Machida was another one that was way more hype. Not to the level of Lesnar, but still. I remember Machida winning that fight against Evans and the first thing Rogan says is, "Welcome to the Machida era." That era was over (or should of ended) after the first fight with Shogun.
sidebar to the Cain/Brock fight: i have never really seen Undertaker interviewed out of character. and i have read that Vince doesnt even let him do promotional appearances for WWE in order to protect the mystique around the character.
It's actually the Undertaker that request he doesn't do promotional appearances to protect his character and Vince goes along with it. Which a lot of people seem to think it's so he doesn't have to do the BS work other wrestlers have to do. But you're right it was surprising and strange to see UT do an interview out of character like that.
I honestly thought the same thing. He looked better every fight and simply outclassed Rashad. That style just seemed really optimal. Dude never got hit and did all the hitting. Shogun hadn't looked good in almost three years, and who couldn't KO Chuck at that point in time? Just didn't think Shogun could recapture that form. And didn't think he would beat Machida so decisively the second time. Machida might still be the second best guy in that division. Will be very interested in seeing what happens with he and Rampage.