10 Reasons The Undertaker Is Not The GOAT In Wrestling

When the conversation begins about who the greatest wrestler of all time is, The Undertaker is often a name that crops up for people. The Deadman is one of the best to ever do it, and there is no doubt that an argument can be made for him. However, there are just as many reasons why he is not the GOAT.

Even though The Undertaker had a historic career that was certainly Hall of Fame worthy, it didn’t quite become enough to establish him as the GOAT. There are elements of his time in wrestling that prove why he wasn’t quite at that level alongside the elite.

10 Weak Champion

The Undertaker was a good challenger for the title, doing a great job at chasing it. However, when he actually captured it, his runs were often quite underwhelming. The greatest of all time is someone who should really be capable of doing both, as that is the sign of a top tier wrestler.

However, The Undertaker’s character just wasn’t as interesting when he held gold, which was a shame, as people certainly did care when he was hunting down the title in order to win it in the first place.

9 Never ‘The’ Guy

Throughout the history of wrestling there have been plenty of talents that have been considered ‘the’ guy, who is seen as the face of the company. Whether it was Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, or John Cena. However, despite how long The Undertaker has been around, he’s never truly been in that position.

That is one reason that many fans would debate whether he could be seen as the GOAT. Not being able to stand at the top of the business is something that does mean many others stand above him overall.

8 Questionable Behind The Scenes

The Undertaker is often heralded as a backstage leader in WWE. However, there are also plenty of questionable situations regarding his behavior that lead to some fans refusing to believe he could be the GOAT. A big reason for that was the infamous wrestlers’ court.

While some of those were fun, and done to pop the boys. There were plenty of examples where this was genuinely hurtful to people. Some wrestlers were treated dreadfully during these moments, and The Undertaker was the one to oversee it all. While it doesn’t impact his in-ring work, it does hurt his legacy in the eyes of some.

7 The Streak Is Overrated

The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak is often one of the big advantages that is given to him in the debate of him being the GOAT. There’s no doubt that it was a good situation for him. However, there are a lot of matches within that run which were extremely poor overall.

Because of that, on the whole it isn’t as impressive as people often think it is. The number is certainly great, but when fans sit back and watch all the matches, a lot of them are simply not good enough.

6 Not Vulnerable Enough

Fans often like to poke fun at John Cena and Hulk Hogan for winning almost every rivalry they ever had. But the truth is, The Undertaker also found himself in a similar situation. That was down to his character, which WWE always booked to be strong, and because of that he rarely lost his rivalries.

However, it meant that he was never vulnerable. That took a lot away from his character overall. He couldn’t tap into that underdog idea at any stage as Bret Hart could. This is something that hurts his case for being the GOAT.

5 Moves Didn’t Change

When wrestlers create their moves, they often end up sticking around. However, truly great wrestlers are able to adapt, adding different moves as they go, which keeps them feeling fresh. However, that wasn’t really the case with The Undertaker, who often did a lot of the same things.

This ended up being a problem in the long run, because his matches ended up being more predictable than anything else. That should never have been the case. He did sprinkle things in sporadically, but for the most part, fans knew what was coming.

4 Lack Of Character Development

While The Undertaker did do a major gimmick shift from The Deadman to The American Badass, in comparison to other great wrestlers, there was a lack of development. He never changed with the classic character, not even managing the small tweaks that would have helped to differentiate things.

Many of the other wrestlers who are often considered to be the greatest of all time made countless changes, which showcased different sides of them as wrestlers. That was how the character held him back at one point.

3 Refusal To Retire

Choosing to retire is obviously not an easy decision, especially for wrestlers who have committed so much to the industry. But in the case of The Undertaker, it did end up hurting his legacy. This is because he continued to wrestle for years after it was clearly time for him to wrap things up.

His in-ring work wasn’t good enough, and that meant that many of his final matches were below the standard. It wasn’t just bad matches for The Undertaker either, there was a lot of dreadful encounters, and that has damaged his overall reputation.

2 His In-Ring Work

While The Undertaker was capable of great matches, his overall in-ring standard wasn’t at the same level as other people who are considered to be the best. The Undertaker typically worked well with smaller wrestlers, but when put up against someone much bigger, things tended to be a struggle.

This stopped a lot of his encounters from being great ones. He wasn’t as consistent as people like Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart, and that is what stopped many of his bouts from being great ones. This is something that stops him from being considered the greatest.

1 Promo Skills

This one wasn’t really The Undertaker’s fault. He could talk, but because of the gimmick his promos were always very limited, and because of that he didn’t get the chance to really explore the full gambit when it came to his promo work. He did a little during his American Badass gimmick, but not to the level required.

When people think about other wrestlers who were in this conversation, they often tend to be much better talkers than The Undertaker. While he was always good, he didn’t quite reach the standard of other top stars in the business.