The grand and pathetic journey of the Undertaker at WrestleMania

[El-P]

WrestleMania 13 (1997) – Undertaker vs Sid

First Taker Mania main event. First Mania WWF title match. Against Sid ! Poor fellow. We’ve reached the point where they begin to historicize Taker’s story in the company, and that goes along the fact he is wearing the old grey boots and gloves here, as if there is something to be « Old School » already. I did not remember Bret Hart cutting that awesome heel promo before they can start the match, but he sure did slay Micheals (who was announcing and doing a bad job at it) and tore down both Taker and Sid, before the later punched him out of the ring. One day I'll have to rewatch the whole Bret saga in 97, I think it's taken a bit for granted nowadays.

So there goes a babyface vs babyface match with Taker doing his usual match beginnings until Sid... grabs a bearhold. I swear that’s the very first « offensive move » Sid does. And he lets go. And goes back to it. THREE TIMES. This match is already dead five minutes in. Taker takes a ridiculous backbump over the spanish table and we go into full incoming-Attitude Era tropes of slamming people on tables and stairs outside. Before.... grabbing a camel clutch ! Of course, why the fuck not. Sid is downright awful on offense and almost Giant Gonzalez bad on selling. And really, after Taker has done his requisite rope walk, which is a beginning-of-match spot, his comebacks aren’t really interesting as I pointed out before. And his selling isn’t super compelling either, he’s grimacing through his hair, his body is kinda wobbling around but there’s never something really specific about what he does. Oh fuck now HE grabs a nerve hold, this has to be a joke. Meanwhile, Sid does disgusting looking stuff like this pathetic powerslam which had zero power nor any slam to it.

By the way, as nothing pretty much happens ever, Bret Hart shows up not once, but twice to fuck Sid up, which will actually cost him the match, so Taker’s win at the end really isn’t clean at all. Before that, they do a reverse Tombstone spot where Sid actually plants it and gets a nearfall out of it, so this is an interesting first occurrence of one classic spot-to-be of incoming Epic matches. This however is un-epic as fuck despite Sid kicking out of the chokeslam (again, that is gonna be a staple of big Taker Mania matches in the future). Hell, Sid does not even do the powerbomb nor even a simple tease of it, as the psychology is all over the place.

In the end, just a bad, boring match.

1-5

[Perfectly Straightedge]

I always heard that Vince is why so many people do bearhugs. That it was like his favorite move for a stronger worker to use. Is that truth or just a farce. 

[flyonthewall2983]

I thought Bret coming out felt a little pointless, other than to keep him in the world title picture (which wouldn't happen until months after anyway). Especially after the submission match, one of his greatest matches ever. It felt like it over-emphasized him being a heel now. 

[Ricky Jackson]

2 hours ago, flyonthewall2983 said:

I thought Bret coming out felt a little pointless, other than to keep him in the world title picture (which wouldn't happen until months after anyway). Especially after the submission match, one of his greatest matches ever. It felt like it over-emphasized him being a heel now. 

It made sense because his whole heel turn came about because he was bitter over being screwed out of the title, by Shawn at Mania 12, and Sid and Taker on Raw a few weeks before. (Austin too, of course) And originally Bret was to face Sid at the next PPV iirc. It also got him over as a whiney, entitled asshole heel, to Americans at least 

[Johnny Sorrow]

And, at least in my circles, the Bret Hart story from 96-97 is in no way overlooked or forgotten. It's considered some of the best storytelling the WWF ever pulled off. Shit,  Montreal accidentally made it even better.

[Loss]

How perfect is it that the Wrestlemania main event is about to start, and everyone is ready to lock up, then Bret comes out to whine about life?

[Strummer]

Does anyone know who Undertaker would have faced at wM 13,if they had gone with original Shawn/ Bret rematch for the title? I assume he just wrestles Sid anyway in an upper midcard attraction type match.

wm 13 original card had Austin v Bulldog and Vader v Mankind. Actually wonder who Owen gets if they go with that 

[El-P]

Chapter 4 : the Attitude Era

WrestleMania XIV (1998) – Undertaker vs Kane

You can feel the difference of momentum of the company just watching at the production values, which is pretty grand with an army of druids and live flaming torches. Taker wears his long leathery thing, no hat anymore, this is the Attitude Era folks and... fuck me... here's Kane. Hearing Jerry Lawler recap the whole story really makes you think this stuff has gotten a pass strictly because it happened at the same time Austin vs McMahon was going on, it’s so incredibly dumb and corny including by today’s standards (because they play it so straight too). Haven’t watch a Kane match in years so I'll keep on open mind. Maybe I will revise my judgement...

Ok, every big Taker match looks like this with the same elbow/big boot counters in the corners and exchanges of punches, which really don’t look very good at all here because, fuck me, Kane does indeed suck donkey balls at it. They kinda sorta go for the same Diesel match vibe of familiarity, so it’s a lot more dynamic than the Sid match at least. Gotta love the « I have never seen Taker manhandled like this » comment by JR, because that’s also what he said in the Diesel match two years before... and the Giant Gonzalez match four years before. Basically, Taker is the guy everyone manhandles like he’s never been manhandled before.

