Match by Match - A Review of The Undertaker's WWE Career

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RDT

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The Deadman Years – The Phantom (1995-1996)

With Kama dispatched, the feud with the Million Dollar Corporation was over. With more pressure on the WWF now than maybe ever with WCW Nitro debuting, the WWF needed some strong main events on RAW. With RAW already in taped for 9/11 and 9/18, it wouldn’t be until 9/25 that Vince would put on a show that showed that he took Nitro seriously. Undertaker would find himself in the main event with The British Bulldog.

Match 37: The Undertaker vs. The British Bulldog
Monday Night RAW (9/25/95)

The Bulldog
is coming off the main event of In Your House, where he and Yokozuna dropped the Tag Titles to Diesel and Shawn Michaels…although because Owen Hart was involved the titles didn’t actually change hands (they were Yoko and Owen’s titles to begin with). The WWF would treat Davey as a main eventer for a few months, either because the WWF needed top heels or to spite Lex Luger, whichever reason you want to believe. We’re told before the match at the next In Your House Undertaker would be facing King Mabel, as the Bulldog would face Diesel for the WWF Title.

Undertaker still doesn’t have the urn here. I’m not going to go back and check, but I do know Sir Mo ended up with it. I’m not sure how, nor do I think it’s worth looking up. Bulldog pounds away on Taker to start, but Taker tosses him to the canvas. Taker hits his flying clothesline rather early. Jim Cornette shakes the top rope, allowing the Bulldog to toss Undertaker off the top rope during the Old School attempt. Taker sits up and gets a big boot. Big slam from Taker, but of course he misses the big elbowdrop. Bulldog clotheslines Taker out, but he lands on his feet and grabs Cornette by the throat. That allows Bulldog to get a chop block and gain control of the match.

Bulldog slams Taker into the steps. As Bulldog keeps Taker on the outside, King Mabel is in the aisle watching the match. Bulldog works on the leg, and now we see Waylon Mercy watching the match too. Bulldog tries to whip Taker into the corner, but Taker sells the knee and Taker just goes down. Half-crab from Bulldog. Taker tries to fight back, but Bulldog gets him up for the Running Powerslam. Taker slides behind him and hits a belly-to-back suplex. Taker and Bulldog slug away at one another until Taker knocks Davey Boy down. This time Taker gets Old School, then he sells the knee again. Taker makes a mistake though, and Bulldog plants him with a piledriver! That just gets two though, and Taker sits up. Big vertical suplex from Davey, but Taker sits up again. Another vertical suplex, another Taker sit up. Taker grabs Bulldog by the throat and gets the chokeslam. Mabel feels like he’s seen enough though as he comes into the ring and hits a belly-to-belly, causing the DQ. Bulldog and Mabel beat on Taker before Diesel and HBK show up, and then we have a standoff as the Smokin’ Gunns arrive, as do Yokozuna and Owen Hart. You know, this could have been an awesome 5-on-5 match for Survivor Series (Diesel/HBK/Taker/Gunns vs. Mabel/Mo/Yoko/Owen/Bulldog)

Rating: **3/4 (2.75)
Grade: A-

A bit weird to see Undertaker have to get saved. Match was a little too short, but pretty good for what was in the ring. Undertaker selling the knee was cool, although I don’t know how Undertaker-like it was, especially as it was only an 8-minute match. This would lead to a huge RAW match a couple of weeks later (although, in the same taping cycle!)

Match 38: The Undertaker, Diesel, and Shawn Michaels vs. Yokozuna, British Bulldog, and Owen Hart
Monday Night RAW (10/9/95)


This kicked off RAW. Match starts with HBK and Owen. After some awesomeness there, an all-out brawl breaks out, and Undertaker is all over Yokozuna. Taker and Diesel get a double big boot, which sends Yoko to the outside. That looked pretty awesome. We get some Diesel and the Bulldog, and when Diesel sends him to the outside, Undertaker sends him right back in. Diesel tags in Undertaker to deal with Yoko. Old School hits. Yoko catches him with a Samoan drop, but Taker sits up. Taker hits that awesome DDT on Yoko…while Waylon Mercy watches on.

HBK comes back in, and Yoko eventually catches him with the uranage. HBK plays babyface-in-peril. Dean Douglas watches on, as I also notice Mr. Fuji waiving the UK flag, which I don’t recall ever seeing or noticing. HBK eventually gets the hot tag to Diesel. Diesel goes wild on Camp Cornette, but Bulldog gets him with the running powerslam. Undertaker makes the save. But Yoko drops a leg on Diesel and Bulldog steals the pin for the win.

Mabel runs down and he and Yoko drops legdrops on him. This is allegedly (I say allegedly for a reason) when Mabel breaks Taker’s orbital bone, which would lead to the phantom of the opera mask. Camp Cornette, Mabel and Dean Douglas get a huge post-match beatdown, leaving HBK, Diesel, and Undertaker all lying. Now you do see Undertaker’s orbital bone turning purple, so maybe my conspiracy theory that the injury took place at a different time is bs. Nonetheless, Taker was injured at this point and was out of the In Your House match with Mabel and wouldn’t return until Survivor Series. Anyway, this match was taped on 9/25, and Taker would do a few house show matches after 9/25 with Mabel before taking two months off. So I always theorized Taker actually got hurt in one of those.

Rating: **1/2 (2.5)
Grade: B+

If I were grading the whole match, I think I’d give it 4 stars, but we’re just doing the Undertaker part. Taker didn’t do a lot here, but what he did was solid. Shame he wasn’t the hot tag guy here as he’s always awesome in that role. Then seeing Undertaker be left lying again by Mabel, hey, I get making Mabel strong and all, but he’s just the wrong guy to make this happen. Second, Undertaker felt like a bit of an afterthought to HBK and Diesel here. While I get it, I’m disappointed to see it.

***

Undertaker
was off TV until Survivor Series, where his team of the Darkside would look for revenge against the Royals, led by Mabel.

darksideroyals.png


Match 39: The Darkside (Undertaker, Henry O. Godwinn, Savio Vega, and Fatu) vs. The Royals (King Mabel, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley)
1995 Survivor Series (11/19/95)


This is one of my favorite “insider” matches. On one side, we have the future Triple H and Kane, as well as the future Viscera, who is the highest on the totem pole on the heel side (imagine that just three years later!). The face side is all B.S.K. guys in Fatu (future Rikishi), Godwinn, and Savio Vega.

This is the debut of the phantom of the opera mask for Undertaker to protect Taker’s orbital bone. It’s an awesome look, and Mabel sells it well. Everyone runs from Undertaker to start. Frankly, nothing in this match really matters until Undertaker gets in there. It’s a fun little match with Savio Vega playing face-in-peril, which has a funny ending when Vega just no-sells Lawler’s piledriver and tags in Undertaker. Crowd goes nuts. Lawler tries to tag out, no one is interested. Taker treetop chokes Lawler, then plants him with the Tombstone. Lawler’s gone. DDS comes in, but Taker gets him with the flying clothesline. Tombstone for Yankem, and since he doesn’t have Kane powers yet that’s it for him. Hunter tries for an attack, but Taker sees him coming. Hunter tries to bail, but Henry Godwinn is waiting for him. Taker grabs Hunter and chokeslams him over the top rope, and that’s it for HHH. Mabel comes in and gets the belly-to-belly suplex. Legdrop hits. Mabel starts to dance despite being down 1 guy to 4, but Taker sits up and he bails anyway. Mabel is counted out and that’s the end of the match. Taker plants Mo with the chokeslam for good measure.

Rating: ***1/2 (3.5)
Grade: S+

Undertaker’s time in the match may have been short, but it was freakin’ awesome. One of classic Taker’s greatest moments. Time to end this deal with Mabel.

Match 40: The Undertaker vs. Mo
Monday Night RAW (11/27/95)


So, apparently this was supposed to be Undertaker vs. Kama. Kama still has the urn in chains. Ted Dibiase has paid for someone to replace Kama…and its Sir Mo. This probably explains how Mo and Mabel got the urn. Seems wild to me that Taker wouldn’t get the urn back here so let’s see what happens.

Undertaker knocks Mo down with an uppercut right away. Ted Dibiase is still at ring side and tries to trip Taker. This lets Mo get a clothesline to the outside, but Taker lands on his feet and grabs Dibiase by the throat. Kama, suddenly healthy, makes the save. Mo now has control, and I gotta say even watching it this feels a bit laughable. After a commercial break Mo chokes Taker in the ropes. Mo hurts his hand on Undertaker’s mask. Mo sends Taker into the corner, but Taker no-sells it and chokes Mo. Big boot knocks Mo down. Flying clothesline connects, then Taker goes after Kama, sending him into the steps. Big slam from Taker as Kama and Dibiase leave. Chokeslam to Mo and that’s the end of that. Here comes Mabel. Taker grabs the remnants of the urn, but Yokozuna shows up for some reason. Taker gives the urn to Paul Bearer, but Mabel sneaks up on him and steals it. Taker chases after Mabel…Yoko was literally just a distraction, and that’s it.

Rating: DUD (0)
Grade: C+

At least Vince knew this Undertaker-Mabel feud had no legs. We get a desperation urn stealing angle (even though Taker beat Kama back at Summerslam, Kama still had it since then and no one really talked about it). It was even pretty dumb how Mabel got it from Paul Bearer. I mean what did you think was gonna happen there Taker? Match wasn’t much either. Mo getting any offense on Undertaker was laughable. Anyway let’s get this over with.

Match 41: Casket Match: The Undertaker vs. King Mabel
In Your House V: Season’s Beatings (12/17/95)


The double-wide, double-deep casket (not sure how this became a Casket Match) has graffiti on it. Just to get an idea where Mabel was with the company, Vince was done with him here after he hurt too many people. This and a 10 second job to Diesel on RAW the next night, plus a Royal Rumble appearance would be it. So if you had any doubt about who wins here there you have it. Undertaker goes after Mabel, but Mabel gets the advantage early with forearms. Taker fights back. Taker chokes Mabel in the corner. Taker hits a Stinger Splash, but Mabel comes back with a Bossman Slam. Sit up from Taker. Mabel clotheslines him down, but Taker sits back up. Big slam from Mabel, and then Mabel heads to the second rope. Taker sits up to avoid the big splash. Taker tries to knock Mabel down with clotheslines, but Mo distracts him to allow Mabel a belly-to-belly suplex. Legdrop hits, and Undertaker can’t sit up. Big splash from Mabel. Mabel drags Taker to Mo, and Mo dumps Taker in the casket. Mabel puts his crown on, then dances toward the casket as Mo didn’t shut the lid.

Undertaker stops the casket from closing then appears behind Mabel. Taker hits Mabel with blows. Flying clothesline knocks Mabel down. Taker gets the chokeslam. Running big boot sends Mabel flying into the casket. Taker is about to close the lid, but Mo gets some punches in, to no effect. Taker chokeslams Mo, sends him into the casket too, grabs the urn and shuts the lid.

Rating: ½* (0.5)
Grade: A

How Undertaker gets people to cheer for this stuff is amazing. Fortunately, we’re done with this era of Undertaker being given terrible feuds and opponents for a while. Match was a worse, shortened version of the casket matches with Yokozuna in 1994. But the fans were with Taker the whole way and he looked awesome finishing off Mabel.

Interestingly, this somehow made Undertaker the #1 Contender to the WWF Title, which led to a segment that would lead to one of my favorite feuds.



Match 42: The Undertaker vs. Isaac Yankem
Monday Night RAW (1/15/96)


A little warm-up here for Undertaker. Taker pounds away on DDS early, then clotheslines him down. Slam from Undertaker. Taker locks in a claw, but DDS gets an elbow. Taker sits up. DDS escapes a Tombstone, then drags Taker to the outside. Taker chokes DDS against the ring post, then beats on him some more. Taker slams DDS into the post. Jerry Lawler tries to steal the urn from Paul Bearer, but Undertaker chases him away. But this lets DDS gain control as he slams Taker into the post. After a commercial break DDS dominates the match. Half-crab from DDS. Bearhug from DDS as we get an update about Goldust from Dok Hendrix. Back suplex from Taker and he sits up. Yankem gets a powerslam and a couple of elbow drops. Yankem goes for a Tombstone, but Taker counters with something we don’t see as we cut to Hendrix. Taker actually hits an elbow drop, then hits the Tombstone for the win.

Rating: DUD (0)
Grade: B

Match kinda stunk, and the commentary hyping up Goldust-Razor more than Undertaker is annoying to me, although I get it. Glenn Jacobs was really bad at this point. The match was especially hurt with the out of the ring part, which seemed like it went on forever.

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Match 43: WWF Championship: The Undertaker vs. Bret Hart (c)
1996 Royal Rumble (1/21/96)


This was Undertaker’s first WWF Title shot on TV since he lost to Yokozuna in the Casket Match two years prior. Interestingly, this is the main event of the entire show. The reason may be perhaps what happens during Undertaker’s entrance. Taker and Diesel, who just finished runner-up in the Royal Rumble, come to blows. Obviously, this is where we were going for Wrestlemania…so it’s not clear how anyone should buy Taker winning the title here. Also interesting here is that we have a face vs. face situation. We didn’t get a lot of those for WWF Title matches at this point. Other than Hogan vs. Warrior, Vince didn’t book clean finishes in these spots (examples: Summerslam 1992, Rumble 1995).

Bret dodges Undertaker and gets punches, but they have no effect on Taker. Taker clubs Bret, gets the treetop choke, then drops Bret onto the canvas. Taker pounds away on Bret early on before running him into the turnbuckles. Taker locks in a claw, which goes on a little too long for this early in the match. Bret gets his foot on the ropes, but Paul Bearer pushes Bret’s foot off. It seems like they’re having Undertaker wrestle heel in this match, but I don’t think it’s something people want to see, although it may be because his opponent is Bret.

Old School connects, then Taker locks the claw back in. Really odd way to start this match as it’s been all Undertaker and a lot of claw. Bret shows some life kicking Taker in the face and hitting a clothesline off the second rope. Bret clotheslines Taker over the top rope, then hits Taker with an over-the-top-rope dive. Bret jumps at Taker from the apron, but Taker rams Bret right into the ring post. Taker tries to run Bret into the post face-first, but Bret counters and sends Taker into the post. Taker hits a big boot though, stopping Bret’s momentum again. Taker rams Bret into the railing, but Bret finally stops him when he reverses a whip and Taker goes flying into the steel steps. Taker’s knees hit the steps, so now he works the legs.

Bret works the legs in the ring, kicking and stomping them. Bret drops all his weight on Taker’s knee. Bret goes for the mask, although that gets ignored by the commentary team. Taker drops an elbow on the knee and locks in a leg grapevine. Figure Four gets locked in. Undertaker reverses the hold to put the pressure on Bret, and Bret gets to the ropes. Undertaker sells the legs, and Bret goes right back to kicking Undertaker down. Bret moves back to the grapevine. Taker tries to fight out, and Bret again goes for the mask. Bret kicks the knees again to knock Undertaker down. Bret’s been dominant so much now that he feels like the heel, and the crowd chants “Rest in Peace” before locking in another leg grapevine. I gotta tell you, whoever decided to book this match in this way really didn’t understand what they were working with here.

Taker gets out of the leg grapevine and sends Bret to the outside. Taker slams Bret into the steps before choking him with TV wire (and the crowd boo. It’s not a good heat boo in my opinion, but a “we don’t want to see this” boo). Taker uses a chair on the outside with Paul Bearer distracting the referee. Fans pop huge when Bret kicks Taker’s legs out again, but then some boos come out. Fans don’t know how to react to this match and it’s not helping matters. Bret pulls Taker to the ring post and slams his leg against it. Then we get ANOTHER leg grapevine. Taker fights out. Headbutt knocks Bret down, then Taker hits a legdrop. Clotheslines knocks Bret down again. Taker goes for the Tombstone, but Bret escapes to the apron.

Bret plants Undertaker with a DDT and goes for the cover, but Taker sits up. Russian Legsweep from Bret, but Taker sits up. Bret hits a running bulldog, but Undertaker sits up. Backbreaker. Taker struggles to sit up, and Bret hits a flying forearm. Taker counters the Sharpshooter by grabbing Bret by the throat. Knee to the midsection from Taker. Bret and Taker both hit the ropes, and a double clothesline knocks down both competitors. Bret gets to his feet first and rips the turnbuckle off. Taker gets back to his feet, but Bret is on him. Bret manages to rip the mask off of Undertaker. Taker chases after Bret, but Bret gets some blows in to stop him. Bret rams Undertaker into the exposed corner, and now the fans just flat out boo Bret. Bret hits Taker with headbutts. Bret comes off the ropes, but a crossbody is caught and Taker plants him with the Tombstone. Taker has the cover, but Diesel runs back down and pulls the referee out of the ring, leading to the DQ. Diesel flips off Taker as Taker gives chase. Bret retains the title.

Rating: **1/4 (2.25)
Grade: B

The issue with this match is neither stuck with being the heel in the match and it completely kills the crowd and the match. Even as a babyface, you can be the heel for a match, it’s perfectly fine. But we had each guy doing heelish things and neither character was really doing that. I think they should have just made Undertaker the full-on aggressor here, and maybe do a sign of respect deal at the end (it’s what worked in the Wrestlemania matches against Shawn Michaels 13, 14 years later). So that’s the first problem. Next, this match has no flow. Taker just dominates the beginning, then Bret does (FOUR leg grapevines!), then they start having a solid give-and-take. It just doesn’t work at all. Next problem, the match is so slow it feels like a 17, 18 minute match stretched out to a half-hour. Lastly, after a half-hour, we don’t get a finish! Diesel comes in and causes a DQ. Later Bret vs. Taker matches would have a more defined face-heel dynamic, which resulted in better matches. They just didn’t figure that out here and it’s a shame.

***

Interestingly enough, the very next night we’d get a rematch of the Royal Rumble, although it wouldn’t air for a few weeks. Randomly having Bret vs. Undertaker on the third RAW of a cycle seemed very odd. It’s also a bit strange too because there was very little chance of Taker winning the title. I mean, they weren’t going to suddenly do Taker vs. Diesel in a cage at In Your House for the belt. Maybe Vince felt he needed this for ratings. Although I have an opinion about that as well, but I’m going to wait until March of 1996.

Match 44: WWF Championship: The Undertaker vs. Bret Hart (c)
Monday Night RAW (2/5/96)


Story here is Bret wanted this rematch because of the interference caused by Diesel at the Rumble. The phantom mask is gone as well. In a cool moment, while Bret poses to the crowd, Undertaker stands dangerously close to Bret. Since Taker usually enters second, it is cool to see him trying to intimidate his opponent during their entrance. Bret gets some punches first, but Undertaker knocks Bret with a headbutt. Bret gets some offense in, but when he headbutts Taker he gets hurt (since when is Taker Samoan?) Taker chokes Bret in the ropes, which is somewhat reminiscent of his heel days. Some more chocking from Taker. Taker moves to the claw (this move really needs to go) as Diesel makes his way to ringside. Undertaker goes for Old School, but gets distracted by Diesel, allowing Bret to toss him off the top rope. Diesel joins the commentary desk.

Bret begins to work on the legs, which means we get the leg grapevine. I am impressed with how well Taker sells the legs, especially for a character who has the reputation of not selling anything. Bret slams Taker’s leg against the ring post. Undetaker gets a couple of uppercuts from the canvas, and we go to commercial. Undertaker hits Bret with a belly-to-back suplex when we come back. Taker slams Bret into the railing as again the crowd seems totally out of this. I don’t think they wanted to see either one of these guys beat the other. Taker hits Old School and the flying clothesline. Taker goes for the Tombstone, but Bret’s feet knock out the referee. Bret escapes and gets a roll-up, but we have no ref. Taker misses the big elbow, but sits up. Bret goes back to kicking the legs, then again slams Taker’s leg against the post. Diesel attacks Bret from behind and sends him into the post. Taker isn’t happy about that and goes after Diesel, slamming him into the steps. Diesel bashes Taker in the back with a chair. Jackknife Powerbomb to Undertaker, and Taker can’t sit up. Second jackknife gets Diesel huge heat. We still have no ref, so the match is still on. We cut to commercial again, and we come back and see Bret attack Diesel…and we get no finish. Well we need to get to the Billionaire Ted skits so I understand.

Rating: ** (2)
Grade: B

This was more of the same from the Royal Rumble, just shorter. For whatever reason, this combo wasn’t working well in early 1996, and I assume it’s because these were both two of the top three faces in the company, and the fans didn’t want to boo either of them. I don’t really think we needed this match as we got the point across at the Rumble. Diesel’s beatdown of Undertaker after the match is awesome though, and it’s what starts to push this feud into higher gear.

***

In one of my favorite angles (or finishes) ever, Undertaker would interfere in the Diesel vs. Bret Hart Cage Match at In Your House. Here’s the entire match.



The reason I had been giving out Bs for the last few matches is because this entire deal with Diesel so far had been rather paint-by-the-numbers and not really Undertaker-like. The feud was just Undertaker saying he wanted a title shot, Diesel saying he wanted a title shot, then Diesel ruining two of Undertaker’s chances. Very bland and boring set-up. Undertaker coming out from under the ring in the cage match changed the dynamic of the feud and was the beginning of why this is one of my favorite feuds. (As for the idea all of this made Bret Hart a weak champion, I always found that to be Bret underrating how over he was at that point. Bret was bulletproof at this point, it was Diesel and Taker that needed the stronger storyline). We have a couple of RAW matches before we get to Wrestlemania XII, although there’s the MSG show that we need to address as well.



Match 45: The Undertaker vs. Tatanka
Monday Night RAW (2/19/96)


The last days of Tatanka’s initial run. We get an awesome Undertaker entrance here. Tatanka still has Ted Dibiase with him, it’s kind of sad how the Million Dollar Corporation just limped along until Dibiase left the company. Tatanka goes for a sneak attack, but Undertaker catches him by the throat. Clothesline knocks Tatanka down. Taker chokes Tatanka in the corner. Chop from Tatanka has no effect whatsoever. Taker slams Tatanka onto the canvas, then begins to pound away on him. Taker hits Tatanka with a big boot, but Tatanka catches him with a Samoan drop.

Diesel comes down with an ax and brings a camera man to the back. We come back from commercial as Tatanka has Undertaker in a headlock. Diesel destroys Undertaker’s casket with the ax as Taker back suplexes Tatanka. Taker hits the flying clothesline. Old School connects. Tatanka escapes the Tombstone and spikes Taker with a piledriver as Diesel continues to destroy the casket. Taker grabs Tatanka by the throat and hits a chokeslam. Tombstone finishes. Undertaker sees on the titantron what Diesel had been doing, and he looks angry. Commentary sells this well too. Jerry Lawler had been telling everyone how confident Diesel was in this situation, and now he’s worried Diesel signed his death warrant. After another Billionaire Ted skit, Undertaker views the damage Diesel did, and he’s not happy.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: A

Not bad for a few minute match. We also were able to move the Diesel-Undertaker story forward.

***



The next week on RAW Diesel would beat Bob Holly, but he’s showing some signs that he’s worried Undertaker is around. Taker’s music plays, and he appears in the ring. Diesel shows confidence, but the lights go out again and Undertaker disappears. This is the first time we get the mind games deal from Undertaker I believe. What really works so far is Diesel hasn’t shown any fear of the Undertaker…yet. With nothing happening for this feud the next week, we actually have a match on the 3/11 RAW to look over.

Match 46: The Undertaker and Yokozuna vs. The British Bulldog and Owen Hart
Monday Night RAW (3/11/96)

Yokozuna
had just turned face and began a feud with his Camp Cornette replacement, Vader. One thing I like here that we don’t get today is that Undertaker and Yoko’s history isn’t ignored. Vince mentions that they have a history, and they even start the match facing off with one another. Diesel is watching the match in the back. Diesel actually hypes up the house show matches where he’s teaming with Shawn Michaels against Taker and Bret Hart. One of those is at MSG (8-year-old me was there!) and has some significance to the Undertaker-Diesel feud.

Undertaker and Yokozuna stand face-to-face, although they catch Owen and the Bulldog trying to take advantage (you can see Yoko eyeing for the attack). Taker and Yoko send Owen and Davey into one another. Yoko destroys Davey as Taker beats up Owen, but here comes Diesel. Diesel attacks Paul Bearer and beats the hell out of him, and Taker doesn’t see it. Undertaker sees Diesel walking away, and Taker sees what’s happened to Paul. Paul tells Undertaker to go after Diesel. That’s the end of the participation of Undertaker in this match, as Vader shows up to attack Yoko for the DQ.

Rating: ½* (0.5)
Grade: A+

Hey, I had fun for the minute Undertaker was in there. I also appreciated hyping up the history of Undertaker and Yokozuna. With Diesel attacking Paul Bearer, we get an easy way to get some heat for Diesel.

***

On March 17 at a house show at Madison Square Garden, Diesel and Shawn Michaels took on Undertaker and Bret Hart. It’s a really fun match, you get some early Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels segments in here, and it led to Diesel completing the heel turn by bashing Shawn Michaels with the chair. The heat for the Undertaker-Diesel stuff in the match is great. There’s a version I’m going to link to here, but I have one big question. Why the heck did they not run this on RAW? It sold out or nearly sold out Madison Square Garden (which definitely wasn’t happening later in 1996). It’s bonkers to me that they didn’t run this match on RAW nor run this angle on RAW.



Anyway we have one more classic angle to run before Wrestlemania XII. One of my favorites. It works so well because Diesel finally shows some fear after weeks of no-selling the dark. Also, there’s a really clever finish in Diesel’s match with Barry Horowitz.



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Match 47: The Undertaker vs. Diesel
Wrestlemania XII (3/31/96)

RDT
history note here. I am a child of Diesel Power. I became a wrestling fan at 8 years old and Diesel was my first favorite wrestler. I wouldn’t have my Undertaker obsession until 1997 and his feud with Bret Hart. Despite everything, I really wanted Diesel to win here, and it bothered me pretty much until Diesel went to WCW that he didn’t (two months felt like forever back then!). I’ve seen this match many times, and I’ll probably overrate it.

Great entrance for Undertaker. The titantron (or “video wall”) compliments him perfectly with a dead tree in the background. Undertaker and Diesel go right at one another. Diesel hits a big clothesline in the corner. Taker catches Diesel with a big boot then clotheslines him down. Taker misses the big elbow, but sits up. Diesel clotheslines Taker to the outside, but Taker lands on his feet. Taker pounds on Diesel, then slams Diesel into the steps. In the ring Undertaker goes for the Tombstone, but Diesel escapes. Undertaker hits a crossbody block (!) for two. Old School hits, but Diesel stays on his feet. Undertaker misses the flying clothesline, but Taker keeps control by hanging Diesel across the top rope. Taker sends Diesel to the outside with a hard shot to the throat, then rams Diesel into the ring post. Undertaker grabs a chair, but Diesel ducks the attempted shot. Diesel sends Undertaker into the railing, then sends him into the post.

Diesel has complete control and slams Undertaker into the post again. Huge boos for Diesel as he poses in the ring. Taker tries to get back into the ring, but Diesel knees him back to the outside. Big boot levels Undertaker in the ring. Diesel hits huge forearms and Undertaker sells them like he’s being killed. Sidewalk slam from Diesel cover, but that just gets two. Snake eyes from Diesel. Taker lands on the ropes and Diesel jumps on him. Huge heat for Diesel again. Undertaker tries to fight back with an elbow and a kick. Both men hit one another with a punch, then hit each other with big boots at the same time! We get a sit up from Undertaker, but Diesel actually gets to his feet first and nails Taker in the back, then locks Undertaker in a bearhug. Taker escapes but Diesel gets a headlock. Belly-to-back suplex from Undertaker. Undertaker hits an elbowdrop, then heads to the top rope. Flying clothesline perfectly hits the target, and it looked fantastic. Cover only gets two.

