The OFFICIAL The Undertaker Appreciation Thread

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Consider this thread a bit of a celebration chronicling the career of the greatest gimmick in pro wrestling history.

You might ask yourself, why is this necessary?

Because Warner2BruceTD is a cunt and didn't include him in his Top 100 Wrestlers of All-Time (which is still continuing, btw).

And, WrestleMania is 2 weeks away and he's going to be in a match against Triple H in a Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels as referee (talk about overbooking).

So, this thread will include some good matches, some bad matches, and some utter abortions of matches.

So, what should we start with?

Of course an abortion of a match!!

Listen, early 90's WWF really really bad, but also really really REALLY good for unintentional comedy. There is no reason why a guy with a zombie gimmick should have lasted 20+ years in wrestling, but this guy did, but it wasn't without its fair share of ridiculously campy wrestlecrap.

So, just a quick fastforward...

Undertaker debuts at Survivor Series 1990 as a member of Ted Dibiase's team, being managed by Brother Love. A few weeks later, they switch it up and name Paul Bearer his manager. Many lulz would be produced by ol Paul Bearer, but more on that much later.

He'd go on to face Jimmy Snuka...

(Obligatory posting of his first WrestleMania match)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0FtV9XalzY&feature=channel"]The Undertaker vs. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - YouTube[/ame]

...side with Jake Roberts against the Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage...but after a year of no selling every one and every thing, I guess it was time to face Hulk Hogan.

LOL, yup. Survivor Series 1991, two guys, that, at the time, couldn't sell ice to a Eskimo, and the match was brutal...but at least Hogan jobs...and you get a cameo and run-in by Ric Flair.

This was The Undertaker's first world championship win...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5eBNcoYPEc"]The Undertaker vs. Hulk Hogan (1/2) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_5mhjCWooM&feature=related"]WWF - Hulk Hogan vs Undertaker (2/2) - YouTube[/ame]

And yes, The Undertaker was getting cheered over Hulk Hogan, but it didn't matter, they gave Hogan the title back six days later at This Tuesday in Texas.

And also yes, there will be better matches posted in this thread at some point...but we'd need to fast forward about 10 years. We'll get to that...but in the meantime, look for the unintentional comedy. I think the next post will involve a totally in character promo by the Undertaker where he tells Yokozuna to have a Merry Christmas and says "ho ho ho" while he makes a casket for a fat guy.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

When the Undertaker debuted in 1990, as mentioned, it was a terrible time for the WWF, but one thing is for certain, they didn't lack in laughs.

They had the most amazingly campy promo vignettes...like this one...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_h14rr9u9o"]WWE Superstars The Undertaker promo 09.02.1991 - YouTube[/ame]

And some of these against leading up the Hulk Hogan match at Survivor Series...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_4NtpvyO6I"]Undertaker VS Hulk hogan promo - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfeIVmR0e9Y"]Undertaker and Paul Bearer Promo On Hulk Hogan - YouTube[/ame]

+rep to Paul Bearer.

Let's be honest, he made about as much sense as The Ultimate Warrior for most of these.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDYZvM1Fgj0"]Madison Square Garden (Msg) Undertaker House Show Promo 01/07/1991 - YouTube[/ame]

And this wild shit from his match against Yokozuna in the casket match where it took the entire undercard heel roster to put him in the jumbo pine box.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWFUQblJ6Zo"]undertaker vs yokozuna casket match - YouTube[/ame]

Vince must have been on some real good narcotics for this shit.

Oh, and to add to the ridiculousness, he used to put jobbers in body bags.

I don't even think they allow that footage on WWE films these days because its so ridiculous.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCSEywyu3pI"]WWF Prime Time Wrestling: Undertaker Destroys Jobber - YouTube[/ame]

Soon after his match against Hulk Hogan, they turned him face...I mean, who can boo a zombie that just no-sold Hulk Hogan to victory?

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The best of Paul Bearer's Funeral Parlor...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjIFYyCWS3g"]Undertaker+Jake Roberts at Funeral Parlor - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeNBnC8nO1A"]Undertaker Funeral Parlor Hulk Hogan Special Guest - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBt5gTx8YWY"]The Undertaker on The Funeral Parlor - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B7fcVuH6F4"]Funeral Parlor w/ The Undertaker 4/6/91 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QroytgsHgeg"]The Undertaker attacks Hulk Hogan on The Funeral Parlor 11/16/91 - YouTube[/ame]

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

After further inspection...I don't even want to post a lot of youtube videos for most of the shit I'm going through...basically, after that awful Yokozuna match, Undertaker goes away for a while and comes back after WrestleMania X to confront and ultimately beat the Fake Undertaker...terrible. Then he moved on to a feud with Diesel which culminated in a match at WrestleMania XII. The match wasn't awful for a Kevin Nash match. But needless to say, the WWF was transitioning from the uber-camp of the early 90's into a more serious product and it was difficult to justify this zombie still wandering around putting guys into bodybags after match...so, we'll just fast forward his stuff with Mick Foley.

