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.
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.
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).
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.
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?)
