A Decade and a Half of Destruction!

Wow!

He's been known as The Phenom, The Lord of Darkness, and The American Bad Ass. He was the originator of many different kinds of matches including The Casket Match, The Buried Alive Match, The Inferno Match, and most famous of all The Hell in a Cell Match. He's a former 6 time WWE Tag Team Champion, a former Hardcore Champion, and he's held the coveted WWE World Championship 4 times. At the biggest show the WWE has to offer every year, Wrestlemania, he has accumulated an Undefeated Streak of 13-0, a record that will most likely never be surpassed. He's is THE UNDERTAKER.

On November 22 2005, Mark Calloway, better known as The Undertaker to his fans, completed his 15th year with the WWE, and it’s been one of the most amazing careers in wrestling history so far, and it doesn’t look like he’s ready to hang it up yet.

In his debut at Survivor Series 1990, The Undertaker was revealed as the mystery partner on Ted Dibiase's Survivor Series team, and he had an immediate impact. He eliminated half of the opposing team himself, and was dominant until he was counted out for attacking the already eliminated Dusty Rhodes outside the ring. The fans all knew that it was just a matter of time before The Undertaker became a star.

Undertaker was probably the only guy I ever watched in wrestling who impressed me so much in his debut that I thought "He's going to be a world champion" Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H, John Cena, Batista and countless others never had that kind of impact on me right away, but The Undertaker did.

I remember watching him way back when and being in awe of the character. I had never seen anything like it. He was like a zombie that was seemingly invincible as he chokes the life out of his victims and "lays them to rest" As a little 6 year old, I found him to be terrifying, but I also made sure I watched every single time he came on because I knew he was special.

It's kind of funny that my favorite Wrestlemania of all time is also the one in which Taker debuted, Wrestlemania VII. There were a lot of good matches and special moments on this card, but one that has become more and more special over time is The Undertaker DEMOLISHING The Legendary "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. Bobby Heenan's commentary was right on the money, as he put Taker's win over in a big way. Snuka was a glorified jobber at this point anyway, but no one had ever seen him get destroyed like he did at the hands of The New Phenom, The Undertaker.

Once The Deadman began to feud with The Ultimate Warrior in Mid 1991, I knew that a much bigger encounter was in the near future. All I really remember about Taker's feud with Warrior is that their match on the Rampage 1991 video is one of the worst matches I've ever seen, and that it was the first time I ever cheered for Taker (even as a kid, I hated The Warrior)

However my cheers turned to jeers, as the big feud I had predicted came about. At Survivor Series 1991, it was The Immortal Hulk Hogan vs. The Undertaker for the World Championship. I was a huge Hulkamaniac back then (and hell I still am), and I thought for sure that Hogan was going to win this one. Even after that incident at The Funeral Parlor where Taker left Hogan unconscious and ripped the Crucifix from his neck (one of my all time favorite Undertaker moments), I just knew that Hogan was going to win out in the end. I was shocked and horrified when I saw Undertaker Tombstone Piledrive The Immortal One onto a chair and scored the 1-2-3. The Undertaker was the World Heavyweight Champion, and I was in shock. So much so, that I didn't even watch the rest of the PPV (why was Taker/Hogan the 3rd match on the card anyway?) Sure Taker would lose the belt back to Hogan just 6 days later, and all would be right with the world, but I will never forget that moment from Survivor Series. As a kid, I got sucked into the wrestling product more easily, rather than just sitting there and nitpicking and judging everything. It's moments like this that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

On an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event in February 1992, The Undertaker attacked his friend Jake "The Snake" Roberts and stopped him from attacking Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. Seemingly overnight, The Undertaker went from being one of the biggest heels in the company to being one of their most over babyfaces. His Wrestlemania VIII match with Jake Roberts solidified this as the crowd gave him a standing ovation for the victory, as his record was now 2-0.

The Undertaker then got into a feud with Kamala, which I remember fondly for two reasons. 1) We got that kick ass entrance at Summerslam 1992 where Taker came out on the Hearse, and 2) We got to see Taker stuff Kamala in a Coffin after defeating him at Survivor Series 1992, a moment that would be the precursor to the Casket Match, The Undertaker's signature match.

In 1993, The Undertaker spent most of the year feuding with The Giant Gonzalez. At Royal Rumble 1993, this gargantuan attacked The Undertaker and eliminated him from the Royal Rumble match. No one had ever dominated Taker like that, and the fans were looking forward to the match. The match, which occurred at Wrestlemania IX, is remembered for being one of the worst ever, but I liked it. Giant Gonzalez is a horrible wrestler, and was only brought into the business because of his size, but when paired with The Dead Man, they had a great angle that got over. The fans wanted to see Undertaker knock the giant down, and that's what happened after Gonzalez got himself DQ'd, taking the record to 3-0. The feud would continue all the way to Summerslam 1993 as Taker defeated Giant Gonzalez in a RIP Match (fancy title for NO DQ match) I'll never forget the shot of Taker standing on the top rope and posing with his arms stretched out and his hair covering his face as he then knocked Gonzalez down with a massive clothesline for the win.

