of protecting from loss in six weeks. Punk might very well be a game-changer, so you can’t just job him out to Taker without someone with equal or better potential to step into his new spot. I think Punk will, thus, end up elsewhere on the card either in a high profile match against an all-time great (other than Taker) or in the WWE Championship match at the babyface.

The second candidate amongst the newbies would be Sheamus. They have some serious work to do, but we’re not all that far removed from Sheamus being WWE Champion for 5 of the 12 months of 2010 and being rumored to wrestle Taker in a title unification match (however off base the rumor may have been). There’s not a better big man in the WWE right now than the Celtic Warrior and he’s already got the pedigree with the two WWE title reigns. All he needs now is the consistent push as a top guy for the next several months. Unfortunately for my new favorite wrestler, I just don’t see him getting that sustained push. The fact that he was left off the Mania card this year doesn’t help. So, I think the top two newbie candidates are going to be the two new guys that were in the co-main-events at Wrestlemania 27. The Miz won the main-event at Wrestlemania. Unique viewers that don’t consistently watch the product outside Mania are going to remember Miz pinning Cena when April 1st rolls around. Assuming that he goes on to have a strong remainder of 2011, Miz could quite easily step into the role and use his voice to make the match with Taker special. It would not hurt him to lose like it would for Punk, despite Miz being fairly secure in his top spot in the company. I think he’ll be just as likely to be back in the WWE title picture, but he’s got the history (with wins over both of the current golden boys in Orton and Cena in big match situations) to go in as a threat against Taker and be looked at much like Orton was several years ago as a guy who the WWE sees as the present and future (perhaps to the point that he’d be given an outside shot at actually ending the streak, however unlikely).

If I had my druthers, though, I would choose the guy that lost the World title match at Mania 27: Alberto Del Rio. I may be bucking conventional feelings about the Mexican Aristocrat, but I’m quite confident that Del Rio will succeed when he is given the ball just as he has succeeded when given the opportunity to shine to this point. Put him against Mysterio and Edge, two top WWE stars for years, and he did nothing but impress. Given the chance as champion, I’m sure he’ll do the same. I like the potential of his rich character playing the “destiny” card against Taker’s Streak. I envision a scenario where he costs the Deadman some sort of major match at some point, igniting the feud. Perhaps Taker costs Del Rio the championship at Elimination Chamber and they take it from there. The money will already roll in thanks to Cena vs. Rock, but the Mexican market is the second biggest they’ve got and it would stand to reason that it would boom in that market if Del Rio was in such a high profile match. In interviews, Del Rio has stated that his dream match would be against Taker at Mania, so he’d be motivated to do the best work of his career and increase his chance of success. The most exciting scenario that I can come up with is, as sort of a tribute to Taker’s Mania opponents, have Alberto spend the weeks leading to Mania bringing in the likes of Jake Roberts, King Kong Bundy, Diesel, and Sid to study where they went wrong and then punctuating his research by talking with Kane, Triple H, HBK, Henry, Orton, Edge etc. to make sure he’s fully prepared and to ensure that the audience sees him as the most legitimate threat possible. Then, there’s potential for his entrance in Miami. With an open roof stadium and the WWE’s willingness in the past to spend obscene money to make that scenario truly special, I dream of a Bell Helicopter FLYING Del Rio to the ringside area.

Any way you cut it, I think there are a few unadulterated facts about this upcoming Wrestlemania, if everyone currently healthy stays that way. The first is that Cena vs. Rock will main-event. The second is that Punk and Orton will occupy top level matches. The third is that Taker will go 20-0 against someone. I would prefer to see Taker win that final bout against a fresh face.