Happy Birthday to the Undertaker!

[The Reverend]

Just been having a relaxing soak in the bath with a few back issues of FSM and came across the info thats its 21 years to the day since The Undertaker made his debut at the Survivor Series. Where does the time go? He's a unique animal in the Wrestling world - a character who really should've run his course after a couple of years but kept evolving and keeping up with the times and after all this time he's still here.

So in honour lets hear your stories of the first time you saw him, your favourite Undi moments and your worst.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Was at the dentist on the morning of the day my Dad got me the video someone from work taped for me. My Dad kept saying "he's British him" about Koko B Ware. No idea why he thought he was British. Its mad how you remember watching certain events when you were young. Those early 90s WWF PPV's were brilliant as a youngster.

[gold76]

It was brilliant at the time, he literally killed Dusty Rhodes..

 

I did like the Big Evil biker gimmick too.

 

But since he's gone back to the deadman, he's put in stellar matches, with Punk, HBK & HHH.

 

What a trooper, also carrying on after the pyro incident too.

 

Best gimmick Vince has ever come up with.

[CLNave]

If we are talking the best of the Undertaker, the short lived heel run from late 2001 to mid 2002 was his best work in my opinion. Entertaining run with the hardcore title, demolishing lower carders in brutal fashion, followed by ppv run against a who's who of wrestling:

 

No Way Out: The Rock

Wrestlemania: Ric Flair

Backlash: Stone Cold

Judgement Day: Hulk Hogan

King of the Ring: HHH

Vengeance: The Rock and Kurt Angle

 

It seems like a forgotten era in his career, but its a run that simply isn't possible today. After that he drifted off into the Undertaker of old, with run of the mill big man matches with A-Train, Big Show, Kane etc before the one great match a year routine he's in now. But that run will always be the most entertaining for me.

[Snitsky's back acne]

First saw Undertaker in late summer 1991 when, in my opinion, he was at his absolute scariest. He seriously got me hooked on wrestling in a big way.

 

My 9 year old mind thought he was like something from a horror film and, when I heard he was set to face Hulk Hogan, I was convinced that, even though Hulk Hogan beat EVERYBODY there was just no way he could defeat The Undertaker. After all, even The Ultimate Warrior couldn't beat The Undertaker!

 

Least favourite? I wasn't a massive fan of the heel American Bad-Ass to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I think he did great things with it I just was such a mark for 'old school' Undertaker that, to me, that version just wasn't, well, The Undertaker.

[Sym]

For me, the first ever WWF show I ever watched, and it got me hooked: Royal Rumble 1994 Casket Match Vs Yokozuna! The ending to that match was amazing and that was what started me off!

[Daaaaaad!]

It was brilliant at the time, he literally killed Dusty Rhodes..

 

I'll have to dithagree with you there brotha'.

[Philo_Vance]

Was at the dentist on the morning of the day my Dad got me the video someone from work taped for me. My Dad kept saying "he's British him" about Koko B Ware. No idea why he thought he was British. Its mad how you remember watching certain events when you were young. Those early 90s WWF PPV's were brilliant as a youngster.

 

I've always thought that Koko B Ware looked a bit like Dave 'Soulman' Bond who used to be on WoS. Your dad probably thought it was him.

[Rosler28]

Just been having a relaxing soak in the bath with a few back issues of FSM and came across the info thats its 21 years to the day since The Undertaker made his debut at the Survivor Series. Where does the time go? He's a unique animal in the Wrestling world - a character who really should've run his course after a couple of years but kept evolving and keeping up with the times and after all this time he's still here.

So in honour lets hear your stories of the first time you saw him, your favourite Undi moments and your worst.

 

 

truly one of the best wrestlers ever

[Pier Six Brawler]

Was he called Kane the Undertaker at the Survivor Series or did that come a bit later? I remember having a WWF magazine announcing that "Kane" was one of the competitors entering the Royal Rumble '91 and literally having no idea who it was as they'd stopped calling him that by then.

[HarmonicGenerator]

I can't really remember the first time I saw him on TV ... but my first glimpse was in the vaunted and legendary (in my mind, anyway) Ultimate Warrior Colouring Book. In amongst the various shots of Warrior for you to colour, were pages dedicated to some other members of the WWF roster. The Bushwackers were there, Bossman, Randy Savage, British Bulldog, and The Undertaker.

