Depending on which way you look at it, John Cena’s loss to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34 was either great storytelling or a massive disappointment.
After weeks of calling out The Deadman, he finally arrived at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome once Cena had wiped out Elias. However, what fans got was a match that lasted under three minutes with The Phenom picking up the win at the same venue where the streak ended four years ago.
CENA VS TAKER
It’s not quite the match many were expecting. Here, we had two of the greatest of all time, two men that had never faced off at WrestleMania and as each event passed, it looked less and less likely that it could happen.
When it eventually did happen, nobody would have expected it to be over so quickly. There wasn’t the emotion you’d have expected, no back and forth action and no close calls that leave the fans on the edge of their seats.
Stone Cold Steve Austin recently spoke about the match on his podcast, claiming that while the match was a bonus for the fans as it wasn’t announced, it would have been a lot more effective had Cena got more offence in.
According to Wrestling Inc, he said: “It was a little shocking to me with Cena calling him out for so long. Basically, it was an unadvertised match. I mean, Cena’s trying to call out [Undertaker] and I kept thinking, ‘there’s no way, no way that he’s going to get an acceptance on the day-of,’ so, yeah, it was teased and they paid off the tease, but it wasn’t really advertised.
“So nonetheless, the crowd felt like they got a bonus, but in that bonus was a very short match and Cena got squashed.
EFFECTIVE
“I’ve got nothing but respect for both guys. Undertaker has been around forever.He has had one of the best runs in the history of the [pro wrestling] business, so has John Cena.
“And, man, had it been a 15-minute bing, bang boom kind of thing, I don’t know that that’s what they needed, but it just seems like maybe if Cena got in just a little bit more offence into that Tombstone then, do the favours, maybe it would have been a little more effective.”
Austin does make a valid point, as Cena’s effort fell flat in an instant. However, with 13 matches already on the card, it would have taken the show well past the seven-hour mark where the crowd would grow to be even more restless.
Despite the result, you can’t rule out a rematch between the pair either where, hopefully, they’re given more time to put on a show like fans know they can.
What do you make of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s thoughts on John Cena’s match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.
WWE 2K18: WrestleMania Edition is out now on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.