Undertaker sends Diesel off the ropes, but he puts his head down and gets planted with the Jackknife Powerbomb! Diesel doesn’t go for the pin, but instead plays to the crowd, making a point that Undertaker was nothing to him. Undertaker sits up, but that’s just what Diesel wants. Jackknife #2 hits perfectly and Diesel again plays to the camera and the crowd. Diesel eventually goes for the pin, but Undertaker’s arm raises for a choke. Diesel punches away at Undertaker and tries the cover again, but Taker goes for the throat again. Diesel tries one more time, but Undertaker grabs him by the throat. Diesel manages a belly-to-back suplex, but Undertaker sits up. Diesel still plays to the crowd, but Undertaker is standing behind him. Undertaker takes control with big punches, then hits the flying clothesline. Chokeslam. Undertaker then gives the camera one hell of an icy look before calling for the end (I still get chills), plants Diesel with the Tombstone, and that gets the three.

Rating: ***1/4 (3.25)
Grade: S+

I find this to be a really good power match. Yes, some slow spots hurt it a little bit (did we really need a bearhug in there) but the match overall tells a good story and I still enjoy almost every moment of it. Diesel put Undertaker over huge here. This feud overall really put the focus on the psychological aspects of Undertaker that went further than “heel is afraid of a casket”, followed by a solid match where Undertaker showed resiliency and dipped into his Undertaker powers at the end to finish off the former WWF Champion. It serves as a perfect set-up for what Undertaker would be dealing with for the rest of 1996, but that’s in the next set.​
 

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I imagine at the 1994 Royal Rumble when Tenryu and Kabuki came out most fans were like "who are they" since Kabuki hadn't been on US TV since his days in World Class nearly a decade earlier, and Tenryu had just made one appearance at WrestleMania VII in a forgettable match against Demolition and one in the previous year's Royal Rumble Match.
 
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I imagine at the 1994 Royal Rumble when Tenryu and Kabuki came out most fans were like "who are they" since Kabuki hadn't been on US TV since his days in World Class nearly a decade earlier, and Tenryu had just made one appearance at WrestleMania VII in a forgettable match against Demolition and one in the previous year's Royal Rumble Match.

Most likely. I'm not sure what hype they got being a part of Fuji's Forces beforehand. Tenryu being a part of the '93 Rumble may have helped a little at least.
 

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Flying through this you are. It's actually crazy to think how small a number of televised matches 'Taker had throughout this time period. Makes sense because Raw was full of squashes and talent wasn't on the show every week, but still.

Most of the match ratings you've dropped here are same/similar to what I probably think as well. Only one I have a completely different point of view on is the Survivor Series 95 match. Most the competitors in there were meh and due to 'Taker being in so short, the match was meh to me. Lawler owns though, but I don't even think I could give this two stars, let alone three and a half.
 
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takermankind.png


The Deadman Years – The Birth of Mankind (1996)

Match 48: The Undertaker vs. Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw
Monday Night RAW (4/1/96)


Obviously, we’re going to be talking about Mankind a bit in this section. Before this RAW, all we saw from Mankind were some creepy vignettes. Mankind made his debut here against Bob Holly, winning in a solid debut. In terms of aura, Mankind’s debut may be the best one since Undertaker five-and-a-half years prior at the 1990 Survivor Series. It’s amazing how Mick Foley just hits the character out of the park right away. If this was anyone else, like Undertaker, this would be Wrestlecrap.

Jerry Lawler tells us that Bradshaw is undefeated so far in the WWF. Bradshaw gets in some stiff shots but Taker gets a big boot. Powerslam from Bradshaw, but Undertaker sits up. Clothesline knocks Undertaker back down and Bradshaw hits an elbow. Bradshaw is on offense as we hit a commercial break. We come back to a sidewalk slam from Bradshaw. Bradshaw hits Undertaker with a top rope shoulder block. Commentary makes a big deal about Undertaker going through a tough match with Diesel the night before to explain why he’s struggling against Bradshaw so far. Bradshaw comes off the top rope again, but Taker catches him with a powerslam! Taker tries to get something going, but Bradshaw hits another hard clothesline.

Big boot from Bradshaw. Bradshaw calls for the end, but Taker catches him with the flying clothesline. Chokeslam connects. Now Undertaker calls for the end and plants him with the Tombstone, but here comes Mankind! Mankind attacks Undertaker and beats the hell out of Undertaker. Mankind sends him into the railing, then slams him right into the steps. With Undertaker out on the floor, Mankind hits a perfect flying elbow off the apron, then locks in the Mandible Claw. Words can’t describe how perfect this attack was. The elbow is perfectly show and Foley’s mannerisms are perfect.

Rating: **1/4 (2/25)
Grade: S+

The days of Undertaker getting squashed by 500 pounders and getting his urn stolen to garner sympathy (or to give his opponents heel heat) are over. What was fascinating about Undertaker’s character up until this point is the psychological aspect. Unfortunately, that only went so far when dealing with the Mabels and King Kong Bundys of the world (we really only touched upon it back in ’92 with Jake Roberts). But now there’s this new lunatic in Mankind and this offers such a different dimension for the Undertaker character. Just amazing stuff. Also, while clearly secondary here, the match was a bit one-sided, but hard hitting. I think if he had the gimmick Bradshaw could have been a bigger deal in the mid-90s and he’d be known as a hard-hitting bad ass instead of an arguable undeserving World Champion eight years later. But the evil cowboy gimmick just didn’t connect, and he felt like a poor man’s Stan Hansen.

***


The WWF makes an early misstep here. We don’t see Mankind or Undertaker for three weeks on RAW. Mankind would face Aldo Montoya on RAW after those three weeks in an easy victory, but there’s no follow-up. Undertaker would face Mankind in a couple of dark matches, even one at the In Your House PPV in April. But then we’d take a detour that somewhat exposed the WWF schedule at that point. Mankind would win another match the week after against Bart Gunn and again we’re just reminded about what Mankind did to Undertaker (although Foley cuts a great promo at the end of the show that explains the Mandible Claw and retroactively makes me hate Mr. Socko). We’ll get to the strange turn mentioned earlier. Undertaker does return to RAW, five weeks after the attack from Mankind.

Match 49: The Undertaker vs. Owen Hart
Monday Night RAW (5/6/96)


Well we might as well get to the twist. So, for whatever reason, Undertaker was named to be the next opponent for Goldust’s Intercontinental Championship for In Your House: Beware of Dog. Goldust comes out to do commentary for the Undertaker vs. Owen Hart match, but before the match begins Vince McMahon tells Goldust their match is going to be a casket match, which freaks Goldust out. Now, while this is certainly a detour, I really do enjoy the character work from Goldust here as he’s completely terrified of the idea of being in a Casket Match. Goldust masterfully sells Undertaker’s entrance on commentary (also Vince asks if Goldust is just pretending).

Undertaker stares down Goldust, but then catches Owen Hart trying a sneak attack. Owen’s punches have no effect and Taker treetop slams him to the canvas. Goldust begins to get sexually turned on from the “death” of the Undertaker as Taker chokes Owen. Owen eventually gets some kicks to the leg to slow Taker down. We come back from a commercial break and see Goldust coming onto Paul Bearer. Goldust freaks out Paul and Paul runs to the back. Owen continues to work on the leg but really Goldust is completely stealing the show with his mannerisms. Owen hits a missile dropkick and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Undertaker grabs him by the throat. Big boot knocks Owen down. Undertaker tosses Owen to the outside…and Goldust grabs his ass to help him back in. This distracts Owen, and Taker grabs Owen from the apron and spikes him with the Tombstone for the win. That was an interesting finish.

Paul Bearer brings out a casket as Undertaker and Goldust stare each other down. Goldust freaks out again when he accidentally bumps into the casket.

Rating: *1/2 (1.5)
Grade: S

Once again, the match was secondary here. Surprisingly, the match wasn’t any good either. Just Owen Hart working the leg for 5 minutes. It gets a little bit of a boost in rating as everything after Owen hitting the missile dropkick. I was just hoping this would be more like the Jarrett match last year than a mini version of the Bret Hart matches.

But that’s not the point. The character work involving Undertaker and Goldust is incredible. I only lowered the grade a big because there was no mention of the Mankind situation, but at least that would change soon. A spoiler though, while Undertaker vs. Mankind would lead to great things, Undertaker vs. Goldust…would serve as a secondary feud throughout 1996, and not a good nor a memorable one (how shocked would you be if I told you Taker and Goldust had three PPV one-on-one matches in 1996?). Vince McMahon needed to fill those In Your House shows (Undertaker wouldn’t miss another one) and didn’t quite have the TV time to pack that would good storylines. A thinning roster didn’t help either. But the idea of Undertaker vs. Goldust was intriguing and truthfully off to an awesome start. The next week on RAW we saw one of my favorite segments of the Deadman Undertaker. And it included both Goldust and Mankind.





“Bizarre? You’re asking us about bizarre?” I crack up every time I hear that line.


I do like the idea that Goldust sought out Mankind to help him deal with Undertaker. Just great character work all around. While the path to get to this point was weird (Mankind attacked Undertaker six weeks ago!), it was working. We’d have one more angle on RAW the next week where Undertaker cuts a promo on Goldust from a casket, but Mankind shuts the lid. Mankind ties the casket shut and beats on the casket with a steel pole before tossing it over. Goldust and Marlena look on. Cool angle and all, but I do have a bit of an issue with it as Undertaker hasn’t even addressed Mankind at all in any of this. They had Undertaker in two feuds at once and sometimes the heat feels misplaced. Why hasn’t Undertaker called out Mankind yet? Anyway, here's the angle.





Match 50: WWF Intercontinental Championship: Casket Match: The Undertaker vs. Goldust (c)
In Your House VIII: Beware of Dog II (5/28/96)


Some backstory here. The power went out during Beware of Dog. The feed went out, cutting three matches, one of which was the Undertaker vs. Goldust match (which Goldust won, although I’m not sure how). Two nights later, we’d have Beware of Dog II, with the Casket Match main eventing (oddly, the WWE Youtube channel claims that this match was part of the first Beware of Dog on 5/26. Whatever). The finish wasn’t really in doubt here, as Goldust and Ahmed Johnson began their angle for King of the Ring on RAW the night before.

Undertaker skips his entrance as he appears in the ring behind Goldust. I’m not a fan when he does that actually. I subscribe to the whole idea that his entrance alone is able to psych his opponent out. Taker slams Goldust to the canvas and dominates early. Goldust avoids running into the casket, just to get knocked down by Undertaker again. Undertaker throws Goldust on top of the casket, then slams him into the steps. Big slam from Undertaker in the ring, then a big legdrop. Old School hits (1st won we’ve seen since Mania). Taker chokes Goldust in the corner. Goldust finally gets something going as he catches Undertaker with an elbow and a slam. Taker sits up, but Goldust is selling and doesn’t react. We get a botch as Undertaker goes for a backdrop, but Goldust goes for his sliding uppercut. Undertaker stands straight up though before the uppercut as I assume he thought Goldust fell down, so Goldust punches nothing.

Goldust shockingly just busts out a Tombstone, but Taker sits up. Goldust gets a clothesline, then rolls Undertaker into the casket. Taker fires punches to get out. Big boot from Undertaker, but Goldust manages to backdrop Undertaker to the outside. Goldust slams Undertaker into the steps, then chokes Undertaker with a cable. Goldust pounds away on Undertaker a bit, but Taker fires back and knocks Goldust down. Goldust catches Undertaker in a sleeper and forces him down to the canvas. With Taker out, Goldust drags Taker to the casket, but again Taker blocks the lid from shutting. Goldust puts all his weight on the casket lid, but Taker opens it anyway and Goldust falls to the floor. Back in the ring Taker hits the flying clothesline, then a regular clothesline knocks both over the top rope. Goldust hits a big boot to avoid an Undertaker chair shot, then clotheslines Undertaker down. Powerslam from Goldust. Taker manages a sit up, but Goldust hits a top rope clothesline. He goes for a pin, but you can’t win that way.

Goldust decides to steal Undertaker’s move and goes for Old School, but Taker tosses him off the top rope. Tombstone follows, but when Undertaker opens the casket, Mankind is magically inside and gets the Mandible Claw and leaves Undertaker in the casket. Mankind shuts the lid and locks the casket, giving Goldust the win. The casket gets all smokey, and there’s no one inside to Paul Bearer’s shock. Undertaker’s music plays as the show ends.

Rating: ** (2)
Grade: C

The match itself is a bit of a disappointment for me. If there were ever a Casket Match that should have been overplayed with character work it’s this one. Instead, Undertaker and Goldust just have a regular match. This is an oddly built match as well. There’s no real heat segment, just two guys hitting moves at one another. There’s a bad botch early on (the uppercut) and Goldust planting Undertaker with the Tombstone should not have been a transitional move. The match does pick up a bit towards the end. The finish was also predictable (as in Mankind would get involved), but it stinks in execution. We don’t need Mankind being supernatural. Lastly, we’re getting to the point that Undertaker looks a bit stupid. Undertaker hasn’t done one thing or cut one promo on Mankind. How many times does Mankind have to attack Undertaker to get his attention? They probably should have had Mankind destroy some lower-level good guy for a few weeks after Wrestlemania (maybe feeding the departing Razor Ramon to him as opposed to Vader) before helping Goldust with Undertaker. It’s been 7-8 weeks now! Do something about this Undertaker!

***

Mankind
cuts another money promo on the 6/3 RAW. The match between him and Undertaker is set for King of the Ring. “Of all the things I lost, I miss my mind the most!” Mick Foley was carrying this feud by himself so far. Anyway, we have a RAW match before we get to KOTR.

Match 51: The Undertaker vs. The British Bulldog
Monday Night RAW (6/10/96)


The Bulldog was in the middle of his heel main event run as he was feuding with Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title. I feel like part of the reason the Bulldog could never reach that top level as a main event is because everything had to be about Diana Smith (Hart). All three of Davey’s late-’95, early ’96 PPV Title matches feature her. I’m surprised about this match being booked at all because this match is destined to have a no-finish. They aren’t gonna have the Bulldog lost two weeks before the KOTR title match with Shawn Michaels…and I don’t think there was ever enough confidence in Davey to get a big win over Undertaker (which goes back to him never reaching that top level heel status).

Davey Boy uses his quickness to avoid Undertaker. Punches have no effect and Undertaker fires big punches himself. Treetop slam from Undertaker. Bulldog stalls on the outside a bit before heading back into the ring, where Undertaker takes control again. Old School from Undertaker (great sell from the Bulldog!) Undertaker chokes the Bulldog then hits a big slam. Big legdrop and a cover, but Bulldog kicks out at two. Bulldog catches Undertaker with an elbow and begins to pound on him. Vertical suplex, and Davey impressively holds him up a few seconds too. Undertaker sits up and starts firing at Davey, but the Bulldog catches him with a powerslam. Sit up from Undertaker.

We come back from commercial and the Bulldog has a headlock on Undertaker. Bulldog has it locked in for a while…makes me wonder why we didn’t cut this part in the commercial. Undertaker breaks out of the headlock, again with tremendous fire, but Davey gets a neckbreaker and a legdrop. Taker sits up again. Bulldog whips Taker into the corner…then goes back to the headlock. I swear Diana Smith has a look on her face like someone told her pretty privilege exists. That’s her only expression. Undertaker finally gets a back suplex to escape the headlock. Taker goes for the Tombstone, but Davey counters into the Running Powerslam. Undertaker escapes, and he and Bulldog go back and forth with punches. The match is picking up, so of course we cut to commercial (we clearly couldn’t miss that headlock!). Miscommunication messes up the flying clothesline, so Undertaker gets a normal one. Chokeslam time, and Undertaker almost loses grip on Davey. Taker then sends the Bulldog to the outside. Bulldog pulls Undertaker out and rams him into the post, but Taker reverses a whip and the Bulldog goes flying into the steps. Taker rolls Davey back in, but Mankind grabs Undertaker’s foot from under the ring and forces him to get counted out. Mankind beats down Undertaker after the match and spikes him with the stump piledriver. Referees come down to stop Mankind from doing any more damage as RAW ends.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: B

This was an eight-minute match stretched out to 15 minutes. A lot of time in the headlock. Commercial break timing did not help. Horrible finish that didn’t help the Bulldog one bit for his title match, and while I appreciate how strong they are making Mankind look, man has Undertaker got nothing in this feud so far. If it wasn’t for Mankind’s awesomeness this feud would be dead. At least this was a reasonable attack as opposed to magically appearing in the casket. Undertaker looked strong in the match too so that helped. But I would like to see SOMETHING that shows Undertaker cares about Mankind. A promo. An attack. Anything.

***

It didn’t look like we got anything on the following RAW for the match so we head to King of the Ring.

wwf_wwe_kingofthering96_undertakermankind2.jpg


Match 52: The Undertaker vs. Mankind
King of the Ring (6/23/96)


There’s an interesting dilemma here. Character wise, it is important for Mankind to not lose or at least not get pinned or be made to submit, or he quickly becomes just another heel Undertaker took out. But Mankind has been put over so strongly in the feud so far, I mean Undertaker has gotten nothing on him. He should get something resembling a victory somewhere.

Undertaker again does the “appears in the ring” deal behind Mankind, this time coming off the top with a clothesline. As much as I don’t like it from a character perspective, this one worked for me for whatever reason. Undertaker beats the living hell out of Mankind in the corner and I’m already convinced my thoughts on Mankind winning too much in the feud is misguided. Undertaker punches away at Mankind with such fire it makes up for everything else so far. You can tell he wants to destroy this guy. The crowd popped huge for the start too. Undertaker tries to rearrange Mankind’s face. Mankind tries to escape, but Undertaker snapmares him back into the ring. Old School connects, followed by a choke. Mankind finally shows some fire with an elbow and a slam. Undertaker sits up, but Mankind wastes no time with a clothesline. I like the idea that so far Mankind has no reason to be afraid of Undertaker as Undertaker hasn’t really done anything to scare him.

Mankind chokes Undertaker with his boot, then hits a knee to the face in the corner. Mankind knocks Undertaker to the outside then drops the elbow off the apron. Someone should bring that move back. Mankind continues to fire away on Undertaker until Taker fights back. Taker blocks a kick and spins Mankind around, but Mankind catches him with a clothesline. Mankind slams Undertaker into the steps. Mankind grabs two chairs and tosses one into the ring, but when he tries to hit Undertaker he gets the chair kicked back in his face. Taker whips Mankind into the apron, then backdrops Mankind right on the floor and the edge of the chair! Jeez! Undertaker rolls Mankind back into the ring and with a little Paul Bearer distraction of the referee, smashes the chair across Mankind’s back! I love this aggression from Undertaker. Big boot, then Undertaker goes for the Tombstone. Mankind escapes and hits a neckbreaker.

Mankind drops a legdrop then crawls around Undertaker, which Jim Ross puts over beautifully (an animal stalking its prey). Mankind goes for the Mandible Claw, but Taker grabs his throat. Mankind escapes and drops an elbow…but Undertaker sits up to a huge reaction. Mankind gets a nerve hold which slows things down a little bit. Undertaker fights his way out to a huge reaction, then hits rapid-fire punches and an uppercut to knock Mankind down. Again, great fire from Undertaker. Undertaker knocks Mankind to the outside, but Mankind drags Taker out too. Taker ends up in a sitting position next to the steps and Mankind drives his knee in Taker’s face against the steps! Mankind slams Undertaker on the floor, then goes for another flying elbow off the apron, only Taker grabs the chair from earlier and uses it as a shield, leading to Mankind crashing right into it! Undertaker then takes the chair and just smashes it over Mankind’s head! What a shot! Mankind’s selling in the ring is incredible as he tries to get away from Undertaker.

Undertaker slams Mankind onto the canvas, then hits him with headbutts. Undertaker hits the flying clothesline. Undertaker sends Mankind into the ropes and goes for the back drop, but Mankind puts on the breaks and spikes Undertaker with the stump piledriver! That only gets two as Mankind throws a temper tantrum. Mankind grabs the urn from Paul Bearer, but Bearer grabs it back. Undertaker gets up but Mankind locks in the Mandible Claw! Undertaker grabs Mankind’s throat as Paul Bearer tries to make the save. But Mankind pulls Undertaker in, and Bearer accidentally hits Undertaker with it! Mankind locks the Mandible Claw again, and Undertaker is out! The crowd is completely stunned. Mankind grabs a chair and chases Paul Bearer down the aisle as Undertaker tries to give chase. Undertaker can barely stand while Mankind starts to hug the chair instead. Man is Mick Foley incredible.

Rating: **** (4)
Grade: S+

Easily the best match of Undertaker’s WWF career so far. As much as I was skeptical about the build-up, the aggression by Undertaker here was new and made up for all my concerns. And only Mick Foley would pull off being a monster heel despite taking all the big bumps. When it comes to being a worker, Mick Foley is underrated to this day. Not only did this match change the course for Undertaker’s character development, but it started the discussion for what main event expectations are in the WWF. And to think one year prior we had Taker losing to Mabel. What a difference a year makes. Do you think Jim Ross on commentary just had a shit-eating grin on the entire time as Vince McMahon ate his words about Foley during the match?

***

Time to complain about the structure of the WWF schedule again. The next night on RAW, Vince McMahon is interviewing Goldust about his loss of the Intercontinental Title the previous night. Then, out of nowhere, Vince asks Goldust if he’s ready for his match with Undertaker at the upcoming In Your House Pay-Per-View. To which I ask, why? What kind of set-up is this? The issue is that they want to save Undertaker and Mankind for the bigger PPVs and the In Your House cards need filling. But now suddenly Goldust cares about Undertaker again? This halted some of that Undertaker-Mankind momentum. Undertaker needed revenge on Mankind, but now we gotta mess around with Goldust for a few weeks.

Match 53: The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Monday Night RAW (6/24/96)

Stone Cold
had just won the King of the Ring the night prior. This is a big match for Austin obviously, but it’s a bit strange for Undertaker. You’d think he’d be hunting for Mankind or something. This is the first Taker vs. Austin TV match so there’s some historical significance here. Austin attacks before the bell, but Undertaker has none of it. Austin refuses to back away at first, but Taker eventually takes control. As Taker continues to beat down Austin, Jerry Lawler tries to ask Paul Bearer about what happened at King of the Ring. This attracts Undertaker’s attention, but only serves as a distraction. Austin gets some shots in on the outside, but Taker rams Austin into the post. Taker chokes Austin in the ropes and continues to dominate. Taker sends Austin to the outside and when Austin tries to drag him out, Taker kicks him into the railing.

Taker slams Austin in the middle of the ring, but misses the big elbow drop. Austin starts to get some offense in, but he runs into a big boot as we cut to a commercial. During the break apparently Undertaker foiled a chairshot attempt from Austin. Austin chokes Austin in the corner, but Austin recovers out of nowhere with a chop block. Austin goes to work on the knee then slams Taker’s leg into the post. Austin stomps away at Taker in the corner, although not quite with the aggression of stomping a mudhole. Austin comes off the second rope with a forearm, but Taker kicks out of the pin attempt at two. Austin continues to work on the leg. Spinning toe hold from Austin, then Austin locks in a leg grapevine as Goldust makes his way down to the commentary table.

Undertaker escapes the leg grapevine, but Austin ducks the big boot and gets a leg hook. Another commercial break. We come back to Undertaker missing the flying clothesline, but Austin tries to jump at Taker in the ropes and misses. Taker gets the chokeslam. Taker calls for the end and sets Austin up for the Tombstone…but Goldust throws gold dust in Taker’s eyes for the DQ. Austin and Taker still go at it before Austin bails. Taker sells the toll of the match but doesn’t look for Goldust for some reason. Jerry Lawler tries to start more problems by asking Undertaker to ask Paul Bearer about what happened at King of the Ring, and that’s how RAW goes off the air.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: C

Surprisingly, this match kinda sucked. Maybe technicians were just a bad combination with Undertaker in these days. Match was slow, had two commercial breaks and had a horrible finish. Good for Austin not doing the job though the night after winning King of the Ring. Again, I have to question Undertaker’s booking here. No problem not beating Austin, but Goldust cost him the match and…nothing? Not even a chase down? Nevermind this feud barely has a reason to exist other than the match just existing for no reason. Even stranger is Mankind does have a match at the upcoming In Your House as well against Henry O. Godwinn for some reason (I do think it was supposed to be Jake Roberts though).

***

Anyway that was the entire build for this Undertaker vs. Goldust rematch unless something happened on Superstars or something. Goldust had a match with Marc Mero on 7/8 RAW but that didn’t have any Undertaker involvement as that was building to a Mero-Goldust deal.

Match 54: The Undertaker vs. Goldust
In Your House IX: International Incident


I think this PPV is the last PPV that has Undertaker do the full entrance with jacket and hat (with some special exceptions of course). It’s amazing, but I’ll say I’m disappointed in the lack of Goldust reaction to it. The bell rings but Goldust is hesitant to get in the ring, even stepping over the railing at one point. Goldust holds onto the referee and uses him as a shield, and while this is silly these are the type of antics I feel was missing from the Casket Match. Undertaker stands stoically and Goldust finally has the audacity to taunt in Taker’s face and receives a haymaker for his trouble. Goldust begins to walk away from the match, and we’re beyond stalling at this point. After a good four minutes of this, Goldust manages to drag Undertaker to the outside, but gets awkwardly chokeslammed onto the steel steps for his actions. Undertaker gets back into the ring as the referee counts again. Taker finally goes outside to get Goldust and slams him into the steps. Undertaker picks up the steps, but Marlena blocks him from slamming them on Goldust.

Undertaker rolls Goldust into the ring and chokes him in the corner. Goldust tries to rip off the turnbuckle, but to no avail. Goldust tries it again but can’t get it off. Undertaker knocks Goldust down with a clothesline and hits the big legdrop. Goldust suddenly gets some offense with a thumb to the eye, but Undertaker blocks the haymaker and punches away at Goldust in the corner. Old School from Undertaker. Big slam from Undertaker, but he misses the big elbow. Undertaker sits up, but Goldust clotheslines him out. Taker lands on his feet and drags Goldust out, but Goldust actually goes on the offensive and slams Taker into the apron. Back in the ring there’s a cool whip reversal sequence that sends Undertaker into what apparently is exposed turnbuckle (I completely missed Goldust succeeding in taking off the pad). Goldust sends Taker to the outside and drops the steel steps on Taker’s back.

Goldust slams Undertaker in the ring and locks in a camel clutch. Undertaker starts to fire and hits a big boot. He goes for the Tombstone, but Goldust doesn’t go up for it and Taker improvises into an inside cradle for two. Flying clothesline connects. Tombstone plants Goldust, but Mankind breaks through the ring to attack Undertaker and cause the DQ. Mankind seems concerned though as he comes from under the ring again and there’s no Undertaker. We hear Undertaker’s gong as smoke comes from the hole. Undertaker then breaks through another hole in the ring and finally we get some revenge! Undertaker beats down Mankind down the aisle. (Side note, I wonder how they managed to fix the ring in eight minutes for the main event).