 

Very-young-me me thought Warrior was brilliant ... but I saw the picture of Taker, and ... new favourite wrestler. He's been my favourite ever since, and still is - I can't remember not remembering him.

 

I've loved just about every stage of his development, but my favourite incarnation is probably 96-98 Undertaker, from around the time of the Diesel match and early Mankind rivalry, up to the Ministry forming. It was the teardrop-on-the-face stage of his career, when, during his entrance, there'd be a blackout and everybody got their lighters out, and he'd bring the arena lights back up by raising his arms. Stunning.

 

I was just thinking tonight that the position of 'Undertaker's WrestleMania Opponent' is probably one of the most challenging things you can do as a wrestler. You've got to be good enough to make everybody think that you can actually beat him. At WrestleMania. When everybody knows he's going to win. You've got to be a bloody fantastic worker to even put a few seconds' doubt in people's minds that you can genuinely win. That moment after Triple H hit the Tombstone this year when you thought "shit, he's done it, one, two, thrARGHHEKICKEDOUT" - I can't see anyone else on the current roster you might get that from. Maybe Cena... maybe.

 

But it's a two way thing as well, and Undertaker's contribution to moments like that is massive. It's great that in recent years he's still having career-best matches, and that Michaels/Taker in 2010 was virtually as good as it was in 1997 (in my opinion).

 

Anyway, long post short, Undertaker favourite ever, happy debutday to him.

[The Reverend]

Was he called Kane the Undertaker at the Survivor Series or did that come a bit later? I remember having a WWF magazine announcing that "Kane" was one of the competitors entering the Royal Rumble '91 and literally having no idea who it was as they'd stopped calling him that by then.

 

At the Survivor Series he was just billed as The Undertaker (I loved the way Piper fucked up called his finishing move as the Tombstone despite it being his first match) but on TV shortly after he was Kane the Undertaker and I remember a number of magazines calling him that too. He's totally unique as well in the fact that he's the longest running character who you can actually trace back to the very first time he appeared. It was definitely the first I can re-call who debuted on a major show.

[Reznor]

He was never a huge favourite of mine, but I can remember how awestruck I was by him back in '91. As a kid, he was pretty scary and intimidating to me - even the hamminess of Paul Bearer couldn't take that away. I vividly remember feeling sorry for everyone facing him, and thinking that aisleway would be the last place in ther world i'd like to be when he was making his entrance. The cool camerawork probably helped that feeling. I also believed them when they used to say the whole building had turned ice cold!

 

It felt unreal how he was tearing through the likes of Superfly, Valentine, Tornado, Tugboat and Bulldog so easily as I had never saw anything like that before. And he could have been the devil himself in my eyes when he tried to kill the Warrior. Shame that feud never went anywhere. It should've happened at Summerslam!

 

I loved the Hogan matches too, because although the feud was rushed by the standards of those days, I had been anticipating them meeting all year, and it felt like a huge match to me. It always confused me why it was thrown into the middle of the Survivor Series card to let a bunch of midcarders main event. I know he was getting real popular, but I do wish they held off with his first turn for a while to later on in 1992.

 

I agree with the earlier poster about 96-98 being my favourite years. From WM12 onwards through his excellent series with Mankind (which pretty much covered all 3 years on & off), into 97 and his matches with Vader, Austin, Bret and HBK, there's a tonne of good stuff from him. I even quite liked the WM13 main event that everyone else seemed to hate.

 

It felt like he changed/evolved after '95, when he really got away from relying on the novelty stuff, started getting the balance right between the gimmick and the physical stuff, and showed how well he could do the actual wrestling as well as playing the character.

 

It doesn't seem like long ago we were talking about his decade of destruction and how it felt like he had been there a lifetime. The 2nd half (and a bit) sure went in a lot quicker than the first, although I guess that's just natural.

 

Wonder who he'll end up facing at WM?......

[bAzTNM#1]

Here is The Undertaker's "WWF Superstars" show debut in 1990. I haven't got sound, but I've watched it before. Listen out for the announcer calling him "Cain the Undertaker".

 

The Undertaker vs Mario Mancini

 

IIRC, that Superstars appearance was filmed before his "debut" at Survivor Series, which is why he is going by the name "Cain".

[Sheffbag]

Best Taker moment for me was when he locked Warrior in the casket. Looking back now it was a hell of an angle but even as a 20 year old i thought it was for real the way it was sold by the commentators and people who came to try and get him out while Taker just walked away as one cold badass. I cant youtube at work, can someone stick it up please.