The Undertaker vs. Triple H

 

The Winner: The Undertaker

Background Noise

This match took place on April 1^st 2001. Wrestlemania 17

The backstory to this match, was, if I am remembering correctly, Triple H said he had beaten everyone in the WWF that there was to beat. Undertaker disagreed and said that Triple H never beat him. This would be the first WrestleMania in which The Undertaker competed under his biker persona. Triple H was accompanied to the ring by a live Motorhead performance of his theme. Lemmy got a lot of the words wrong.

This match took place in Houston, Texas. Which is Undertaker’s hometown. Thus the crowd was firmly behind him. I remember watching this match live (not in person, but on PPV). This would be The Undertaker’s first WrestleMania match in about 9 years in which he wasn’t giving up some size to the opponent.

The Bell

The brawl started before the bell rang. They began fighting outside the ring. Undertaker tosses Triple H through the Spanish Announce Table. Jim Ross points out that Triple H destroyed The Undertaker’s motorcycle a few days earlier. The bell finally rings when they get back into the ring. Undertaker shows a lot of intensity with his attacks, selling the fact that he would be pissed about his motorcycle. Taker hits a powerslam and then goes for an elbow drop and misses (something that has happened in EVERY match so far, it’s a reoccurring thing that I never noticed from his matches). Despite the opening, Triple H really can’t maintain much offense for very long. He gets hit with a running clothesline. Taker wrenches the left arm hard and then calls for Old School, which the crowd explodes for (this WrestleMania had a tremendous crowd). Triple H blocks the Old School and tosses Taker off the top rope. He follows with a neckbreaker. He continues work on the neck for a few minutes. He does repeated cover attempts (much like Sid did at WrestleMania 13) but does not follow up on his attack enough, rather focusing on harassing the referee. This gives The Undertaker an opening for some punches. Triple H fells him though with a knee to the face. Triple H then goes outside the ring and grabs a sledge hammer. Before he can use it, the referee grabs it from him and throws it back outside. Triple H nearly hits a Pedigree with the ref’s back turned but Undertaker blocks and inadvertently throws Triple H into the referee. He hits a chokeslam and goes for a pin. The referee counts to two before Triple H kicks out. Undertaker then does the completely logical thing and attacks the referee, I don’t understand why he would risk the match for such a small issue as a kickout. As the referee remained unconscious, Triple H and The Undertaker fought into the crowd.

They end up on a camera tower. Triple H manages to grab a chair and he works over The Undertaker’s body with it. Specifically the head and knees. Undertaker responds by chokeslamming Triple H off of the camera tower. Undertaker then dove off of the tower and dropped an elbow onto Triple H. Now word of the condition of the referee but I assume he is still out cold, because if he were in any condition to do his job, he would probably wonder where these guys were.

The match makes its way back towards the ring with brawling. When it finally re-enters the ring, The Undertaker grabs the sledgehammer and signals he wants to end Triple H with it. He lifts it up overhead but is met with a foot to the genitals. Triple H grabs the hammer but before he can use it, is kicked in the face. They trade punches for a few minutes until Triple H attempts a tombstone, Undertaker reverses and hits one of his own. He goes for a pin but the ref is still out, so no count. Undertaker signals for his Last Ride powerbomb (which he started using when he adopted the biker persona) Triple H though, grabs the sledgehammer mid move and hits Undertaker in the head with it. In what I believe to this point to be the closest to the end of the streak, Triple H gets a two count from it. Triple H tries to work further on Undertaker’s head and mounts him in the corner, Undertaker reverses this into The Last Ride and does hit it this time and it is enough to continue the streak.

The Verdict

There were a few things in this match that I did not like, for one, The Undertaker’s attack on the ref in the match, sure it lead to great crowd brawling but it didn’t make sense to me that the babyface would be the one to attack the referee and especially over something so ridiculous as not getting 3 on a chokeslam. I liked Triple H’s blocking of the Last Ride with the sledgehammer but I think the finish coming so soon after that was kind of a downer.