During the introduction of Camp Cornette, commentary tells us Undertaker and Mankind kept fighting all the way into the Boiler Room before the police separated them. I would have liked to see that, but I’ll take it.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: B+

Not a good match here. Way too much stalling early on and not much of an interesting middle or end. It did pick up a little bit towards the end so that’s where the star comes from. There’s just not good chemistry between these two and further more Goldust’s character isn’t clear here. Is he actually scared of Undertaker? Is he acting? I know part of Goldust’s character is that he’s really a focused, serious wrestler playing mind games, but again if there were ever a feud where Goldust should be playing his character over the top, it’s this one. It’s partly why that segment back in May was so riveting. As for the grade, about time for Undertaker to actually win an exchange with Mankind! Only took about three months.

***

The next night on RAW we get some stills of Mankind and Undertaker fighting in the boiler room. Vince McMahon tells us that Mankind and Undertaker will face off in a Boiler Room Brawl at Summerslam. We have another RAW match with Stone Cold to get to first.

Match 55: The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Monday Night RAW (7/29/96)


There’s something off about the crowd reaction with Undertaker’s entrance. Sounds piped in. We also see Mankind in the boiler room before we cut to commercial. Austin has a logo on his ass which feels very out of place. Austin offers a handshake, but obviously Undertaker isn’t interested. Austin gets a headlock, but Taker sends Austin off the ropes and grabs him by the throat. Taker tosses him into the corner and they trade arm wrenches. Taker knocks Austin down with a hard right. Austin gets a thumb to the eye and pounds away on Undertaker. He slams Taker in the corner, but Taker gets a classic no-sell. Taker hits the flying clothesline and Austin begs off. Taker goes for Old School, but after the rope walk Austin shakes the rope and Taker falls off.

Austin stomps away on Undertaker (closer to stomping a mudhole). Taker retakes control with hard shots to the throat, then an uppercut. Austin gets a back kick for a low blow and the ref lets it fly. Austin stomps away on Taker and Jerry Lawler actually brings up the stomping a mudhole in someone deal. Flying forearm from the second rope by Austin. Austin and Taker trade blows and Taker retakes control again. Taker traps Austin in the ropes and punches and kicks him, then hits Austin with a running big boot. Headbutt from Taker. Hard bodyslam from Undertaker, but he misses the elbow drop of course. Austin chokes Austin in the ropes, then snaps his neck across the top rope. As Austin beats on Undertaker we see Mankind walking in the boiler room as we cut to commercial.

We come and Austin has Undertaker down with a headlock (see how the commercial break cut out the boring headlock. Makes all the difference in the world!). Undertaker makes his comeback, but Austin catches Undertaker on a backdrop attempt and spikes him with a piledriver! Austin heads to the top rope, but Undertaker sits up! Undertaker comes off the top rope to leave Austin crotched on the top rope. Undertaker chokeslams Austin off the top rope (!), but he comes Mankind. Undertaker goes out after him, and they go at it. Austin wins by countout. Undertaker makes his way back and Austin goes after him, but Taker spikes him with the Tombstone. Hey, we get an interview too! It only took three months for Undertaker to cut a promo on Mankind. It’s standard Undertaker stuff, but it’s awesome to see!

Rating: *** (3)
Grade: S

It’s hard to believe that the match with Austin the night after King of the Ring and this one took place just one month apart. Austin wrestled like a brawler in this one and the match was so much better. If it had a finish, I’d go higher. It was getting really good before Mankind showed up. The big difference between the weeks before King of the Ring and now is that Mankind was making Undertaker look foolish in silly ways (holding Undertaker’s leg from under the ring, trapping him in the casket, etc.). Now, Undertaker fights Mankind head on. Just great stuff. We’re not quite at Summerslam yet.

Match 56: RAW Invitational Battle Royal
Monday Night RAW (8/5/96)


This is for a future WWF title shot on RAW. Both Undertaker and Mankind are in this. For some reason everyone stands on the outside until all entrances are made. Undertaker runs down to the ring and Mankind slides into the ring, and they go at it. Undertaker immediately hits a clothesline that sends both of them over the top rope. Undertaker beats Mankind down the aisleway. Midway during the battle royal Taker and Mankind are found fighting in the crowd. Undertaker tosses him over the railing before they end up back in the ring. Mankind tries to escape through the crowd and Undertaker chases him down. We get an update later with Undertaker slamming a wooden pallet over Mankind’s head! We come back from a commercial for more Taker vs. Mankind. We see Undertaker beating the crap out of Mankind in the back, slamming him on everything possible. Mankind tries to run for his life but Undertaker shoves him onto a bunch of steel poles. Ahmed Johnson would win the battle royal, and while this was the literal peak for him, it was also the beginning of the end as he suffered his kidney injury at some point in this taping.

Rating: N/A
Grade: S+

Can’t really rate Undertaker’s performance in the match, he was in there for barely 20 seconds. But the brawl is awesome. This was the peak of the Undertaker-Mankind feud.

***

On the go-home RAW one of my favorite vignettes ever plays to hype up the Boiler Room Brawl, but I can’t find it on Youtube. The WWF had an 18 month or so era where they did these epic black and white promos and this one is nothing short of fantastic. I do know on Superstars that Undertaker would fight Who on the 8/18 show (taped back on 7/23). I thought of reviewing it, but did we need a second Undertaker Superstars match involving Jim Neidhart? Undertaker did chase Mankind at the end of the show when Mankind started scaring Sable. Anyway, let’s get to Summerslam.

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Match 57: Boiler Room Brawl: The Undertaker vs. Mankind
Summerslam 1996 (8/18/96)


The opening PPV video does a great job portraying Mankind and Vader as huge monsters.

The rules are as follows. Undertaker and Mankind start in the Boiler Room. The goal is to escape, get to the ring, and grab possession of the urn from Paul Bearer. The Boiler Room and backstage portions of the match were taped the day prior. Paul Bearer is the only one to make an entrance (obviously).

We cut to the back where Undertaker enters the Boiler Room. In a great moment, even he hesitates for a moment before entering, really selling how dangerous Mankind is. Undertaker looks around in the Boiler Room. Undertaker cautiously continues to look around before Mankind pops up and smashes a steel bar across his back. Mankind beats on Undertaker with a piece of wood, but Undertaker fights back with a garbage can lid. Now Undertaker beats on Mankind with the weapons in the Boiler Room before slamming him into a steel container. Taker and Mankind continue to use the weapons in the Boiler Room before Mankind slams him into a boiler. We get some transmission problems to cover some editing before we see Mankind slamming Undertaker into a wall. Garbage can shot from Mankind. Mankind yells at Undertaker to get up, and it feels like something Joker would say to Batman. Undertaker starts beating down Mankind with some kind of stick, but Mankind regains control when he gets one of the Boilers to shoot steam in Taker’s face.

Mankind slams a garbage can in Undertaker’s face, but Taker is able to clothesline it back in Mankind’s face to regain control. Wooden pallet to the face from Undertaker. Mankind lowblows Undertaker with some kind of tube which gets a reaction from the live crowd. Undertaker and Mankind smartly keep knocking over a bunch of steel poles and bars, making the Boiler Room feel even more dangerous. Mankind rams Taker into steel gate, then hits him with the running knee to the face. Mankind slams Undertaker into a wooden bench. With Taker laid out, Mankind begins to climb a ladder and he drops an elbow because Mick Foley is a nutcase (that floor is all concrete). Mankind has pretty much destroyed Undertaker in his environment, which is such a huge turnaround from Undertaker stuffing people in caskets and stuff. I forgot how much I loved this match.

Mankind continues to beat up on Undertaker while beginning him to get home and fight back. Again, such a turnaround from how Undertaker feuds have went. Undertaker grabs Mankind as we have more “technical difficulties”. Mankind goes for a slam but we don’t see it. We have a full picture again and Mankind is setting up a single wooden ladder, looking to drop another elbow on Undertaker. Undertaker sits up to a huge live reaction and pulls the ladder back, and Mankind pretty much falls on the concrete floor. Mick Foley wrote in his book he thought the ladder would come down with him and that he would land in the debris (which I assume the that’s what the editing was for, him setting that up). But the ladder got caught in the ceiling and he fell short of his target. Yeah, it looks like he landed on a box. But his lower body smashed the concrete and caused serious injuries for Mick for the rest of his career (he took time off in 1997 for it, right after Wrestlemania XIII). To think that may not even be a top five bump Mick has taken at the hands of Undertaker. I really don’t know how Mick Foley walks nearly 30 years later.

Undertaker slams Mankind into a box with glass in it. Undertaker makes the first walk to the door, but Mankind bashes his leg with a chain. Mankind goes for the door, but Undertaker catches him with an uppercut (and of course Mankind takes a full back bump on whatever they’re standing on). Mankind shoves Undertaker into the door, but Taker has a fire extinguisher ready and blasts that in Mankind’s face. Undertaker is about to leave, but Mankind brings him back in like a horror villain. Mankind yells “DIE” as he tries to slam the door in Undertaker’s face Mankind breaks free first. Mankind barricades the door, but Taker forces his way through. Mankind continues to crawl through the hallway. The locker room sees this these two killing one another in the back. Mankind smashes Undertaker with a cart, then tries to throw things in Undertaker’s way. Mankind then grabs hot coffee and slams it over Undertaker’s head, spilling it all over him! Mnakind is the first to make it to the ringside area.

Undertaker runs out to the aisle and clotheslines Mankind down in an awesome shot. Undertaker breaks a 2x4 over Mankind’s back. Undertaker and Mankind pound away on one another down the aisleway. Mankind knocks a TV over that was showing the match. Undertaker goes for the ring, but Mankind slams him into the apron. Mankind slams Undertaker into the steps, then exposes the concrete floor under the mats. Mankind drives Undertaker with the stump piledriver on the floor! Mankind climbs onto the apron, but Undertaker is back up and grabs him. Undertaker gets on the apron next to him and Taker knocks Mankind off the apron and Mick takes the Nestea Plunge, probably the second sickest one after the one against Mil Mascaras. (Mick Foley is insane).

Undertaker steps into the ring as the crowd goes wild. He goes down to one knee to grab the urn…but Paul Bearer turns his back! Mankind comes in and locks in the Mandible Claw while Paul Bearer laughs. Paul Bearer shines up the urn to give to Mankind, but Undertaker sits up! Mankind locks in the Mandible Claw again, then he and Paul Bearer put the boots to Undertaker. Undertaker continues to crawl towards Paul Bearer and the urn as Mankind stiffly kicks Undertaker in the back of the head (Mick wrote he couldn’t believe he would kick someone he liked that hard). Undertaker manages one last grasp at the urn, but Paul Bearer smashes it over his head and hands it to Mankind to give Mankind the victory. The fans were in absolute shock (as was 9-year-old me when I learned of this).

The lights go out and druids appear to collect Undertaker and carry him out of the arena. Well it’s better than what happened at the 1994 Royal Rumble.

Rating: ****3/4 (4.75)
Grade: S+

I love this match. This match provided the template for every single Hardcore match that would end up in the backstage area. You know what else it reminded me of? Those cinematic matches we got during the pandemic. Anyway this match felt very real, it truly felt like these two were trying to kill one another. While the transition began at King of the Ring, this felt like the transformation of Undertaker as a cartoon character to a stronger, edgier character. The atmosphere of the match is outstanding too. Years of Undertaker freaking opponents out because of a casket was now turned on its head, with Undertaker now being the cautious one in Mankind’s domain. There would be I believe three other Boiler Room Brawls in WWF history, but none of them remotely measured up to this match (mostly because Mankind’s character drastically changed by 1999). Also interesting is that Vince, JR and Mr. Perfect didn’t do much commentary other than some reactions to the violence. The finish was shocking and incredible too (although the Superstar Line was asking if Undertaker’s last match would be the Boiler Room Brawl, which is a bit suspicious). I understand that your milage may vary in this match, but it’s beautiful and in my opinion a top five match in the WWF for 1996. Now I can’t give it the full five stars. For one, it is really hard for me to give that to a match that didn’t mainly take place in a ring. Second, it was taped across two days. Third, the lighting could be a little bit better. But whatever. This match is ridiculously awesome and before it’s time. I strongly recommend it.

***

So, I believe at the time Undertaker was supposed to be off TV for a while to recover from his “death” and finish off Mankind. But for whatever reason we got his return the next night on RAW. To be fair, that angle has an awesome promo from Paul Bearer (an angle that ultimately would lead to Kane). Here it is for you.





That sit up still gives me goosebumps.

Anyway, why did he return so quickly? Who knows. But we need to finish that epic Goldust feud at the next In Your House so maybe that’s why? By the way this episode of RAW, the 8/19/96 show, is awesome. Just in case you have an hour to kill.

On a special RAW Championship Friday Goldust would face Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title. During Goldust’s introduction, we get an inset promo from Undertaker about how Goldust’s time is up. Kevin Kelly tells us that a Final Curtain Match will take place at the next In Your House. Again, we come off a hot Undertaker vs. Mankind match, and then they just go their separate ways for a month while Undertaker suddenly remembers he has some issue with Goldust (I don’t even know what it could be other than Goldust beat him in that Casket Match, but even that was because of Mankind). Anyway, Undertaker has a match on the 9/9 RAW.

Match 58: The Undertaker vs. Salvatore Sincere
Monday Night RAW (9/9/96)


This was taped the same night as that epic comeback two weeks prior. They really should have had Undertaker just take a month off to sell everything that happened in the Boiler Room Brawl. Undertaker comes down still with the purple gloves and boots, but no hat or coat. Undertaker walks right into the ring and punches Sincere in the mouth. Sincere gets some shots in but Taker slams him backwards to the canvas. Treetop slam, and Sincere takes it better than anyone has so far. Taker slams Sincere into the corner, then punches away at him. Undertaker misses a Stinger Splash and Sincere gets an armdrag. Jim Ross tells us that the Final Curtain Match must end in pinfall as Taker misses the big elbow.

Sincere takes over and hits a jawbreaker. A couple of whips into the corner is followed by a slingblade by Sincere. Sincere gets a Russian legsweep. Inset promo from Goldust as Sincere arrogantly works on Undertaker’s face. The promo is pretty standard as Sincere dominates the match. Sidewalk slam from Sincere. Now I get to hear about “Razor” and “Diesel” returning to the WWF. Shrug. Anyway we come back from a commercial break and Undertaker hits Sincere with a back suplex. Powerslam from Sincere and then he drops a couple of elbows on Undertaker. Sincere arrogantly slaps Undertaker in the face, but Undertaker sits up and looks pissed. Sincere actually gets some shots in first before Undertaker hits the flying clothesline. I’m not buying the pop for it though (I’m almost sure it’s piped in). Sincere takes an awesome chokeslam. Tombstone follows and that’s the three.

Rating: **1/2 (2.5)
Grade: B+

Wow, this match was surprisingly really good! Sincere really put in a hell of an effort. His gimmick was awful so he went nowhere, but what can you do. Anyway, the grade is low because the Boiler Room Brawl was supposed to be a transformative event, but that obviously got pushed back to later in the year. So Undertaker just did the same RAW Undertaker match we’ve seen for a couple of years now instead of something different.

***

The final segment on the following RAW was a promo from Undertaker. He says Goldust’s name is the first of many on the road of him destroying Paul Bearer and Mankind. The Final Curtain Match also represents the premiere of the new Undertaker (which it did not).

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Match 59: Final Curtain Match: The Undertaker vs. Goldust
In Your House X: Mind Games (9/22/96)


Great opening promo involving Undertaker and Goldust. I need to track down all of these.

No DQ for this one. Undertaker once again comes down to the ring sans hat and jacket. It took a while to really nail down what being the new Undertaker meant. He steps over the top rope and punches Goldust right in the face. Treetop slam from Undertaker. Big legdrop and a cover, but Goldust kicks out. Goldust hands Undertaker up on the top rope and Marlena gets a slap in. Goldust catches Undertaker with a neckbreaker, but Undertaker sits up and hits an uppercut. Big boot is followed by a vertical suplex from Undertaker. Goldust kicks out of another pin. Commentary tries to push that Undertaker’s more aggressive now, and I guess that’s true, but it’s been true since King of the Ring. Hip toss from Undertaker. Undertaker hits Old School.

Undertaker sends Goldust to the outside, but Marlena gives Goldust some gold dust. Undertaker grabs Marlena, but the referee is able to stop him. Goldust throws the gold dust in Undertaker’s eyes and Undertaker sells it worse than anything he took in the Boiler Room Brawl. Goldust sends Undertaker to the outside and pounds away on him. Goldust slams Undertaker into the announce table as Goldust poses in the ring. Undertaker holds onto the top rope to counter a Goldust clothesline, but Goldust gets the clothesline anyway. Goldust sticks his foot in Undertaker’s face. Undertaker gets a back suplex to counter a Goldust headlock. Goldust gets a thumb to the eye and goes back to pounding away on Undertaker. Hip toss by Goldust and a cover, but Undertaker kicks out. We get a claw by Goldust, but Undertaker punches himself free. Undertaker grabs Goldust by the throat and tosses him in the corner. Undertaker hits rapid-fire punches, then a double elbow stagger both men. Goldust gets a powerslam, but Undertaker sits down. Flying clothesline from Undertaker. Goldust gets a foot to the face, but Undertaker chokeslams him off the top rope. Tombstone and that’s it. Why was this no DQ?

Rating: -1/2* (-0.5)
Grade: C-

What the hell was this? You know how at Wrestlemania X8 Goldust brought a bunch of golden weapons to his Hardcore Title Match against Maven? That’s what this match needed. I don’t even know why it was no DQ? Even the gold dust spot had a referee distraction. So here’s what I absolutely hate about this feud. You have these two incredible characters. One guy is an immortal zombie with superpowers. The other is a cross-dressing, arrogant movie-star. There should have been monster movie segments from Goldust every week, with Goldust playing the final survivor (final girl if they wanted to go that far) with the “evil Undertaker” falling short in every movie. Just something. There’s tons of potential with this combination in terms of storytelling and the WWF didn’t even try. I just don’t get it. These two certainly weren’t a good combination in the ring to make up for the lack of storytelling. Think about that segment in May again with Goldust seducing Undertaker. We should have had all kinds of crazy shit in this feud. Instead we got a couple of great segments in May and then three matches that ranged from okay to just plain bad. What a waste. As for the grade, I don’t know how I’m supposed to take Goldust’s offense seriously to beat Undertaker after the Boiler Room Brawl (and really, all the crazy shit Mankind and Undertaker were doing).

***

Vince McMahon
tells us on commentary that next month one of Undertaker vs. Mankind will be Buried Alive. You’d think he’d wait until after the Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind title match but he’s the billionaire. Undertaker appears at the end of that match in a casket as well to attack Mankind. At least Undertaker is the aggressor here. There’s just too many PPVs and not enough TV time to build these matches in any meaningful way. On the 9/23 RAW we got the first Undertaker promo in the graveyard. I do find these to be rather amazing. This is shot in black and white. Mankind and Paul Bearer cut a promo in the graveyard as well. Fantastic stuff. Too bad this show is known for the fake Razor and fake Diesel deal.

On the 9/30 RAW, Undertaker continues to tell Mankind that he’s going to bury him alive. Mankind steals the show with him trying to dig a hole in the ground saying “if I dig it, he will come”. Amazing.

On 10/7 RAW, Undertaker continues to dig a grave in the cemetery. He cuts a strong Undertaker promo about Mankind’s existence being near its end. Why didn’t we get some promos back in June? Mankind and Paul Bearer have a retort this week though. Mankind doesn’t want to be buried alive, but then he falls in the grave and panics. Paul Bearer does his best to calm him down. More incredible stuff. This is the evolution of the “heel is scared of a casket” angle.

On 10/14 RAW we hear from Mankind and Paul Bearer first. Mankind now says he can sleep because he’s had a vision of Undertaker trying to claw his way through the dirt looking for mercy. Paul Bearer goes off too. Undertaker has one less message for Mankind. Undertaker announces he has no choice but to be Mankind’s judge, jury, and executioner. He asks Mankind to try to imagine breathing with all the dirt on him and climbing out of a bottomless pit. Once again, amazing stuff to make this match feel even bigger than the Boiler Room Brawl. Well done WWF. It's not a match for S+ for this all around.

Undertaker Part 1




Mankind and Paul Bearer Part 1




Mankind and Paul Bearer Part 2, Undertaker Part 2




Undertaker Part 3, Mankind and Paul Bearer Part 3




Mankind and Paul Bearer Part 4, Undertaker Part 4





Match 60: Buried Alive Match: The Undertaker vs. Mankind
In Your House XI: Buried Alive (10/20/96)


This edition of In Your House is named Buried Alive, and the Buried Alive Match is our main event. This match is “not sanctioned” by the WWF, to really push how dangerous this match is. This is the last time we’ll see the purple gloves and boots for Undertaker.

Undertaker fires away at Mankind to start the match. Mankind catches Undertaker with an elbow, but Undertaker tosses Mankind into the corner and punches away at him. Mankind tries to drag Undertaker to the outside, but Undertaker kicks him off, and Mankind goes flying head-first into the steel railing. Undertaker goes up to the top rope and leaps at Mankind on the floor! Undertaker slams Mankind into the railing as they continue to fight toward the dirt. Mankind hits Undertaker with the wooden end of a shovel. Mankind tries to suplex Undertaker into the grave, but Undertaker counters with a small package that sends both men rolling down the hill of dirt.

Undertaker beats Mankind down the aisleway then slams him into the steps. Undertaker chokes Mankind with a TV wire. Undertaker and Mankind fight in the crowd until Undertaker whips Mankind over the railing and onto the floor. Undertaker then leaps over the railing and hits Mankind with a clothesline! They finally get back into the ring with Undertaker still pounding away on Mankind. Paul Bearer shakes the top rope when Taker goes for Old School, swinging the match to Mankind. Mankind gets some blows in, but Undertaker fights back. Paul Bearer gives Mankind a small piece of metal (a shank?) to beat Undertaker with. For some reason Vince McMahon feels that shouldn’t be legal, despite this being “unsanctioned” by the WWF. Undertaker catches Mankind with an elbow to slow him down. Taker bashes Mankind with the piece of metal before hitting the flying clothesline. Big legdrop from Undertaker. Undertaker debuts his falling out of the ring fakeout to chase Paul Bearer. Undertaker catches Mankind trying to attack him from behind, but that allows Paul Bearer to hit Undertaker with the urn. That has no effect…but it’s enough of a distraction to allow Mankind to hit Undertaker with one hell of a chairshot! Mankind makes sure to caress and kiss the chair as Undertaker lies motionless on the floor.

Mankind hits the running knee with Undertaker sitting against the steel steps. Mankind drags Undertaker to the grave and knocks him in, but Undertaker gets out to a big reaction. Mankind throws dirt in Undertaker’s face, but Undertaker blocks a hip toss into the grave, then hip tosses Mankind off the hill! They get back into the ring and Mankind hits the stump piledriver. Mankind pins him then throws a tantrum when he remembers that means nothing. Undertaker hits big punches to knock Mankind down, but he misses the elbow drop. Mankind gets a chair and drops a Double Arm DDT, driving Undertaker’s head into the chair. Undertaker sits up to a huge reaction. Undertaker smashes the chair across Mankind’s back then puts the chair on Mankind’s face and drops a legdrop! Mankind buys time by snapping Undertaker’s throat across the top rope.

Undertaker drives Mankind into the steps to block a piledriver on the floor, then tosses the steps into the ring. Undertaker throws them in Mankind’s face, then slams them across Mankind’s back! Tombstone follows, then Undertaker points to the grave. Crowd goes crazy for that. Undertaker carries Mankind to the grave, but this allows Mankind enough time to recover and lock in the Mandible Claw! Mankind tries to hit Undertaker with the urn, but Undertaker counters and chokeslams Mankind into the grave! Undertaker begins to shovel the dirt, and the referee declares Undertaker the winner.

Referees try to stop Undertaker from shoveling more dirt on Mankind to no avail. The Executioner debuts here and smashes a shovel against Undertaker’s head. Executioner, Mankind, Paul Bearer, and then, because they underestimated how long it would take for three people to actually fill a grave with dirt, every heel in the back comes out to help bury Undertaker. Future matchers would have the big trucks to help for this season. While this happens thunder is heard in the arena. They finally get enough dirt on for the final visual, where lightning strikes the grave and Undertaker’s glove pops out of the dirt. This would be the second death of Undertaker in a couple of months, but at least this one did lead to a change.

Rating: ****1/4 (4.25)
Grade: A-

This match was a fantastic brawl once again, even better than the King of the Ring battle. I only knocked down the rating a bit because the way to win felt arbitrary. This was due, again, to the WWF not realizing how hard it would be for one or two people bury someone in a grave. The match just ends when it seems like there’s enough dirt on Mankind. As for the grade, while the lightning bolt moment followed by the glove breaking through the dirt moment is iconic, it continued a feud that probably should have ended here. This was supposed to be the big blowoff, but they didn’t know where to go with Undertaker next. So they brought in the Executioner (Terry Gordy) to extend things. Now if Hell in a Cell existed at this point, that could have been a logical way to continue. It just feels a little strange to ultimately have Mankind standing tall over Undertaker yet again, even though Undertaker won the match. This wasn’t the only feud that suffered from never ending either, poor Ahmed Johnson never escaped the Nation of Domination. But really, when it came to Undertaker and Mankind at this point, what else was there to do?

***

Other than the Buried Alive Match being referenced on RAW the night after In Your House, there isn’t any build until the 11/4 RAW. Doc Hendrix tells us Undertaker will face Mankind again at Survivor Series with Paul Bearer suspended above the ring in a cage. Hendrix interviewed Mankind, then Undertaker did one of those promos over the mic and left a cage with a doll of Bearer hanging upside down in it. The Executioner looks absolutely ridiculous as well. Mankind beats Freddie Joe Floyd on the next RAW. Afterwards the cage with the doll Bearer shows up again. We get another house mic Undertaker promo. They clearly ran out of ideas here as once again, things peaked at Buried Alive.

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Match 61: Paul Bearer Suspended in a Cage: The Undertaker vs. Mankind
1996 Survivor Series (11/18/96)


The rebirth of the Undertaker has him coming down from the ceiling looking like Batman. His outfit is entirely leather. The look is a big miss and wouldn’t stick around that long, but it was clear the WWF still didn’t know how to re-invent Undertaker. The leather wouldn’t stick, but it would take a few months to really get the new look down.

Paul Bearer locks himself in the cage before Mankind attacks him. Mankind slams Undertaker in the cage before Bearer gets lifted above the ring. Mankind and Undertaker fight on the outside. Back in the ring Undertaker busts out a drop toe hold, then slams Mankind into the corner. Undertaker locks in an armbar as commentary tries to push the idea that Undertaker is going to be completely different from this point. Taker sends Mankind back outside and slams his arm into the steps, then steps on the hand too. Big slam from Undertaker back in the ring, but he misses the big elbow. Cactus clothesline sends them both to the outside, but Undertaker lands on his feet and goes back on offense. Mankind tries to bail through the crowd but Undertaker catches up to him. Mankind runs at Undertaker but gets backdropped over the railing and onto the floor.