At Survivor Series 1993, the main event was a classic Survivor Series 4 vs. 4 Elimination match, and The Undertaker went toe to toe with the 600lb monster Yokozuna at the end of the bout. The people cheered as Taker held his own against the then WWF Champion, and Yokozuna seemed outmatched by Taker, even though both men were counted out and eliminated from the match. This would lead to a title match being signed at the Royal Rumble which would be made into the first ever Casket Match. My favorite thing about this was how they built the match up, with them showing footage of Taker building the "Double Deep, Double Wide Casket" My favorite promo was the Christmas one in which Taker finished the casket and put a wreath on it and said "Merry Christmas Yokozuna, Ho.....Ho.....Ho" in that deep scary voice we all know and love.

At Royal Rumble 1994, the fans thought they were going to see Taker win the gold, but that would not be the case as a total of 10 superstars interfered on Yokozuna's behalf. The crowd watched in amazement as The Undertaker held his own against all 11 wrestlers, and this moment established Taker as the most powerful wrestler in the company, because after this, nobody thought he could be beat without outside assistance. However, the odds were too great for Taker as he was forced into the casket, and Yokozuna was declared the winner. However, we were then treated to an awesome Undertaker moment as he burst out of the casket and rose to heaven, proclaiming that his rebirth was going to occur. This was awesome stuff IMO, even if it seems corny to fans today. The Undertaker was all about doing cool stuff like this, and being bizarre and unnatural was what the fans wanted.

The Undertaker disappeared for a while, but Ted Dibiase brought in what he claimed to be The Undertaker, even though I knew it was a fake. It was funny, but I just did not want to believe that Taker turned heel, and I immediately said "He's lying! It's a fake!" Turns out I was right as The Real Undertaker faced his imposter at Summerslam 1994 in the main event. I didn't care for the match too much, but I did love the build up, with "Undertaker sightings" and that whole bit on Raw where the FakerTaker attacked Paul Bearer only for the lights to go out and Paul Bearer yelling "He's here! He's here!" I ate up the angle, but I'll admit that the match wasn't very good.

One match I did enjoy was Taker's Casket Rematch with Yokozuna at Survivor Series 1994. Even though it was less special than the Rumble match, I thought this one was a much better match in terms of quality of the work, and I found myself watching this match more often than the Rumble match. And of course Undertaker won this time which made me happy.

Taker then spent most of 1995 feuding with Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation as he picked up wins over IRS, King Kong Bundy, and Kama Mustafa. The win over Bundy gave him his Fourth Wrestlemania win. In one of the worst booking decisions in WWE history, The Undertaker actually lost in the first round of the King of the Ring Tournament to Mabel thanks to interference from Kama. Taker would defeat both Kama and Mabel in Casket matches in 1995, much to my delight. One great Undertaker moment that tends to go unmentioned was at Survivor Series 1995. The Undertaker's team went up against King Mabel's team. After some ordinary in ring activity by the two teams, The Undertaker was finally tagged in at the end and he DESTROYED the opposing team single handedly! It was awesome! 1995 was not a great year for the WWF, but The Undertaker was one of best things they had going for them.

After getting off to a slow start with a lackluster match with Bret Hart at the 1996 Royal Rumble (I never thought I was would use the terms lackluster and Bret Hart in the same sentence, but I did), The Undertaker turned out to have one of the best years of his career in 1996. He started out with a cool feud with Kevin Nash, then known as Diesel. The two big men played a game on one-upmanship as they both cost each other chances at the world title. Diesel took and ax and destroyed Taker's casket, while Taker played mind games with Diesel by putting a look a like of Diesel in a casket as a sign of Diesel's future. This feud lead to a pretty damn good big man match at Wrestlemania XII, as The Undertaker defeated Big Daddy Cool, taking his record to 5-0.

The Undertaker then spent the rest of the year feuding with Mick Foley, who was going by the name Mankind. I LOVED THIS FEUD! I tuned in every week to see what they were going to do to each other. I felt as if we were finally introduced to a monster that was not intimidated by The Undertaker's mind games, and this led to an interesting series of matches. Much to my surprise, Mankind won the first match at King of the Ring 1996. Well Taker has to win the second one, right? WRONG. Thanks to a betrayal from manager Paul Bearer, The Undertaker lost to Mankind yet again in the first ever Boiler Room Brawl at Summerslam 1996. Summerslam 1996 was the beginning of what I thought to be the golden age of The Undertaker’s career. From Summerslam 96 to Summerslam 98, The Undertaker had the greatest matches of his career, and was on fire throughout that entire time period.

The Undertaker and Mankind would have a total of 6 PPV encounters together, all of which were special in some way. My favorite would have to be the first ever Buried Alive Match at In Your House October 1996. It was brutal, crazy, insane, and had a gimmick that is just plain weird. It had awesome written all over it. I loved every minute of it. The Undertaker won the match, but was soon attacked by The Executioner and placed into the grave once Mankind was taken out of it. In a move that was eerily similar to Royal Rumble 1994, many superstars came down and helped Mankind bury The Undertaker alive. We then saw The Undertaker's hand pop out from under the grave, signaling that The Undertaker was not dead.

The early portion of 1997 was an odd time for WWF. Normally you could predict the Wrestlemania main event several months in advance, but the Royal Rumble winner (Steve Austin) had lost his shot and the champion (Shawn Michaels) had dropped the belt. Bret Hart won the vacant title, but then dropped it to Sid the next night. In the mass confusion, we still had no main event for Wrestlemania 13, and then a few weeks before the "Biggest Show of the Year" Undertaker was thrown up against Sid with very little explanation. The end result? A lackluster match that had no build up or reason to care. However, despite the horrible booking, we Undertaker fans got something out of it. The Undertaker FINALLY won back the championship gold, and despite all the problems with the build up and the match, that great feeling of watching Taker win the title can not be taken away. Taker was now 6-0 at Mania, and had a championship belt to show for it.

