Ranking The Lesnar And Undertaker Feud

 Ranking The Lesnar/Undertaker Feud

If some of you don’t know, the Brock Lesnar and Undertaker feud has been going on since 2002. It’s a feud that seemed to be a catalyst for Brock’s career, as it launched him into the top echelon of the game and took him from being “The Next Big Thing” to being “The Big Thing.”

The two larger than life specimens have created history that will last a lifetime in WWE giving us some unforgettable moments. But my question is: how do you rank those moments, in particular, their matches? What was the best? Worst?
 
Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker – WWE Championship Match – Unforgiven: September 22, 2002
Brock Lesnar was just removed from his first WWE Championship match in which he beat The Rock for the title. Brock had only been in the company for a few months, but was rapidly climbing the highest of ranks at this time, which would include his next feud: The Undertaker. WWE was doing it’s very best into making Brock seem like a legitimate contender in the company, and putting him with its franchise player was one way to do it.

The storyline has always been personal between these two, but this one certainly had a little extra conflict to it. It involved the Undertakers’ then real-life wife, Sara, and their “unborn child.” It went so far as Brock placing his hand on Sara’s stomach, and later causing her trauma to which she would go to the hospital thinking she was giving a premature birth. All just part of the story, of course. You have to remember, this was a time when there was also HLA. And if you don’t know what that is look it… You know what, never mind, don’t do anything!
This match proved that Brock was all but set to go with anyone and belonged as he hung with Undertaker every step. However, the match, while good, left something to be desired as it ended in a no contest and Brock being tossed throw the entrance sign on the stage by Undertaker. The next month they would surely make up for this lackluster ending to this match. This was their very first encounter.
 
Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker – The Match Too Big For WrestleMania – SummerSlam: August 23, 2015

After seeing what these two did at WrestleMania XXX, there wasn’t as much expectation as far as match quality goes during this one. There was hope for a better match, there was a good story, and the match was hyped well by WWE. The match would end up delivering, except for the ending. It was meant to make the now rubber match between the two at Hell in a Cell, but it left many fans scratching their heads as they tried to discern the ending to this one. As Brock locked in the kimura lock on the Undertaker, it looked as if Undertaker had driven Brock’s shoulders to the mat, and as the ref counted to two, the timekeeper would then see Undertaker tapping out to the kimura lock, which the ref never called for the bell on the pinfall or submission. This didn’t go over well, and never was emphasized as it should have been.

This was memorable if for nothing than for Undertaker and Brock exchanging maniacal laughs towards each other and Lesnar flipping off Undertaker after Undertaker locked in the Hell’s Gates submission for the victory due to Lesnar going unconscious.

Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker – The Ending of The Streak – WrestleMania XXX: April 6, 2014

Looking at some of the others on this list, this one might have had the least amount of storytelling interest going into the match, besides this being another challenger for Undertaker at WrestleMania. It was promoted with little hype, but delivered the most shocking outcomes in WWE history.

I was actually there live in the Silver– … excuse me, Superdome, that night in New Orleans, and, honestly, they lost the crowd early on as it was fairly slowly-paced. Of course, later on we would hear Undertaker was injured during the match to which resulted in him being taken to the hospital. But I’ll never forget seeing that third and final F-5 and as I briefly raised a bit from my seat (almost everybody was sitting at this point thinking Undertaker would still kick-out like normal) I see the hand hit the mat for the third time and (like everybody else) raised in shock. Most around us, including myself, thought there was some sort of botch, and the place was left speechless trying to put things together. It never truly set in until the screen did a fade-in that read “21-1.”
This, by far, is the most significant moment in their storied feud, as it changed two characters for a lifetime, and, in a way, changed an event like WrestleMania for a lifetime. However, the match quality is poor, but the result was surreal, so that’s why I put this at second on the list.

Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker – WWE Championship Hell In A Cell Match – No Mercy: October 20, 2002

Oh, yes, there will be blood. There’s not many matches where I’ve thought: “Wow. They may really pass out or die from blood loss.” But this was one of them. Brock was literally having to wipe gobs of blood that was pouring from the Undertaker’s head off of his body to keep from him slipping off of him at moments in the match. Their storyline continued on from their feud starting back with the Unforgiven pay-per-view, with the added broken arm of Undertaker; plus, a soap opera-esque type story of Undertaker having an affair on his wife with another woman. The match itself was nothing but brutal yet spectacular, and definitely deserves a spot in anyone’s top hell in a cell matches, which will make this Sunday’s match an even tougher challenge to overcome to those who’ve seen their 2002 match. Being that’s it one of the best hell in a cell matches (which is saying a lot), and that it was so brutal yet so well done in terms of the match quality and the quality of opponents (even in Lesnar’s early tenure), this is number one on my list. To me, this cemented Lesnar as the real deal in WWE.