The Undertaker vs. Big Bossman

 

The Winner: The Undertaker

Background Noise

This match took place on March 28^th 1999. Wrestlemania 15

This match stemmed from a feud between The Undertaker and Vince McMahon’s Corporation. Bossman was representing The Corporation. Undertaker was a heel here. I think Bossman was a face but wouldn’t be surprised if he was a heel. Undertaker was accompanied by Paul Bearer. Undertaker was at his most satanic looking here.

This was a Hell In A Cell match. I don’t actually KNOW why. I have never seen this match. My best guess is because Bossman, despite never being in one of these, was a prison guard, so he would be at home in a cell.

The Bell

Bossman started the match with a lot of offense. Undertaker would cut him off though. Bossman did get a neckbreaker and a two count quite early and proceeded to kick The Undertaker back down everytime he sat up. He then yelled at Taker to “Get up, get the hell up”. After this, Bossman tried a kick to knock Taker down again and it got caught. Undertaker took advantage again and the match went outside. Whips into the cell and Bossman pulled out a set of handcuffs and cuffed the Undertaker to the Cell. He then worked over The Undertaker with a nightstick. The Undertaker broke off the handcuffs but still was being beaten by the nightstick. Undertaker began bleeding. This enraged The Undertaker and he began firing up and he tossed Bossman into the cell and did not let up. He used a chair across the back. Then he sent Bossman face first into the cell’s mesh. Bossman also began bleeding. Bossman reversed the Old School rope walk elbow smash by shaking the ropes and crotching The Undertaker. He then knocked The Undertaker from the ring apron into the cell. Bossman won a brawling session in the ring until The Undertaker hit a lowblow. Undertaker tried to hit a Tombstone Piledriver but it got reversed. Bossman was unable to capitalize and The Undertaker hit one a few seconds after for the victory

The Verdict

It was a more back and forth match than I expected. Bossman, while not having a lot of “I think he can win this offense” did hit some tough shots. The handcuff and nightstick attack was pretty good. The ending came far too out of nowhere for me. As far as Hell in a Cell matches go, this wasn’t as hard hitting as others but I heard it was a lot worse than it was. As far as Undertaker WrestleMania matches go, it was on the lower end of significance.

All that being said, and it could be that I was a fan of The Big Bossman, I enjoyed this match.

The Undertaker vs. Kane

The Winner: The Undertaker

Background Noise

This match took place on March 29^th 1998. Wrestlemania 14

This match stemmed from the fact that when they were children, The Undertaker killed his brother Kane in a fire at the family funeral home. But Kane wasn’t dead, he was locked up in Paul Bearer’s basement. And he was only Undertaker’s half brother. That is as simple as I can make this back story.

A phenomenal entrance. One of Undertaker’s best and the best up to this point no doubt. Druids, torches. The crowd loved it. Paul Bearer accompanied Kane to the ring for this match. I do remember this match, as I watched it on VHS the next day.
The Bell

See The Verdict

The Verdict

The problem with this match is that both of these men, at times leading up to this feud, set each other ON FIRE. Yet not often in the match did it match the intensity of something I would do to someone who set me on fire. Kane did very well telling a story in this match of showing years of aggression. Undertaker did well fighting back. Kane broke up one of his own pinfalls to continue the beating. He followed it up with a headlock/chinlock but it was moving in the right direction. He used the steel steps early in the match to work over The Undertaker’s back. The occasional bouts of aggression worked but there wasn’t enough. After the match Kane left Undertaker laid out with a tombstone on a chair.

Kane’s closest moment of victory was hitting The Undertaker with his own move, a tombstone piledriver for a two count. Kane kicked out of two tombstones later in the match and that showed that he was something different than The Undertaker had faced. It was convincing that Kane was tough to beat but I believe Diesel had The Undertaker beaten better than Kane did.

The Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid

The Winner: The Undertaker

Background Noise

Courtesy of @WyzaNow on twitter

The main feud heading into WrestleMania 13 was between The Undertaker and Sycho Sid, with the two battling over the WWF Championship. At In Your House 13, Bret Hart last eliminated The Undertaker in a Four Corners Elimination match to win the vacant WWF Championship. Hart's reign, however, lasted only one day as he lost the title the next night on Raw to Sycho Sid after interference by Steve Austin. Due to being the runner-up to the title at Final Four, Undertaker was made the number one contender and was booked to challenge Sycho Sid for the title at WrestleMania. However, on the March 17 edition of Raw, Sid defended the title against Hart in a steel cage match, with the winner defending his title at WrestleMania. During the match, both Undertaker and Austin interfered. Undertaker came out to help Sid because he wanted to wrestle Sid for the title while Austin helped Hart because he wanted to make his scheduled no disqualification submission match with Hart a title match. Sid won the match and retained his title and as a result, Sid vs. Undertaker remained the main event of WrestleMania.

This match was the first time that Paul Bearer did not accompany The Undertaker to the ring at WrestleMania, turning on him approximately 7 months earlier. Shawn Michaels was on commentary for this. I do not remember watching this match, in fact I have never seen the match. But I do remember my mom telling me the result of the match at like 3 in the morning after the show. I don’t know why.

The Bell

Bret Hart, for some reason comes out to the ring, grabs a microphone and shouts at Shawn Michaels, then Undertaker, then Sid. Sid punches, then powerbombs Bret. I thought Sid was the villain in this match and was pretty sure that Bret was a hero at this point, yet the crowd cheers at this. The mat is dirty. I assume it is Steve Austin’s blood as he did bleed quite a bit earlier in the night. Sid is using a bearhug which would weaken the back and make it more difficult for Undertaker to hit a tombstone. He drops him ribs first on the guard rail. Puts him in the camel clutch.

This reminds me, apparently Sid shit his pants either before or during this match. That may be what is on the canvas. It does look like a rusty color. Sid got a near fall and after The Undertaker kicked out, Sid kept going back to the pin, under the belief that each kickout would wear out Taker more. Shawn Michaels does add a lot on commentary to this match. Giving his expertise as the best way to beat Sid (take out his legs). Undertaker does something I have noticed that he does in most of these WrestleMania matches, he tries for a running elbow drop and misses.

Sid does a great deal of attacks from the ropes, which given how his career would end a few years later (broken leg after a bad landing from the ropes) is kind of ominous. Undertaker even had to resort to go up top to try and fell the very large Sid. Sid reverses a tombstone piledriver on The Undertaker into one of his own. After The Undertaker kicked out, Sid tosses him out of the ring. During a brawl outside, Bret Hart runs in and hits Sid in the back with a chair in front of the referee. Undertaker takes advantage of this, tossing Sid, spine first into the ring post. He then hits a chokeslam, only gets a two count. Sid had an opening for a powerbomb but Bret Hart runs in AGAIN and this allows The Undertaker to hit a tombstone and get the win.

The Final Verdict

Bret Hart was obnoxious in this match. He came out 3 times and played too much into the finish. He could have cost The Undertaker his Streak just as it was picking up steam. The chair shot was right in front of the referee. I don’t know why it wouldn’t have been a disqualification but glad it wasn’t. I liked the story of Sid getting seemingly desperate later in the match, continually going up the ropes.
The match wasn’t as good as the Diesel match the year before but still a pretty good one. It would have made logical sense for Sid to win, he was the champion and albeit, not a long term one, if any match early in the streak were to have made sense for a loss, it would have been this one.

The Undertaker vs. Diesel

The Winner: The Undertaker

WrestleMania 12

Background Noise

Diesel flipped off The Undertaker at Royal Rumble 1996, costing him a WWF Title match. The Undertaker responded at the February 1996 ppv by dragging Diesel under the ring, costing him a WWF Title match. This was the first former World Champion that The Undertaker faced on the streak. Dare I say that Kevin Nash was more capable than Giant Gonzales and King Kong Bundy, thus this wouldn’t be as much of a drag to watch as those were. I remember watching this match when it happened but when listing “victims” on the streak, Diesel usually is one of the last ones that come to mind. Paul Bearer accompanies The Undertaker to the ring for this one.