Undertaker goes back to working on the arm, but Mankind gets a low blow. Mankind hits a somersault dive off the apron (another Cactus Jack special). In the ring Mankind hits a knee to the face, but Undertaker eventually comes back with an elbow. Undertaker and Mankind trade blows before Undertaker tries to bite off Mankind’s Mandible Claw hand. Mankind catches Undertaker with the stump piledriver. Mankind goes for the Claw, but Undertaker blocks. Undertaker catches Mankind with a big boot and goes for the Tombstone, but Mankind counters into the Mandible Claw. Undertaker uses Mankind’s momentum against him though and hurls him to the outside. Undertaker kicks Mankind into the railing when Mankind tries to drag him out, then slams Mankind into the steps. Undertaker hits Old School, but Mankind hits a neckbreaker. Undertaker sits up as Mankind climbs to the top rope. Undertaker catches him with punches up there. Mankind gets a punch in and comes off the top, but Undertaker catches him by the throat. Mankind counters again with the Mandible Claw.

Undertaker makes his comeback from the Mandible Claw and chokeslams Mankind. Undertaker sits up, but goes flying over the top rope when Mankind ducks him. Mankind tries another somersault off the apron, but Undertaker sucks and Mankind smashes into the floor (can’t fault Mick for trying). In the ring Undertaker counters the sleeper with a back suplex. JR using this suplex as an example of Undertaker doing new things is insulting though, we’ve seen this back suplex for years now. Mankind has the piece of metal again from Buried Alive and gets some shots in on Undertaker without the referee seeing. Mankind climbs onto Undertaker’s back, but Undertaker counters that into the Tombstone, which is a great spot, and wins the match. Undertaker waits for the cage to come down to get Paul Bearer, but Executioner makes the save and that was that.

Rating: **3/4 (2.75)
Grade: C

Technically fine match, but a big step down from what they’ve been doing (Mick wrote in his book he was disappointingly mediocre here). The story with Undertaker going for the Mandible Claw hand works on paper, but it fails in execution because Mankind hadn’t really beaten Undertaker with it since King of the Ring. The look needed work, and then the post-match just felt phoned in and tacked onto a feud that needed to end a month prior. Truthfully, while we have another Undertaker-Mankind match on RAW coming up, there would be no solid conclusion to the feud. Nevermind we need to deal with the Executioner too.

***

Executioner
and Mankind would attack Stone Cold the next night on RAW, but the leather Undertaker showed up to make the save. Austin then attacked him though, planting some seeds for the future. Austin backs away when Undertaker approaches him. Not much else, but we have a No Holds Barred match with Taker and Mankind before Undertaker’s match with Executioner at In Your House.

Match 62: No Holds Barred: The Undertaker vs. Mankind
Monday Night RAW (12/9/96)

Undertaker
has the vest/coat deal down now, which while not as iconic as the hat and coat still works well as an entrance attire. He still has the all-leather outfit though and he’s just a bit too shiny to me. Undertaker starts the match pounding away on Mankind and hits the flying clothesline. Old School follows. Chokeslam, and for the first time Undertaker doesn’t go down with the chokeslam, which would be a permanent change. Undertaker looks to finish Mankind with the Tombstone quickly, but the Executioner distracts Undertaker as we go to commercial. We come back with Mankind pounding on Undertaker and slamming him into the steps, but Undertaker shoves Mankind into the railing. Now it’s Mankind’s turn to get slammed into the steps.

Undertaker slams the steel steps on the Mandible Claw hand, which would have been a much stronger spot at Survivor Series. Undertaker slams Mankind’s hand into the turnbuckles. While Mankind tries to fight back, we get told about the Armageddon Rules match at in Your House, which is just another way to say No Holds Barred. Cactus clothesline from Mankind, then he slams Undertaker into the steps. Mankind now works on a body part, elbow dropping Undertaker’s knee on the floor. Mankind slams Undertaker into the railing between the announce tables. Mnakind puts Undertaker’s leg on the seat of a chair, then flies off the apron with the flying elbow! Really creative spot there! Undertaker is able to use his leg to shove Mankind through the ropes. Mankind tries to drag Undertaker back to the outside, but Undertaker kicks him into the railing. That spot looks sick every time. Undertaker slams Mankind on the Spanish announcer’s table as we go to commercial. We come back and Mankind is working on the knee. Shrug at that commercial break. Mankind comes off the top rope, but Undertaker catches him by the throat. Mankind counters with a drop toe hold. Mankind grabs a chair, but Undertaker kicks it back in his face. Undertaker punches the chair in Mankind’s face too. Undertaker goes for the Tombstone, but Mankind counters with the Mandible Claw. Undertaker escapes with a bearhug, then slams Mankind into the top turnbuckle. Mankind runs at Undertaker but Undertaker catches him with the Tombstone. Good selling of the leg too.

Executioner locks in the Asiatic Spike to take Undertaker out six days before In Your House as RAW goes off the air.

Rating: ***1/2 (3.5)
Grade: B-

Good brawl with some creative stuff (like that Cactus elbow), but the commercial break timings somewhat hurt it. They’re still working out Undertaker’s look, although the entrance was pretty solid. This deal with the Executioner though just feels like one giant step backwards though. Let’s get through that.

Match 63: Armageddon Rules: The Undertaker vs. The Executioner
In Your House XII: It’s Time (12/15/96)


This is actually Texas Death Match rules, which means you need to win and get a 10 count. Executioner looks ridiculous here, and really Terry Gordy shouldn’t have been in the ring at this point. He had brain damage from an incident three years prior and wasn’t remotely the same worker he was before that. This also feels like a step backwards into the cartoon feuds Undertaker was saddled with before Mankind, so that’s not helping. No more leather for Undertaker here and he’s in all back, which works a little better.

Undertaker pounds on Executioner then hits a back bodydrop. Big boot from Undertaker, then a second one knocks Executioner down. Undertaker sends Executioner into the corner and Executioner does a flip into the corner, and Taker stomps away on him. Undertaker misses an elbow into the corner, but Executioner doesn’t get much. Big slam from Undertaker, but then he misses the big elbow drop (Executioner moved too early). Executioner clotheslines Undertaker to the outside but Undertaker lands on his feet. Paul Bearer hits Undertaker with the urn, but that just serves as a distraction. Executioner slams Undertaker into everything before Undertaker clotheslines him down on the floor. Undertaker moves the mats and looks to slam Executioner on the floor, but Mankind makes the save. Well, barely, Mankind actually trips on the mats before getting to Undertaker. Double clothesline from Mankind and Executioner, but Undertaker sits up.

Undertaker fights both Mankind and Executioner up the aisle. Undertaker tosses Mankind through the In Your House set, then throws him through the door for good measure. Executioner gets a few punches in, but Undertaker fires back. Undertaker runs at Executioner and nearly knocks the entire set over. Undertaker takes Executioner back to the ring, but Mankind attacks Undertaker. Security comes down to mace Mankind to get him from continuing in the match. Undertaker and Executioner head backstage as security puts Mankind in a straightjacket. Mankind tries to escape the security and President Gorilla Monsoon. Meanwhile, we’re outside as Undertaker knocks Executioner into a body of water (wtf?). Undertaker heads back into the arena and Mankind, despite being in a straightjacket, runs right at him. Undertaker knocks him down then gets back into the ring. Executioner runs back to the ring, but Undertaker knocks him down with a clothesline. Tombstone, pin, 10 count, and this is over.

Rating: -*** (-3)
Grade: C

What a downer to end this set with. The match was a mess before somehow Executioner ended up in a fountain outside the arena. They had to bring Mankind in to basically bump for Executioner here. Just a horrible mess of a match. Gordy was let go after this, and this was mostly the end of the standard Mankind vs. Undertaker feud. Undertaker would still feud with Paul Bearer, but we’ll get to that. This didn’t help anyone. It is time to move on.

***

Despite the ending, this is one of my favorite years for Undertaker, thanks to Mankind. Those matches represent some of the very best of early Undertaker’s career. Yeah, we still had the Goldust and Executioner matches, but with 12 PPVs and a thinning roster what can you do (I guess?)​
 

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Undertaker vs Mankind is one of the greatest rivalries of all time. The character work a lot of wrestlers did back then is something you don't see much anymore. Something we need more of. You mentioned the Raw Championship Friday with Shawn Michaels vs Goldust, a lot of people don't realize those two had a low key feud in the later part of 96. That would be their only televised match but they did face each other on multiple house shows including a Ladder Match in a special house show in Toronto called Xperience, as well as a dark main event at Buried Alive and tag team matches featuring Shawn & Taker vs Goldust & Mankind.
 
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Undertaker vs Mankind is one of the greatest rivalries of all time. The character work a lot of wrestlers did back then is something you don't see much anymore. Something we need more of. You mentioned the Raw Championship Friday with Shawn Michaels vs Goldust, a lot of people don't realize those two had a low key feud in the later part of 96. That would be their only televised match but they did face each other on multiple house shows including a Ladder Match in a special house show in Toronto called Xperience, as well as a dark main event at Buried Alive and tag team matches featuring Shawn & Taker vs Goldust & Mankind.
I was aware of the Shawn and Goldust side of things. That peaked on Championship RAW. I also went to a couple of house shows, one had HBK vs Goldust, the other had the Undertaker and HBK vs Mankind and Goldust main. The main event scene was really thin at that point, as the office wasn't thrilled with Vader and the Bulldog had enough title shots. It's lucky they got Sid back actually.
 
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pjimage-22-1.jpg


The Deadman Years – Road to the WWF Championship (Early 1997)

Coming into 1997 it seemed like the WWF were finally keeping Undertaker and Mankind apart, trying to do different things with both guys. Undertaker had a couple of matches on Superstars (even one in 1996), and I decided to include them, especially as they do build up to Undertaker’s next PPV match.

Match 64: The Undertaker vs. “Diesel”
Superstars (12/22/96)


Note that James E. Cornette is on commentary. This is another Undertaker vs. future Kane match, as we had one with Isaac Yankem about a year ago. Diesel attacks Undertaker from behind and drives knees into Undertaker’s midsection. Undertaker grabs Diesel by the throat and slams him into the corner, then punches away at him. Undertaker hits the Stinger Splash, then hits Old School. Big boot from Undertaker. Cornette brings up that Undertaker is facing Vader at the Royal Rumble. I’m not sure if it was brought up earlier. Diesel gets a clothesline, but Undertaker sits up. Diesel hits the sidewalk slam and a couple of big elbow drops. We get a commercial break and come back to Diesel still pounding away on Undertaker. As Undertaker and Diesel go at it, Vader runs down and causes the DQ. Diesel and Vader double team Undertaker. Vader hits the Vader Bomb and leaves Undertaker lying.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: B+

I’ll give it this, it was better than the Undertaker-Yankem match a year ago. I found it weird the Undertaker-Vader match was mainly built on Superstars as opposed to RAW though. Post match beatdown is fine I suppose.

***

On the 12/30 RAW Sid said to Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels on RAW that he wanted come real competition, and The Undertaker showed up. Vader attacked Undertaker, but Taker punched him down. Vader would take one more cheap shot and Undertaker then stalked him down the aisle way. Taker did face Sid on some house shows during this week, so it all checks out.

Match 65: The Undertaker vs. The Goon
Superstars (1/5/97)


Back to Superstars, again with James E. Cornette doing commentary. The Goon goes for a sneak attack but there isn’t much success there. Undertaker clotheslines Goon down, then clotheslines him over the top rope. Goon nails Undertaker with the end of his hockey stick, then pounds away on him as we go to commercial. We come back with Undertaker in control. Undertaker accidentally sends Goon into the referee, and Goon gets his stick. Goon beats Undertaker with it, but Undertaker finally gives the Goon a “I’m sick of this shit” look, smashes Goon with the hockey stick, then plants him with a chokeslam. Tombstone finishes the Goon. Cornette then calls out Undertaker on the mic, but the lights go out. When they come back on Cornette appears behind Undertaker and grabs him by the throat. Undertaker brings Cornette into the ring and plants him with the Tombstone. Interestingly, even though Cornette said Vader was in the building, there’s no save. Undertaker then puts Cornette in a body bag while Jim Ross questions where Vader is.

Rating: *1/4 (1.25)
Grade: A-

Good to see Undertaker owning with some spooky stuff. Still not sure why all this build was on Superstars though, it makes it feel a little secondary which makes no sense as these are two of the top six guys in the company. As for the match, the ref bump and the brawling made it a little fun which is more than I can say for Goon matches.

Match 66: The Undertaker vs. Crush
Monday Night RAW (1/13/97)


Go home show for the Royal Rumble. Crush was a member of the Nation of Domination at this point. Honky Tonk Man is on commentary which may make me drop this by a full star already. Undertaker leaves the ring and attacks the Nation (not a fan of Undertaker entering first but whatever). Taker violently slams Crush into the ring steps (making an awesome sound). Undertaker spikes Crush with the running DDT he only used on Yokozuna previously, but Crush doesn’t go as high for it so it isn’t nearly as impressive. Slam and legdrop from Undertaker. Vince tells us both Vader and Undertaker will be in the Royal Rumble as well. Clothesline takes down Crush. Undertaker goes for Old School, but Faarooq shakes the top rope and Undertaker goes down. Taker backdrops Crush over the top rope, although it wasn’t smooth. Crush regains control by snapping Undertaker’s neck across the top rope.

Crush pounds away on Undertaker, but runs into a big boot. Clothesline knocks down Crush. Crush lands a piledriver when Taker goes for a backdrop. Crush drops Undertaker on the steel railing on the outside, but even that doesn’t look great. Crush slams Undertaker into the steps. As Crush beats on Undertaker, Vader looks on from the stage as we cut to commercial. We come back with Undertaker trying to fight back, but Crush still has control. Crush’s offense is ridiculously boring. Clothesline from Crush and a cover, but Undertaker is out at two. Now we get a chinlock from Crush. Backbreaker from Crush. Crush heads to the second rope and does a bit of a ropewalk, but he misses a fist drop. Undertaker hits the flying clothesline. Crush escapes the Tombstone and hits a belly-to-belly suplex, but Undertaker sits up to no reaction. Undertaker counters the Heart Punch with a chokeslam, but the Nation and Vader get involved and cause the DQ. The Nation holds down Undertaker and drops the Vader Bomb on him. He drops a second one, but here comes Ahmed Johnson to make the save. The Nation leave Ahmed lying too as RAW goes off the air.

Rating: -* (-1)
Grade: C

Man, Crush in 1997 sucked. I was trying to hold at DUD but the no-finish sealed negative stars for me. And really, we can’t get a clean finish or at least a finish for Undertaker against Crush? I’d understand Faarooq even, he’s the leader of the Nation. But Crush? Undertaker gets left lying again which is fine, although knowing how the Rumble went I’m not sure that was the best way to go. I gotta say Undertaker feels a bit cold after the Buried Alive match, clearly the WWF didn’t know how to move on.

undertaker-vs-vader-royal-rumble-1997-finally-found-it-v0-1g572m99odfa1.png


Match 67: The Undertaker vs. Vader
1997 Royal Rumble (1/19/97)


Apparently James E. Cornette is Vader’s former manager now, and he’s not at ringside here. The return of the video wall here really helps with Undertaker’s entrance. I still think we see way too much of Undertaker’s face during it, although the lighting is excellent this time around. Easily the best entrance so far of the post hat and glove attire. JR makes the mistake of saying Undertaker has struggled at the Royal Rumble event since his first one in 1993 (his first was in 1991).

Vader approaches Undertaker, but then backs off. Vader finally goes for the attack, but Taker sees it coming and slams him into the corner. Vader and Taker throw fists, and Taker no-sells a hard shot to the back. Undertaker chokes Vader in the corner, but Vader catches him with an elbow and a clothesline. Undertaker sits up immediately from the clothesline. Body tackle from Vader, but another sit up from Undertaker. Another body tackle, another sit up and Vader bails to the outside. Undertaker comes off the apron and smashes Vader in the back of the head. Vader snaps Undertaker’s neck across the top rope, but telegraphs a back dop and Undertaker hits a rocker dropper. Vader was quite early there. Big slam from Undertaker, followed by a big legdrop and a two count.

Old School is countered by Vader as he shakes the top rope. Undertaker gets up first, but Vader just low blows him in plain sight of the referee as the match has slowed to a crawl. We get a mid-match interview with a random fan (about babysitting, wtf? At least Jerry Lawler calls out what crap that was). Why? I have no idea. Vader pounds away on Undertaker and the crowd boo heavily. Vader avalanches Undertaker then knocks him down with a clothesline. Vader knocks Undertaker down with a second rope body tackle, but Undertaker kicks out at two on the cover. Vader locks in a nerve hold as the fans try to get Undertaker back in this match. Taker punches his way out, then hits a huge back suplex when Vader tries a headlock. Undertaker misses the big elbow.

Vader smashes Undertaker’s groin with an elbow drop. Vader comes off the second rope again, but Undertaker catches him with a powerslam, which looked great! Another backdrop attempt from Undertaker is countered as Vader plants him with the powerbomb…but Undertaker sits up! Take that Hulk Hogan haters! Flying clothesline from Undertaker. Old School hits this time as Paul Bearer shows up. Chokeslam by Undertaker. Undertaker sees him, then clotheslines Vader over the top rope. Undertaker walks back into the ropes and goes over, landing on his feet. He takes out Bearer with a hard shot then rolls him into the ring. Undertaker gets Bearer with one more hard shot, before Taker clothesline Vader to the outside again. Taker went with him though and slams Vader into the apron. Undertaker places Vader on the railing and leaps off the steel steps, only Paul Bearer pulls Vader out of the way and Taker impales himself! Bearer then leaps off the apron and smashes the urn over Undertaker’s head! Undertaker rolls into the ring but gets Vader Bombed as a result, and Vader wins! Vader walks away with Paul Bearer and Undertaker goes crazy, chokeslamming the referee in frustration. Undertaker throws equipment around before yelling at Vince McMahon at the commentary table.

Rating: **1/4 (2.25)
Grade: B+

I must say, this match is better than I remember it. Undertaker and Vader would have a much better match later in the year (we’ll get to it), but this wasn’t the horrible mess I remembered it to be. It was a bit slow at points, but felt like an evolution of the Undertaker vs. big man monster matches of the past. The finish was a bit screwy too, and that’s part of my problem with the match and the grade. Undertaker brought Paul Bearer into the ring, then complained to the referee about his involvement. I mean come on. Undertaker attacking a referee was interesting. It was definitely one of the more human elements of the character we’ve seen so far. The WWF did this with Bret Hart too, but smartly I think moved away from this with Undertaker (as it planted Bret Hart heel seeds that would eventually bloom).

Match 68: Royal Rumble
1997 Royal Rumble (1/19/97)

Undertaker
was also in the Rumble match and entered at #30 (with the lights going out too, which is amazing). This is Taker’s first Rumble match appearance since 1993 when Giant Gonzalez took him out. A reminder, we’re just focusing on Undertaker here. Undertaker goes right for Vader, knocking him down with big punches. Taker then nails Mankind and Steve Austin with huge shots before chokeslamming Austin. Vader gets chokeslammed for the second time. By the way, listen to these names in the ring at this moment: Undertaker, Vader, Mankind, Steve Austin, Rocky Maivia (The Rock), “Diesel” (Kane). Bret Hart, and Terry Funk. Just wow. Taker beats down “Diesel” before Rocky gets some shots in on him. Undertaker pounds away on Rocky then hits Terry Funk with some big shots. Henry Godwinn gets some huge shots on Undertaker but Taker fires back on him. Taker tries to dump Godwinn, but Godwinn hangs on. Godwinn bashes Undertaker again, but that leads to the end for him as Taker tosses him over the top rope for good. Undertaker pounds away on Bret as Mankind and Terry Funk go at it. Mankind gets rid of Funk, and that allows Undertaker to boot Mankind off the apron to eliminate him.

Terry Funk and Mankind distract the referees as they fight on the outside. Vader and Undertaker go at it as Bret Hart eliminates Austin. Austin comes back in, dumps Vader and Undertaker out, then eliminates Bret after Bret gets “Diesel” out.

Rating: **1/4 (2.25)
Grade: B+

Undertaker looked good for his role in the match. I would have liked him to dump out someone early, but he took out Henry Godwinn in an impressive manner and got rid of his old rival Mankind too. We also saw him get some moments with Stone Cold and Rocky. Otherwise, he and Vader just continued battering one another, which makes perfect sense.

Match 69: The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Monday Night RAW (1/20/97)


This was supposed to be Sid vs. Stone Cold, as it was announced previously the winner of the Royal Rumble would face the loser of the Sid vs. Shawn Michaels title match at the Rumble. HBK won, but we’re told here that Sid has a concussion, so he’s been replaced by Undertaker. This is the third Taker vs. Austin RAW match in about 7 months. Right before this match, Gorilla Monsoon announces that Austin won’t be getting his Wrestlemania title match, but instead there will be a Four-Way Elimination Match at the next In Your House, with the winner going onto Mania to face the champion (boy would those plans change). Austin, Bret Hart, Vader, and Undertaker would be in the match. Austin is incredible on the mic here as he comes out to confront Monsoon. “You may call yourself the Gorilla, but you hee-haw out here like a jackass!” No wonder he became the biggest star in the business. Bret Hart comes out to accept, then he and Austin go at it (it’s kinda weird to think Bret vs. Shawn was penciled into Mania here…I mean the build up is all Bret and Austin).

Amazingly the WWF is still promoting Full Metal: The Album. Full Metal was basically WWF: The Music Volume 1 and had themes from 1995 on there (Mabel and Hakushi, for example). We’re in 1997 now.

We come back with Austin and Bret being held apart, and here comes Undertaker. Taker blasts Bret on the way to the ring, and THEY go at it. That gets broken up and Austin attacks Taker. Taker sends Austin into the steel steps. The bell rings as we get in the ring and Austin is all over Undertaker until Taker slams him onto the canvas. Old School sends Austin flying. Taker chokes Austin with his boot in the corner. Undertaker continues to beat Austin, but Austin catches him with a swinging neckbreaker. Taker sits up, but Austin kicks Taker right in the head (little things like that is what made Austin awesome). Austin hits Taker with forearms, but Taker tries to fire back with punches. Austin chokes Taker in the ropes, but Taker manages to fight back with punches. Austin gets a boot to the face and nails Taker with an axhandle off the top. Austin locks in a rear chinlock. It doesn’t last long as Austin fires back. Jerry Lawler tries to yell at Austin to tell him Taker’s ribs are injured, which is a bit strange. Low blow from Undertaker and the referee allows that to fly, but Austin gets the Stunner out of nowhere! Suddenly we cut to the back where Vader and Bret Hart are being held apart. And it is time for commercial.

We come back with Austin in control. Austin heads to the top rope, but Undertaker kicks the ropes to crotch him. Undertaker goes for a superplex, but Austin shoves him off and hits a top rope forearm to the head. Undertaker kicks out of a pin and sits up though, and flying clothesline takes out Austin. Here comes Vader and Paul Bearer though, and we have a DQ. Taker plants Vader with a chokeslam, but Austin attacks Taker. Bret Hart runs down and the four men who will face one another at In Your House go at it. This is an awesome four-way brawl to be fair. Undertaker levels Vader as Bret and Austin still go at it. Taker hits Vader with a back suplex as Bret and Austin fight and RAW goes off the air.

Rating: **3/4 (2.75)
Grade: A

For a short seven-minute match there was a tremendous pace here. Stone Cold had his character down pat and knew how to translate that into a wrestling match. I just wish it was a little longer and had a finish. Undertaker looked great too and manhandled Vader at the end. The ending itself was one of the most exciting finishes for RAW at the time. Undertaker’s punching of Bret Hart was also interesting as we continued the shades of grey deal there. Obviously that’s a sign of Vince Russo doing some writing, but at least it made sense because the four-way was announced right before it.

Match 70: The Undertaker vs. Marc Mero
Superstars (2/2/97)


Not sure why I’m reviewing this one. I feel like this was something of a final test for Marc Mero to see if he could hang with the top guys (several guys were not happy about Mero, most notably Mick Foley, as he outlined in his book). Undertaker even cuts a short promo on Mero about how this his a new era of the Undertaker and this is the end of Mero. James E. Cornette is back on commentary and still seems upset at Undertaker. Undertaker attacks Mero from behind to kick things off. Taker chokes Mero with his boot in the corner, and you can tell Taker is going to play heel in this one. Taker misses the Stinger Splash and gets some punches in. A Sable chant breaks out, which is a good description of why anyone cared about Mero at this point. Old School connects as we cut to commercial. We come back and Taker bashes Mero with a headbutt. Big slam and legdrop from Undertaker. So far Mero has gotten nothing going. Taker chokes Mero in the corner. Mero hits a clothesline and a boot, then knees Undertaker in the face. Flying headscissors and flying clothesline from Mero, but Undertaker kicks out of the cover.

Undertaker catches Mero in the middle of a run and tosses him in the corner. Sable gets on the apron and yells at Undertaker…and Taker whips Mero off the ropes into her, sending her onto the floor! Talk about trying to do anything to get people to cheer for Mero! Well Sable would have Brock get revenge for her so it’s all good. Taker knocks Mero off the apron and sends him flying into the railing. Mero manages to get punches back in the ring, but Taker knocks him right down with a big boot. Big slam from Undertaker, but he misses the big elbow drop and Mero clotheslines him over the top rope. Mero goes for a plancha, and Undertaker just catches him and slams him into the ringpost. Taker continues to beat down Mero on the outside before Sable kicks him! Sable kicks him a second time and Undertaker is pissed. He teases goes for a choke, but Mero makes a save with a chopblock (causing Taker to crash into Sable). Suddenly, Mero shows tons of fire and grabs a chair. Mero smashes Undertaker with the chair, but his offense is short lived as Undertaker chokeslams him on the floor! Undertaker then drives Mero with the Tombstone on the mats on the floor! The worst thing possible happens to Mero here though, as Undertaker poses and the fans cheer for him. Result was a double countout.

Rating: **1/4 (2.25)
Grade: B+

I had never seen this match before (or even heard of it) before I scrolled through Cage Match and I decided just to go with it. I’m kind of stunned with what I saw here. First off, let’s talk about Marc Mero. For whatever reason he couldn’t garner that big babyface reaction (I mean overall, not just in this match). He and HHH had some good matches, he and Austin had some good matches, but HHH and Austin felt like the bigger stars when they were done with him. Now I think anyone expecting Mero to get big cheers against Undertaker is delusional, he should have gotten something here. When no one reacted after Taker tosses Mero into Sable, it was pretty much over for Mero. Now I don’t know if this was a test, or a punishment, or what, but this was basically a squash that just happened to end in a double countout. Now Mero showed some fire at the end when he grabbed the chair, and funny enough that’s the kind of thing I think he was missing in his matches. What made “Wildman” Marc Mero so wild? Nothing really, and that was the problem. The booking of the match didn’t help him though either. Again that final reaction for Undertaker though was the nail in the coffin for Mero as a face. With that being said, this is Superstars so I get that’s it’s fine to experiment with some things. But I didn’t like how heelish Undertaker was here. I get we’re going for aggression. But running Mero into Sable, chokeslamming and Tombstoning Mero on the floor without great reason to me is too grey here, at least for someone that isn’t a blood rival to Undertaker. It’s cool to see Undertaker so dominant, but this feels more jarring unless we were going for a heel turn, and we weren’t. Technically fine match, strong Undertaker performance, but this all didn’t quite work for me. I’m glad I watched this though.