Taker would be the most dominate champion of 1997 as he defeated the likes of Mankind, Vader, Faarooq, and Steve Austin in championship matches. Undertaker's title reign would come to an end after a FANTASTIC match with Bret "The Hitman" Hart at Summerslam 1997, thanks to a major screw up from guest referee Shawn Michaels. Not only was this match amazing (one of Taker's best IMO), but it began the feud between Taker and HBK, a feud that nobody would ever forget.

The first meeting between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels main evented Ground Zero 1997, and it turned out to be one of the most intense matches I've ever seen. Taker beat the hell out of Michaels and brawled all over the arena with him for a good ten minutes before the match even started. After about 3 or 4 referees were knocked out, the match was declared a draw, but the fighting did not end. It got so crazy that that the locker room emptied out and the whole roster tried to separate the two superstars. We then got to see Taker debut the most visually impressive move in his arsenal as he, a near 7 ft tall man, dove over the top rope and did a beautiful swan dive like move onto the many superstars that waited below. It was absolutely amazing.

Even more amazing than the Ground Zero match was their classic Hell in a Cell match at Badd Blodd 1997. I will never forget the first time I saw this ominous structure. I had never seen anything like it before, and I knew we were in for a treat. The match was brutal, with Undertaker beating the hell out of Michaels. Eventually, the hell spilled outside the cell, and even on top of the cell as Taker slammed Michaels on the roof and knocked him off the side of the cage, sending HBK crashing down through the announce table. The fight went back into the cage where Taker seemed to have it all won, when the lights went out and The Undertaker’s long lost brother Kane came down to the ring with Paul Bearer. In a sight that nobody would soon forget, Kane ripped the locked cell door off its hinges and entered the ring where he Tombstoned his brother, giving Shawn Michaels the win. Many have said that the first Hell in a Cell match is the best match of The Undertaker’s career, and it’s tough to argue against that.

The story of Kane was that he survived a fire that killed his parents, and he blamed the fire and his disfigurement on his brother The Undertaker. Undertaker swore he would never fight his brother, so Kane went on a path of destruction and destroyed every superstar in sight until The Undertaker accepted his challenge. After a while, Kane seemed to have a change of heart as he helped Undertaker fight off D-Generation X, and it seemed as if the brothers were reunited. This allowed Taker to set his sights on Shawn Michaels again. After a Casket match was signed for Royal Rumble 1998, Taker played mind games with Shawn. One segment that I loved was one where Shawn was joking around with the casket, only for Taker to pop out of it and grab Shawn and pull him into the casket. It was like something out of a horror movie.

At Royal Rumble 1998, The Undertaker squared off in a casket match with Shawn Michaels who was now the WWE Champion (and we all know the story about how that happened) The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels once again tore the house down with a fantastic match up. Undertaker seemed to have the match won, but once again Kane would be the deciding factor as he betrayed his brother and chokeslammed him into the casket, giving Michaels the win. In an incredibly heinous act, Kane locked the casket, put a hole in the lid with an ax, poured gasoline into it, and set the casket on fire. The fire was extinguished and opened to reveal that The Undertaker was not inside. Taker’s voice was then heard. He promised revenge against his brother, and that the next time they would meet “Kane will Rest in Peace”

The Undertaker returned and accepted Kane’s challenge for a match at Wrestlemania XIV, and what a match it was. To be honest, this match is my personal favorite Undertaker match of all time. Everything from the build up, to the moves in the match, to the emotion was just perfect. For the first time in his career, The Undertaker was not only over powered, but utterly dominated by his opponent. Kane beat on Taker thought most of the match, and seemingly had an answer for everything The Dead Man had in his arsenal. However, Kane could not defeat his brother, even after a Tombstone Piledriver. The Undertaker fought back and finally hit a chokeslam and a Tombstone, but to everyone’s surprise, Kane kicked out. Undertaker then hit it again, but Kane kicked out again! It took a Third Tombstone to finally take Kane down for the three. This gave The Undertaker his seventh Wrestlemania win, and his hardest fought. Like I said, this is my favorite Taker match of all time, and one of my personal favorite Wrestlemania matches as well.

The feud between Taker and Kane was not over as a rematch was signed for Unforgiven in April 1998. The Undertaker would participate in yet another first as he faced Kane in the first ever Inferno Match, in which the ring would be surrounded by flames and the winner would be the one who set his opponent on fire. One really disturbing moment leading up to the match was when Kane and Paul Bearer actually dug up the caskets of The Undertaker’s parents, lit his father’s casket on fire, and chokeslammed The Undertaker into his mother’s. It was really disgusting, and hard to watch. The Inferno Match has been fondly remembered as Taker and Kane took it too each other yet again. The Undertaker was victorious after knocking Kane’s arm into the flames. The most amazing part of this match was Taker’s over the top rope swan dive over the flames. It looked insane, and has been a visual in Undertaker highlight reels ever since.