The Undertaker and Mankind Part 1

One of my favorite Taker/Mankind matches, the BOILER ROOM BRAWL.

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="360" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xmr3mp_undertaker-vs-mankind-in-a-boiler-room-brawl-match_sport"></iframe>

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc_7eocmclw"]Undertaker vs Mankind Buried Alive Match pt 1/3 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPsO2l0K6Nw"]Undertaker vs Mankind Buried Alive Match pt 2/3 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYcCDx2PyoM"]Undertaker vs Mankind Buried Alive Match pt 3/3 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN8jimEoqM8"]Undertaker vs Mankind Survivor Series 1996 Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-BoWkFr_FE"]Undertaker vs Mankind Survivor Series 1996 Part 2 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mda_2-kGBh0"]Undertaker vs Mankind [In Your House 14] 1/2 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcQdXO5hn5A"]Undertaker vs Mankind [In Your House 14] 2/2 - YouTube[/ame]

[stevsta]

you forgot their best match
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz-3qp5ejXM&feature=related"]The Undertaker Vs Mankind Hell In A Cell - YouTube[/ame]

[IamMedellin]

.....do you think he's losing to Trips?

that's the only reason I can think of to make a Taker retrospective

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

you forgot their best match
The Undertaker Vs Mankind Hell In A Cell - YouTube

Nigga, you goin wayyyyy too far into the future.

Still need to put up his first batch of matches when he was champ wrestling Bret and Shawn.

[EmpireWF]

You're too hard on the WMXII match with Diesel, Larry. It was a very good match, Taker's best at WM (potential exception of the first Kane match) until 2001.

Loved the feud with Mankind, beginning the night after WMXII. Foley was awesome, so different than anything on WWF TV at the time. Plus, he was one of the few guys who could work like a champ and be believable in hurting Taker.

.....do you think he's losing to Trips?

that's the only reason I can think of to make a Taker retrospective

He won't, but he only has another match or two left in him.

[Kuzzy Powers]

Taker vs Yoko @ Rumble was one of my favourite child hood matches, just taking 20 guys to take him out was awesome..

Boiler room brawl FTW! Foley takes a wicked bump off a ladder to the concrete in that match, under appreciated brutal match.

[s@ppisgod]

First off, fuck the Undertaker. He was overrated in the late 90s, and vastly overrated now.

Second off, HEY ASSHOLE, you skimmed over the best past of early to mid-90s Undertaker. The video package leading up to his match with the Fake Undertaker. You remember, when they were interviewing poorly acting firefighters recounting the story of how they saw UT and a kindergarten class saying they saw him go down a slide or some bullshit. Oh, it was awful. Just awful.

[EmpireWF]

First off, fuck the Undertaker. He was overrated in the late 90s, and vastly overrated now.

:kanyesmh:

How can he be overrated now? He works one match a year and steals the show at the biggest event of the year.

[s@ppisgod]

:kanyesmh:

How can he be overrated now? He works one match a year and steals the show at the biggest event of the year.

His streak main events WM, not him. They book it to be a huge deal, and for things to not show it up. Last year, a Rumble winner opened up WM and didn't win the title. Do either of those stay the same if the streak is in play? Probably not. A lot of things have to be dumbed down and everything is put behind it so that UT's match is THE match of the biggest show of the year. And yeah, any of his great matches feature him as the clear 2nd best performer in the ring. Even his mic skills ain't that great. He's all mystique. Smoke and mirrors. He's more dependent on attire/entrance/booking/writing than any wrestler since.....Warrior maybe?
SAMSUNG-SGH-A887/A887UCIJ1 SHP/VPP/R5 NetFront/3.5 SMM-MMS/1.2.0 profile/MIDP-2.1 configuration/CLDC-1.1

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

His streak main events WM, not him. They book it to be a huge deal, and for things to not show it up. Last year, a Rumble winner opened up WM and didn't win the title. Do either of those stay the same if the streak is in play? Probably not. A lot of things have to be dumbed down and everything is put behind it so that UT's match is THE match of the biggest show of the year.

Why are you hating on good booking? The WWE has so little of it, why hate on it when they get something right?

And yeah, any of his great matches feature him as the clear 2nd best performer in the ring.

Yeah, his matches against Bret, Shawn, Foley...but, what about great matches against Batista, Triple H, Randy Orton and lesser, good matches against the likes of Jeff Hardy?

