Jake Roberts vs. The Undertaker

 

Just to get this out of the way
The Winner: The Undertaker

Background Noise

This match took place on April 5^th 1992. Wrestlemania 8

Jake Roberts offered to help The Ultimate Warrior prepare for The Undertaker. He then turned on Warrior by revealing himself to be aligned with The Undertaker, when he tricked Warrior into be bitten by a Cobra. Jake “The Snake” Roberts, clearly an asshole, was planning to hit Miss Elizabeth with a chair (this after sicking a snake on Randy Savage and slapping Miss Elizabeth), when The Undertaker intervened and saved Liz. Roberts then locked The Undertaker’s hand in a casket, DDT’d Paul Bearer and hit The Undertaker with a chair.

The Undertaker was accompanied to the ring here by Paul Bearer. I remember this match happened but may have only seen it once. My VHS copy of this event was corrupt so I don’t think I have seen a clear version of this match since it happened.

The Bell

Roberts has the speed advantage and also the experience. He is able to avoid The Undertaker’s strikes. But when he hits his own, it does nothing. Undertaker spent a great deal of his time on offense choking Jake Roberts. Short of a toss into the post on the outside of the ring and a flying clothesline, its not that spectacular. Roberts reverses what presumably will be a tombstone piledriver attempt into a DDT. But The Undertaker sits up about 30 seconds later. A short arm clothesline and another DDT by Roberts follows. Roberts goes outside after Bearer and strikes him. Not paying attention to The Undertaker he is caught outside the ring and tombstoned on the concrete. Game over.

The Verdict

The Undertaker didn’t do a lot BUT this match did have a back-story unlike the WrestleMania 7 match. The tombstone on the concrete could even be explained as, while it really isn’t a “heroic” thing to do, he got a hold of him out there and was defending the honor of his manager.

The closest Jake Roberts came to winning would have been the DDTs. Nobody had ever kicked out of one but Roberts was too busy posturing/attacking fat morticians to go for a pinfall after either. Overally, I enjoyed this match. And it would be the best built up WrestleMania match for the Undertaker for several years. This would be Roberts farewell match from the WWF. Undertaker looked like the underdog. Roberts was a tremendous evil mastermind.

As far as alternate opponents, Jake Roberts could have faced Randy Savage. They were feuding and it was kind of the kicking off point for this feud, with Undertaker protecting Liz from a chair shot. Undertaker could have faced The Ultimate Warrior, had Warrior not been on a sabbatical at the time. Overall, this was the perfect opponent for The Undertaker.