Match 71: No Holds Barred: The Undertaker and Ahmed Johnson vs. Mankind and Faarooq
RAW (2/3/97)


I find it interesting that Vince rented out huge buildings like the Alamodome for the Royal Rumble and Skydome here for RAW…but Wrestlemania didn’t get the same treatment. I’m excited to see some Undertaker and Mankind here...a little less so for Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq, although that feud was still rather hot admittedly (it began back in AUGUST of 1996, so we’re six months in so far). Undertaker is now doing the quick raising of his arms and pop to raise the lights (although pyro would come from the posts, need to get rid of that). Undertaker and Mankind go at it as Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq do the same. Undertaker sends Mankind into the steps, then slams him into the railing. The lighting is pretty awful here. Undertaker continues to beat the hell out of Mankind before heading to the ring to save Ahmed from a sleeper. Undertaker pounds away on Faarooq, but Faarooq catches him an elbow and a clothesline. Undertaker sits up and regains control. Clothesline knocks Faarooq down as Ahmed beats the crap out of Mankind.

Old School downs Faarooq. Mankind tries to sneak in, but Undertaker headbutts him. Nation members Savio Vega and Crush head to ringside as we head to commercial. We come back and Undertaker goes for Old School on Mankind, but he jumps right into the Mandible Claw (great counter)! Ahmed Johnson makes the save and hits Mankind with the Pearl River Plunge, but Faarooq plants him with the Dominator. Undertaker sits up to save Ahmed. Undertaker pounds away on Mankind, but a low blow slows him down. Mankind has a chair, but Undertaker boots it in his face. Undertaker chokeslams Mankind, but Faarooq attacks as Ahmed Johnson is distracted by the Nation. Ahmed Johnson comes into the ring with a 2x4 to get rid of Faarooq as Undertaker punches away at Mankind. Swinging neckbreaker from Mankind. Mankind had some powder, but Undertaker knocks it in Mankind’s face. Vader runs down and splashes Undertaker, but a chairshot misses and smashes Mankind. Vader smashes Undertaker in the back with the chair, but Undertaker responds with a classic no-sell (awesome!)! Taker gets rid of Vader, then Tombstones Mankind on the chair! That gets the win.

Rating: **1/4 (2.25)
Grade: A

Some mindless brawling here, but when Undertaker and Mankind were in there it was pretty good. Undertaker looked great overall and got another one over on Vader heading to the Final Four at In Your House. Not much to say here, I enjoyed this for what it was. Onto Shotgun Saturday Night!



Match 72: WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Undertaker vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley ©
Shotgun Saturday Night (2/8/97)


A little bit about Shotgun Saturday Night. If you are from New York City like I am, the idea of a wrestling show in the middle of Penn Station on Saturday night (actually I don’t know if this was taped then) is one of the most wild things I can think of in pro wrestling. I do think the Shotgun Saturday Night concept was a cool one, but it wasn’t thought out well enough with locations. I think as a monthly show it could have been awesome. Hunter Hearst Helmsley’s entrance involves him entering Penn Station via a limo. Man where are these arenas in the 2K games? Undertaker obviously can’t have the lights out in Penn Station. Undertaker fights through the crowd into the ring and Hunter attacks. Undertaker tosses HHH into the corner and beats the hell out of him. Apparently, this is live which is just wild to me.

Undertaker whips HHH into the referee, then takes out HHH with a hard shot. HHH bails and gets the IC title belt and bashes Undertaker in the face. HHH stomps away as we go to commercial. We come back and HHH hits the kneedrop to the face. Knee to the face by HHH. Another weird aspect of this match is the ring size. It is a lot smaller than standard. HHH pounds away on Undertaker then hits a neckbreaker. Undertaker kicks out of a pin. Undertaker starts his comeback and knocks down HHH with some hard shots. Undertaker no-sells getting thrown into the turnbuckles, but HHH gets a swinging neckbreaker, but Undertaker kicks out of another pin and sits up. HHH tries to bash Undertaker with the IC title belt again, but Taker blocks and smashes it over HHH’s face for the DQ. I don’t think the fans care as they call for the Tombstone. We get a big chokeslam instead. HHH bails, but Undertaker is in pursuit. Undertaker catches HHH after a flight of stairs, then hits an iconic Tombstone, the one on the top of the escalator. HHH takes the ride down as Undertaker stands tall.

Rating: **1/4 (2.25)
Grade: A+

I really don’t know what to make of this match, but I had fun with it. I’m probably overrating it a bit, but I mean for a one-time deal it had a great atmosphere and the work was fine. Undertaker also looked great, they finally have that aggression deal down pat it seems and HHH was one of the best at that time at getting his ass kicked as a heel. Again, I don’t think you could (or should) have done this every week, but once in a while this kind of thing was a lot of fun.

Match 73: The Undertaker vs. Savio Vega
Thursday RAW Thursday (2/13/97)


The intro (with overdramatic sad music) informs us that Shawn Michaels will vacate the WWF Title, meaning the Four Way at In Your House will be for the title now. Right after HBK loses his smile, we have our match. Savio Vega had just turned heel and joined the Nation. We actually saw this match in our reviews back in 1994 when Savio was Kwang. We still don’t have consistency with how Undertaker turns the lights back on in the arena, but we’ll get there. We come back from commercial and Undertaker tosses Vega into the corner and punches away at him. Savio does a great job selling them all because one: he’s underrated as a worker, and two: he's Undertaker’s buddy.

Undertaker chokes Savio in the corner. Savio catches Undertaker with an elbow and pounds away on him. Undertaker turns the tides with a big boot and a big legdrop. That gets a two count. Old School sends Savio flying. Backdrop sends Savio flying again. Vega gets a mule kick for a low blow to even things up, but Taker is able to knock Vega back down. Vega gets a couple of round house kicks and hits the spinning heel kick to knock Undertaker down. Vega hits Taker with a couple of elbows to the face and continues to beat on Undertaker. Undertaker tries to fight back, but Vega gets some chops and a headbutt. Jamie Dundee gets a cheap shot in on Taker in what is probably the peak of his WWF career. Undertaker starts to make his comeback with hard punches, but Vega gets him with a back kick. Undertaker sells it like a million bucks too, of course, once again, because Savio is B.S.K. Savio slows things down with a nerve hold, but the crowd is with Undertaker.

Undertaker makes another comeback, but Savio Vega again counters with a neckbreaker. Undertaker sits up. Undertaker goes for a flying rocker dropper, which gets botched as Vega was standing in the wrong direction. Lucky Vega didn’t tear his leg up. Vega goes sky high for the chokeslam and that’s the end of that. The Nation runs in, but Undertaker tries to fight all of them off. Here comes Ahmed Johnson for the save! The Nation gets the better of Ahmed, but Undertaker sits up, chokeslams both of PG-13, and returns the save for Ahmed.

Rating: **1/4 (2.25)
Grade: A+

I would have went higher, but that botch at the end was a bit rough. Still a fun match where Savio Vega got some good offense in, but Undertaker still managed to look great. That chokeslam at the end was a thing of beauty as well. Undertaker raising up and taking out the Nation was nice to see too. Undertaker looks to be in top four for the Final Four, although I’m not looking forward to the Nation feud when we get there (spoiler: it sucks). I find it interesting that in the last segment of the show, Bret Hart beats Vader with Stone Cold watching and no Undertaker in sight. Ah well.

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Match 74: WWF Championship - Four Way Elimination: The Undertaker vs. Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vader
In Your House 13: Final Four (2/16/97)


This is the first four-way match of any kind that isn’t a battle royal in the WWF (we haven’t had televised triple-threat matches yet). The rules here are a little odd. You can eliminate someone else but either pin, submission, or by tossing someone over the top rope. There’s no countouts and no DQs. Paul Bearer comes out with Vader. For some reason Vader is tossing the steps around the ring. Stone Cold flips off Vader when he makes his entrance. Bret Hart gets last entrance over Undertaker. He gets the best reaction so I’ll allow it.

Undertaker and Vader pair off, as does Bret and Austin. Undertaker nails Vader with the flying clothesline, then attacks Bret and Austin. Old School on Austin, but Bret gets a shot in and Vader squashes Undertaker with a belly-to-belly. Undertaker sits up, but Vader is all over him. Vader tosses Undertaker into the railing, but misses a chairshot. Vader still has the advantage on the outside and pounds away on Taker, but Taker ends up kicking the chair in Vader’s face. Undertaker sends Vader into the steps, and Vader is bleeding everywhere. Meanwhile, Bret and Austin are putting on a clinic in the ring. Undertaker comes back into the ring and attacks Bret again, but Vader hits Taker with stiff blows to the midsection. Undertaker grabs Vader by the throat and we get a huge chokeslam! Austin tries to catch Undertaker with the Stunner, but it gets messed up as Taker tries to sell a neckbreaker.

Austin punches away at Undertaker until Taker tosses him into the corner. Undertaker pounds away on Austin, but Austin takes him down with a swining neckbreaker. On the outside Vader beats the crap out of Bret Hart with a chair. Austin sends Undertaker to the outside and goes for a piledriver on the floor, only Undertaker backdrops him! Crowd pops huge for that. Undertaker goes after Bret and hits a vertical suplex. Bret kicks out of a two count. Austin and Vader beat the crap out of one another as Undertaker chokes Bret in the ring. Austin just drops the steps on Vader’s head. Undertaker tries to pin Bret in the ring, but only gets two. Bret begins to kick Undertaker’s knee, then goes to his standard legwork. Austin and Vader are just going wild on the outside. Undertaker knocks Bret down in the ring before Vader drags Bret to the apron. Austin tries to come off the top on Undertaker, but Undertaker kicks the top turnbuckle to crotch him. Undertaker takes Austin down and legdrops him low as Bret whips Vader over the railing and into the crowd! Vader is wrestling here like he’s trying to show Vince he should have gotten the title.

Stone Cold knocks Undertaker down with a top rope clothesline. Vader puts Bret in a sharpshooter on the outside before Austin breaks them up. Undertaker gets hard shots in on Austin on the outside. Undertaker punches Vader in his bloody eye. Vader knocks Austin down in the ring, but Undertaker knocks Vader down too. Undertaker chokes Vader. Undertaker sends Vader into the corner, but Vader comes out with a stiff clothesline. Bret piledrives Austin! Vader has Undertaker down and teases the Vader Bomb…before heading to the top rope. Moonsault misses! Undertaker wraps a TV cable around Vader’s neck before Vader returns the favor. Austin almost has Bret out, but Bret survives. Vader rolls Undertaker back into the ring and chokes him. Vader goes for a cover, but Undertaker gets the shoulder up. Vader and Taker keep pounding away on one another as Bret and Austin wrestle. Taker takes a shot at Austin as he and Vader trade fighting partners. Bret and Vader go into an awesome sequence trading blows, maybe that should have been the main event of Wrestlemania.

Austin slams Undertaker’s legs into the ring post, then stomps away on him. Undertaker tries to eliminate Austin, but Stone Cold lands on the apron. Austin tries to get rid of Undertaker, but Taker gets back in through the ropes. Undertaker throws Austin over, but Austin lands on the apron. Short-arm clothesline from Taker on Vader, but Vader kicks out. Bret dumps Austin, eliminating him to a huge reaction. Vader gets right to work on Bret, hitting him with massive punches. Undertaker attacks him from behind and hits the Stinger Splash. Bret gets some blows in on Undertaker, but Undertaker fights back with big punches. Vader chop blocks Undertaker, and suddenly we have an unlikely double-team by Bret and Vader. That doesn’t last long as Bret and Vader go at it. Vader knocks Bret down with a body tackle just as Paul Bearer nails Undertaker with the urn. Vader heads to the top rope, but Bret’s back up there. Bret SUPERPLEXES Vader off the top rope (!) as Undertaker gets back to his feet. Bret locks in the sharpshooter on Vader, but surprisingly Undertaker breaks up the submission. Austin comes back and attacks Bret as Vader powerslams Undertaker.

Vader has Undertaker down and prepares for the Vader Bomb, but Undertaker sits up and hits a low blow, which sends Vader over the top rope in an awesome elimination. Huge crowd reaction for that. Undertaker knocks Austin out of the ring, then grabs Bret Hart by the throat as the crowd goes crazy! Chokeslam! Undertaker goes for the Tombstone, but Austin drags Bret off, inadvertently saving him. Taker nails Austin off the apron and Bret gets a roll-up. That only gets two, and Bret nails Austin, who was on the apron again. Undertaker knocks Austin off for good, but this allows Bret to clothesline Undertaker over the top rope to win the title. Undertaker shows some disappointment, then looks back at Bret with the title. Bret’s time on top would be short, as he’d drop the title to Sid the next night. We even hear Sid’s music play as he shows up to hype that up as the show goes off the air.

Rating: ****1/2 (4.5)
Grade: A+

What a match! Vader was the MVP here, bumping around all over the place yet still looking like a dominant monster. I know things were falling apart for him (and basically would by the May In Your House when Ken Shamrock destroyed him), but he performed like his career depended on it in this one. Everyone else had their moments too, and the match never slowed down. It was a literal non-stop 25-minute match. If a couple of guys needed rest, the other two went at it. I also found the over-the-top-rope stipulation to be a welcome change. Not only did no one have to actually do a job here, but it matched up with the Royal Rumble (which is the match this match spawned from), and still felt like a legitimate victory. I wouldn’t mind to see that stipulation return in multi-man matches honestly. Undertaker looked great here, got great reactions, took out Vader and just made one mistake involving Steve Austin that cost him the title. Works for me.

***

The next night on RAW during Bret Hart’s promo about defending the WWF Championship, Jim Ross mentions that if Bret beats Sid, he’ll then be defending the title against Undertaker. I don’t know if there was any other announcement for this. After Sid wins the title at the end of the night, Undertaker’s music plays to drive home that Taker vs. Sid is your main event for Wrestlemania. Undertaker and Sid stand face-to-face to close the show. I don’t think there was actually a reason for Undertaker to be named the Wrestlemania challenger, but hey, I’m all for it.

Match 75: The Undertaker vs. Faarooq
Monday Night RAW (2/24/97)


The **+ star streak is in jeopardy here. Faarooq picks a fight with Ken Shamrock, who is a guest at ringside. Undertaker heads to the outside and attacks the unnamed Nation member that in the future will be known as D’Lo Brown. Faarooq pounds away on Undertaker, but Taker catches him with the flying clothesline. Old School connects and Faarooq has his selling boots on, fortunately. Undertaker knocks Faarooq down with an elbow, then Taker sends him to the outside. Taker slams Faarooq into the corner, but now it’s Faarooq with the elbow. Clotheslines knocks Undertaker down, but Taker sits up. Big boot catches Faarooq, and cover gets two. Short-arm clotheslines knocks Faarooq down, but Undertaker misses the big elbow as always. Faarooq slams Undertaker by his hair to the canvas, then clotheslines Undertaker to the outside. Undertakers lands on his feet, but when he tries to come back in D’Lo chop blocks him off the apron!

Amazingly we’re STILL promoting Full Metal: the Album. Yikes.

We come back from a commercial with Faarooq hitting Undertaker with chop blocks. Undertaker gets his knees up on a splash attempt, but Faarooq takes Undertaker down with another chop block. Undertaker catches Faarooq with his flying rocker dropper, legdrop deal. Seeing that work perfectly was nice. Faarooq dodges a legdrop, then goes back to the knee. Faarooq slams Undertaker’s knee against the post. Undertaker starts to make a comeback, hitting Faarooq with punches. Faarooq fires back, but Undertaker pulls out a school boy for two. Undertaker sells the leg. Faarooq gets a rear chinlock which slows things down. Faarooq cheats with the headlock, putting his feet on the bottom rope. Undertaker makes his comeback, hitting Faarooq with blows, but Faarooq gets a powerslam. Undertaker just gets the shoulder up. Faarooq comes off the top rope but Undertaker catches him and hits his own powerslam. Undertaker knocks a Nation member off the apron. Big slam, but D’Lo pulls the rope down and Undertaker ends up on the outside. Faarooq grabs the steel steps, but Undertaker kicks them back in Faarooq’s face. Faarooq counters a backdrop with a piledriver, but Undertaker instantly sits up. PG-13, Crush, and Savio run in and that’s a DQ. We get a fun brawl with the LOD as RAW goes off the air.

Rating: ** (2)
Grade: B-

Better than I thought. Still a bit slow, but Faarooq was solid here. I dropped it a little because of the rushed non-finish, but can’t complain about the match itself as it was a solid TV main event little power match. Not thrilled about Undertaker not getting a clean finish over Faarooq on the road to Wrestlemania though, I mean come on. Does Faarooq really need to be protected in that way?

***

Undertaker
wasn’t on the 3/3 RAW from Berlin. Sid defended the WWF Title against Mankind here, so I suppose that’s what built to our next RAW match. Get ready for a Vince Russo-ism that remains to this day…

Match 76: The Undertaker and Sycho Sid vs. Mankind and Vader
Monday Night RAW (3/10/97)


This is the first show in the RAW is WAR and Warzone era, with the iconic big titantron. Even though technically those two are “different shows”, I’ll continue to just reference the show as Monday Night RAW. Anyway, in classic Vince Russo style, we get a taste of tag team partners who don’t get along. After an opening segment where Sid and Undertaker say they don’t need one another, they get into a brawl with Mankind and Vader. Vader hits Undertaker form behind, but makes it seem like Sid did it. CAN THEY GET ALONG?

The match is set for the main event. Vader and Mankind attack Sid, but Sid seems to be doing fine taking down both heels at the moment. Vader and Mankind eventually get the upper hand and Undertaker runs down (no entrance, no theme, nothing. Boo). Taker nails Vader with a clothesline, then plants him with a chokeslam. Big boot sends Vader over the top rope and to the outside. Mankind gets the Cactus clothesline, but Undertaker is the one who lands on his feet. Vader and Sid go at it for a bit as the match calms down. Vader works a long headlock on Sid. As soon as Sid gets back to his feet, we hit a commercial. I guess we couldn’t miss that two minute headlock. We come back to Sid suplexing Vader. Mankind attacks Undertaker on the outside. Mankind gets tagged in and elbow drops Sid. Sid kicks out and gets the taf. Undertaker goes crazy on Mankind and hits a big boot. Chokeslam plants Mankind on the canvas. Undertaker tries to help Sid with Vader by coming off the apron, but he accidentally nails Sid. Sid isn’t happy about it and they start going at it. Undertaker chokeslams Sid in the middle of the ring, then leaps over the top rope at Vader! It wasn’t as clean as it would be in the future, but that was unexpected! Undertaker beats up on Mankind on the outside, but Sid comes out as he wants more of Undertaker. Sid powerbombs Undertaker and Vader gets a three count on him to win the match. Undertaker gets some post-match revenge on Vader, then goes after Sid.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: B-

There goes the ** streak. I’m only giving this a star for the dive by Undertaker. Match was Sid as the face-in-peril, and most of that peril was a Vader headlock. I gotta say too Undertaker taking a pinfall loss to Vader before Wrestlemania feels like such odd booking, although that was a great win for Vader and Mankind. In some ways I’m enjoying this build, but in others I’m not feeling it either. I’d like to see a strong Undertaker win going into Wrestlemania, but I know we aren’t getting that.




Match 77: Casket Match: The Undertaker vs. Vader
WWF on MSG (3/16/97)


Remember those special WWF on MSG shows we did back in 1991 and 1992? Well there was one in 1997 too. While the WWF ran Madison Square Garden house shows 4-5 times a year, I believe it had been a while since they aired one on the MSG Network. Undertaker does the pop to bring the lights back, but it still has pyro which is weird. Vader sells it like a million bucks though. Undertaker punches away at Vader, but Vader gets an avalanche in the corner. Taker gets big punches again though, then clotheslines Vader down. Old School knocks Vader down. Big boot sends Vader over the top rope and he lands on the casket. Undertaker chases Paul Bearer away, then smashes a chair over Vader’s back. We get a commercial break and come back to Vader pounding away on Undertaker in the corner. Undertaker regains the advantage, but misses the big elbow. Vader clotheslines Undertaker over the top rope, but Taker lands on his feet and snaps Vader’s throat over the top rope. Big clothesline from Vader, but Undertaker sits up. Undertaker grabs Vader by the throat, but Vader just kicks him low.

Vader drops a big elbow into Undertaker’s groin. Vader climbs up to the second rope, but Undertaker’s powerslam is a bit botched unfortunately. Undertaker chokeslams Vader. Undertaker then picks up Vader and plants him with the Tombstone! Undertaker rolls Vader to the casket, but Mankind is in the casket and locks in the Mandible Claw on Undertaker. Mankind kicks Undertaker into the casket and Paul Bearer shuts the lid for Vader’s win. Undertaker emerges from the casket and beats the hell out of Mankind. Mankind gets a chokeslam and Tombstone for his trouble, then gets dumped into the casket. No save from Vader.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: D

I know this is a glorified house show…but I’m sorry, who’s in the main event of Wrestlemania in a week? Why not just have Undertaker beat Mankind?

***

We have one more RAW before Wrestlemania and while it’s a historic deal, it is mostly historic because of Bret Hart. The main event here was a WWF Title Steel Cage match between Sid and Bret. The catch is Undertaker wanted Sid to win to ensure their match at Wrestlemania would be for the title, while Austin tried to help arch-enemy Bret. I don’t really care for this idea, I’d much rather have a blow off with Taker and Sid brawling or something, but it was something different for the time. Undertaker even smashes Bret Hart’s head with the cage door at one point, which will be relevant. Sid ultimately retains the title and Bret goes on a historic rant on Vince McMahon which led to his heel turn (and Austin’s further rise). This leads to a brawl between the four (with Bret hitting Undertaker with a suicide dive!). Undertaker and Sid go at it in the ring while Bret and Austin fight on the outside. It’s pretty awesome that these four’s main issue with each other is the WWF Title. It really helps the prestige of the title when it’s the main focus of your top two feuds. Shawn Michaels decides to watch things from the stage. Perhaps he was jealous of the awesome TV being produced without him here (I legit have no idea why he was out here).

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Match 78: No DQ - WWF Championship: The Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid ©
Wrestlemania 13 (3/23/97)


On the day before his 32nd birthday, Undertaker got to challenge Sycho Sid for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania. We’ve got Shawn Michaels doing commentary. Sid cuts a promo before the main event. That leads to Undertaker’s entrance. We get a special costume as Undertaker comes out in the classic grey gloves and grey boots with hat and coat. As awesome as the entrance is, I actually really dislike this idea. Normally I’d be all for it, but the WWF had been focusing on being cutting edge and we were getting close to Attitude and all. Undertaker’s look here makes this match look older than it actually is. This was a short period of time where celebrating tradition wasn’t something the WWF should have been doing, but that’s exactly what they did with Undertaker. It’s not a big deal, and again I love the entrance, it just doesn’t fit (random note, I feel the exact same way about the Wrestlemania theme song being used at this point too. It was time for a new theme, Vince).

Before the match starts Bret Hart, coming off kicking Steve Austin’s ass, comes down to the ring. Bret cuts a promo on Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, and Sid. He tells Undertaker specifically that Taker slammed the door on their friendship when Taker slammed the cage door on him on RAW. Sid has enough of this and powerbombs Bret to a huge ovation. Sid grabs the mic for a few words, but Undertaker attacks him to start this thing.

Undertaker gets a boot to the face then punches away at Sid in the corner. Stinger Splash connects. Undertaker slams Sid and gets a quick two count. Old School connects, but Sid stays on his feet. Sid catches a Stinger Splash and locks in a bearhug. That’s really early for a bearhug. It’s not a short one either. I mean we’re not even five minutes in and two of those minutes has been a bearhug. Sid finally releases and goes to work on the back with some blows…then locks in another bearhug. Sid goes back to pounding Undertaker, then locks in a THIRD bearhug. Undertaker finally escapes, but Sid gets a big boot, then clotheslines Undertaker to the outside. Taker lands on his feet and tries to drag Sid to the outside. Sid kicks Undertaker into the French announcer’s table, then drops him throat first on the railing. Sid drops Undertaker on the railing again. Sid then slams Undertaker on the table. We just get the announcement now that the match is no DQ. Sid rams Undertaker back-first into the ring post, which gets a two count. Undertaker gets a few blows, but Sid regains control right away, then locks in a Camel Clutch.

Axhandle smash off the second rope from Sid. Undertaker tries to fight back and slams Sid into the corner. Sid reverses a whip and gets a powerslam. Sid tries a few covers, but Undertaker kicks out of all of them. Sid drops a big legdrop, but that also gets two. Undertaker gets the flying clothesline out of nowhere to finally take Sid down, but Sid is back on the attack right away. Taker manages to toss Sid through the ropes to the outside. Undertaker tosses Sid over the railing. Undertaker and Sid batter one another on the outside. Taker slams Sid into the steel steps. Of course Undertaker misses the big elbow, and Sid locks in a chinlock. Yeesh. Undertaker finally fires his way out, but Sid gets an eye rake. Undertaker gets a powerslam out of nowhere. Now Undertaker locks in a nerve hold. Sid breaks out, but Undertaker knocks him down with a clothesline. Cover gets two.

Sid and Undertaker hit the double big boot, shades of Wrestlemania last year. Sid makes a cover, but Undertaker kicks out. Big forearm from Sid. Sid comes off the second rope and hits the axhandle smash. Sid goes to the second rope again, and Sid hits a leaping shove to the face? That gets two. Sid goes up to the second rope one more time, but Undertaker catches him with a shot to the midsection this time. Sid cuts Undertaker off again and gets a slam. Sid now heads to the top rope, but Undertaker sits up. Uppercut from Undertaker crotches Sid up top. Undertaker tosses Sid off the top rope and Undertaker heads to the top rope. Flying clothesline connects. That gets a two count. Undertaker calls for the end, but Sid counters and hits a Tombstone of his own! Sid crosses Taker’s arms for the pin, but that only gets two (HHH would steal that one 14 years later).

Sid dumps Undertaker to the outside. They brawl when Bret Hart shows up again and bashes Sid with a chair. Taker chases Bret off. Taker runs Sid into the post, then rolls Sid back into the ring. Chokeslam from Undertaker, but that only gets two. Hey, for as boring as this match has been, the crowd is reacting and that’s what matters. Undertaker goes for the flying clothesline again, but Sid ducks out of the way. Sid sets Undertaker up for the powerbomb, but Bret Hart runs down AGAIN. Bret snaps Sid across the top rope, and Undertaker picks up Sid for the Tombstone (to a HUGE reaction), plants him, and wins the WWF Title. Undertaker starts pointing to the crowd, basically saying he won the title for them. We’ll get to that in the next set. Undertaker’s kneeling pose with the title is amazing, so there’s that.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: B

Every time I watch this match I try to find excuses to say it’s better than it actually is. But the match sucks, there’s no way around it. I’ll give it a couple of positives: it told a solid story most of the way (Sid working on the back) and it had some good moments (Sid’s Tombstone, some of the brawling). But the match is 30% rest holds. I mean we get into a two-minute long bearhug two minutes into the match. There aren’t really a lot of exciting moments. I often compare this to the Diesel match the year prior, and there’s something stronger about that Diesel match even though it told a similar story. We could have used an Undertaker kicking out of the powerbomb spot or something. Which gets me to the finish. Undertaker didn’t win clean! The Bret Hart bullshit in this match is eye-rolling and unnecessary. The beginning, fine, but Undertaker should have won clean here and planted Sid. Undertaker only wins thanks to Bret distracting Sid. A lot of the move (or lack thereof) choices mystify me too. We saw Undertaker do a dive over the top rope on RAW a couple of weeks ago, why not bust that out here for a high spot? Undertaker was experimenting with a rocker dropper the last few months, how come we didn’t see it here? There just wasn’t a lot of move diversity. This match feels 4-5 years too late, which is only exemplified by the awesome Bret-Austin match earlier in the night. I think the match story and the positives I mentioned earlier get it a star, but you can easily go lower here. Even Vince’s call of the three count is awful (because the referee goes for the epic slow count, which Vince isn’t ready for). As for the grade, I can’t get past the fact that this wasn’t a clean finish. It’s not like Sid was sticking around (although at the time the WWF probably didn’t know that since Bret vs. Sid was set for the next In Your House). I’m always going to mark for Undertaker’s title win here, I just wish the circumstances around it were stronger.