Now it’s time for the Attitude Era tropes of banging into the stairs and then using the stairs to bump and whatnot. Kane on offense is dreadull, he can’t punch worth a shit and yet that’s pretty much all he does. Taker himself really isn’t that good honestly, at one point he tries some funky luchaesque counter jumping on Kane’s shoulders only to get face planted and it looks sloppy as fuck (yeah, really now, that was a terrible idea). Execution does matter, people. When it looks like shit, it looks like shit. And this match really mostly looks like shit with Kane on offense for most of the time. And it's very boring too, as it transitions into Sid territory with soft looking restholds (fuck, at least Sid kinda sorta worked the back for his finisher... he’ll never actually try, but Kane is going straight into sloppy-ass chinlock) after a fucking nearfall from the chokeslam, which is essentially Kane’s n°2 spot. Again, piss-poor pacing and psychology. Chinlock city again and again.

Then Taker goes lucha again with a fat ass tope over the top rope which lands straight into the spanish table ! Total WTF moment but this was an odd timing for that. Kane looked nonplussed. It all leads to some awful looking flying clothesline from Kane for a nearfall no one gives a fuck about (really, the crowd doesn't react one bit). At this point they only care once Taker tries a Tombstone, probably because they want to see Steve Austin. Same spot as with Sid where Kane counters the Tombstone for another nearfall. The match ends with a finisher spamming, as Kane kicks out of *two* Tombstones (with zero urgency, he apparently also sucks at this and also does comically shitty zombie sit-ups) before a top rope clothesline and a third Tombstone (from which Kane almost kicks out of) for the win. Sure, that wasn't excessive at all... I mean the Tombstone had been super protected to the point I believe only Hogan may have kicked out of it before. This foreshadows some ideas for actual epics later on, but this was just terribly executed and thought out.

I was so right about Kane, actually I did not remember he sucked so bad even then. Taker did not look very good either apart from the few big spots he does well (including crashing on a table outside). Overall a really *bad* match.

1-6

[Loss]

It was a bad match, but I'd personally move it to the other column anyway, solely because it was to this point Undertaker's best built WM program and the finish was what it needed to be. Not remotely a good match, but it hit the parts people cared about at the time. I wouldn't say that for anything else to this point except the Diesel match.

[flyonthewall2983]

4 hours ago, El-P said:

Gotta love the « I have never seen Taker manhandled like this » comment by JR, because that’s also what he said in the Diesel match two years before... and the Giant Gonzalez match four years before.

3 years before, and JR wasn't at 12 but I get what you mean. It's Vince all the same. 

[El-P]

Oh yes, my bad, JR stayed in my mind because he was already saying it during the Gonzalez match... a few years before.  

[flyonthewall2983]

This faux pas illustrates an interesting point, of how different the company was in those 5 years, and how different Taker and JR were presented. By 98 Taker is a more realized character, now with an exposed backstory. And JR went from being the b-show guy to now the voice of the company, as well as having an elevated role behind the scenes. 

Guess the only thing that hasn't changed is the WM workrate. 

[El-P]

10 minutes ago, flyonthewall2983 said:

By 98 Taker is a more realized character, now with an exposed backstory.

Honestly, I'm not sure it was a good thing !  

But yeah, crazy how quick the things moved back then compared to post 2000. I believe JR had been fired twice already.

[Loss]

For what it's worth, nearly everything about WM XIV seemed constructed for first-time viewers.

[flyonthewall2983]

It was the coming-out party of the Attitude Era. Things went into motion awhile before, but this is where it was cemented. Austin didn't just win the belt, but was finally coronated as top guy. 

I wonder if El-P is going to have a change of heart for Taker's next WM outing lol

[Laz]

I will argue that WM14 is one of Taker's good matches on the grounds that, as @Loss said, the match hit the big points it needed to and ended in a manner that felt true to the angle up to that point. It was also surreal as shit to see somebody kick out of multiple Tombstones, and only BARELY stay down for a third. Not great, by any means, but better than any of the previous WM matches besides Diesel, and better than a lot of the ones that followed.

[Loss]

A side note that one of my favorite Vince stories is from that year when people around him argued that Tyson wasn't worth the price tag because it could make WM a money-losing show. Vince's response was that it would be much better for their business to lose money on 750K buys than make money on 450K buys.

[PeteF3]

On 2/13/2021 at 10:40 PM, Strummer said:

Does anyone know who Undertaker would have faced at wM 13,if they had gone with original Shawn/ Bret rematch for the title? I assume he just wrestles Sid anyway in an upper midcard attraction type match.

wm 13 original card had Austin v Bulldog and Vader v Mankind. Actually wonder who Owen gets if they go with that 

Sid was going to beat Shawn for the belt on Thursday Raw Thursday and then defend against Taker.

Maybe they put Owen against Maivia? And what do they do with the tag titles?

[KinchStalker]

I don't have anything substantive to chime in with - I don't think I've actually seen a single Taker WM match - but this has thus far been a fun read. Kudos.

[Strummer]

35 minutes ago, PeteF3 said:

Sid was going to beat Shawn for the belt on Thursday Raw Thursday and then defend against Taker.

