I don't even think it was something they planned, but once he got to 9 or 10 wins, it was finally pushed as a big deal. The fans buy into it as a big deal too.

Here is this guy who has to wrestle all the "stiffs" - that's the huge immobile guys who can barely move - who put over Steve Austin for one year straight at the time when Austin was the company's biggest star, who has been with the company longer than anyone else, who never jumped to WCW when they were offering gigantic money to all the top WWE stars, who everybody on the roster respects as a leader, and who the fans see as a legend.

Yet he doesn't always main event shows, he doesn't have bucket loads of World Titles, and was a supporting player for so long. The unbeaten streak is Taker's WWE legacy, and there is definite argument to keep it until he retires.

To me, the only way Taker should lose the streak is if he's facing a great heel (bad guy) who is already one of the biggest stars in the company and could use ending Taker's streak as extra bragging rights for somebody that can headline the company for another decade.

That's exactly the situation Undertaker finds himself in this year.

Edge, since winning the Money In The Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21, has consistently been the best heel in wrestling - occasional peaks of greatness from fellow WWE star Randy Orton and Ring Of Honor's Bryan Danielson notwithstanding - and is in the perfect position to benefit from ending Undertaker's streak without screwing things up for himself and wasting the ending of something that the fans really bought into.

But, I see something on the horizon next year that would be an even better way to end the streak.

Next year is WrestleMania 25, the silver anniversary of the WWE's biggest show, and the only main event I can see which is worthy of headlining such a huge occasion is The Undertaker putting his streak on the line against the biggest star in the company, John Cena.

Phil Lowe: It's a question that a lot of wrestling fans ask each year nowadays, although I never recall it really coming up in conversation until Undertaker's streak passed the 10-0 mark.

And as Mark has already said, whether the streak stays intact or not may not matter to many, considering the sport (or however you wish to describe professional wrestling in 2008) is pre-determined.

But while the whole "Undertaker is 15-0 at WrestleMania" gives WWE a lot to work with, and while I can see the argument for Undertaker ending his career as a wrestler with the undefeated record still in place, I do think that there's a case for the streak to end.

However, that shouldn't be this Sunday at WrestleMania 24.

If the streak is to end, it has to be to somebody deserving of it, and in need of it.

Edge, as the World Heavyweight Champion going into this Sunday's show, quite simply doesn't need it.

Edge is the best bad guy in the business right now. He's an old-fashioned heel who does something that becomes rarer by the year: Still makes people hate him.

Over the past few years, fans have grown fond of cheering for the bad guy. Whether that's a reflection on society or simply due to poor writing in the WWE is a story for another day. But Edge always manages to remain as the bad guy - the guy you want to pay money to see take a beating from somebody such as Undertaker.

And after all, that really is what pro wrestling is all about. Good guy versus bad guy, a storyline building up to the pay-per-view where you hope to see the bad guy take the beating of a lifetime.

But since Edge is so good at what he does, having him end 'Taker's winning streak at WrestleMania would just be a waste, in my opinion.

Instead, "the streak" should be ended by a young up-and-comer who needs a "rub" from a legend such as The Undertaker.

Of course, the problem there is who gets it. Over the past five years, you could count a number of young stars who looked set to be big, long-term stars for the WWE, and two that stand out for me are Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley.

But given the way that both Lesnar and Lashley left World Wrestling Entertainment, can you imagine what a waste it would have been for either to have been the one to end Undertaker's winning streak?

And that for me is the problem.

WrestleMania 25 seems like a much grander stage for Undertaker's streak to end. But who ends that streak? For me, a guy such as Edge, or John Cena, or Randy Orton, or Batista wouldn't benefit from it. Those four (and others such as Triple H and Shawn Michaels) are far too established to really benefit from the win.

Youngsters such as CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin, John Morrison and Carlito all have the potential to become big stars in the company, but looking at where they are right now, you can't imagine any of them (with the possible exception of Punk) being ready a year from now.

Jeff Hardy would be a prime candidate, and given the history between them (cast your minds back to a fantastic ladder match on Raw back in 2002), there's already something to build on.

The big problem here, however, is that Hardy - a man who right now should have be preparing to walk out of WrestleMania 24 as the WWE champion - is on the sidelines serving a drug related two-month suspension.

For me, that leaves one person who right now fits the bill to ensure Undertaker doesn't go on to make it 17-0. That man is MVP - a guy who ticks all the right boxes, and if the past twelve months are anything to go by, will be ready to main event pay-per-views before 2008 is out.

But this is the circus that is the WWE, and just like Lesnar, Lashley and others before them, there's no guarantee that anybody in the company right now will still be there tomorrow.

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