In Defense of Ending the Streak

I was just like everyone else.  Moments before the streak ended I had just run down a five minute plus explanation of why Brock Lesnar would not win this match, how the beauty of this match would not be the conclusion but the journey, and why, if it even ever happened, breaking the streak would be the ultimate rub given to a bonafide star of the next generation.  And I wasn't alone.  

For several days now in the midst of processing Daniel Bryan as the indie darling turned champ, the post Mania Raw, and now the passing of the Ultimate Warrior it's been hard to wrap my mind around why this happened.  Why now, why so unceremoniously, and why to Brock Lesnar?  And then it finally hit me.  

Ending the streak was about commitment to kayfabe and staying above the new era of wrestling where the fans know everything before it happens.  If you're like me you thought it would be so obvious. The rumor mill would start speaking on impending retirement, it would be confirmed, we'd speculate wildly on who the last Wrestlemania opponent would be, make our own predictions about whether or not the streak would or should remain intact and watch on the edge of our seats as The Phenom took his last ride at the showcase of the immortals to see how the legendary career would end and just how that final match would play out.  Maybe somewhere deep down we all kind of felt we were owed that.  But its better this way.

The shock on the faces in the Superdome and on my own face explained better than anything why this was the right decision.  Sure, we hear now that this was planned for several years and that Brock Lesnar was handpicked and it appears there's a looming personal and/or medical reason for the timing for which details will surely emerge sooner than later. But its more than a swerve.  It kept true to the idea that "anything can happen" and WWE's seeming disinterest in the match (no storyline build at all outside of Paul Heyman's brilliant depiction of the streak) set almost everyone up for the biggest shock of the night prior to the Divas jobbing as a cool down match and the coronation of Daniel Bryan as the new king.  The base level emotional response elicited from seeing the 21-1 graphic was brilliantly played and as true to the art of wrestling as I can imagine.  And should we ever have expected less from the Deadman?