The Undertaker renewed his feud with Mankind and the sixth and final PPV encounter between the two was set for King of the Ring 1998 (The two year anniversary of their first match). This match would go down as one of the most memorable in the history of professional wrestling. The match began on top of the cell and both superstars brawled on top of the cage. In one of the most shocking moments to ever occur in professional wrestling, The Undertaker grabbed Mankind and tossed him off of the cell! Mankind landed on the announce table 16ft below. The crowd went crazy! I don’t think I have ever seen a reaction like that where the crowd was just dead silent and then erupt with excitement over what they just saw. Medical assistance came to ringside and Mankind was taken away from the cell on a stretcher, and people thought the match was over. After several minutes, Mankind got up off the stretcher and climbed back up the cell! Undertaker came at him and grabbed Mankind around the throat. He chokeslammed him, on the roof but to the shock and horror of those who witnessed it, Mankind’s 300lbs body broke right through the roof and crashed down to the ring mat below! Since this match, The Undertaker has said that he honestly thought Mick Foley (Mankind) was dead after the second fall. In this match, Mick Foley suffered a separated shoulder, a dislocated jaw, a bruised kidney, internal bleeding (and yes he was coughing it up), a pierced lip, and he lost 1 and a half teeth (one of which somehow wound up in his nose) To the shock of everyone, the match actually continued, and ended with The Undertaker slamming Mankind on a bed of thumbtacks, not once but twice! The Undertaker then hit the Tombstone for the win. Many have said this was the greatest match of all time. I don’t necessarily agree with that, and even Taker and Foley will tell you otherwise, but I have never seen any human being take a beating like this for the sake of entertainment. As JR said on commentary “This has been the most Ungodly match that we will perhaps ever see”

The Undertaker spent the summer of 1998 with his eyes set on winning back the WWF Championship, and that meant he would have to go toe to toe with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Their feud set up a HUGE title match at Summerslam 1998, a show that was heavily promoted and labeled “The Highway to Hell”. The Austin/Taker main event is probably the biggest match in Summerslam history (with Hogan/Michaels from 2005 being the only possible exception) Adding to the build up of the match was the fact that Undertaker had reunited with Kane, and people thought for sure that Kane would interfere on Taker’s behalf, even though Taker gave his word that Kane would not. The Undertaker and Steve Austin would clash many times throughout the years, but IMO, this one was by far their best and most epic match. It had all the intensity of a Wrestlemania main event. Austin seemed utterly helpless at the hands of The Undertaker. In a spot that I will never forget, the near 7’0 tall Undertaker gave Steve Austin a flying legdrop from the top rope to the announce table outside the ring. It was insane. Undertaker was unable to defeat The Rattlesnake and Austin retained the title, but that doesn’t change the fact that this was one of the biggest and best matches of Taker’s career, and this win was huge for Austin’s career as it was his first really big win since becoming the champion.

Taker spent the rest of 1998 being a mere pawn in the Austin/McMahon feud, which didn’t excite me too much. There was one segment where Kane and Undertaker attacked Vince and broke his leg which was awesome. The only other noteworthy thing is that Taker betrayed his brother Kane and reunited with Paul Bearer, which solidified Undertaker as a heel once again. The Undertaker then proclaimed that “Brother Paul is going to help me build my Ministry of Darkness” The fans were bewildered as they had no clue as to what he was talking about, but we would all soon find out.

In early 1999, The Undertaker made his return in a most bizarre manner. With The Acolytes, Bradshaw and Faarooq, at his side, and dawning a much more evil and satanic look, The Undertaker had gone to new extremes. Claiming that his Ministry of Darkness was now here, he began to brainwash people into joining his Ministry, including Dennis Knight, Mabel, and The Brood. As The Ministry grew in power, The Undertaker began to challenge the authority of WWE Owner Vince McMahon, and even made personal threats towards his family. In order to show Taker that you don’t cross the boss, Vince put Undertaker in dangerous matches including another Inferno Match with Kane, and a Hell in a Cell match with The Big Bossman at Wrestlemania XV. The Inferno Match was very good, and IMO it rivals the first one, but the Hell in a Cell match was quite possibly the worst of all of Taker’s Wrestlemania bouts. However, The Undertaker emerged victorious again, taking the record to 8-0, and he actually hung Bossman from the roof the cell, something that proved to be a disturbing visual.

Undertaker took his feud with McMahon to another level as he actually threatened to abduct Vince’s daughter Stephanie. Undertaker was successful in kidnapping Stephanie, and much to everyone’s surprise, it was Vince’s greatest enemy “Stone Cold’ Steve Austin that would make the save. The Undertaker and his Ministry then joined forces with Vince’s son Shane McMahon and his stable the Corporation in order to form The Corporate Ministry. This set up a world title match at Over the Edge 1999 with Vince and Shane as special guest referees in which The Undertaker defeated Steve Austin to win his third world title. Unfortunately, this was the same show in which Owen Hart had his tragic accident and died. It was obvious that Austin and Taker didn’t have their minds fully into the match, and it must have been very hard for them to be able to even pull the match off knowing that one of their fellow wrestlers died just a short time before they went out there. I don’t think this show has ever been released on video.

The Austin/Taker feud continued as the diabolical Vince McMahon revealed that he was actually in cahoots with The Undertaker and everything from the abduction of his daughter to his family being tormented was all part of his grand scheme to gain Austin’s sympathy and trust and then cost him the world championship. Austin eventually won the title back from Taker in a match that would score the highest rating in Raw History, but Taker was not finished. After the match he busted Austin open and tasted his blood. He then challenged Austin to a First Blood Match at Fully Loaded 1999. To raise the stakes, Austin and McMahon made a deal saying that if Austin won, Vince would go bye bye, and if Taker won, Austin would never be allowed to compete for the world title ever again. In the weeks leading up to the match, The Undertaker busted Austin open several times, keeping the wound fresh for their match at the PPV.

