The Undertaker vs. Jimmy Snuka

 

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

Background Noise

This match took place on March 24^th 1991. Wrestlemania 7

I had to research this. There is no rhyme or reason for this match to happen other than showing The Undertaker making an example out of someone. Entrances took 2 minutes to the bell. Snuka was already in the ring when my version started. The Undertaker was accompanied to the ring by Paul Bearer. I remember this match from my WrestleMania 7 VHS. I remember being scared of the Undertaker and Paul Bearer. Before the match, Gorilla Monsoon referred to Jimmy Snuka as “The Phenom”

The Bell

After the bell rang, Snuka stared at Taker. Walked towards him. Backed up. Snuka turned his back and Undertaker jumped him. Whipped ass for a minute or two. Hit a huge running clothesline. Choked him in the corner. Snuka reversed a whip into the corner and ran in. Was met with a knee which knocked him to the outside. A big suplex back into the ring by Undertaker. Undertaker missed an elbow drop, which gave Snuka his opening for the offense portion of the match. Headbutts and elbow shots which do nothing. He missed a running dive and bounced off the top rope to the outside. Snuka tried a slingshot back into the ring, was caught, tombstoned and finished.

The Verdict

Definitely important, as it was the first match of The Undertaker’s streak. It confirmed his dominance. I liked the way Snuka took the beating. His bounce off the top rope to the outside was a thing to marvel at. It came and went very quickly (with entrances, about 7 minutes).

This match was like the first scene in a movie where the villain is established, like Darth Vader battling some random Ewok during the first scene of a New Hope. (That scene got cut, but you see my point). It wasn’t even, it wasn’t pretty, but it showed “this guy is a powerhouse”. This wasn’t his debut match, he had been in the company for a while but it was the first match in a significant streak, that in all likelihood wasn’t planned.

The closest Jimmy Snuka came to winning would have to be his frequent (three of them; he hit about three of them) headbutts, those staggered The Undertaker. Staggering is all you could do to the man at this point. Had Snuka won here, it would have ended the greatest Professional Wrestling accomplishment before it started. Koko B. Ware could have been a good replacement for Snuka, as far as the position goes but they had already battled (albeit in team form) at the previous year’s Survivor Series.