The decision to end The Streak at WrestleMania XXX was The Undertaker’s idea.  Or it was Vince McMahon’s idea.  

    They’d decided on the finish weeks prior to the show.  Or they changed the finish mid-match.

    The Undertaker wanted The Streak to end.  He was livid when McMahon suggested it end.

    No-one knew of the planned finish.  The planned finish leaked out because Lesnar’s betting odds shrunk on the day on the show.

    If you’ve been paying attention to the Internet since WM XXX you will have seen virtually every possible explanation under the sun for the reason The Streak ended.  Quite often, certain people will have brought you “insider” knowledge for one explanation only to completely contradict that when they get their next batch of “insider” information.

    Yet this article isn’t an attack on wrestling websites (which would be slightly counter-productive wouldn’t it?) nor is it particularly meant to be yet another article on the end of The Streak. But the multitude of conspiracy theories supposedly backed up by “fact” got me thinking.  And although we are undoubtedly much “smarter” in many respects about the business than we were two decades ago, when it really comes down to it do we actually know that much more about the once sacrosanct backstage area and the goings on?

    Until Vince McMahon or The Undertaker give us their personal thoughts on the matter, how can we be any the wiser as to what went on between the two in terms of discussing the end of The Streak?  Similarly, until CM Punk, Vince or Triple H tell us what went on in their now famous “private” meeting, how can we ever be sure we know the real reason why Punk walked out of the WWE? And even then, given the “work” of wrestling, is any story ever likely to be regarded as everyone to be 100% the truth? If The Undertaker walked onto Raw next week and out of character said “it was my decision to end The Streak, and mine alone” would he be universally believed?  Or would half the audience think it was just another work?

    Indeed how many times have we seen Vince McMahon on a WWE DVD documentary and rolled our eyes at his version of the “truth”? How many times have we had two wrestlers with completely different recollections of the same incident? Recently Roddy Piper and Kevin Nash have had something of a “Twitter War”, each arguing they took the other down in a backstage fight. Are they “working” or merely mis-remembering?  Without actually having witnessed an incident ourselves, all we are relying on are the memories of others who may or may not be interested in telling it as it really was.

    And therein lies the rub. With so many vested interests in wrestling and with so much personal opinion coming into “facts”, the concept of “truth” for wrestling fans is based on personal opinion and quicksand.  If you hate Brock Lesnar or Batista, you are more likely to believe “bad” stories about them or their attitude.  If CM Punk was your favourite wrestler it’s only natural that you would rather believe that his walk out was for altruistic reasons rather than purely selfish ones. After all, you’re much more likely to forgive your best mate’s indiscretions than you are those of that person on the other side of the office who you don’t like.

    The last thing I am suggesting is that we ignore the backstage element of wrestling. For better or worse it is part of the enjoyment of the business these days and I love speculating on pushes, disagreements, squabbles and the like.  But let’s not forget that a lot of what we speculate on is no more than the unverified opinion of someone who may not themselves have been anywhere near the incident in question. Don’t let perceived “injustices” spoil your enjoyment of the show put on in front of you. Within reason, (and there are clearly exceptions here) does the bad behaviour of a movie star or musician mean you can’t enjoy their films or latest album?  If not, why should a backstage tale which may or may not be true spoil your enjoyment of a wrestling match or show?

    – By Matthew Roberts | @IWFICON

    Do you think we should pay less attention to backstage politics? Do you like knowing what might be going on? Do you regularly read dirt sheets? What do you think of The Undertaker’s Streak being broken and CM Punk’s walk-out? Share your thoughts and comments below. 

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