Even his mic skills ain't that great. He's all mystique. Smoke and mirrors.

His gimmick is a damn zombie...do you expect him to come out and battle rap Cena? Ask you if you smell what the Undertaker is cookin?

He's more dependent on attire/entrance/booking/writing than any wrestler since.....Warrior maybe?

He came from the same era that made Warrior, but he was able to last over 20 years with one of the corniest gimmicks from said era (a god damned ZOMBIE)...if you really think this guy, from an era long forgotten and incredibly dated, is dependent on anything outside of his own ability, you are cray cray and clearly hating.

SAMSUNG-SGH-A887/A887UCIJ1 SHP/VPP/R5 NetFront/3.5 SMM-MMS/1.2.0 profile/MIDP-2.1 configuration/CLDC-1.1

Fuck your phone.

[EmpireWF]

His streak main events WM, not him. They book it to be a huge deal, and for things to not show it up. Last year, a Rumble winner opened up WM and didn't win the title. Do either of those stay the same if the streak is in play? Probably not. A lot of things have to be dumbed down and everything is put behind it so that UT's match is THE match of the biggest show of the year. And yeah, any of his great matches feature him as the clear 2nd best performer in the ring. Even his mic skills ain't that great. He's all mystique. Smoke and mirrors. He's more dependent on attire/entrance/booking/writing than any wrestler since.....Warrior maybe?
SAMSUNG-SGH-A887/A887UCIJ1 SHP/VPP/R5 NetFront/3.5 SMM-MMS/1.2.0 profile/MIDP-2.1 configuration/CLDC-1.1

Please...

He got a very good-great matches out of Kevin fucking Nash and Batista. Of course he had great matches with the likes of Austin, Foley, Bret, Shawn, Angle, HHH, Flair, etc....all diff't varieties.

Sure, he had stinkers with Yokozuna, Mable, Kamala.....exactly.

Mic skills not great? What do you want from the guy? WOOOOOOOO!?

He turned a silly gimmick into money for 20 years.

[s@ppisgod]

Why are you hating on good booking? The WWE has so little of it, why hate on it when they get something right?

How is saying that people rate HIM higher than they should saying anything bad about the booking? It's the exact opposite. I'm saying he's MORE DEPENDENT on good booking.

Yeah, his matches against Bret, Shawn, Foley...but, what about great matches against Batista, Triple H, Randy Orton and lesser, good matches against the likes of Jeff Hardy?

I've never enjoyed any of his matches with Batista, Orton, or Trips really. I think his WM match last year was solid, but overrated also. I will say that he got more out of Brock than I expected him too. But I know if he's not working with a good worker, I'm probably not going to enjoy it any. Where as with others, there's a decent possibility I will. Having him rated along with those guys is inaccurate.

His gimmick is a damn zombie...do you expect him to come out and battle rap Cena? Ask you if you smell what the Undertaker is cookin?

His gimmick is off and on zombie and you know it. Was the American Badass a zombie? Early-mid 90's? Zombie. Early to late 00s, not so much. He was "The Dead Man", but it's hardly like his promos weren't demonstrative. You're talking about him like he's the ECW zombie.

He came from the same era that made Warrior, but he was able to last over 20 years with one of the corniest gimmicks from said era (a god damned ZOMBIE)...if you really think this guy, from an era long forgotten and incredibly dated, is dependent on anything outside of his own ability, you are cray cray and clearly hating.

Bullshit, Larry. You're saying a large portion of his legacy ISN'T the manufactured streak which started as luck and turned into a booking device that could easily make a feud so they went with it? Or that his legacy isn't also tied to a HIAC match that, without Shawn Michaels' ability or Foley's psychotic ability to take pain, wouldn't be very enjoyable at all? This isn't to say that he should drag Giant Gonzalez in there and try to carry him to a good match (impossible), but if you put him in there with any number of average-above average workers, people are nodding off in the audience instead of going nuts. It's the truth.

He's got longevity. I'm not arguing that. I'm arguing the quality that he would be viewed without the work of so many others. He's becoming over the course of this last "Streak" WM push one of the biggest legends of the last 25 years. But it puts him in a category with a lot of guys (HBK, Hart, SCSA, Foley) that made a career of making OTHER GUYS look better than they could on their own. With UT, his career is more predicated on other guys making him look good. It's a simple criticism. I'm not saying the guy is shit, I'm saying I think he's rated higher than he should. And it's a compliment to the WWE's booking and guys like HBK, and I've never been huge on complimenting either. Not that HBK isn't great, he's just a douche that I don't like to compliment.

Fuck your phone.

I'd agree with you there....