[1997-06-23-WWF-Raw] Vader & The Undertaker vs Faarooq & D-Lo Brown

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. And … Ahmed apparently blew out his knee earlier in the night. Gotta love it. Undertaker and Vader are teaming since Paul Bearer is managing both guys and set up the match. Undertaker hit Vader when he got in his face, giving the NOD a win. Vader and Taker brawl after the match and Undertaker gives him a tombstone. Not sure why they'd have Vader take his biggest move as part of the PPV hype.

 

Undertaker is walking away and Paul Bearer tells him because of this, next week he will reveal the big secret.

[Kevin Ridge]

My warped memory had Vader being a fill in for Ahmed Johnson for upcoming PPV. But yes, why would you have Taker do the Tombstone to Vader now? Bearer isn’t finished with Undertaker. Paul will have a big announcement next week and tell Undertaker’s secret.

[soup23]

Ok, I knew Vader vs. Taker was at IYH but didn't know how they got here. Ahmed blowing out his knee in that pull apart is terrible timing on his point. Vader/Taker get into a mini fight and Vader gets pinned with a clotheslilne like this is a Survivor Series match. They continue to brawl and Taker tombstones him so I have no idea who thought Vader would win at the PPV. Bearer says next week the big reveal will take place.

[PeteF3]

This was supposed to be Faarooq & Ahmed, but naturally Ahmed blew out his knee in the DOA brawl, as the horrible rash of injury luck continues for both the WWF and Ahmed personally. Vader abuses D'Lo while Bearer browbeats Undertaker in the corner. Undertaker finally clobbers Vader which leads to a Faarooq spinebuster and pin. Undertaker tombstones Vader after the match! Okay, that was great, and I'm guessing it wasn't decided yet that Vader was stepping in at the PPV for Ahmed. Bearer scurries for cover, and announces that he's telling the secret next week. I have a sneaking suspicion that this whole angle will actually come off better in hindsight, considering how objectively successful the Kane gimmick turned out to be. I'm also looking forward to seeing if this really is the run of Percy's career--right now I'm partial to his call-to-action run as a WCCW babyface, but there's no question he did some good work with some horrible material in 1997 and '98.

[Exposer]

I was right. Ahmed blew out his knee in the opening brawl. Gosh, that guy had bad luck. This match is really just a backdrop for Taker-Bearer dissension & more "gang wars." DOA come out & attack D-Lo when he's sent to the floor. I swear I heard the bell ring & when they come back from break the match is still going on. Taker & Vader can't get along & Taker decks Vader resulting in Faarooq capitalizing & getting the win for The Nation. Bearer yells at Taker after the match & Taker goes after him. Vader attacks, but Taker hits him with a great looking tombstone to a big pop. Taker goes after Bearer, but Bearer scatters. As Taker is leaving, Bearer says he's finally going to reveal Taker's big secret next week on RAW. It creates intrigue for next week, but this match & segment isn't very good. The story of Kane is about to be told.