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Waddup yall! It's my favorite time of year baby, oh yeah dont you know it?! It's Royal Rumble season yall! And right after the Rumble we will be on the fast lane (pun intended) with hopes of no road blocks (pun again) en route to Wrestlemania! Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. Grab a plate of seconds and thirds and grab a pay per view chair if you got one cause we're about to get started.
Welcome to!
We're gonna talk about The Streak AGAIN?!
Yes. Yes we are.
The Undertaker, The Walking Dead-Man, Mr. Night of the Living Dead himself entered Wrestlemania 21 times and emerged victorious those 21 times. 21-0 was the magic number, a number that was once a sacred accolade that none may ever come close to accomplishing. But hey, it could happen right?
Many had risen to the task, and all had fallen. Triple H, Kane, and Shawn Michaels were the only Superstars to challenge The Undertaker on more than one occassion, and they fell to the Taker along with everyone else.
As much as I never, eeeeeever talk about it, there's only one person who SHOULD HAVE broken The Undertaker's streak.......
Shawn Michaels
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice
What is there to say about Shawn Michaels that hasn't been said already really. Regarded as one of the all time greats, HBK's legacy stretches out as far as 1988, or 1987 depending on where you want to set the bar. Coining the nickname The ShowStopper, Shawn Michaels would leave his mark in a business that only continues to be not only recognized but almost worshipped as well. He's not just a sexy boy, he's also a decorated champion with a hell of a championship resumé.
4x World Champion (WWF, WHC)
6x World Tag Team Champion (various titles w/various partners)
3x Intercontinental Champion
European Champion
1st Grand Slam Champion
2x Royal Rumble Winner
2x WWE Hall of Famer (Class of 2011 and 2019)
However Shawn's decorated history was and will always be overshadowed by his failing to end The Streak not once, but twice.
Once at Wrestlemania XXV
Once at Wrestlemania XXVI
HBK would retire after the second loss, putting an end to an amazing career. The man who "retired" Ric Flair at Wrestlemania was getting a taste of his own medicine.
But what if things went differently?
Leading up to his rematch with Taker at WMDeuceSix, HBK had spiraled into a state of desperation and was willing to do anything and everything to get another shot. What made matters worse for HBK was Taker continously disregarding him as he had already been there, done that, and won. Taker had nothing to gain from taking on Shawn again, and it ate at Shawn's core and psyche to no end. And from desperation grows envy, and from envy grows evil. What if Shawn Michaels had tapped into that more dangerous, more envious side of evil, would he have had what it takes to defeat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania?
Shawn Michaels was one small push away from falling off the deep end. But to conquer The Streak, perhaps it is what was needed to give him that edge (sit your ass down Adam) to capture the victory he fiended for. Shawn Michaels needed to abandon all hope, his morals, his beliefs, and maybe even his religion, for the battle he was fighting was one that was made to be bigger than the competitors themselves.
Shawn Michaels needed to embrace the madness that was slowly consuming him. With that power, Shawn Michaels would have entered WrestleMania XXVI as Undertaker's equal. A battle of evil versus evil, where a darker Shawn Michaels would have surely emerged victorious. Perhaps Michaels would have gone as far as choking out Taker with his own triangle hold to the shock of an entire arena. The reaction would cement Shawn Michaels as the greater of the two as he had not only stolen Taker's aura, but buried his aura alive as well.
But would ending The Streak have been enough for Shawn Michaels? Would the victory be worth the pain and agony that came with leaving behind everything that made him the person he was? Would Michaels have risen above his demons, or would he plunge even further into insanity? The storee writes itself. Surely Michaels' career would have continued and he would have repeatedly mentioned he broke The Streak every chance he got. And surely anyone who had anything to say about it would be confronted by a very different, even darker Shawn Michaels that would have refused to not be acknowledged.
Then again perhaps having ended The Streak would have never been enough. This obsession would only lead Michaels to confront The Undertaker again, as beating him once would not satisfy his thirst. Surely HBK vs Taker III would have been a monumental main event for WM27, a match in which Undertaker would get his win back and perhaps bring Michaels back before he was too far gone. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels would both have retired not as advesaries, but as equal legends with their own sacred legacies.
One can dream cant they?
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(this chapter of Storee Time with The Great Brown Hope has been brought to you by Four Loko. Drink Four Loko.)
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Ghost "Jesus He Knows Me"
Flesh-N-Bone ft. Rev Run "World So Cruel"
Bizzy Bone "How I Feel"
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony "Only God Can Judge Me"
DMX "Last Hope"
My Chemical Romance "Helena"
Secret Band "Breakfast Time"
A Lot Like Birds "A Truly Random Code"
A Lot Like Birds "Kuroi Ledge"
Tom Waits "God's Away on Business"
Genesis "Jesus He Knows Me"
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