Lo-Down Wrestling Podcast: The Streak Playlist

As you're aware, I've spent the last few weeks doing a podcast series about the Undertaker's Streak. Due to the fact that I have not published all of them on this website, I've decided to do a playlist with links to them.

Part 1

Sawyer Paul from International Object joined me as we discussed Undertaker vs Superfly Jimmy Snuka at Wrestlemania VII as well as his debut at the 1990 Survivor Series.

Part 2

Scott T Holland was the guest as we discussed Undertaker vs Jake “The Snake” Roberts at Wrestlemania VIII.

Part 3

Scott T Holland became the first return guest as we talked about Undertaker's match with Giant Gonzales at Wrestlemania IX.

Part 4

Trey Irby, who contributes to The Wrestling Blog, was with me as we discussed Undertaker vs King Kong Bundy at Wrestlemania XI.

Part 5

Don Owens from the podcast Am I On The Air? joined me as we discussed Undertaker's match with Diesel at Wrestlemania XII

Part 6

Rich Thomas, who co-hosts the International Object podcast with Sawyer Paul, was the guest and we talked about Undertaker challenging Sycho Sid for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania 13.

Part 7

Joe Drilling from the podcast What a Maneveur and I discussed Undertaker's match against Kane at Wrestlemania 14.

Part 8

Trey Ibry returned to the podcast and we discussed the Hell in a Cell match involving Undertaker and The Big Boss Man at Wrestlemania XV.

Part 9

Tom Holzerman from the Wrestling Blog was the guest as we talked about Undertaker's first match against Triple H at Wrestlemania X-7.

Part 10

Sawyer Paul returned to the podcast and we discussed Undertaker vs Ric Flair at Wrestlemania XVIII.

Part 11

Nick Gator joined me and we talked Undertaker taking on Big Show and A-Train, with a little (illegal) help from Nathan Jones, at Wrestlemania XIX.

Part 12

Corey Santiago was the guest and we discussed Undertaker against Kane at Wrestlemania XX, in which we saw the return of the dead man gimmick.

Part 13

Kevin Mahon, co-host of the Attitude Era Podcast, joined me as Undertaker faced Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 21.

Part 14

Bill Bicknell was the guest as we talked the casket match between Undertaker and Mark Henry at Wrestlemania 22.

Part 15

Bill Bicknell returned to the podcast and we discussed Undertaker challenging Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 23

Part 16

Sawyer Paul was back on the podcast and we talked about the World Heavyweight Championship match between Undertaker and Edge at Wrestlemania XXIV

Part 17
Corey Santiago returned to the podcast as we talked about Undertaker facing Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25.

Part 18
Joe Drilling returned and we talked about the Wrestlemania XXVI match between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels

Part 19
Kevin Mahon was back on the podcast as we discussed Undertaker vs Triple H at Wrestlemania XXVII

Part 20
Don Owens, who was there live, and I talked about the "End of an Era" Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Triple H at Wrestlemania XXVIII with Shawn Michaels, for some reason that is never explained, the special guest referee.

Part 21
Tom Holzerman was the guest for Undertaker's final Wrestlemania victory as he took on CM Punk at Wrestlemania XXIX.

As you're now aware, the Streak has ended with Brock Lesnar defeating Undertaker this year. I will be doing a podcast about it but you have to wait til just before Wrestlemania 31. Until then, I hope you enjoy listening to these podcasts and there will be more published over the year.

The WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2012

As is now the tradition of Wrestlemania, the night before, WWE honours those people who have made a lasting impact on the wrestling world by inducting them into the Hall of Fame. Here is the class of 2012:

Mil Mascaras

 I have to be honest, I’m not much of a wrestling historian so I had to look Mascaras up on Wikipedia. Mascaras is one of the most famous luchadore wrestlers of all time who appeared in the WWE in the early 80’s and made a guest appearance at the 1997 Royal Rumble. He will be inducted by his nephew Alberto Del Rio.

