Triple Threat Theatre - The Undertaker (The Original Deadman Era)
The career of one of the greatest performers, and undoubtedly the greatest character in the history of professional wrestling has finally come to an end. Despite the obvious being that it was coming, Mark Calaway’s proclamation that his career is over at the finale of The Last Ride series is still an extremely hard pill to swallow for many die-hard fans. Personally, I watched much of the final episode with tears in my eyes, as I have been a seemingly life-long fan of The Undertaker, to the point that I actually have the Undertaker symbol tattooed on my left arm. All of that said, we felt that we should celebrate the legendary career of The Undertaker with a Triple Threat Theatre where we normally highlight the three best matches of a performer’s career, but with such a lengthy and varied body of work, we wanted to do something special. So I present to you the first-ever Triple Threat, Triple Threat Theatre. We have dissected The Undertaker’s career into three different eras:
The Original Deadman - (1990 - 2000)
The American Badass - (2000 - 2003)
Return Of The Deadman - (2004 - 2020)
Today brings the first era, that of The Original Deadman where we will highlight his three best matches from it.
3) WWF In Your House 13: Final Four – 02/16/1997 – WWF Championship Final Four Match – The Undertaker Vs. Vader Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Bret Hart
Originally conceived to be a Number One Contenders match following the shady finish of the 1997 Royal Rumble, the plan would go up in smoke only a few days before on Thursday RAW Thursday (yes that was the name of the show) when Shawn Michaels lost his smile and forfeited the WWF Championship. Long thought to be HBK’s way of getting out of returning the favours to Bret at WrestleMania, this final four match would end up being contended for the WWF Championship, raising the stakes considerably. And the four men involved all came with their working boots on. Easily the best match of Vader’s WWF career and both Hart and Austin were in their primes, but the biggest revelation may have been The Undertaker. Up until this point, he had been known more for the lumbering big man act, but thanks to his feud with Mankind the previous year he had been able to expand his character and repertoire to show what he was truly capable of. A true coming-out moment for the Deadman in what ended up being a prelude to his first true WWF Title reign.
2) WWF SummerSlam 1997 – 08/03/1997 – WWF Championship Match – The Undertaker Vs. Bret Hart (Special Guest Referee Shawn Michaels)
Thanks to the booking, which involved special referee Shawn Michaels being banned from ever wrestling in the US if he didn’t call the match down the middle, as well as Bret suffering the same fate if he lost the match, it was a foregone conclusion that the Hitman was walking away with the strap at the end of the night. But the story of how they got there is what mattered more, and given that Bret is arguably the greatest storyteller in wrestling history, and the fact that Undertaker wanted to work with Bret who he knew would allow him to truly show what he could do in the ring there was very little doubt that this match would not deliver. And boy did it ever. The Undertaker was already one of the most legendary characters in history before this night, and while he would walk away without the title, he became a truly made man in New Jersey. A great match from start to finish, with an ending that set up what would go onto become the number one match in today’s list, this is a must-see.
1) WWF Badd Blood: In Your House – 10/05/1997 – Hell In A Cell – The Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels
As if there was any doubt about this one. One of the greatest matches (I’m saying that a lot aren’t I?) in history, making the Hell In A Cell the legendary match-type that it would become before WWE decided to water it down by making it an annual PPV instead of the blowoff for heated feuds. And of course, we cannot forget that it was also the home of one of, if not the, greatest WWF/WWE debut in Kane’s shocking arrival. But before that, Taker and HBK decided what the hell, lets absolutely tear it down and show why we are two of the most multi-faceted performers in the company. I could go on and on about this match, but really what you all need to do is go launch the WWE Network and put this one on. The rest of the card was bleh at best, especially since the night began with the announcement that Brian Pillman had tragically died. Not only is it the greatest match of the Original Deadman era, but it’s also one of the best matches in WWE history. Watch it.
Visit us tomorrow as we look at the three best matches of The American Badass era before we will dive into The Dead Rising Again.