On the night of the PPV, Undertaker attacked Austin again, and Austin had to be stitched up, but The Rattlesnake wasn’t about to go into the main event at a disadvantage. Austin attacked Taker later in the night, and now Undertaker also had to have stitches going into the first blood match. The match was high intensity from bell to bell, and it would be Steve Austin who would emerge victorious thanks to help from X-Pac. The Undertaker was bleeding, and Vince was gone (although he came back just two months later)

That was pretty much the end of The Ministry of Darkness portion of The Undertaker’s career. Personally, I wasn’t against the idea of a satanic cult being the top heels in the company, but I don’t think it was handled very well. I couldn’t understand why the cult would sell out to the corporate suit Vince McMahon (wouldn’t it be the other way around?), and throughout the whole thing, Undertaker wound up just being a pawn in the Austin/McMahon feud. However, that First Blood match was very good, and was The Undertaker’s best match of 1999. Another good point about the Ministry of Darkness is that it created some future stars for professional wrestling. Bradshaw would go on to become a WWE champion, Edge is currently one of the top heels on Raw and has a guaranteed world title shot in the near future thanks to the "Money in the Bank", and Christian is now in TNA and is almost certain for a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight title.

After Fully Loaded 1999, The Undertaker teamed up with The Big Show, forming a tag team known as “The Unholy Alliance” and they feuded with the current tag team champions X-Pac and Kane. Big Show and Taker were able to capture the tag team gold at Summerslam 1999, but would lose it weeks later to the extremely popular team of The Rock and Sock Connection, The Rock and Mankind. They won the titles back in a Buried Alive Match on one of the early episodes of Smackdown, but would lose them back to Rock and Sock not too long after that. Shortly after the loss, The Undertaker disappeared from WWE Television.

In reality, Undertaker had suffered a groin injury and was taking time off to heal. He was originally supposed to return in December 1999, but while training for his return, he tore a muscle (I believe it was his pectoral, but don’t quote me on that), and that slowed his return down by another five months. Rumors began to circulate that The Undertaker was going to retire from wrestling, but much to the delight of the fans, that would not be the case.

At Judgment Day 2000, in the closing seconds of the Triple H/Rock Ironman match, the fans were amazed as The Undertaker returned and helped Rock fight off D-X and The McMahons. More shocking than the return was The Undertaker’s new look. No longer was he The Dead Man, but now The Undertaker was riding down to the ring on a motorcycle and instead of telling people to Rest in Peace, he was telling them to shut up and fight. This new Undertaker, known as The American Bad Ass, took some getting used to at first, but I grew to love it as it allowed for two things: 1) It allowed Undertaker to be himself, and the biker character came naturally to Mark Calloway and 2) It allowed The Dead Man character to take a break and freshen up.

The first major feud that Taker had upon his return was with new comer Kurt Angle, a man who was a Gold Medalist in the Olympics for Amateur Wrestling. Their match at Fully Loaded 2000 was the highest profile in Kurt’s career up to that point. It was a good match, and Taker defeated Angle with his new finishing move “The Last Ride” Powerbomb, reestablishing his dominance in the WWE. They would have another match at Survivor Series 2000, this time for the championship as Angle won the title from The Rock just a month prior. Through outside interference, Angle was able to score the win over The Undertaker, but the match showed that Kurt was capable to hang with the big dogs, and if people were willing to put him over, then he was going to be an asset to the company. 2000 would go out with a bang, as the December PPV Armageddon was headlined by a massive 6-Pac Challenge inside The Hell in a Cell, the match that Undertaker made famous. The Undertaker would step inside the ominous structure with The Rock, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Triple H, Rikishi, and WWE Champion Kurt Angle. The match was chaotic as there were bodies all over the place. The Undertaker was not even in the ring when Angle scored the pin over Rock, so he didn’t win, but that didn’t stop from throwing Rikishi off the top of the cell onto the back of a tow truck that was set up at ringside.

2001 started off well for Taker as he once again reunited with his brother Kane and they took their act into the tag team division, and dominated. Before winning the tag team gold, The Undertaker had a quick feud with Triple H. This feud was to establish who was “The Biggest Dog in the Yard” Triple H had attacked Undertaker, and to retaliate, The Undertaker smashed in the windows of Triple H’s limo while he was in it. The next move belonged to Triple H and he had his wife, Stephanie McMahon, put a restraining order on The Undertaker, and needless to say he stayed as close to her as humanly possible. Triple H picked his spots and on an episode of Smackdown, he attacked Taker with a Sledgehammer and Taker was busted open so bad that it had to be censored, and Taker had to get 16 staples to close the wound. Finally fed up with the games, Undertaker disobeyed the restraining order saying that he’d be out in 12 hours anyway. Undertaker attacked Triple H and was arrested for violating the restraining order. Triple H took one last shot at Taker as he destroyed The Undertaker’s motorcycle.