The Bell

Undertaker got Diesel down first and much earlier in the match than he had in years. It took him a while to get Roberts and Bundy down and he didn’t get Gonzales down at WrestleMania IX at all. Undertaker almost hit a tombstone early, which would have been a first since WrestleMania 8 (Gonzales and Bundy were both very large). Undertaker did try a chair shot at one point but Diesel got out of the way. Diesel would be the heel in this match, so The Undertaker using a chair would be a little odd. Diesel posted Undertaker and then proceeded to block him from reentering the match. When he got back in, Undertaker was knocked down with a big boot. After a side slam, Diesel got a two count, which to my memory is the first near fall in the history of the streak. The two eventually hit a double big boot, knocking each other down. Diesel hit the jackknife at a point but postured instead of pinning, Undertaker sat up. Diesel hit him with a second one and taunted again but when he went for a pin, Taker fought up and out. Undertaker hits his first tombstone at WrestleMania since WrestleMania 8 to continue his streak.

The Final Verdict

Not only was the winning streak continued but the streak of dud matches was broken. It was, to this point, the longest and hardest fought match of The Streak. It was back and forth, which to this point, only the Jake Roberts match could be described as. Diesel’s bravado likely cost him the match. He was a much better opponent than the previous two that The Undertaker faced. Diesel left the company several months later, so it wouldn’t have made much sense for Undertaker to lose here. It put him back on track after a few years of underwhelming performances by The Undertaker.

The Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy

 

The Winner: The Undertaker

Background Noise

Undertaker was feuding with Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Corporation after Dibiase funded an imposter Undertaker in 1994. Bundy was a member of the Million Dollar Corporation and at the Royal Rumble 1995, he assisted in the thefting of Paul Bearer’s urn. Paul Bearer also accompanied The Undertaker to the ring for this match I remember this match too.

As King Kong Bundy entered, they run an interview between Todd Pettengill and some NFL player about a match that is other than this one.

This was the debut of the elaborate entrance at WrestleMania. Lightning sound effects and a strobe effect. Also this was the first mention of The Undertaker being undefeated at WrestleMania.

The Bell

Taker avoided a charge and started his attempts to get Bundy off the ground. It took a few clotheslines. The highlight early in the match is Taker stealing the urn back from Ted Dibiase and giving it to Paul Bearer. Bearer then used it as a spotlight briefly. Kama stole the urn back from Paul Bearer. He promised to melt it down and make it into a chain. Meanwhile back in the ring. Bundy was beating on The Undertaker. After several minutes Taker hit a powerslam and a clothesline and got the three count

The Final Verdict

I do not understand the psychology of Ted Dibiase bringing the urn to the ring. It gave the Undertaker strength. Perhaps that is why Bundy lost. Because the urn was there for even a short time. The most interesting part of the match was what went on outside with Kama, Ted Dibiase, Paul Bearer and the urn.
Undertaker shouldn’t have lost here as the feud was kind of cheesy. I think a match with Kama would have been better than with Bundy. Bundy seemed like a filler. I enjoyed the Kama feud being started, it could have come at a better time than DURING this match but it showed forward thinking.

The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales

The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales

The Winner: The Undertaker

Background Noise

This match took place on April 4^th 1993

This feud started when Giant Gonzales attacked The Undertaker in the 1993 Royal Rumble. Giant Gonzales was enormous. A legitimate 7 foot 7. He was accompanied to the ring by Harvey Whippleman. The Undertaker was accompanied by Paul Bearer while riding a funeral chariot with a vulture to his side. I remember this match very well.

The Bell

Undertaker was looking up to the Giant Gonzales. Gonzales ring attire must be mentioned. A body suit with painted muscles and strategically placed fur. This match saw the WrestleMania debut of the Old School rope walk elbow. Gonzales was very easily making The Undertaker his bitch in this match. The match mercifully ends when Giant Gonzales chloroforms The Undertaker and gets disqualified.

The Verdict

I would be slightly distraught if there were a giant “naked” man walking around Las Vegas (or anywhere for that matter) with a chloroform soaked rag. Undertaker came back after the match (he was stretchered out) and chased Gonzales out. Despite that, Gonzales OWNED this match. Taker looked like a punk. Atrocious though. This is the dark mark on the 20-0 record.
Had he lost here, it would have ruined so many things. The feud continued. The better matchups would have been Giant Gonzales facing Bob Backlund here and then The Undertaker facing Razor Ramon.