The history of undefeated streaks in wrestling tells a fascinating story with mixed results. It takes a lot of timing and effort to make an unbeaten wrestler’s story of going long without a defeat matter. Fans must care about the wrestler and want to see them continue piling up the victories when a streak is working.
Unfortunately, there have also been the instances of fans not enjoying the wrestlers going unbeaten and the streak failing to reach high expectations. The most noteworthy streaks featured many wins in a major company like WWE or WCW, or AEW today, without suffering any defeats. Each of the following undefeated streaks were viewed as iconic in wrestling with some standing out more than others.
10 Ronda Rousey
WWE introduced Ronda Rousey with an under-the-radar undefeated streak that lasted for most of her first run. Rousey scoring wins saw her becoming the Raw Women’s Champion and holding it for many months without a defeat.
The undefeated streak ended in disappointing fashion at WrestleMania 35, even though she made history with the show’s first women’s main event. Becky Lynch getting a controversial pin on Rousey had fans unsure of the finish to take away from an impactful moment.
9 Ryback
Another recent instance of a wrestler having an undefeated streak featured Ryback getting pushed hard for many months. WWE wanted Ryback to become a main eventer by having him run through enhancement talents and mid-card names.
The streak was polarizing as many fans chanted Goldberg feeling it was a rip off. However, there was interest since WWE received strong buy rates for Ryback challenging CM Punk for the WWE Championship. The streak ended in controversy when shady referee Brad Maddox helped Punk cheat Ryback.
8 Tatanka
The New Generation Era saw Tatanka getting spotlighted with a long undefeated streak. WWE went the slow build route of having Tatanka pile up his wins for over a year without many noteworthy storylines to add to the streak’s context.
The streak somewhat went under the radar until the end when WWE mentioned it more often. Ludvig Borga of all people ended Tatanka’s undefeated streak in a pointless match. Tatanka turned heel shortly after to join the Million Dollar Corporation and flopped badly.
7 Jade Cargill
The undefeated streak of Jade Cargill is still going right now with fans gaining more interest in her. Tony Khan picked Cargill to have the first major undefeated streak storyline in AEW to help her during the build to winning the TBS Championship.
Jade has a graphic that adds a new number on the big screen every time she adds another win to the streak. AEW is teasing the idea of Cargill approaching 50 wins this year, but time will tell if she gets that far and will tell how higher her undefeated streak reaches compared to others.
6 Mr. Perfect
Curt Hennig was among the greatest in-ring workers the squared circle has ever seen. WWE made the right call giving Hennig the name and gimmick of Mr. Perfect. The first few years saw Perfect piling up wins and having an undefeated streak.
WWE tried to sell the story of Perfect being too good to suffer a defeat until it finally ended to the most unlikely of names. Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake always received the on and off pushes of being Hulk Hogan’s best friend. Perfect’s first loss came at the hands of Beefcake when WWE wanted to push the latter stronger as a face.
5 Asuka
Few wrestlers were ever treated with as much respect as Asuka during her undefeated streak. Triple H deserves a lot of credit for having the foresight to protect Asuka early in the NXT debut to set up such an impactful streak.
WWE booked Asuka to go two and a half years strong on both NXT and the main roster without a defeat. Charlotte Flair eventually ended the streak at WrestleMania 34 in a classic match that showed how much fans cared about it.
4 Andre The Giant
WWE lied about the time frame of Andre The Giant’s undefeated streak, but they did a great job making him come off unbeatable. Andre didn’t wrestle every show in the ‘80s for WWE’s boom. The limited in-ring bouts always saw him winning to sell his mystique.
The claim of WWE was that Andre went 15 years without a defeat to make it seem like Hulk Hogan was making history by defeating him at WrestleMania 3. Andre suffered losses in various promotions, but the WWE undefeated streak lasting a few years made him an attraction.
3 Charlotte Flair
Some of the best undefeated streaks involved a specific theme or show rather than a full record. Charlotte Flair went unbeaten for over a year on PPVs by always getting her wins back on the biggest stages in WWE.
Multiple title losses to Sasha Banks and Bayley on Raw were followed up by the story of Charlotte getting a rematch with her undefeated streak on the line. WWE unfortunately ended it in disappointing fashion just one month before WrestleMania 33 in a forgotten match against Bayley, but the story was working for quite some time.
2 Goldberg
WCW bet on the right man when having Goldberg debut with an undefeated streak. The limited Goldberg wasn’t able to have classic matches, but he got over by destroying his opponents within minutes every single week.
Goldberg became the hottest act in the company during arguably their hottest time in 1997-1998. WCW definitely lied by adding to the number of 173-0, but Goldberg’s undefeated streak was still impactful either way. Kevin Nash ended Goldberg’s streak and WCW Championship reign at the end of 1998.
1 The Undertaker
No undefeated streak was as important to the wrestling world as The Undertaker going unbeaten at WrestleMania. WWE didn’t even plan this as they realized Undertaker was undefeated about a decade into the streak starting.
The 2000s and early 2010s saw Undertaker’s streak becoming bigger than most title matches or attraction bouts on each year’s card due to the record. Fans were stunned silent with an all-time great reaction when Brock Lesnar ended the streak, since they thought it would never end.