The match at Wrestlemania X-Seven with Triple H turned out to be one of the best of Undertaker’s Wrestlemania matches. The referee got knocked out in the commotion, and the two superstars brawled all over the arena. Taker was able to chokeslam Triple H off of one of the audio towers. The fight spilled back into the ring where Undertaker laid him out with a Tombstone, but the referee was still out. Undertaken then tried to hit Triple H with The Last Ride, but Triple H had a sledgehammer in his hands and rammed it into Taker’s face as he was hoisted up. However, this was not enough to defeated The Undertaker. A frustrated Triple H then found himself set for The Last Ride, and The Undertaker was able to sneak in his Ninth victory at Wrestlemania. Surprisingly, this was the first time that the announcers put over the fact that Taker was undefeated at Wrestlemania. Shortly after Wrestlemania, The Undertaker and Kane captured the tag team titles from Edge and Christian.

The second best match The Undertaker had in 2001 would occur at Judgment Day 2001 as he challenged Steve Austin for the title. Like usual, The Undertaker and Steve Austin were able to put on a very intense match that entertained the crowd. Once again, Austin walked out with the gold, much to my disappointment.

The rest of 2001 was a mess for the WWE. The WCW Invasion came about after WWE purchased WCW from Ted Turner, but the whole angle was a flop. The Undertaker feuded with WCW Superstar Diamond Dallas Page, but nothing really good came out of it. The only thing that Taker did during this time that was noteworthy was that he and Kane captured both the WWF and WCW tag team championships at the same time, and were the first team to ever accomplish this feat.

After the Invasion ended at Survivor Series 2001, The Undertaker turned heel yet again, saying that he deserves respect, and he is going to beat it into everyone who crosses his path. The first victim was Rob Van Dam, who Undertaker defeated to win The Hardcore Championship at Vengeance in December 2001. The Undertaker then turned his attention to wrestling legend “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Flair’s interference cost Undertaker a match with The Rock at No Way Out 2002, and Taker wanted revenge. To get it, he attacked Flair’s best friend Arn Anderson and his son David Flair. The Nature Boy accepted Taker’s challenge for a match at Wrestlemania X-8, and the match was made into a street fight due to the intense nature of the feud. The Undertaker beat the tar out of the legend. This match also included what I thought to be the greatest superplex I have ever seen as Taker looked as if he drove Flair through the mat with it. The Undertaker was able to fight out of The Figure Four Leglock, and also dispelled interference from Arn Anderson. Undertaker hit The Tombstone on Flair for the win. After this entertaining and brutal encounter, The Undertaker stood up on the ring apron and raised his hands in the air, signaling that he was now 10-0 at Wrestlemania!

After Wrestlemania, the roster was split into the Raw and Smackdown brands, and Taker was the first draft pick for Raw. The company’s name was also changed from WWF to WWE due to the lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund. The Undertaker then once again set his sights on the championship gold, which was now The Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship as both the WWF and WCW titles were merged into one title. The champion had the privilege of working on both Raw and Smackdown. At Backlash 2002, The Undertaker defeated Steve Austin to get a title shot at the Undisputed Champion. This is important to me because Austin always seemed to get the upper hand on Taker in all their feuds, but this time Taker won, and to date it is the last match the two had together, meaning that Taker got the last laugh over Austin. Hey Rattlesnake! HA-HA!

The Undertaker would get his title shot against none other than Hulk Hogan at Judgment Day 2002. History certainly repeated itself as The Undertaker became the only person in history to take the title from Hogan twice. The match is remembered for being “The worst match of 2002” by internet fans, but I will argue until the day I die that it was not bad. It was actually better than I expected, and to be honest I’ve seen far worse from both guys. I was also happy to see Taker score his fourth world title win.

As champion, The Undertaker would have one blockbuster week during the summer in which he was clearly the WWE’s MVP. On an episode of Raw, he defended the championship against Jeff Hardy in a Ladder match. I still say that it is the best singles match in Jeff Hardy’s career, and there was a 10 second point in that match where I thought the young kid might actually win the match. Of course Undertaker ended up winning, but I still had to give major props to Hardy. It was high intensity, and after the match, Undertaker turned face again as he raised Jeff Hardy’s hand and said that he earned his respect. The next night at the Smackdown tapings, Undertaker had an amazing match with Kurt Angle for the championship and once again tore the house down. The ending to the match was stupid (Angle had Taker locked in a Triangle choke, but Angle’s shoulders were down so the referee counted the pinfall at the same time Taker tapped out, so the match was a draw which is lame), but the match was very good, and Angle and Taker would even top this match in 2003.

The Undertaker lost the title to The Rock in a Triple Threat Match at Vengeance 2002, with Kurt Angle as the third participant. The Undertaker would then pretty much hang in limbo until the night after Summerslam when Brock Lesnar, who won The Undisputed Championship, decided to be exclusive to Smackdown. Instead of waiting for a new world champion to be crowned on Raw, The Undertaker jumped ship to Smackdown and challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship (no longer the Undisputed World title) At Unforgiven 2002, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar had a very good match, a match that I thought was by far Lesnar’s best up to this point, even though the match ended in a Double DQ. The next month they would even top that match as The Undertaker challenged Brock Lesnar for the title in a Hell in Cell match, the fifth one that Taker would be a part of. The match was amazing and violent, despite the fact that the participants did not leave the cell at any time. They had a great match, and even redefined what The Hell in a Cell match should be. The build up to this match was so stupid I’m not even going to cover it, but the match was amazing and probably my second favorite Hell in a Cell behind the original with HBK. Brock Lesnar scored the clean win over Taker with the F-5. I was upset that one of my all time favorites was traded over to Smackdown for the sole purpose of losing to a guy that I knew was not going to succeed in the long run, but Taker made Lesnar look like a million bucks, and this made Lesnar more than any other match he had up to this point.