The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and JJ Dillon)

The Four Horsemen were iconic images from the 1970s to late 1990s. There were many incarnations of the group but this is the one that is probably the most famous. They were all talented wrestlers, managed by one of the greatest managers of all time in JJ Dillon. From my personal viewpoint, I only saw little bits of Windham’s career and I saw Anderson and Blanchard as the Brainbusters from old WWF tapes that I used to have. As for Flair, what more can I say about him? The man is, along with Sting, the personification of WCW; and some of his matches that he had in his last WWE run when he was in his 50s were some of my favourite matches of all time. Flair is one of the best guys on the mic as well and my enduring memory of that was when he did an interview after he lost the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania VIII. Flair will make history when he becomes the first double inductee into the Hall of Fame and they will be inducted by Dusty Rhodes.

Ron Simmons

My memory was when he was with the Acolytes with John Bradshaw Layfield and I loved it when they formed the Acolyte Protection Agency with the door frame and beer and poker table. However, Simmons enduring legacy was when, in 1992, he defeated Vader to become the first African-American to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion. The WWF didn’t have their 1^st black WWF Champion for another 6 years when The Rock (who is half black and half Samoan) won it at the 1998 Survivor Series. Simmons will be inducted by JBL.

Mike Tyson

Tyson may be a controversial person but you can’t deny the impact that he had in the WWF. Tyson made a brief appearance a few years ago but he is more famous for being the Special Enforcer at Wrestlemania XIV when Shawn Michaels defended the WWF Championship against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Tyson will be inducted by Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

Yokozuna

This is a tough one. My memories until recently were a man who lost control of his weight problems that died in a hotel room in my current hometown of Liverpool. A twitter buddy of mine Nick (@nacgator) has wanted to see Yokozuna in the Hall of Fame for years. However, I couldn’t see the reasons why. I decided to look at some of his old Wrestlemania matches and oh my God, I can see it now. Yokozuna came into the WWF with Mr Fiji as his manager and just destroyed everyone, resulting in him defeating Bret Hart at Wrestlemania IX to become WWF Champion (we’ll ignore what happened after that).  Yokozuna left the WWF in 1998 after winning 2 WWF Championships and 2 Tag Team Championships (with Owen Hart) but what I remember now is the tremendous athleticism that he had for a man of his size. He is most definitely worthy of a place in the Hall of Fame and I hope that Nick is very happy and, more importantly, can forgive me for not seeing the reasons why sooner. Nick will be at the ceremony himself along with his buddies from the Future Endeavors Show and I hope he enjoys the moment.

Yokozuna will be inducted by his cousin Rikishi and Rikishi’s sons, the Usos.

Edge

I know some people have argued about how soon this is but there’s no waiting period like other Hall of Fames so, shut up. Edge is one of my favourite wrestlers of all time. From the Brood to Edge and Christian to the Ultimate Opportunist to Rated-RKO to the Rated R Superstar to La Familia, Edge has had a stellar career that was tragically cut short due to injury. Edge has been in some of the greatest tag team matches of all time (the TLC matches along with the Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz) and at Wrestlemania 22, probably the best hardcore match of all time with Mick Foley. For me, I especially loved it when Edge and Christian would do their 5 second poses for “the benefit of those with flash photography” and I always mention Edge’s manual “How to be the Ultimate Opportunist” when someone seizes an opportunity in my PPV reviews.

When Edge retired, he had won the inaugural Money in the Bank, the 2010 Royal Rumble, the 2001 King of the Ring, 14 Tag Team Championships, the United States Championship, the Intercontinental Championship 5 times, the WWE Championship 4 times and the World Heavyweight Championship 7 times. Edge had won a total of thirty-one Championships in ten years, more any other wrestler, and is well deserving of the Hall of Fame. Another twitter buddy of mine @Rhiannamator will be at the ceremony and, like Nick, I hope she enjoys the moment. Edge will be inducted by his best friend Christian.