***

That’s all for now!​
 

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It's kinda a shame that Shotgun Saturday Night only lasted a few weeks under its original concept before it became just another weekend show with matches taped at Raw. The MSG TV shows were a regular occurrence back in the 70's and 80's, as well as regional broadcasts at other arenas such as Boston Garden shows on NESN, Maple Leaf Gardens shows on TSN, Philadelphia Spectrum shows on PRISM, and a few others. Those shows died out in the late 80's with the rise of more nationally televised shows like Superstars, Wrestling Challenge, and Prime Time.

WrestleMania 13 was overall a disappointing show with the exception of Bret vs Austin. A four-way tag team match no one cared about, an I-C Champion no one liked against a challenger that was a glorified jobber, a tag team title match between two heel teems that ended in a non-finish, and the Chicago Street Fight, while okay, could have been better.
 
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I think Shotgun Saturday Night as a monthly or maybe once every 8 weeks kinda deal would have been more effective. Like a modern day Saturday Night's Main Event from cool locations not just in NYC but around the country. Doing it weekly was never gonna be sustainable.

I get the Wrestlemania card was in disarray. Part of that was because of Shawn Michaels, sure. But other things messed up the card too. Rocky was supposed to face a heel turned Marc Mero (there was an angle on RAW with Rocky making a save of Sable and Mero getting angry about it). Not sure if that would have been better but as opposed to an ice cold Sultan how bad could it have been. I also would have done Vader vs. Mankind, LOD vs. Bulldog/Owen for the belts, did Ahmed vs. Faarooq to finally blow that off (lol) and had Savio and Crush replace the New Blackjacks in the tag. Still not great, but feels better I think. I do think Sid vs. Undertaker was always happening, just without the title, as they had been matched up on house shows since January. There's some kind of hole though that doesn't make sense to me that I alluded to in the write-up though. It was supposed to be Bret vs. HBK as said by everyone involved at Mania. But the build-up really looked like it was always gonna be Bret vs. Austin. But there's one odd man out here which is what makes the whole deal strange. Maybe Vince was hoping to bring back Randy Savage (who they were negotiating with in late-'96) to face Austin? It's quite convenient that HBK had his injury and thus no one was left out.
 

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Well of course it wasn't a clean finish because Sid shit himself in that match

Ha, but that's actually not the case. The shitting himself match was a prior house show match.
 

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taker97champ.png


The Deadman Years – WWF Champion (Mid 1997)

On the night after Wrestlemania XIII, we’re told that Mankind is the #1 contender for the WWF Title. Mankind can’t find Paul Bearer though, and he’s distraught about that. We don’t get anything else about Undertaker until the end of the show (Bret Hart kinda stole the show with his heel turn). A good note, Undertaker’s look in the post-purple gloves and hat era is finalized (he wouldn’t keep the black hat but it is pretty bad ass). It is kinda funny to hear Undertaker pandering to the fans in his promo, only because this isn’t something he ever does (he calls his fans his “creatures” and claims to be a knight for them against anyone). He puts over Sid and Mankind in his promo and while that’s all well and good, it feels contradictory to what his character was doing right before Wrestlemania. Paul Bearer makes his way down to the ring, looking for forgiveness, something Mankind is quite upset about. But we have to wait until next week’s RAW because we’re out of time!

On the 3/31 RAW, Paul Bearer claims he betrayed Undertaker to make him stronger. Paul Bearer begs Undertaker to take him back. We get the first “bang” when turning the lights on, which would stick throughout ’97, so that’s fun. Undertaker pretends to accept Paul back before attacking him, but Mankind gets a sneak attack in and hits Undertaker with a fireball. Turns it out was a trap from Paul Bearer. Sid runs down to make the save. Funny that Sid made two different saves on these last two episodes of RAW, but wasn’t able to actually make it to the April PPV. A fireball was a foreshadowing too of where this angle was going. We don’t get much other than a couple of promos on the 4/7 and 4/14 RAWs. So off to the PPV!

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Match 79: WWF Championship: The Undertaker © vs. Mankind
In Your House XIV: Revenge of the Taker (4/20/97)


Despite the fact that this is for the WWF Title and Undertaker’s name is in the title of the Pay-Per-View, this is not the main event. Awesome opening PPV video promo though hyping Undertaker and Mankind. Mankind brings a fire extinguisher to the ring. Undertakers runs into the ring and Mankind goes right at him. Undertaker tosses Mankind into the corner and punches away at him. Mankind manages to fire back and gets a knock down. Undertaker sits up, but Mankind gets the Cactus clothesline. Both men land on their feet and Taker shoves Mankind into the steel railing. Taker does it a second time, this time throwing Mankind at an angle where his head hits the guardrail. Undertaker tosses Mankind into the crowd and slams him into the railing again.

They end up in the ring. Mankind escapes from Old School, but Undertaker hits a clothesline off the top rope instead (if that was a botch, great save). Paul Bearer distracts Undertaker, allowing Mankind to smash the urn over Undertaker’s head. That only gets two, but now Mankind is in complete control. Mankind gets a knee to the face. Undertaker gets some punches, but Mankind regains control with a swinging neckbreaker. Nerve hold from Mankind. Undertaker punches his way out, then blasts Mankind with a punch that sends him to the floor. Undertaker slams Mankind into the stairs, but Mankind comes back by grabbing a jug of water and shatters it over his head. No DQ is called. Mankind smashes Undertaker over the head with a chair, denting it. No DQ for that either. Mankind climbs up to the second rope and drops an elbow to Undertaker, who was on the floor! Mankind rips off a bandage Undertaker had on his head, revealing a burn mark, and pounds away on that. Stump piledriver only gets two.

Mankind hits a second stump piledriver. Undertaker tries to make a comeback and gets some momentum with hard punches and hits the flying clothesline. Undertaker accidentally squashes the referee when avalanching Mankind (something I suspect was a botch, I think the referee was out of position a moment earlier). Mankind gets the Mandible Claw and a second referee comes in…and he gets the Mandible Claw too! Paul Bearer throws a chair into the ring, and Mankind brings in the steel steps. Undertaker sits up and dropkicks the steps in Mankind’s face. Undertaker bashes Mankind with a brutal chair shot to the side of the head. Mankind gets hung in the ropes and Undertaker rips Mankind’s mask off. Mankind gets back on the apron, but Undertaker hits him with the steps again, and Mankind takes an insane head-first bump into the announcer’s table. God damn Mick Foley. Undertaker chokeslams Mankind in the center of the ring, but Mankind kicks out. Tombstone is next, and that’s good for three.

Paul Bearer tries to run away, but Undertaker grabs him. Undertaker tries to toss Paul Bearer into Mankind twice, and Mankind was supposed to accidentally throw a fireball in Paul’s face. But Mick couldn’t get the fireball going. Undertaker decides to do it himself, and honestly that probably worked out better as it gave Undertaker an darker edge and really pushed his hatred for Paul Bearer.

Rating: ***3/4 (3.75)
Grade: A

I think sometimes the match was a little slow, specifically the nerve hold and when Undertaker was trying to return to the ring after Mankind dropped that elbow on him. But still, this match was a good brawl between the both of these guys, as expected, and a strong way for Undertaker to start his title reign. Yeah, the post-match fireball spot was blown, but the improvision was probably better than what was intended considering the long-term payoff for this feud.

***

The next night on RAW, Stone Cold says he’s got the title shot at the next In Your House. Undertaker is in the main event of this one too, although in a non-title match.

Match 80: The Undertaker vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Monday Night RAW (4/21/97)


History note: while I had mentioned Vince Russo previously, he apparently was promoted to head writer from this RAW on. In case things start to feel frantic. Mankind cuts a promo about Paul Bearer’s burned face. I actually don’t recall how Mankind ends up splitting with Paul, but it certainly happens soon. Undertaker can’t seem to make up his mind on how he turns the lights on in the arena and it’s driving me nuts (I’m aware that probably matters to no one else). Undertaker oddly came to the ring first too. I usually hate when that’s the case. I definitely don’t understand why Hunter Hearst Helmsley would get the second entrance here.

Undertaker comes out after Hunter, then has a staredown with Chyna. Undertaker beats down on HHH, then hits the treetop slam. HHH eventually gets the knee to the face, then a clothesline staggers Undertaker. Undertaker catches HHH with a boot to the face and clotheslines him down. That gets two. Undertaker goes to work on the arm and even legdrops it. Old School connects. Rear chinlock from Undertaker. Undertaker gets a weird pinning combo for two. Punch knocks HHH to the floor. Taker sends HHH into the steps. HHH gets punches in the ring, then punches the scar on Undertaker’s head. Kneedrop to the head, but Undertaker kicks out at two. HHH sends Undertaker into the corner, but Undertaker hits his version of the rocker dropper. Undertaker sends HHH into the corner and HHH does the HBK flip, then Undertaker clotheslines him down. Nerve hold from Undertaker. HHH escapes and tosses Undertaker to the outside and into the steps.

Now HHH locks in a chinlock and puts his feet on the ropes. We get a camera shot of “Dustin” and “Terri” at ringside, in case you wanted proof that this is a Vince Russo show. We come back from a commercial as HHH beats the hell out of Undertaker in the corner. Undertaker finally makes his comeback and beats the hell out of HHH, sending him to the outside. Undertaker grabs HHH by the throat and hits the chokeslam when Mankind comes down to the ring with a blowtorch. Mankind hits Undertaker with the blowtorch for the DQ. Mankind gets a few shots in with the blowtorch, leaving Undertaker lying. But now the blowtorch doesn’t work and Undertaker grabs Mankind by the throat. After a few punches Mankind runs away. The Goldust-HHH-Chyna-Marlena brawl is pretty bad ass for what it’s worth.

Rating: *1/2 (1.5)
Grade: B

Well that was a long match where nothing happened. On one hand this match made HHH look strong, but at the expense of a WWF Champion Undertaker seems like a strange choice. No finish was disappointing as well. I still have no idea how this chapter of Undertaker vs. Mankind ends though.

Match 81: The Undertaker vs. British Bulldog
Monday Night RAW (4/28/97)


So apparently Mankind has been suspended because of bringing in the blowtorch on the previous week. Undertaker cuts a quick promo on Stone Cold as their title match is in 13 days. This match is non-title like last week’s. A wheelchair bound Bret Hart and Owen Hart watch from the stage. We get the big “bang” for Undertaker’s entrance this time, and that freaks out the British Bulldog. Undertaker gets some punches and the tree top slam. The Bulldog escapes to the outside as we go to commercial. We come back with the Bulldog hitting the big vertical suplex. Undertaker sits up. Big chokeslam from Undertaker, but Owen runs in for the DQ. Owen and the Bulldog beat down Undertaker before Stone Cold makes the save. Austin and Taker get rid of Bulldog and Owen. Austin grabs the WWF title and poses with it, which doesn’t make Undertaker happy. Austin drops Undertaker with a Stone Cold Stunner. Austin gives Undertaker the double-digits, but Undertaker grabs Austin by the throat and plants him with an awesome chokeslam. Austin debates whether he should go after Undertaker or Bret. But Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart makes the save. Bret whacks Austin with a crutch that sends him off the stage. Man, the Hart Foundation were awesome.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: A+

We didn’t see much of the match, but I’m okay giving a star for the suplex and chokeslam. Undertaker’s interaction with Stone Cold was awesome and would carry the WWF for the next two years. I’m not thrilled with how the Mankind deal ended, but it had to end so I’m okay with it. One problem with Undertaker’s title reign is it got overshadowed big time by the Hart Foundation-Steve Austin angle. That would get more evident after In Your House.

***

The next week on RAW Undertaker tells us someone stole the WWF title belt. Talk about something else I don’t remember. Turns out Owen Hart had stolen it. Stone Cold gets his hands on it at the end of the show during a huge Harts vs Austin, Shawn Michaels, and LOD schmozz. Undertaker shows up in the center of the ring and after they all clean house he grabs it from Austin. Taker attacks Austin and they go at it to close the show. Pretty solid brawl. Also for reference, Mankind showed up earlier in the show helping Vader deal with Goldust and Ken Shamrock. And we were told Paul Bearer would be back next week on RAW.

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Match 82: WWF Championship: The Undertaker © vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
In Your House XV: Cold Day In Hell (5/11/97)

Stone Cold
cuts a money promo before the match, because of course he does. Both guys get huge face reactions. I’m always fascinated with how Undertaker’s opponent sells the “bang” when he raises the lights. It can tell you a lot about the character Undertaker is facing. In Austin’s case, he looks annoyed. The Hart Foundation come down to ringside as apparently they bought a ticket. I wish I could come down the entrance ramp when I buy a ticket to a show. Austin attacks Undertaker to get things started. Austin is all over Undertaker, but Undertaker begins to fire back. Austin escapes to the outside and attacks Owen Hart as Undertaker takes the WWF Title off. Taker heads to the outside and attacks Austin, then slams him into the stairs. Undertaker nails Owen too.

Austin pounds away on Undertaker in the ring, but Undertaker catches him with a flying clothesline. Old School knocks Austin down and Austin kicks out of a pin attempt. Austin gets a rake to the face and a headlock takedown. Undertaker tries to break free and even gets a pinning combination, but Austin keeps the hold locked in tight. Austin gets another headlock takedown, and Undertaker tries the pinning combo again. I gotta say, I didn’t expect actual wrestling between these two even though this is pre-injury Austin. I don’t think it’s quite what the fans want to see either. Austin tries a shoulderblock that doesn’t work, then gets another headlock takeover. Jim Neidhart yells at some fans as Austin works the headlock. Undertaker tries a back suplex to escape, but Austin lands on his feet (!) and chop blocks Undertaker. Austin then hits Undertaker with rapid fire punches and kicks. Undertaker has had enough of this and gets the upperhand, hitting Austin with some blows.

Stone Cold drags Undertaker into the ringpost and slams his leg against it, then flips off the Harts for good measure. Austin holds both Undertaker’s legs for a final blow, but Undertaker pulls Austin in and he slams into the post. Austin gets a heel trip back in the ring and works on the knee. Undertaker hits some blows and lifts Austin up, but Austin trips him and gets a STF. Austin works on Undertaker’s knee some more, but Undertaker is able to kick him over the top rope. Undertaker throws Austin into the ring steps. Single leg takedown from Undertaker, and now he’s working on Austin’s leg with a grapevine. Austin escapes and punches away at Undertaker. Undertaker responds with a kick to the knee and a half-crab. Austin grabs the bottom rope to escape, so Undertaker slams his knee against the canvas.

Stone Cold ducks a big boot and takes Undertaker down again with a chopblock. Spinning toe hold from Austin, but Undertaker kicks himself free. Austin pounds on Undertaker some more and gets a two count. Suplex from Austin. Undertaker hits Austin with a hook kick (!) then goes for a second Old School. Since no one ever gets hit with Old School twice in the same match Austin obviously counters and Undertaker gets crotched on the top rope. Austin goes for a superplex, but gets dropped on his face instead. Undertaker misses the elbow drop. Undertaker gets a sleeper, but Austin hits a jaw breaker. Austin and Undertaker fire at one another, and Undertaker wins the exchange. Austin gets a low blow clear in the referee’s view, but the referee lets it fly. Austin flips the referee off behind his back to a huge pop. Undertaker returns the favor with his own low blow. Chokeslam from Undertaker! Austin has some life though and hotshots Undertaker across the to rope, then hits the Stone Cold Stunner! Brian Pillman randomly rings the bell, distracting the referee and Austin. Undertaker sits up but Austin is on him. Taker tries for the Tombstone, but Austin counters and has Undertaker setup for one. Undertaker counters that though and plants Austin with the Tombstone to a huge pop. The Hart Foundation run in and attack Undertaker while Austin attacks Bret. Undertaker and Austin send the Harts scattering. Austin drops Undertaker with one last Stunner after the bell. Undertaker is up quickly though and goes after Austin.

Rating: ***1/4 (3.25)
Grade: A-

This is a bit of a weird match because we were in that period where Stone Cold was the full blown rattlesnake, only he still wrestled a technical heavy style with brawling mixed in (it’s a bit jarring to watch the match with Owen Hart at Summerslam). Undertaker had been doing these big brawls pretty much since King of the Ring with Mankind, and that was clearly the direction the main event would go (in fact, Austin pretty much perfected “main event-style” when he had to adapt after his injury). When Austin and Undertaker were brawling, the crowd was hot and the match was at its most interesting. But when they were doing the headlock takeovers and working the knee the match wasn’t working quite as well. We did get a finish, although it was hardly clean. I’m fine with giving Austin an out though since he was getting the rocket ship strapped to him (this is his last one-on-one pinfall loss on TV until the Deadly Games tournament in November 1998 I think, I didn’t research this one). I didn’t love Undertaker not getting a completely clean win as champion or that Austin got the last laugh on him with a Stunner, but honestly that stuff becomes less important as we approach the Attitude Era. Entertaining match and good win for Undertaker.

***

On the 5/12 RAW we get the return of Paul Bearer via promo with Mankind. Paul Bearer has his face wrapped in bandages. So we’re back with Undertaker and Mankind. Again, this is a bit weird as Mankind would be turning face in the King of the Ring tournament in a month. Anyway, Paul Bearer has a terrible secret that he blackmails Undertaker with. Bearer says Undertaker has one more chance to align with Bearer again. This storyline would have some ups and downs, but at least the payoff was incredible.

Match 83: The Undertaker vs. Savio Vega
Monday Night RAW (5/12/97)


We’re told that Faarooq is now the #1 Contender for the WWF Title. What a downgrade. Savio is representing the Nation here. Undertaker limps to the ring, I assume to sell the damage Stone Cold did the night before. We come back from a commercial to start the match and Undertaker works on the arm of Savio. Old School sends Savio down. Vega catches Undertaker with an elbow and then hits some punches and kicks. Undertaker comes back with a boot to the face. Undertaker gets tripped by a random Nation member and Savio gets a chop block. Savio works on the leg. Undertaker tries to fight back, but Savio continues to kick the leg. Savio gets a choke in the corner, but Undertaker tosses Savio halfway across the ring with a snapmare off the top rope. Savio gets another kick followed by a reverse spin kick to the face. That gets two. Slam from Savio, but when he comes off the top rope Undertaker gets his foot up. Backdrop and chokeslam from Undertaker. Crush leaps onto the apron, as do other Nation members, but Taker knocks them off. Tombstone plants Savio, but the Nation runs in for the DQ. The Nation beat down Undertaker and Faarooq holds up the WWF Title.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: B

This gets a big whatever from me. Nice story with Savio working on the leg damaged by Stone Cold the night before, but the match wasn’t long enough to write home about. We really couldn’t get a pinfall victory for Undertaker here eh? This Nation feud was a huge downgrade form what Undertaker had been doing all year.

***

We don’t get much more the next week. Undertaker cuts a promo, Paul Bearer threatens to reveal the secret. Undertaker asks for more time. Bearer gives him 7 days. Also something about how he’s not going to play the race card against Faarooq. We see more of Bearer’s face on the 5/19 RAW as he’s sporting the red hair look. Undertaker gives us some vague statements throughout the night about doing what he has to do. The show closes with Bearer coming out. He mentions there were not two, but three graves prepared when his parents died, and that brings Undertaker out. Undertaker grabs Paul Bearer by the threat, before releasing and kneeling at Bearer’s feet. We’d get an idea of what this union meant on Shotgun Saturday Night.



Match 84: The Undertaker, Vader, and Mankind vs. Faarooq, Crush, and Savio Vega
Monday Night RAW (5/12/97)

Vince
had already given up on the unique locations for Shotgun. This is a pretty huge match for a B show though. Paul Bearer accompanies Undertaker to the ring. The Undertaker, Mankind, Vader team is really weird at this point. Bearer was barely managing Vader anymore and was just coming off getting wrecked by Ken Shamrock. Mankind was in the middle of his career-changing interview with Jim Ross. In an alternate universe this would be one hell of a heel faction though. Paul Bearer grabs the WWF Title belt as the match starts.

Mankind starts with Savio Vega. Standard stuff until we get Vader and Faarooq, which is a cool throwback to early WCW. Mankind eventually blind tags Undertaker in, as up until this point Undertaker had been avoiding tags, to which Faarooq runs away. Undertaker beats up Savio a bit. Undertaker blind tags Vader and Faarooq rolls him up to win. Undertaker threatens to chokeslam Vader, but Paul Bearer stops him.

Rating: N/A
Grade: B+

Can’t rate what Undertaker did in this match because he basically didn’t do anything. I’m okay with the story so far and I actually wish they had stuck with this trio a little bit. Taker/Vader/Mankind vs. HBK/Austin/Shamrock or Bret/Owen/Bulldog could have been a lot of fun. Ah well.

***

On the go-home edition of RAW, someone had a problem with the Undertaker’s renewed alliance with Paul Bearer.

Match 85: The Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid
Monday Night RAW (6/2/97)


As Paul Bearer was explaining that Undertaker was now his personal instrument of destruction, Sycho Sid returned. Sid said he respected Undertaker so didn’t bother asking for a rematch. But now that Undertaker brought Paul Bearer back into the fold, that respect was gone, and he wanted his rematch. The Nation of Domination also made their presence known, in case anyone forgot that Faarooq has a title shot in six days. Undertaker would get involved in Faarooq’s match with Ahmed Johnson, which led to a chokeslam for Ahmed, planting some seeds for a match that we’d never get because of an injury to Ahmed. In a confusing moment, Howard Finkel says this is a non-title contest despite Sid making the challenge earlier. I mean why? It’s not like Sid was winning here.

We come back from a commercial with Sid choking Undertaker in the ropes. Sid hits some blows, then slams Undertaker into the corner. Sid no-sells a couple of blows from Undertaker, then plants Undertaker with a chokeslam! Undertaker just kicks out from a pin. Undertaker finally gets something going and tosses Sid into the corner, followed by rapid-fire punches. Sid regains control and chokes Undertaker in the ropes. Sid moves to the chinlock. Undertaker fights out and hits the running clothesline, then plants Sid with the Tombstone out of nowhere. That’s good for the three. The Nation attacks immediately. Sid helps out and chokeslams Savio Vega and Crush, but the Nation get the upperhand. The Nation leave Sid and Undertaker lying as RAW goes off the air.

Rating: DUD (0)
Grade: B+

Not much to say about this one. Finish came quick and at least it was clean. I would have liked to see Paul Bearer barking out orders to Undertaker or something but that part of the storyline was secondary to the Nation getting a final win over Undertaker heading into King of the Ring. Sid wouldn’t last much longer in the WWF.

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Match 86: WWF Championship: The Undertaker © vs. Faarooq
1997 King of the Ring (6/8/97)


I know it had no finish, but this is one of those times I wouldn’t have put the WWF Title match as the main event. Austin vs. HBK would have been fine. Paul Bearer calling Undertaker “Lazarus” is pretty funny in a pre-match promo.

Faarooq attacks Undertaker from behind to start the match. Undertaker gains control with the standard toss into the corner and rapid-fire punch sequence. Undertaker knocks Faarooq down with a clothesline, but misses the big elbow drop. Undertaker hits a big boot and gets a two count. Faarooq hits a powerslam but that only gets two. Crush and Savio Vega get some cheap shots in on Undertaker. Faarooq beats on Undertaker but Undertaker comes back with a boot to the face. Undertaker goes for Old School, but then decides to jump off the top rope onto the Nation in a pretty cool spot. Undertaker goes for Old School again, but Crush distracts the referee and Savio Vega shakes the top rope to crotch Undertaker. Suplex from Faarooq. Undertaker sits up. The Nation gets more cheap shots in though.

Faarooq picks up the steel steps but Undertaker kicks it back into his face. Undertaker goes back to pounding on Faarooq, but Faarooq counters a backdrop with a piledriver. Undertaker just gets the shoulder up. Chinlock from Faarooq goes on forever. Undertaker hits a jaw breaker to escape. Undertaker goes for a splash (?) and Faarooq gets his knees up. Faarooq looks to finish with the Dominator, but Undertaker backdrops him. Undertaker misses the legdrop. Faarooq catches Undertaker with feet to the face in the corner, but when he comes off the turnbuckles Undertaker catches him with a powerslam. Undertaker misses the flying clothesline. Suddenly the Nation have some problems on the outside. Faarooq slams Undertaker and yells at them. Undertaker sits up and Tombstones Faarooq, and that’s the finish. Savio Vega and Crush get chokeslammed afterwards too. Paul Bearer demands Undertaker chokeslam Faarooq one more time. Undertaker walks away, but then gets angry when Bearer grabs his hair. Undertaker obliges but Paul Bearer demands another one. Undertaker plants Faarooq with another one. This would probably be a bit more effective if Undertaker was chokeslamming someone popular. Bearer asks for a third chokeslam, and Undertaker plants Faarooq one more time. Ahmed Johnson shows up and gets in Undertaker’s face about Paul Bearer. Ahmed hits Undertaker with the Pearl River Plunge.

Rating: ½* (0.5)
Grade: B+

This match was going pretty okay until the chinlock. The chinlock killed a crowd that already mostly dead and the rest just felt like a bunch of moves to get to the inevitable Tombstone. Following Stone Cold vs. HBK and having Faarooq as an opponent in the main event just wasn’t going to cut it. While the story is good, the Nation and Ahmed Johnson just don’t feel like the right opponents for this whole deal, which really hurts the grade. We’d actually get a fortunate little twist (not fortunate for Ahmed Johnson) to get Undertaker away from the Nation. I am loving Paul Bearer’s character here, so there’s that. Another side note, Mankind mentioned his disappointment about Paul Bearer not being with him as he attempted to become King of the Ring. That’s actually a pretty clever way to break them up, and it would come in handy later.

***

On the next night on RAW, Faarooq fires almost everyone in the Nation (except D’Lo Brown!) and makes a challenge to Undertaker and Ahmed Johnson for a tag match against a new, more powerful Nation.

Match 87: The Undertaker and Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq and Kama Mustafa
Monday Night RAW (6/16/97)


“Hush, Rigor Mortis!” These nicknames Paul Bearer has for Undertaker are hilarious. Not sure how I never noticed them. Anyway we get an old rival here in Kama (and of course, one of Undertaker’s B.S.K. guys). Ahmed Johnson says before the match that he was born ready. He puts Paul Bearer in his place too, although Bearer doesn’t take him seriously.

Kama comes in and attacks Undertaker from behind and hits an avalanche. Undertaker knocks him down with a clothesline. Faarooq gets a kick to the back and Kama takes advantage. Double clothesline knocks Undertaker down. Undertaker hits the rocker dropper on Faarooq. Faarooq gets the tag back to Kama, and Kama sends Undertaker to the outside. D’Lo Brown and Faarooq beat down Undertaker on the outside. We come back from a commercial and Undertaker hits Faarooq with the flying clothesline. Chokeslam to Faarooq. Kama makes the save on the pinfall attempt. Ahmed Johnson and Paul Bearer argue on the outside as Kama gets a variation of the uranage on Undertaker…and gets the three count? What the fuck was that? The crowd shit on that finish and rightfully so. Ahmed Johnson prevents a potential postmatch attack…then turns on Undertaker and joins the Nation. Why didn’t they do that for the finish?

