Streaks in sports are some of the most exciting aspects to witness. Examples such as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, or the Miami Dolphins' perfect season, are just exciting to watch, thanks to the drama of when and how they can possibly end.
Undefeated streaks in wrestling are made to be broken. Why else would they be there? It’s certainly trite to say, but in the world of Sports Entertainment, where you can control the narrative, once a streak begins to happen organically, you can plan to have it busted and broken. You can book the right wrestler to break it, who can benefit tremendously from such a massive win.
9 Brock Lesnar Breaks The Undertaker’s WrestleMania Streak
Despite wrestling being scripted, no one wrote that The Phenom would go undefeated in 21 wrestling matches and then lose. But by WrestleMania X8, it was acknowledged that 'Taker was 10 and 0 at The Show Of Shows.
From the next year on, The Streak was a major, mythical part of WrestleMania. At WrestleMania XXX, it seemed as academic as it always was that The Undertaker would topple Brock Lesnar. When that didn’t happen, the massive thud of 75,000 jaws hit the floor at the Superdome.
8 Charlotte Flair Breaks Asuka’s Streak
From the moment she debuted in NXT, it was clear that Asuka was vastly different than most of the women that were being brought in. While a lot of the ladies did have indie cred, Asuka had a full-fledged career going before she was brought it and once she was, The Empress Of Tomorrow immediately changed the game.
From the time she was brought in, in late 2015, until her first loss in either NXT or WWE to Charlotte at WrestleMania 34, she was undefeated for 914 days.
7 Kevin Nash Breaks Goldberg's Streak
While the numbers were supremely inflated, the fact is that big Bill Goldberg was undefeated for a little over a year and had demolished everyone who was put in front of him, always demanding to know “Who’s Next?"
At Starrcade 1998, Kevin Nash was supposed to be next, until he wasn't. Nash had not only defeated Goldberg and ended his 173 winning streak by questionable means, but "Da Man" was never able to get his heat back. In retrospect, this was a huge pothole in the end of WCW.
6 Bayley Breaks Charlotte Flair's PPV Streak
When Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks debuted on the main roster in the summer of 2015, it was clear that eventually there’d be huge plans for those three on the main roster. Meanwhile, the fourth Horsewomen, Bayley, had been given a huge chance to shine as the NXT Women’s champion after defeating Sasha in their instant classic.
Charlotte would go on to work in 16 PPVs and was victorious in every match. At Fastlane 2017, The Queen met a big roadblock in the form of The Hugger. Bayley was able to not only retain her Raw Women’s title, but she also snapped Flair's undefeated streak.
5 Becky Lynch Breaks Ronda Rousey's Streak
Since her debut at WrestleMania 34, Ronda Rousey had made a major impact on the WWE. Her dominance of the Raw Women’s division led her to the title and seemingly a huge one-on-one contest with Charlotte. But then The Man came to town and Becky Lynch was not going to be denied, nor would her popularity.
Combined, the trio headlined WrestleMania 35 and Ronda walked in undefeated. But debts were collected on this night, as Lynch pinned Ronda and The Man walked out as Becky 2 Belts.
4 Ludvig Borga Breaks Tatanka's Streak
During The New Generation era, Tatanka was one of the rising stars. It had been a while since Sports Entertainment had a bonafide Native American on the card, and he was getting over huge with the crowds. In an era where most victories came from defeating enhancement talent, Tatanka found himself undefeated, even beating the likes of greater superstars like Rick Martel and Shawn Michaels.
That was until he ran afoul of Broc-- err, Ludvig Borga. The Proto-Lesnar was being pushed to the hilt as a nasty foreign heel for Lex Luger to eventually vanquish. As part of that storyline, Borga was able to hand Tatanka his first defeat in almost two years.
3 Brutus The Barber Beefcake Breaks Mr. Perfect's Streak
Thanks to personal demons, 800 gimmicks in WCW, and the hashtag #BTFBB, Brutus Beefcake can be see as a bit of a joke in certain circles. But in other circles, “cuttin’ and struttin’” was over huge in the early nineties. So was Mr. Perfect’s perfect record.
The two superstars collided at WrestleMania VI. Instead of eventually losing the streak to a megastar like Hulk Hogan or The Warrior, Perfect was slingshot into the turnbuckle, costing him his pristine record.
2 Hulk Hogan Breaks Andre The Giant's Streak
For fifteen years, no one could topple the mighty and mythical Andre The Giant. Battle Royals, squash matches, fellow big men - you name the contest and Andre was able to walk out with his hand raised. But he never challenged for the WWE title before.
Thanks to "The Weasel" Bobby Heenan, he convincing The Giant to turn heel and to go right after the champion Hogan. The stage was set: The Hulkster defending the WWE title against Andre The Giant and his 15 year undefeated streak. In the first truly epic contest of the Hogan Era, Hulkamania was able to body slam and topple Andre.
1 Ivan Koloff Breaks Bruno’s Sammartino's Streak
Younger fans used to have to ask their parents and grandparents what it was like to be in the garden the night that Ivan Koloff shockingly defeated Bruno Sammartino and ended Bruno’s eight year championship reign.
To get even a modicum of a sense of the deafening silence, look no further than when Brock defeated The Undertaker to understand what it was like when The Russian Bear became the WWE champion.