Probably the greatest streak in fake sports was the one held by The Undertaker, a winning streak at WrestleMania that lasted over two decades and led to one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history when it was broken. What started as an organic bit of booking happenstance evolved into possibly the biggest perennial feature on The Showcase of the Immortals. Suddenly there was a built-in long-term storyline for one of the top WrestleMania matches every year, and for quite a while Taker's match either stole the show or came damn close. Even after The Streak was broken by Brock Lesnar, Taker's match would continue to be one of the top featured attractions.
But which of his 'Mania showings stand atop the others? Here now are, in my estimation, The Undertaker's greatest WrestleMania bouts....
10. Undertaker vs. Kane - WrestleMania XIV
Taker's first great 'Mania bout didn't occur until he'd already established a six-match winning streak (Yes, his 1996 match with Diesel was solid, but aside from that his 'Mania outings up until this point were forgettable at best). In 1997 Taker was involved in a long storyline arc wherein his former manager Paul Bearer revealed he had a long-lost half-brother named Kane (Ironically Kane was actually Taker's first name when he debuted). The company built up Kane's first appearance for several months before he attacked Taker during the first Hell in a Cell match, and from then on he was established as an unstoppable monster. Also to the company's credit, they held off giving away too much physical interaction between the Brothers of Destruction, so by the time this match finally took place it truly felt like Taker would be facing his ultimate adversary. The match itself didn't disappoint; the two behemoths delivered a very physical fight that Taker was only able to win via three consecutive Tombstone piledrivers. Even in a loss, Kane was set up as a major star.
9. Undertaker vs. Randy Orton - WrestleMania 21
After a serious in-ring slump in 2003-04, Taker was able to return to form in this underrated match with the Legend Killer. Orton had just finished a horribly failed babyface run in late 2004 and the company wisely turned him heel again, leading to Orton challenging Taker to a Legend vs. Legend Killer match. These two worked extremely well together, delivering one of the better matches on the card that ended with Taker reversing an Orton Tombstone into his own for the win. Taker and Orton would go on to have a series of strong matches throughout 2005, in a feud that helped re-elevate Orton.
8. Undertaker vs. Triple H - WrestleMania XXVII
In 2011 both The Undertaker and Triple H returned from a long hiatus. Taker's return was teased ahead of time, but just as he was about to cut a promo the familiar strains of Motorhead filled the arena, announcing The Game. The two veterans stared each other down before Hunter wordlessly made a challenge by turning his gaze to the WrestleMania 27 sign. The match itself, while full of typical No-DQ frills, was a fairly epic, very dramatic WWE-style main event with some great gasp-inducing nearfalls. Taker finally won with Hell's Gate but was so exhausted he had to be stretchered to the back on a forklift. But these two would outdo each other one year later, both in terms of storytelling and action.