Taker was then put on the shelf for a few months after an attack from The Big Show, but Taker returned in early 2003 and got his revenge on Big Show by defeating him in a really good match at No Way Out 2003. The Undertaker would then go into his Eleventh Wrestlemania match without a tag team partner as he took on Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match. Despite the odds, The Undertaker still prevailed and was now 11-0 at Wrestlemania.

Taker then spent the next few months not doing much of anything until he crossed paths with newcomer John Cena. The Doctor of Thuganomics claimed that The Old School was out, and that he would lead The New School. Not one to take disrespect lightly, The Undertaker faced John Cena at Vengeance 2003. This was the first good match I ever saw Cena have, and after watching this I thought the guy might have potential to make it, and look at him now. He’s the current WWE Champion (and is apparently losing popularity by the day, but whatever) The match was pretty good with Taker getting the win with The Last Ride. Taker would then finish out the summer with a series of good big man matches with A-Train. The best of these matches was at Summerslam 2003, with Undertaker scoring the win.

The Undertaker went after the championship again, and this led to great series of Smackdown main events from Taker. The first of which was a Triple Threat match for number 1 contendership for the gold as Taker took on Big Show and Brock Lesnar. After a tremendous triple threat match, The Undertaker hit The Last Ride on Lesnar and FINALLY defeated that chump that should never have beaten Taker at all in the first place. The next week was set to have Kurt Angle defending the gold against The Undertaker. The match would turn out to be, IMO, the most underrated match of 2003. I honestly think that this match is within Taker’s top 10 ever and Angle's top 5 ever. It was amazing. The Undertaker was able to hit some technical wrestling moves that I have never seen out of him before, and Angle brought his A game as well. The two meshed incredibly well and the end result was an amazing match that we got to see for free! Brock Lesnar interfered at the end and caused a No Contest finish (is it any wonder why I don’t like this guy) and Michael Cole said it best “We had a match of the year quality bout on our hands and it was ruined by Brock Lesnar” However, if you watch The Undertaker DVD, Angle talks about this match and says even though there was no finish to the match, the crowd gave them a standing ovation and Angle put it over as one of the best matches of his career, something that I’ve been saying for over two years now.

After this match, Lesnar would win back the WWE title from Kurt Angle, and Undertaker was his first challenger. The Biker Chain Match for the title at No Mercy 2003 was set. However, The Undertaker was screwed out of the title by Vince McMahon who interfered at the end. Due to Taker’s constant interference in Vince’s business, Vince made it his goal to make sure that The Undertaker never wins the WWE title ever again: “As long as I’m breathing in, and I’m breathing out, you’ll never be the WWE Champion again! Never!” Undertaker’s response: “Well maybe it’s time he stopped breathing in and out” Taker soon challenged Vince to a Buried Alive Match at Survivor Series 2003. After completely destroying Vince in everyway imaginable, The Undertaker placed Vince in the grave, only for a demon from Undertaker’s past, Kane, to interfere and cost Undertaker the match. Believing that he had buried his brother alive, the Raw Superstar made a special appearance on Smackdown to give the eulogy for The Undertaker, saying that he was dead and was never going to come back.

At Royal Rumble 2004, Kane was in the Rumble match itself and was destroying everyone in sight when suddenly, the lights went out and that familiar gong was heard. People then knew right away that not only was The Undertaker’s return was on the horizon, but he would be coming back as The Dead Man! Over the next few weeks, more and more signs of Taker’s return were presented to Kane, including bizarre video packages proclaiming that “The Dead Will Rise Again…..At Wrestlemania XX, Where It All Begins Again” Kane was set to wrestle The Undertaker at Wrestlemania for the second time. The Undertaker, with the traditional funeral march music, purple lighting, lightning, trench coat, hat, and the druids making the archway of torches for his entrance, made his spectacular return with none other than Paul Bearer at his side. The Dead Man was back as he made short work of Kane with a Tombstone Piledriver. (I know it’s weird that it took three to beat Kane at XIV, and only one at XX, but whatever) The Undertaker, now back to what made him famous in the first place, was now 12-0 at Wrestlemania.

The Undertaker didn’t do much worth noting in Mid 2004 as the Smackdown brand was an utter train wreck and almost everything they did failed. The first noteworthy thing that Taker did was challenge John Bradshaw Layfield for the WWE title at Summerslam 2004. The Toronto fans crapped all over the match, much to my disappointment, but the beat down that JBL received after the match was worth it. Even though he lost the match by DQ, The Undertaker was not done with JBL as he challenged him to the first ever Last Ride match for the title at No Mercy 2004. The rules were basically the same as an Ambulance match except instead of stuffing your opponent in a Ambulance, you stuff them in a Hearse. The match was violent and brutal. The Undertaker Tombstoned JBL on the steel ring steps and then gave him a massive chokeslam through the Spanish announce table. It was only though interference from Heidenreich that JBL was able to escape with the title. This was Undertaker’s best match of 2004.