Rating: -* (-1)
Grade: F

Nothing to this match. I wish on commentary it was brought up that Undertaker and Kama had some history. The finish is awful, no way around it. Six minutes of beating up Undertaker just to get slammed by Kama is a big yikes. I get Undertaker probably wanted to help his guy get over in his return, but this certainly wasn’t the way to get it done. The obvious finish was right there too, Ahmed Johnson turning on Undertaker. Just a big brainfart that lucky Undertaker was able to overcome, mostly because the Undertaker-Nation feud was soon to be forgotten (we’ll get there).

***

Maybe we don’t have to wait. The very next week on RAW the new Nation and the DOA, Crush’s new gang, brawl in the opening segment. Ahmed Johnson, slated to face Undertaker at In Your House for the WWF Title, blew his knee out. Funny enough, Undertaker three, four years from this point would have fit perfectly with the DOA. They even had Underfaker!

Match 88: WWF World Tag Team Championship Tournament: The Undertaker and Vader vs. Faarooq and D’Lo Brown
Monday Night RAW (6/23/97)

Undertaker
has had enough of being interrupted by Paul Bearer and grabs him by the throat…and then grabs Vader by the throat as well. Paul Bearer tells Undertaker to “remember the fire”, which calms him down. This match is part of a tournament to crown new Tag Team Champions as Shawn Michaels had disappeared for a little while after a real life backstage brawl with Bret Hart. By the way, if you get a chance, look at the brackets for this tournament. It’s bonkers.

D'Lo gets hit with the flying clothesline early on. We’re told Ahmed Johnson was injured earlier then cut to Ahmed watching the match on TV backstage. D’Lo gets some offense on Undertaker when DOA comes down to the ring. Undertaker sends D’Lo to the outside and DOA beat the crap out of him. Undertaker and Vader get into an argument. Pretty sure a DQ should have been called here but we go to commercial with Undertaker hitting anything that moves. We come back with Vader and D’Lo going at it. Vader drops the Vader Bomb on D’Lo but Faarooq makes the save as Paul Bearer barks instructions to Undertaker. Vader body tackles Faarooq. Vader comes off the second rope but Faarooq catches him with a powerslam. D’Lo gets tagged back in and trade blows with Vader, which goes poorly for him. Big splash from Vader. Undertaker and Vader come to blows though, and Faarooq knocks Vader down and gets the pin. Paul Bearer has had enough and has Vader attack Undertaker, but Taker hits him with a boot to the face and a Tombstone. Paul Bearer says he’s revealing the secret next week. Undertaker does his slashing throat pose and rolls his eyes in the back of his head in a cool moment. Paul Bearer looks like he’s about to shit himself in the ring.

Rating: *1/4 (1.25)
Grade: A-

Even though it was Vader doing most of the work, this was a fun little match. D’Lo Brown looked really good here. The finish was a bit weak though so I’m not going any higher. With that being said, seeing Undertaker have enough of Paul Bearer’s shit was great, and the taunt and eye roll at the end really got me feeling that Paul Bearer’s days were done. This RAW also changed the course of In Your House for the better. There was no more Undertaker vs. Ahmed Johnson obviously (in fact, this was pretty much the end for Ahmed even sniffing the main event), and it would get switched to Undertaker against Vader. By all accounts Vince had given up on Vader as a top main event guy (I’m guessing the arrest in Kuwait was the last straw), but other than go with Faarooq again (or the logical Kama Mustafa, since he did just win Undertaker) he went with Vader for one more PPV title match.

***

Faarooq
would complain about race being the reason Vader was chosen to face Undertaker at In Your House. Maybe it was because every Nation vs. Undertaker match had sucked so far. Meanwhile, Undertaker is stressed out because of this secret. While Paul Bearer was off at mortician school, Undertaker started a fire as a kid in the funeral home owned by their parents. This fire killed Undertaker’s parents and his brother, Kane. This means Undertaker is a MURDERER! This is a great example of something that would be complete wrestlecrap if it weren’t for the performances of the people involved. Undertaker would claim that Kane accidentally set the fire although it was because Undertaker had played with chemicals and stuff with him earlier.

Vader would get a warm-up with Rockabilly that lasts about 40 seconds before Undertaker runs down for an attack. Undertaker grabs Paul Bearer, but Paul had one more secret to tell…that KANE IS ALIVE! No grade to give because this is a segment, but great stuff that got the stink of the Nation feud off.

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Match 89: WWF Championship: The Undertaker © vs. Vader
In Your House XVI: Canadian Stampede (7/6/97)


Commentary puts over that Vader did beat Undertaker at the Royal Rumble and kicked ass in the Final Four. Sure, those were a half a year ago, but that was when Vader was owning so I’ll allow it. Incredible Undertaker entrance here, lighting, the walk, the camera angles, everything just hit here. We also get the “bang” for the lights, and Vader sells it big time.

Undertaker gets a kick and some big blows to kick things off. Clothesline knocks Vader down, and Undertaker hits a big legdrop. Undertaker hits a Stinger Splash followed by Old School. Vader gets a body tackle, but Undertaker sits up. Undertaker hits the flying clothesline, but Vader kicks out of the pin. Vader gets some shots to the face and a side headlock. Undertaker escapes, but Vader knocks him down. Undertaker gets back to his feet and hits two big boots, one that sends Vader to the outside. Vader reverses a whip and sends Undertaker into the steel steps. Undertaker hot shots Vader on the top rope. Undertaker comes off the top rope with a flying clothesline, and that gets two. Uppercut sends Vader to the outside, and Taker goes after Paul Bearer. This allows Vader to get a shot to Undertaker’s back. Bearer hits Undertaker with his shoe as momentum has completely changed.

Vader hits Undertaker with big blows in the corner. Short-arm clothesline knocks Undertaker down. Vader then comes off the second rope and hits Undertaker with a body tackle! Big suplex from Vader, followed by a splash. That gets two. Vader locks in a nerve hold. The crowd get into it trying to help Undertaker escape. Undertaker hits rapid-fire punches finished off with an uppercut, but Vader holds Undertaker off with a thumb to the eye. Clothesline knocks down Undertaker. Undertaker fires back with punches again. Undertaker grabs Vader by the throat and Vader just low bridges Undertaker in front of the referee. Undertaker picks up Vader though, but Vader counters. They roll over and Taker gets a two count as he lands on Vader. Vader catches Undertaker with an elbow and another body tackle.

Low elbow drop from Vader. Vader prepares to finish Undertaker with the Vader Bomb, but Undertaker sits up! Undertaker then low blows Vader while he’s up on the turnbuckles, then gets chokeslammed off the second rope (!). Vader manages to kick out. Undertaker chokeslams Vader in the middle of the ring and goes for another cover, but Vader kicks out again to the fans’ surprise. Undertaker calls for the finish and picks Vader up, then plants him with the Tombstone! That’s enough for three.

Rating: ***3/4 (3.75)
Grade: S

What a good match! If it went a little longer at the same quality I would have put in four star territory. This had big spots all throughout the match and had a hot finish too. Vader looked like he was once again trying to prove his worth. A strong title defense for Undertaker. What else can I ask for? While Paul Bearer would appear with Vader a couple of more times, this for all intents and purposes was the end of Undertaker’s interactions with Vader and Mankind (well, Mankind for now).

***

The next night on RAW, Bret Hart cuts a great promo, announcing that he will defeat Undertaker at Summerslam for his 5th WWF Title. Bret says he’ll never wrestle on American soil again if he doesn’t win the title. Also, Paul Bearer continues to insist that KANE IS ALIVE. The week after, we get more of the same. Apparently Gorilla Monsoon put in Bret’s contract what he said about never wrestling on American soil again. Oh and Paul Bearer continues to accuse Undertaker of being a murderer and that KANE IS ALIVE. And he’s going to prove it next week! Shawn Michaels also begs Vince for something to do at Summerslam. Interesting that we didn’t get Undertaker on the two RAWs right after Canadian Stampede.

The 7/21 RAW main event is a six-man Flag Match. We’ll get to that. Shawn Michaels announces he’ll be the referee for the Undertaker vs. Bret Hart title match at Summerslam. If he doesn’t call it down the middle though, he also won’t be able to wrestle on American soil. (He also oddly says he’s going to be in the Flag Match, but he’s not though. We’ll get to that.) Paul Bearer has some stones from a statue or something. Yeah, good thing we’d have a money in-between feud before Kane would arrive because we need to get to the point.

Match 90: Flag Match: The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Dude Love vs. Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog
Monday Night RAW (7/21/97)


The match starts off as a three-on-two. Stone Cold and Dude Love represent the US. Apparently Shawn Michaels was attacked off-screen from Bret Hart to write Shawn out of the match. Sure, why not. Something definitely smells fishy with that whole deal and perhaps I’ll look into it another time. It’s a pretty hot match but right before the commercial break, we hear Undertaker’s gong, which is a pretty good hook I must admit. Dude tags in Undertaker and he beats the hell out of Owen Hart. Tree top slam to Owen. Chokeslam to Owen. Undertaker covers, but that’s not the way to win this match. Bret Hart gets a shot in on Undertaker. Taker tags out to Stone Cold.

We get some Austin and Owen, then some Dude and Owen. Dude gets one of the more hilarious heel sequences I can recall, as he low blows when Owen goes for the flag then does the crazy knees dance. Hilarious. Mick’s a genius. Austin tags Undertaker back in and we head to commercial. Undertaker continues to beat down Owen. We come back to more Dude and Owen, then Austin and Owen. Owen has been in there a long time. Owen finally gets the tag to Bret. Bret dominates for a while. Tag is made to Undertaker, and he cleans house on the British Bulldog. Big chokeslam. He goes for the Tombstone but Bret makes the save, and they slug it out. Double clothesline knocks both guys down. Sit up from Undertaker and he goes for the flag. Owen stops him, but Taker blasts him. Both Bret and Undertaker go for their flags, and Brian Pillman stops Undertaker, allowing Bret to win.

Rating: ** (2)
Grade: A-

Match was pretty hot, but admittedly most of that were for reasons not involving Undertaker. Still, the idea of having him come in midway was smart and he had some moments in there, so I’ll be generous. It was nice to see Taker and Bret go at it as well.

***

We get a special look at Undertaker on the 7/28 RAW which also serves as promo for the title match at Summerslam. Despite that this match didn’t get any build outside of a couple of a Bret Hart promos, this match did feel like a big deal and felt like one of the biggest the WWF could have done at the time.



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Match 91: WWF Championship (Guest Referee: Shawn Michaels): The Undertaker © vs. Bret Hart
Summerslam ’97 (8/3/97)


Quick note: this is my favorite wrestling match of all-time. I was a Bret Hart kid at this point, loving everything Canada (yet I still have never been there). Undertaker was my #2. Despite today realizing the stipulation means there was no way Bret was losing here, at the time I really had no idea what was going to happen. Top tier Undertaker entrance here, although Bret doesn’t sell the “bang” much. One good thing about the Vader match is that it really re-established Undertaker as this dominant champion. If this match happened say, after the Kama pin I’d feel a little differently. But there was a feeling that this was a near invincible Undertaker again. Commentary has done a great job making Undertaker feel like the favorite over Bret.

Bret Hart poses with the WWF title, then smashes Undertaker with it to get the match started. Undertaker no-sells some punches and goes to work on Bret with punches of his own. Clothesline knocks Bret down and Bret escapes to the outside. Undertaker slams Bret into the railing, then slams him into the post. Undertaker tries a clothesline, but Bret moves and Taker clotheslines the post. Bret then sends Undertaker into the steel steps. Bret comes off the apron, but Undertaker catches him and slams him into the post. Another slam into the post by Undertaker. Undertaker’s strategy is clear early, to work on the back. Backbreaker by Undertaker, and Taker tries to rip Bret in half. Bret kicks out of a pin attempt. Undertaker wraps Bret in a bearhug, but Bret bites his way out. Big boot takes Bret down again though. Big elbow misses as always, but Undertaker is right back up and goes back to pounding on Bret’s back.

Bret ducks a big boot and begins to kick the knee of Undertaker. Bret slams all of his weight on Undertaker’s knee multiple times. Elbow drop to the knee, and Bret locks in the leg grapevine. Bret locks in a figure-four as Paul Bearer makes his way down to the ring. Undertaker, trapped in the figure-four, spots him and shows anger. Undertaker sits up in the figure-four, but he can’t escape. Undertaker eventually reverses the hold and puts the pressure on Bret. Undertaker slams on Bret’s knee, then heads to the outside and blasts Bearer to a huge reaction. This allows Bret to catch Undertaker with a chop block. Shawn Michaels gets Paul Bearer out of the ringside area as Bret continues to work on the knee. Bret then locks on one of my favorite holds, the figure-four around the ring post. Shawn gives Bret the five count and an argument ensues. Owen Hart and Brian Pillman now make their way to ringside as Bret continues to dominate.

Bret rams Undertaker’s leg into the ring post. Bret locks in another leg grapevine. Undertaker breaks out and then “accidentally” stumbles over the top rope…but it’s no accident as he takes out Owen Hart and Brian Pillman. Shawn Michaels sends Pillman and Owen to the back as Bret runs right into a big time chokeslam! Undertaker covers, but Shawn still has his eye on the entrance. Undertaker grabs Shawn Michaels in frustration, but Bret rolls him up. That gets two and Undertaker knocks Bret right back down. Undertaker intimidates Shawn a bit more before Bret drags him to the outside. Bret slams Undertaker into the ring apron twice. Bret then rams Undertaker’s back into the ring post. Bret rolls Undertaker into the ring and comes off the second rope with an axe smash to the back. Backbreaker from Bret. Cover gets two and Undertaker sits up. Vertical suplex from Bret. Bret heads to the second rope, flips off the fans, and drops a forearm right on Undertaker’s face. That’s also a two count and Undertaker sits up again. DDT from Bret and another cover. Undertaker kicks out and kinda sits up. Bret gets a couple of headbutts, but Undertaker stun guns him into the top turnbuckle to change the momentum of the match.

Undertaker hits his own headbutts. Bret fires back and gets punches to the back. Russian legsweep from Bret. Legdrop from Bret. Bret takes his time and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Undertaker stops him by grabbing him by the throat. Undertaker knees Bret in the midsection, then pounds away on him. Undertaker sends Bret into the corner, but Bret gets his legs up and Taker runs into them. Undertaker grabs Bret by the throat, but kicks to the knees save Bret there. Bret gets rapid-fire punches and uppercuts Bret, knocking hum down. Undertaker hits the flying clothesline. Undertaker rams Bret into the corner sternum-first, but that only gets two. Big boot from Undertaker and a big legdrop follows. That also only gets two, but it was almost three. Bret rolls out to the apron, but Undertake grabs him by the throat and chokeslams him back into the ring! Bret just kicks out of that one and the fans wanted that one. Undertaker goes for Old School, but Bret kicks the top rope and crotches him. Bret gets up to the top rope and after a small struggle, hits Undertaker with a superplex!

Bret Hart gets to his feet and looks to finish Undertaker off. Bret locks in the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring! The crowd starts to get loud…and Undertaker becomes the first man to break the Sharpshooter, sending Bret spiraling to the floor. Bret gets back in and Undertaker knocks him down with a clothesline. Undertaker goes for the Tombstone, but Bret slides behind him and locks in a Sharpshooter around the post! Undertaker breaks free but as a result sends Bret flying onto Shawn Michaels. HBK takes time to recover and Bret grabs a chair. Bret smacks Undertaker right in the face with the chair then calls for Shawn to get back into the ring. Cover only gets two and the crowd goes nuts. So does Bret, who yells at Shawn. Bret goes back to pounding on Undertaker, but Shawn sees the chair, grabs and calls Bret out on it. Bret pleads his innocence, but Shawn doesn’t believe him. And then, in my opinion is one of the greatest finishes of all-time, Bret spits at Shawn and Shawn responds by swinging the chair…only Bret ducks and Shawn blasts Undertaker! My nine-year-old jaw dropped when I first saw that. Bret makes the cover and Shawn has no choice to count. He gets the three and Shawn immediately walks away in disgust. Undertaker stumbles to the outside, hunting down Shawn, while Bret stands tall in the ring, garbage being thrown at him, with the WWF Title in his hands again.

Rating: ****1/4 (4.25)
Grade: S+

Back at the 1996 Royal Rumble I wrote that Bret Hart and Undertaker couldn’t really get the face-heel dynamic down (they were both faces). That is not the case here. This is EXACTLY how I would expect a heel Bret Hart against a seemingly unbeatable champion Undertaker match to go. Bret threw literally everything he had at Undertaker and Undertaker survived it all. It wasn’t until Shawn Michaels’ hatred for the Hitman led him to make one mistake, and that mistake finally finished off Undertaker for Bret. It’s a shame that this ended up being the peak for Bret and the feud with the Patriot and Vader really didn’t work well…and of course we know how the title reign ended. As for Undertaker, he may have lost the title, but he was arguably portrayed at his strongest here. Seemingly unbeatable. And now he had a new program with someone we haven’t seen him face off with yet in Shawn Michaels. I’m guessing that’ll lead to a good match or two. Anyway, maybe the match is too slow for you and you’d rate it lower, but this to me was a perfect story and a great wrestling match (maybe it could be a little shorter). To this day it is my favorite match and watching it again only solidified my feelings.​
 

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Undertaker's 1997 title reign was largely overshadowed by the Hart Foundation-Austin-HBK feud. Every one of his title matches were one-offs, though he still managed to make the most of them with some good matches. You talk about how Undertaker wasn't the last match of Revenge of the Taker, well that was the same with The Rock at Rock Bottom, Vader wasn't even at In Your House: It's Time, plus events like King of the Ring and Royal Rumble where the namesake matches aren't always last.
 

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birthofkane.png

The Attitude Era – The Birth of Kane (Late 1997-Early 1998)

The Undertaker was no longer the WWF Champion and that was at least partly because of Shawn Michaels’ errant chairshot. While New WWF Champion Bret Hart would move onto the Patriot, HBK’s interview on the RAW after Summerslam made it clear he didn’t care that the fans were blaming him about Undertaker’s loss. During the promo with Vince McMahon Vince mentions that HBK will face Undertaker at In Your House: Ground Zero. Undertaker has enough of Shawn’s comments and makes his way out. HBK hightails it and Undertaker ends up cutting a quick promo, but Paul Bearer appears on the titantron still taunting Undertaker about Kane. Undertaker walks back down the aisle, but the lighting is all red, which confuses everyone.

The next week on RAW features an awesome Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind main event. Triple H had been feuding with Mankind at the time, so he and Chyna got involved (as did Rick Rude). Undertaker would make the save by simply just appearing…but Paul Bearer once again interrupts and teases Kane. Anyway that would lead to our main event for the 8/18 RAW.

Match 92: The Undertaker and Mankind vs. Shawn Michaels and Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Monday Night RAW (8/18/97)

Mankind
cuts an awesome promo (of course he does) earlier in the night about how the WWF is forcing him to team up with Undertaker…maybe he’ll be loyal…or maybe he’ll be the last nail in Undertaker’s coffin! Shawn Michaels isn’t thrilled either. Undertaker says he HBK won’t make it to Ground Zero and lets Mankind he’ll take him out too if he gets out of line. (maybe Undertaker didn’t realize Dude Love and Mankind were the same guy in the Flag Match). Funny enough the story also includes the idea that Shawn and HHH aren’t interested in being partners. We know that’ll change soon enough.

Mankind and Triple H kick things off, although an incoming Shawn Michaels would get beat down by Mankind. Undertaker tags himself in to go after Shawn, and Shawn runs away. HHH uses Undertaker’s focus on HBK to attack. Undertaker backdrops HHH over the top rope onto Michaels, but catches Undertaker with Sweet Chin Music from the apron. HBK tags in and punches away at Undertaker, then immediately tags out. Undertaker once again can’t get his hands on Shawn as Shawn calls for Rick Rude. Commercial time. We come back to Michaels and HHH beating up Mankind until HHH jumps into the Mandible Claw. Chyna makes the save. It’s interesting that HBK and HHH seem to have great tag team chemistry already. HBK and HHH double team Mankind for a while as he is your face-in-peril. Shawn taunts in Undertaker’s face as I can’t help but think Bret never stood a chance at being the #1 heel in the company once Shawn turned. Shrug.

Mankind catches Sweet Chin Music and fights off Triple H as well. Hot tag to Undertaker and HBK bails again. Taker hits HHH with a clothesline a leg drop, but that only gets a two count. Taker sends HHH to the floor and then catches Shawn by the throat! Thumb to the eye gets HBK free, but a right hand sends Shawn flying into the railing (incredible bump by Shawn). Undertaker grabs Shawn on the outside, but Rick Rude threatens a chair shot. Undertaker stalks Rude and manages to chokeslam HHH who happens to stumble into him. But then Shawn blasts Undertaker with one hell of a chair shot to the face, causing the DQ. Undertaker is busted wide open, so Shawn blasts him again. Undertaker sits up a second time, causing HHH and HBK to bail.

Rating: ***1/4 (3.25)
Grade: S

Fun match with an awesome angle for a non-finish. It set up the perfect story for the Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker match for Ground Zero: The first time was an accident…the second time was a mistake! Anyway anytime Undertaker sits up after two brutal chair shots is going to get a high grade from me. Sure it’s no Kama uranage but what is?

***

There would be no RAW the next two weeks as it was pre-empted. The WWF had Friday Night’s Main Event replace those shows. On the 8/29 Main Event, Undertaker cut one of my favorite pormos (Shawn Michaels had cut a promo earlier).



The promo brings up an interesting point about why Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels has never happened. Undertaker said he wanted someone to survive to tell the story of the Undertaker. There’s an edge here that we saw in the Mankind feud in 1996, but we didn’t quite see in the WWF Title reign, that Undertaker would carry with him through 1998. Undertaker also mentions that he’s facing HHH at the next Friday Night’s Main Event.



Match 93: The Undertaker vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Friday Night’s Main Event (9/5/97)


The promo brings up an interesting point about why Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels has never happened. Undertaker said he wanted someone to survive to tell the story of the Undertaker. There’s an edge here that we saw in the Mankind feud in 1996, but we didn’t quite see in the WWF Title reign, that Undertaker would carry with him through 1998. Undertaker also mentions that he’s facing Triple H at the next Friday Night’s Main Event.

Undertaker goes right for HHH and HHH even gets the first set of blows in. Taker tosses HHH into the corner and hits his right hands. Treetop slam follows. Undertaker clotheslines HHH over the top rope. HHH is able to get the advantage back in the ring until Undertaker slams him on the canvas. Undertaker sets up for the chokeslam, but here comes Rick Rude. Undertaker tosses HHH over the top rope instead. Undertaker focuses on Rude as HHH gets a hit from behind. Commercial break and we come back to HHH hitting the knee to the face. HHH hits a flying punch off the second rope and Undertaker sits up after a kickout. Undertaker gets a boot to the face and clotheslines HHH down. Undertaker hits the flying clothesline. Old School takes HHH down. Big legdrop. HHH just kicks out at two. Rude gets on the apron and Undertaker grabs him by the throat, but Shawn Michaels runs in for the DQ. Shawn looks to hit Undertaker with the chair, but Undertaker breaks free of Rude and HHH and bails. Undertaker goes crazy and chokeslam Gerald Brisco (Brisco goes up for it too!) Undertaker plants a security guard with a chokeslam too.

Rating: *3/4 (1.75)
Grade: A+

Obviously, this was just to get to Ground Zero. I loved Undertaker going crazy at the end though. Again, he started showing an edge in this feud and his aggression is awesome. Also, as a historical note, this is how D-Generation X started, for anyone wondering. I don’t think they actually called themselves that until after Badd Blood, but we’ll get there.


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Match 94: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
In Your House XVII: Ground Zero (9/7/97)


The opening video promo is all about Shawn Michaels and Undertaker, so once again I feel obligated to say poor Bret. HBK and Undertaker would main event here. Another historical note: I believe this is the last time the WWF would use the house entrance set. Undertaker has some lightning with his entrance which is pretty cool. This is one of those entrances where they get the lighting and camera angles just right. I’ll never be able to explain it but as an Undertaker fan you can just feel it when they get the entrance right. Unsurprisingly, Shawn Michaels sells the “bang” better than anyone else when Undertaker raises the lights.

Shawn Michaels hides behind the referee, but Undertaker tosses the referee to the canvas. Shawn says “forget it” and tries to leave, but Commissioner Sgt. Slaugher sends him back to the ring. Undertaker tosses the referee over the top rope at Shawn Michaels (wtf?)! Undertaker heads to the outside and blasts HBK up the rampway. Shawn sells Undertaker’s punches like he’s literally being sent flying. Undertaker military presses Shawn and slams him on the metal ramp, then tosses him into the plants that are part of the set. Another hard right sends Shawn flying all the way down the ramp back to the ring. Just awesome so far. Undertaker slams Shawn into the steps, then chokes him with TV wires. Undertaker sends HBK into the railing, then a right hand sends Shawn into the French announcer’s desk. Shawn stands on the desk but gets hit with an uppercut that sends him flying into the railing again.

Undertaker rolls Shawn Michaels back into the ring and the beatdown is on. Big clothesline lays out HBK. Undertaker HITS the elbow drop (omg!) then hits another one. Cover, but no referee replaced the one Undertaker threw. Undertaker sends Shawn into the corner and Shawn does his trademark flip and ends up on the outside. Earl Hebner comes down and HBK begs for a DQ, but we’re two PPVs early for Earl to ring the bell for HBK. There’s actually a logical reason for this though. In the ring Undertaker turns his back on Shawn, and Shawn runs in and gets a chop block…and Earl Hebner calls for the bell to START the match. Can’t DQ a guy before the match starts!

Shawn Michaels is on offense now and slams Undertaker into the corner. HBK goes for the 10 punches, but Undertaker shoves him off. Undertaker grabs HBK by the throat, but HBK pummels his way out. HBK comes off the top rope, but Undertaker gets a haymaker to the throat then sends Shawn flying to the outside with a clothesline. Shawn gets back in the ring with a sunset flip attempt, but Undertaker grabs him by the throat and gets a treetop slam. Undertaker crotches HBK on the top rope and kicks the top rope a bit before knocking him down with another clothesline. Cover gets two. Undertaker works the arm and the selling Shawn does for him is just tremendous. Undertaker goes for Old School, but Shawn kicks the top rope to get back some control. Shawn knocks Undertaker to the outside then hits a baseball slide. HBK dives over the top rope, but Undertaker catches him and slams him into the ringpost.

Shawn crawls back into the ring and Undertaker hits a low blow for the hell of it. Backdrop sends HBK sky high! Another backdrop is countered with a swinging neckbreaker, but Undertaker sits right up and Shawn is horrified. Shawn goes to the outside for a chair, but Undertaker boots him in the face and grabs the chair himself. Referee stops Undertaker from using it and that allows Shawn to dropkick Undertaker from behind…and knock out our 2nd referee. Shawn gets some shots in to knock Undertaker down, then hits the flying elbow off the top. Shawn goes up and hits a second flying elbow. Cover and here comes Rick Rude. Undertaker kicks out by shoving HBK off him, and HBK lands on the referee. Rude tosses brass knuckles to HBK and he blasts Undertaker with them. Cover, but we have no referee again. We have a third ref, but Undertaker gets his shoulder up as HHH and Chyna are here. Shawn punches the third referee out as Shawn pummels Undertaker. HHH gets his shots on Undertaker, then he and Chyna slam Undertaker into the steps.

