When a battered, bloodied Brock Lesnar brought an end to his rivalry with The Undertaker thanks to victory at Hell in a Cell this week, the WWE Universe was split down the middle.

The latest instalment of matches at SummerSlam and HIAC resulted in fans exchanging chants of ‘Suplex City’ and ‘Undertaker’ in equal clamour.

A legend and a legend conqueror – both are hugely popular with the Universe.

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And while the Phenom’s mystique has taken a battering at the hands of Lesnar, it was necessary.

A trip to Suplex City and more F5s than a Northrop factory came at a cost, but one that the WWE had to pay.

The subsequent manhandling of Taker by the Wyatt family showed the WWE has realised that a new angle must be carved out quickly for their longest serving active wrestler.

It meant that nothing was left in doubt: this was the end of a unique, brutal feud that will be left to the vaults of wrestling archives for us all to savour at our leisure.

Here, we explain why Lesnar had to seal the win in the demonic structure of HIAC.

LESNAR’S LEGACY

In beating The Undertaker, Lesnar’s record against his nemesis since ending ‘the streak’ at WrestleMania XXX is 2-1.

If he had failed to come out on top in the two matches since ‘Taker returned to the ring, the former UFC champion’s historic win last year would have lost its significance.

Lesnar had to be the man to come out on top and in doing so it opens up the opportunity for Lesnar to return to challenging for top honours, a refreshing proposition considering Kane was the challenger for Seth Rollins’ World Heavyweight championship at the latest pay-per-view.

WRESTLEMANIA

The Undertaker, whose 25th anniversary will be celebrated at Survivor Series next month, needed a storyline to be put in place for next year’s showpiece and the WWE moved quickly to put those wheels in motion.

Rumours that Braun Stowman will be his opponent grew stronger after the Wyatt family’s intervention post-HIAC and such a seemingly unbeatable opponent is right up WWE Creative’s street.

Previous talk of Sting facing off against the Taker would be an absolute treat for wrestling fans, but either way, Lesnar can now also be freed to headline 2016’s WrestleMania.

PAUL HEYMAN

On the back of Lesnar’s win, you can be sure that one man will be reading Taker’s eulogy and shouting his client’s achievements from the rooftops.

That man is Paul Heyman and you would not want anyone else tasked with the role.

Sit back, relax and enjoy Heyman conduct Lesnar’s path back to the top like WWE’s version of Alan Gilbert at the New York Philharmonic.