Undertaker then finished out the year with a feud with Heidenreich, which saw Taker win every time they faced off. However, he took a break from that feud to have one more title match as he faced JBL, Eddie Guerrero, and Booker T in a Four Corners match for the title. The match was the only bright spot on an otherwise abysmal card as all four men worked really well together, especially Taker and Eddie whose chemistry seemed to shine. (I also heard they worked house shows together not too long ago in which they were having streetfights that got good reviews) The match ended when Heidenreich interfered and took Taker out of the match, allowing JBL to score the pin over Booker T.

After defeating Heidenreich again at Royal Rumble 2005 in a Casket match, he began a far more interesting feud that would impact Wrestlemania 21. "The Legend Killer" Randy Orton was hell bent on ending the legacy of The Undertaker, and he challenged Taker to a cross promotional match at Wrestlemania. At the contract signing, Orton slapped Taker, which unleashed the monster within. Knowing that he needed an edge over Taker, Orton enlisted the aid of his Hall of Fame dad, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, and Randy was able to hit Undertaker with the RKO after a distraction from his father. This match at Wrestlemania 21 turned out to be one of Taker's best Wrestlemania bouts, with only his first match with Kane and his match with Triple H surpassing it. In one of the greatest reversals I have ever seen in my life, Randy Orton reversed an Undertaker chokeslam into the RKO. However, this and interference from “Cowboy” Bob Orton was not enough to vanquish The Undertaker. Orton then went for The Tombstone, but Undertaker reversed it and hit The Tombstone himself to score lucky number 13 in his Wrestlemania Undefeated Streak. It was also at this Wrestlemania that Undertaker set the record for wrestling at more Wrestlemanias than anyone else in history, and tied Bret Hart’s record of having the most matches in Wrestlemania history, a record that will be broken April 2006 if Taker is on the card.

Undertaker took some time off after Wrestlemania, and returned to face JBL on an episode of Smackdown. The match was a great big man match, and one of the many great matches that we would get for free this year. (WWE needs to stop doing that BTW) The Dead Man seemed to have things well in hand, but Randy Orton returned and revealed himself to be one of Smackdown’s draft picks and RKO’d Taker, giving JBL the win. The Legend Killer then proclaimed that Taker “Just got RKO’d, and you better get used to it, because The Legend Killer is now on Smackdown”

The feud was not renewed right away as Orton was still recovering from a shoulder injury. In the meantime, The Undertaker was thrown into the most controversial angle he’s been in since his days in The Ministry of Darkness. The Undertaker feuded with Muhammed Hassan, and one segment they did, in which The Undertaker was attacked by several masked men who were labeled “sympathizers” to Hassan’s “cause”, got so much negative press that the Muhammed Hassan character was removed from TV. At The Great American Bash 2005, The Undertaker faced Hassan in what would be Hassan’s last match with the WWE. To make it perfectly clear that Hassan was not coming back, Taker gave Hassan The Last Ride through the stage, and Smackdown GM Teddy Long fired Hassan in a message that was posted on WWE.com.

The feud with Orton was renewed after Orton cost Taker yet another match against JBL on an episode of Smackdown. The feud lead to a rematch at Summerslam 2005, which I attended, and once again Taker and Orton put on a very good match. The ending saw a distraction from Bob Orton lead to an RKO, and thus The Legend fell to The Legend Killer as Randy Orton scored the win. As a huge fan of both guys, it was really cool to see them both live, and The Undertaker’s entrance is absolutely amazing live. TV doesn’t do it justice. Randy Orton then claimed that he forced The Undertaker into retirement, and on the first episode of Friday Night Smackdown, Orton presented Taker with a check for the “Undertaker Retirement Fund” Not amused by this gesture, The Undertaker summoned a bolt of lighting that ignited the check on fire, symbolizing that Taker was not done with Orton.

The next week on Friday Night Smackdown, The Undertaker and Randy Orton once again had a great match to add to their on going series. This time, The Undertaker scored the win, taking the feud to 2-1. However, Randy played mind games with Undertaker as he presented Taker with a casket with a life like dummy of Taker placed inside of it. Not being a slouch at the mind games himself, The Undertaker retaliated by presenting The Ortons with life like dummies of them stuffed in a large casket. At No Mercy 2005, The Undertaker faced both Randy and Bob Orton in a Handicap Casket match. Once again, Randy and Taker were able to have a great match, making them 4 for 4 as far as great matches go. Despite a hard fought effort, The Undertaker fell to The Ortons, and taking a play out of Kane’s playbook, Randy Orton locked the casket and set it on fire. The poor fool thought he had gotten rid of The Undertaker for good. Someone should tell that guy to go study the old tapes from Taker’s career.

This past Sunday at Survivor Series on November 27, 2005, just 5 days after the 15th anniversary of The Undertaker’s debut in the company, The Undertaker made his return. As Randy Orton celebrated his win in the big Raw vs. Smackdown Survivor Series match, Druids appeared on the ramp with a casket, and if history has shown us anything, where there’s a casket, there’s The Undertaker. The Phenom burst out of the casket and stalked Randy Orton. He took out several Smackdown superstars and stood triumphant in the ring as Orton ran away, showing that he was still The Phenom and still the top dog in the WWE.

15 years of awesomeness. What an amazing run, and he’s not finished yet! What will The Undertaker do in the near future? Well a continuation of his feud with Orton seems obvious, but who knows what else The Undertaker can do with the time he’s got left in this business. Over the course of a decade and a half, The Undertaker has proven that he is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.