Shawn Michaels helps Earl Hebner up…then slams him into the turnbuckles. Shawn chokes Undertaker then drops a couple of knees to the face. Undertaker makes his comeback and gets in some big rights, but Shawn fires back again. Clothesline sends Undertaker to the floor, but Undertaker lands on his feet. HHH and Chyna attack, which allows Shawn to come off the top rope with an axhandle smash to the floor. Now HBK chokes Undertaker on the floor as HHH kicks him. They end up back in the ring and Undertaker sets up Shawn for the Tombstone, but Shawn slides behind him and goes for Sweet Chin Music. That’s blocked and Undertaker slams HBK into the corner and punches away at him. Undertaker gets his hands on the brass knuckles and blasts HBK with them! HHH gets hit too! Undertaker covers Shawn. Referee comes to, but Shawn just kicks out! Undertaker is pissed about that, so Earl gets chokeslammed. Shawn attacks but Undertaker hits the flying clothesline. Tim White runs in and calls the match a Double DQ. Undertaker sends HHH into HBK as the brawl hasn’t remotely stopped yet. Shawn hits Undertaker with Sweet Chin Music, which gets Undertaker caught in the ropes. Chyna gets Shawn a chair, but Undertaker boots it back in HBK’s face. HHH and HBK double team Undertaker before officials come down to try to break them up. Shawn takes them all out though….but HHH gets Tombstoned. Some of the wrestlers come down to try to break up the fight, which leads to Undertaker’s first ever no hands dive into a bunch of them, which is nothing short of freakin’ awesome. The show ends with Undertaker standing tall and getting a standing ovation.

Rating: ****1/4 (4.25)
Grade: S+

What a great brawl. I think this match gets forgotten sometimes when listing all the Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels classics because of what would come the next month at Badd Blood. I think the finish hurts this a bit (funny enough this is the second straight Shawn Michaels PPV match where Shawn and his opponent just took out all the referees for a Double DQ), but it just helped us build up to the next PPV so it’s all good. As for the grade, this is arguably my favorite version of Undertaker and it’s easy to see why. The edge, the aggression, the look, everything was clicking for him at this point and it’s not surprising he was still holding down the main event instead of the WWF Champion.

***

On RAW the next night, via commentary, we’re told In Your House: Badd Blood will feature Undertaker and Shawn Michaels in a Hell in a Cell match. This was the first time Hell in a Cell was ever mentioned on WWF TV and I don’t believe we’d see what it is until the actual event. We get a standard angry Undertaker promo and Shawn responds on the titantron. Nothing special here. On the 9/15 RAW we get the opposite with a HBK promo in the ring, and an Undertaker one on the titantron where he’s standing behind a cage wall. We have a bit of a detour to take before we get to Badd Blood though.

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Match 95: WWF Championship: The Undertaker vs. Bret Hart ©
One Night Only (9/20/97)


This was the WWF’s first UK PPV (well, not counting Summerslam ’92). We’d get two of these a year through 2002 I believe. The storylines were somewhat ignored here, although there was some hype on RAW for the Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog main event. With that being said, other than house shows Bret Hart and Undertaker hadn’t interacted since Summerslam ’97. We get a standard Undertaker promo before the match. A reminder that because we are in the UK, Bret should be a big face here, but perhaps in a sign that things weren’t going as well for him anymore, the crowd is probably 63-35 Undertaker.

Bret Hart and Undertaker punch away at one another and somewhat surprisingly it seems like Undertaker has the crowd with him. Treetop slam dumps Bret into the corner and Undertaker continues to pound on Bret. Bret rips off the turnbuckle. Bret gets his boots into Undertaker’s face and goes back to work on Undertaker, but Undertaker gets a short arm clothesline. Undertaker misses the elbow drop and Bret goes for an early Sharpshooter. Sit up from Undertaker, but Bret clotheslines him down. Bret clotheslines Undertaker over the top rope and hits him with a baseball slide that sends Undertaker into the announcer table. Bret leaps off the apron and Undertaker catches him…but Undertaker falls and ends up spinebustering Bret onto the floor. Undertaker then sends Bret into the ring post. Undertaker punches Bret up the aisleway, but Bret fires back. Undertaker slams Bret on the ramp. Undertaker pounds on Bret and sends him back into the ring.

Undertaker slams Bret into the corner. Bret puts on the brakes to counter a backdrop attempt and drives Undertaker with a DDT. Undertaker sits up, but Bret pulls him back to the canvas and drops a legdrop, then several forearms. Undertaker sits up again, but struggles to get to his feet. Bret rakes Undertaker’s eyes across the ropes. Undertaker reverses a whip and sends Bret into the exposed turnbuckle sternum-first. Heart punch from Undertaker. Undertaker hits a couple of elbow drops but Bret kicks out of a pin attempt. Undertaker gets a unique pinning combo for two as well. Bret gets some kicks to the legs, but Undertaker hits an uppercut that sends Bret crashing to the canvas. Big backbreaker from Undertaker. Another two count. Bret goes back to the knees to huge boos. Bret sends Undertaker into the corner, but Undertaker hits an elbow. Undertaker tries to hit a running knee into the corner, but Bret moves and Bret starts to really get good shots on the knee.

Bret continues to work the knee and locks in the leg grapevine. Bret then slams Undertaker’s leg into the post, then locks in the Figure Four around the post! Bret keeps pounding on Undertaker’s legs. We then get a regular Figure Four in the ring. Undertaker turns it around after a couple of minutes to put the pressure on Bret. Undertaker goes back on offense although the leg is damaged. Bret ducks a big boot and Bret knocks him down with a kick to the knee. Another leg grapevine, then Bret knees Undertaker’s leg, then yet another leg grapevine. Undertaker fights out. Bret takes Undertaker down with a Russian leg sweep and a vertical suplex. Backbreaker from Bret. Bret comes off the turnbuckles for the flying forearm, but Undertaker gets a boot up and Bret leaps right into it. Double clothesline leaves both men down. Undertaker sits up. Undertaker legdrops the lower abdominal area and gets a two count. Undertaker goes for another one, but Bret blocks and turns it into a Sharpshooter! Undertaker breaks the Sharpshooter again. Bret goes right back on offense with two headbutts to the groin and goes for another Sharpshooter. Undertaker blocks this one by grabbing Bret by the throat…but Bret kicks the knees. Undertaker counters with rapid-fire punches to take Bret down.

Big Boot from Undertaker and a legdrop. That get two. Bret bails to the outside and grabs the ring bell, but Undertaker hits him with a big boot and Bret drops it. Undertaker is about to hit Bret, but the referee stops him and Bret gets a chop block. Bret drives all of his weight on Undertaker’s leg, but Undertaker blocks a second attempt and kicks Bret to the outside. Undertaker slams Bret into the steps Back in the ring Undertaker sends Bret under the bottom rope and into the post. Undertaker goes for Old School, but Bret tosses him off the top rope. Undertaker goes for the Tombstone and Bret gets a roll-up, but Undertaker kicks out. Bret goes for the Tombstone but Undertaker counters and Bret gets caught in the ropes. Undertaker pounds away at Bret, who’s stuck in the ropes, and that’s a DQ (sigh). Undertaker chokeslams the referee. Gerald Brisco gets a chokeslam too. Undertaker now gets booed because punching the hell out of Bret when Bret was trapped in the ropes was a pretty heelish move. Undertaker even goes after the ring announcer when he announces Bret as the winner.

Rating: **** (4)
Grade: A-

The consensus is that this match was far better than Summerslam match but I never understood that really. Now I think this match was perhaps worked a little better and had a more exciting pace, but I didn’t really get into the story like I did the Summerslam battle (I didn’t buy Undertaker going for Old School so late in the match after all the damage to the legs, for example), and the finish is downright horrendous. This may sneak into the top 10 matches of all-time with a non-finish, but it’s not in the HBK-Mankind or Omega-Danielson tier. Still a great match though and could have definitely been a 4.5 star one if we had a solid finish.

***

Back in the States, the 9/22 RAW featured an Undertaker promo. Vince McMahon announces the winner of the Hell in a Cell match gets a WWF Title shot at Survivor Series. Pretty standard promo before Shawn Michaels shows up. I will say Shawn has done an amazing job in his promos putting Undertaker over. The end of the show has one of my all-time favorite moments. There’s a big schmozz taking place with the Harts and the future DX when Undertaker comes down and chokeslams Bret and Shawn at the same time!




Match 96: The Undertaker vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Monday Night RAW (9/29/97)


Same warm-up match as last month! Bret Hart and The British Bulldog attack Undertaker during his entrance. Vader and Patriot make the save, but then Shawn and HHH beat down Taker. Undertaker fights off HHH and goes after Shawn. HHH attacks Undertaker from behind and punches away at him. Shawn get a choke behind the referee’s back. HHH sends Undertaker into the corner, then fires away at him. Undertaker catches HHH with a flying tackle. He grabs HHH by the throat and plants him with the chokeslam. Undertaker calls for the end, but Rick Rude runs down and bashes Undertaker with the briefcase for the DQ. They put Undertaker in a bodybag, but Undertaker sits up and breaks out of it. Undertaker fights off the future DX and stalks HBK up the ramp. HBK gets stopped by a red light backstage and HBK tries to run away by climbing up the titantron. Undertaker plants HHH with a Tombstone on the ramp for good measure as RAW goes off the air.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: A

Not much of a match here but we got some big spots like the chokeslam. I didn’t realize how much Kane was hinted at around this time actually. Anyway, Undertaker looks like a bad ass heading to Badd Blood, can’t complain there.

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Match 97: Hell in a Cell: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
In Your House XVIII: Badd Blood (10/5/97)


Once again the PPV opening video promo focuses on Shawn Michaels and Undertaker’s match. The Cell comes down and really for the time it was truly an incredible structure. I like how much attention is given to making sure no one is under the ring to really push the “no way in or out” deal. Of course in hindsight that’s pretty funny too. As always, Shawn is excellent at selling Undertaker’s entrance. File this one under awesome Undertaker entrances as well. The referee padlocks the door as Shawn already wants out.

Shawn’s expression of fear is simply excellent here. Undertaker stalks Shawn around the ring. Shawn slides into the ring and hits the ropes, but Undertaker wipes him out with a big boot. Undertaker tosses Shawn into the turnbuckles and HBK goes flying. Undertaker grabs Shawn’s throat, but Shawn fires back with kicks and punches. A whip into the corner is countered and Shawn does his flip, then gets clotheslined when he falls back in. Old School sends HBK flying. Big slam from Undertaker followed by a legdrop. That gets a two count. Big backdrop and Shawn’s feet hit the ceiling! Undertaker continues to fire big punches at Shawn. Undertaker tosses HBK over the top rope, and Shawn’s feet hit the cage and HBK falls straight down. Shawn tries to climb the cage to get away from Undertaker, but Undertaker pulls him down to the floor. Undertaker sends Michaels into the cage and clotheslines him right down on the floor. Undertaker does it a second time for good measure. Undertaker sets Shawn up for a powerbomb or something on the outside, but Shawn grabs the cage and punches away at Undertaker. Undertaker ends up driving HBK into the cage in the powerbomb position though. This is all Undertaker so far.

Undertaker slams Shawn into the stairs then hits him with hard bodyshots. Undertaker then rams Shawn into the post, then into the cage, then back into the post, rinse and repeat a few more times! Undertaker tries to ram Shawn head-first into the cage, but Shawn counters and shoves Undertaker into it. Not much effect though as Undertaker clotheslines Shawn down again and slams him into the steps. Undertaker slams Shawn into the cage, but this time Shawn moves out of the way when Undertaker runs at him, and Taker runs into the cage. Undertaker regains control snapping HBK’s neck across the top rope. Undertaker gets back on the apron and Shawn knocks him off, sending Undertaker into the cage. Suicide dive from Shawn, which results in both he and Undertaker slamming into the cage. Flying clothesline from the apron knocks Undertaker down on the floor. HBK slams the steps over Undertaker’s back. Shawn sets up Undertaker on the steps and hits him with a piledriver! Sick spot there.

Shawn continues to stomp on Undertaker, but he leaps from the apron to do it. Shawn heads to the top rope and comes down to the floor on Undertaker with an axhandle smash. Undertaker finally slides back into the ring and Shawn Michaels grabs a chair. Chairshot to the back of Undertaker! Michaels nails Undertaker with a second shot! Cover only gets two. Shawn and Undertaker trade blows and HBK wins the exchange. Shawn ties Undertaker in the ropes, but Undertaker manages a boot to the face. Undertaker backdrops Shawn over the top rope, and Shawn accidentally takes out the camera man! Shawn beats up the camera man for good measure. Shawn dumps Undertaker over the top rope and Shawn goes back to beating up the camera man some more.

Shawn nails Undertaker with a flying forearm. Flying elbow from the top connects. Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter has the cage opened to help the camera man out for medical attention as Shawn loads up Sweet Chin Music. In one of my favorite spots ever Shawn hits a perfect Sweet Chin Music and Undertaker IMMEDIATELY sits up. Shawn basically shits his pants and escapes the cage as the door was open! Undertaker and Shawn fight on the outside. Shawn dropkicks Undertaker into the cage once, but the second attempt is countered as Taker catapults him into it! This busts Shawn open and Undertaker continues to beat the hell out of him. Undertaker picks up Shawn and slams him face-first into the Cell! Undertaker makes sure to do it a second time…amazing camerawork here too. Shawn gets a low blow, then starts to climb the cage. Undertaker is in pursuit and Shawn gets to the top of the Cell! Undertaker chases him up there as the crowd goes nuts. Undertaker backdrops Shawn on the roof! Undertaker grates Shawn’s face on the cage roof, with drops of blood falling on the camera below! Undertaker military presses Shawn and slams him on top of the cage! Shawn tries to climb down to escape Undertaker, but Undertaker holds onto him, then steps on his fingers, resulting in Shawn crashing through the Spanish announce table below!

Undertaker climbs down and tosses Shawn from table to table. Undertaker slams Shawn off a table onto the floor. Undertaker drags Shawn back into the Cell. Padlock goes back on as Undertaker clotheslines Shawn in the ring. Undertaker puts Shawn on the top rope…and CHOKESLAMS him off the top rope! Of course, to cap off the story, Undertaker grabs a steel chair and just blasts Shawn Michaels. I mean jeez. Undertaker calls for the Tombstone…but the lights go out! We hear the now iconic organ music…and Paul Bearer is with a masked monster. Vince McMahon makes the call…”that’s gotta be Kane! That’s gotta be Kane!” Kane comes down, rips the door off the cage and steps over the top rope. Kane does his now iconic taunt (which I do believe was botched live as the fire didn’t go off right away), then Tombstones Undertaker. Kane leaves and Shawn, who frankly I’m shocked is even remotely conscious after that chair shot, crawls over and puts an arm on Undertaker to score the win.

Rating: ***** (5)
Grade: S+

Everything was perfect here. The early ass kicking of Shawn Michaels, Michaels showing his resiliency in fighting back, the clever way they got out of the Cell, the fight on the roof, Shawn’s huge bump, the finish, just everything was perfect. Kane’s debut was perfect as well and this is one of those deals that the wrong look or music or anything could have made his WrestleCrap. Instead Kane would become one of the longest lasting characters in the history of the WWF. Very clever in having Paul Bearer not appear on RAW for a few weeks too, as it allowed the Kane story to stew in the background just a little bit before reminding everyone about it when it was time to move Shawn Michaels onto Bret Hart. Even if you aren’t a fan of either guy, I strongly recommend this match. It may be Undertaker’s greatest.

***

We wouldn’t see Undertaker for a month (although there’s a random match in Japan with him against Hakushi five days after Badd Blood which is an interesting watch). We’ll briefly follow Kane though as his storyline does tangle with Undertaker for the rest of the year.

It starts on RAW with Kane taking out a very young Hardy Boyz. Paul Bearer calls Kane Undertaker’s stop sign to his path to immortality. Kane takes out Flash Funk the next week. We actually do hear from Undertaker on the 10/20 RAW. He’s shocked that Kane is alive. Undertaker says he’ll never fight Kane. Kane responds by attacking Dude Love in the next segment. This would lead to Survivor Series where Mankind would face off with Kane. Because of course when you need to get a monster over, you call Mick Foley. Mankind would get the Mandible Claw on Paul Bearer and nailed Kane with a huge metal rod on the go-home RAW, but he would lose at Survivor Series.

Undertaker would return to RAW the night after Survivor Series.

Match 98: The Undertaker vs. Kama Mustafa
Monday Night RAW (11/10/97)


I hope Undertaker has a plan for the Uranage. Undertaker hits some punches and then a big boot. Clothesline knocks Kama down. Legdrop gets two. Undertaker chokes Kama in the corner. Kama catches Undertaker with an elbow and gets some blows in. Undertaker grabs Kama’s throat and hits the chokeslam. Undertaker clotheslines Kama over the top rope and here comes Kane. No finish. Paul Bearer cuts a promo on Undertaker saying Taker must face Kane. Undertaker threatens to rip Paul Bearer’s throat out, and Undertaker tells Kane he won’t fight him. Undertaker believes there is good in Kane and asks Kane to stand beside him. Paul Bearer tells Undertaker that Kane will destroy everyone until he agrees to fight him.

Rating: DUD (0)
Grade: A+

Nothing as a match, good promo afterwards to set up the story. Not much else to say here. Kane continued his rampage the next week taking out the Headbangers, then Crush the week after. On 12/1 Kane would take out Scott Taylor as well. On that same RAW, Sgt Slaughter would give the returning Jeff Jarrett a top level opponent for the upcoming In Your House: The Undertaker. Sure, why not.

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Match 99: The Undertaker vs. Jeff Jarrett
In Your House XIX: D-Generation X (12/7/97)


I will say this about this short era for Jeff Jarrett, I dig the music. I’m not even sure what Jarrett’s gimmick is here. Neither did the WWF, as he would be his normal self within two months. Jarrett gets a punch in but there’s no effect on Undertaker. Jarrett tries to hit and run. Jarrett gets some blows in, but Undertaker grabs him by the throat and tosses Jarrett into the corner. Clothesline knocks Jarrett down. Old School connects on Jarrett. Jarrett catches Taker with an elbow, but when he comes off the top rope Undertaker catches him by the throat. Jarrett ducks a big boot and hits a chop block. Jarrett goes all Bret Hart and works on the leg. Undertaker regains the advantage and hits a backbreaker and legdrop, but Jarrett kicks out of that. Suddenly the lights go out and here comes Kane. Kane chokeslams Jarrett, causing the DQ there. Undertaker and Kane come face-to-face, and Kane slaps him in the face. Undertaker doesn’t retaliate though. Kane does his taunt and leaves. Jarrett attacks Undertaker after the match and goes for the Figure Four, but he gets an ugly chokeslam for his efforts.

Rating: DUD (0)
Grade: B+

I like Jeff Jarrett and all, but this character wasn’t remotely at the level Undertaker had been at all through 1997. This should have been a RAW match with the non-finish too. I don’t get how this was supposed to make Jarrett look good either, even if he got a “win” over Undertaker.

***

Kane
continued his rampage the next night. Things would change on 12/15 as Undertaker came out for a promo and was determined to be the #1 contender to Shawn Michaels’ WWF Title (a worthy reward for hanging in there with Jeff Jarrett). It’ll be a Casket Match too. I wonder if the original plan was going to be HBK vs. Owen Hart, but then Vince didn’t have enough confidence in him (or Shawn didn’t want to work with him). Here comes Kane and again they come face-to-face. Undertaker blocks the slap from Kane and Undertaker walks away.

Match 100: The Undertaker vs. The Rock
Monday Night RAW (12/22/97)


There is conflicting information given about this being an Intercontinental Championship match, I’m going to assume that it is not. This is obviously a historic match because of who the Rock would become. The “bang” part of Undertaker’s entrance scares some fans at ringside which was funny.

Rock attacks Undertaker from behind. Undertaker hits a big boot and clotheslines Rock down. Undertaker slams Rock into the corner and hits another big boot. Legdrop connects and that gets a two count. Undertaker works the arm before going for Old School. Paul Bearer shows up and Kama gets a low blow to a distracted Undertaker. We come back from a commercial and Kama is still kicking Undertaker’s ass on the outside. Rock stomps away on Undertaker. Undertaker start coming back with punches, but Rock gets a slam. We get an early People’s Elbow, but Undertaker kicks out at two. Nerve hold from Rock. Undertaker fights out and clotheslines Undertaker down. Low blow from Rock. Rock pounds away on Undertaker, but Undertaker hits rapid-fire punches to come back. Undertaker sends Rock into the corner, but Rock hits an elbow. Undertaker busts out his version of the rocker dropper for the first time in a while. D’Lo Brown ends up on the apron, but Taker punches him off. Undertaker chokeslams Rock and sets him up for the Tombstone. Tombstone connects but here comes Kane. We get more of the same from Paul Bearer. Undertaker grabs Paul Bearer’s throat, but Kane saves him. Undertaker grabs Kane’s throat…but decides not to fight and Kane beats him down.

Rating: * (1)
Grade: A+

If there was anyone who benefited from the WWF’s change to a brawling main event style it was Rock. Rock had improved greatly as a character, but he still had a long way to go in the ring. It was weird seeing Rock do a nerve hold. Anyway the story continues and Kane continues to look incredible by just being affiliated with Undertaker.

***

The story would take an interesting turn on the 12/29 RAW though. First, Shawn Michaels comes out of a Casket to mock Undertaker. We sure ain’t doing a “heel is afraid of a casket” angle this time. Later in the show a bunch of guys Kane had beaten up call Kane out. As Kane stands tall against the seven jobbers Undertaker makes his way down to the ring. The jobbers think Undertaker is on their side, but Undertaker helps Kane clear out the ring. Pretty good storytelling here as Undertaker is basically offering Kane a peace offering. Fans boo Undertaker, but it was a good twist to extend the program to Royal Rumble.

On the 1/5 RAW Paul Bearer was concerned as it appeared that Kane had left him because of Undertaker’s help the week prior. Great promo from Paul Bearer. At the end of the show DX try another joke with the Casket as they did on 12/29, only Undertaker was in the Casket this time and he grabs Shawn and pulls him into the casket. It’s an incredible visual and one hell of a way for the show to end. It was also nice to see DX get owned for a segment for once.




One more RAW before the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels introduces another interesting twist to the story: he introduces the newest member of DX: Kane. Undertaker responds and tries to chokeslam Shawn, but HHH makes the save. Undertaker goes for Chyna, but this results in a DX beatdown. But Kane appears and makes the save, returning the favor from two weeks prior. Undertaker and Kane both do the same kneel down pose, signifying their union. Just awesome stuff here (even though we’re basically copying the Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart feud from 1993 and 1994. This is just the fake out stage).




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Match 101: WWF Championship - Casket Match: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels ©
1998 Royal Rumble (1/18/98)


Like last year, a WWF Title match involving Shawn Michaels main events over the Royal Rumble, won by Stone Cold Steve Austin. I just appreciate the symmetry there. Interestingly, Shawn isn’t wearing his DX gear, instead reverting back to the red heart tights. Shawn once again sells the “bang” like it is the most terrifying thing in the world.

Shawn gets jabs on Undertaker, but Taker tosses him in the corner. HBK gets more jabs though, but they have no effect on Undertaker. Undertaker grabs Shawn by the throat, but Shawn kicks the knee. Undertaker sends Shawn into the corner, but Shawn busts out a corkscrew dive…only Undertaker catches him by the throat! Cool spot. Shawn escapes, but Undertaker gets a military press. Shawn lands on his feet, but Undertaker backdrops him over the top rope and on the casket. This would be a huge moment for the future of the WWF as Shawn crushed his vertebrae on the casket, herniating the discs in his back and keeping him out of the ring for four years. Crazy how Shawn did all the insane stuff at Badd Blood but this is what took him out. You can see the pain in Shawn’s face, but amazingly he didn’t lose a beat for the rest of this match.

Undertaker slams Shawn on the floor, the big boots him into the casket! Shawn escapes instantly. Back in the ring Undertaker knocks Shawn down with a shot to the face, then slams him. Undertaker misses the big elbow but gets Old School. Undertaker hits Shawn with bodyshots, then sends Shawn flying into the corner. Shawn gains control by snapping Taker’s throat on the top rope, but Shawn comes off the top rope and Undertaker catches him with a full rotation powerslam. Undertaker rolls Shawn into the casket, but Shawn still has life in him and sticks his hand out. Shawn finds some powder and throws that in Undertaker’s face. A blinded Undertaker still manages to blast Michaels. HBK gets jabs in again, but Undertaker grabs him by the throat. Undertaker goes for the chokeslam, but Shawn is able to hook his leg in the ropes and climb to the top rope and hit a moonsault. Shawn clotheslines Undertaker over the top rope and skins the cat to get back in, but Taker drags him out anyway and throws him into the railing.

Shawn reverses a whip and Undertaker gets sent into the steel steps. Shawn slams the ring steps on Undertaker. Shawn gets the piledriver on the steps, again, awesome spot. Triple H gets a crutch shot in on Undertaker as well. HHH beats down Undertaker some more with the crutch. Shawn then smashes a chair over Undertaker’s back. Back in the ring Shawn hits a spinning back elbow, then stomps on Undertaker’s face. Shawn rolls Undertaker into the casket, but Undertaker fights out with uppercuts. Undertaker nails HHH with a shot for good measure. Shawn catches Undertaker with a spinning neck breaker in the ring. Sleeper from HBK. Undertaker finally hits a back suplex to escape and sits up. Shawn hits a flying forearm, then hits the flying elbow from the top rope. Sweet Chin Music knocks Undertaker down. Shawn rolls Undertaker into the casket, but one delivers one “Suck It” too many as Undertaker gets a testicular claw to escape the casket.

Undertaker makes his comeback and backdrops Shawn. Undertaker sends Shawn into the corner and Shawn does his flip, then gets clotheslined. Big boot sends Shawn flying. Shawn ducks the flying clothesline and Undertaker ends up in the casket. Shawn comes off the top rope with a flying elbow into the casket…and the lid gets shut with them both in! Shawn tries to escape, but Undertaker grabs his foot. Amazing camera work as the camera gets the look of fear in Shawn Michaels’ face as Undertaker drags him back into the casket. Both get out and Undertaker chokeslams Shawn in the ring. Undertaker Tombstones Shawn off the apron into the casket! But here come the New Age Outlaws and Los Boriquas to attack Undertaker. Fans want Kane to make the save, and they erupt when the lights go out! Man Kane was such a big star from the get go. Kane cleans house…but then he attacks Undertaker as Paul Bearer shows up. Kane chokeslams Undertaker into the casket and Shawn jumps on the lid to shut it, securing the win.

The big story of course is what happens after. Paul Bearer and Kane lock Undertaker in the casket. Kane takes an ax to it, then lights the casket on fire! This was one of the most famous angles of all-time when it happened. This is how the PPV ended too.

Rating: ***3/4 (3.75)
Grade: S+

The match wasn’t quite the other Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels matches, but still quite good and I really liked the spots in the casket (like the flying elbow, chokeslam, Tombstone). If this had a remotely clean finish I’d probably go four stars. That being said the angle is iconic and the road to Wrestlemania was clear now…once we resurrected Undertaker of course. But that’s for next time.


 
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