Maybe they put Owen against Maivia? And what do they do with the tag titles?

The "original" original  plan was Shawn v Bret for the title. Then Vince panicked and decided to with .Sid v Taker for the title while Shawn v Bret would be a regular match. Shawn loses smile and now Bret needs an opponent for Mania. Austin was going to face Bulldog then gets moved to Bret in the submission match.

so with Mankind v Vader and Bulldog v Austin originally  slated, yeah what do you do with tag titles and Owen?

Owen getting the ic title shot sounds right

[El-P]

WrestleMania XV (1999) – Undertaker vs Big Boss Man

No.

Just NO.

Ok, I’ll do it because it’s part of the game, but come on... Hell in the Cell is a gimmick that kinda produced Taker’s two most famous matches : Shawn Micheals (for good reasons) and Mick Foley (for bad reasons). So, Hell in the Cell at Mania should, has to be, something special. WRONG. There’s so many wrongs about this but you can basically sum it up to two words : Vince Russo. That being said, he was working under McMahon's infamous « quality filter », so there you go, maybe the two words be Vince & Vince. It’s Ministry of Darkness Taker. Judging by his vampiric look and gravely talk-over on his theme’s remix, it seems he was auditioning for a spot in Type O Negative. And he should have thought about moving on, because if that match was any indication, his pro-wrestling career was done. Oh yeah, there’s the Big Boss Man too. Poor guy, he was such a big deal during the Hulkamania days. He’s just a washed up minion of McMahon no one cares about anymore here facing a guy who’s basically a satanist who abducted and threatened to torture a young girl (fresh as a daisy Stephy). Yeah, you know what, the more I’m reminded of those "classic" Taker storylines, the more I think people are kinda mean to The Fiend... Not to mention it's basically a heel vs heel HITC match, because "shades of grey", bro.

Ok, so the match is terrible. Just bad, plodding, boring brawling inside the cage. At some point Bossman uses handcuffs and of course they break when Taker falls on his ass. It’s so bad that there are some « boring » chants. It is SO BAD the zombie sit-up spot gets no pop at all. I’ll say it again, the ZOMBIE SIT-UP SPOT GETS NO POP AT ALL. Taker fucks up his flying clothesline in a comical way as he does a complete flip over Bossman basically, barely touching him with his open hand. He bleeds, like my brain does watching this shit. Hey, Bossman cuts off the rope-walk spot and that gets a mild reaction. Way to waste a cool counter (for the first time at Mania) on this debacle. And speaking of waste, way to kill what had become a legendary gimmick too, synonymous until this point with incredible spectacle.

So, Taker wins, people pop because they want to see Austin vs Rock, but of course they don’t get to see that yet. Because now the Ministry (ya know, Edge, Christian, Gangrel) show up on the cage and they literally hang Bossman. Like, in a public hanging, with a noose and stuff. And as Bossman basically is publicly executed, complete with the body going all numb and shit after the neck snap (really gloomy), Micheal Cole, who was calling his first Mania, delivers the classic line « Could this be SYMBOLIC ? ».

No Micheal. It’s just pure dogshit.

1-7

[MoS]

IIRC, Taker was dealing with multiple injuries from 1998 all the way to early 2001, even after his comeback as the American Badass, where he was downright fat and in the worst shape we have ever seen him, including BrokenTaker the last few Manias. Meltzer often talks about how many of his friends and sources in WWF told him that Taker would need to retire soon cuz he's too banged up......in late 1997. That explains why he never had even one classic match in the Attitude Era (Mankind HitC being a complete exception for obvious reasons) until his fun HHH smoke-and-mirrors brawl against Hunter on the day often held to be the last day of Attitude. 

[kas]

It's funny how awful that HIAC match is yet I'm still not sure it's Taker's worst match or even his second-worst. His best stuff is incredible but man he has some stinkers.

[flyonthewall2983]

It's actually kind of remarkable how a guy with the baggage of injuries he had by the late 2000's was able to have these great matches we'll get to later. It speaks as much to the talent he was paired against but in any match it always takes two to tango. 

On 2/14/2021 at 10:50 AM, Loss said:

solely because it was to this point Undertaker's best built WM program

I would argue that the build-up to the match at WM 8 is just as good, if you consider that it really started with the Warrior angle from the year before, when Jake turned heel and aligned with Taker, then him being a supporting role in the Savage feud, leading up to the moment on SNME where he stopped Elizabeth from taking a chairshot. Not saying it's better or worse than the Kane angle, which had as much time to build up to, but it was a good way to turn him face, by making his character the wingman to the most evil heel in the company until he had enough of it. 

[El-P]

I mean from a pure pro-wrestling booking standpoint, yes the build toward Mania XIV was good BUT the angle was trash (really, Taker's little brother who murdered his parents by burning the funeral house down and who was also the son of Paul Bearer and who was burned so badly he was hidden for 30 years, come on people), the worker was trash and the match was trash. Well built trash is still trash. And like I said in the review, the match was also pretty damn heatless, actually, so it's not like the audience cared. Maybe if the work had not been so bad, they would have.