Sunday, November 22nd, on that day thirty years ago probably the biggest gimmick in the history of wrestling debuted, The Undertaker. Fast forward to this November 22nd, exactly thirty years to the day, The Undertaker will get his “final farewell”, with a bunch of legends appearing in support, with that said there’s been so many good Undertaker matches but there’s a bunch that are good but nobody really knows it or saw the matches and forgot how good they were.
That’s what I’m discussing today, five Undertaker matches that I went back and watched recently that I believe are underrated and everyone should watch again.
5. Undertaker vs. Bret Hart – Summerslam 1997, WWE Championship (Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee)
This match is forgotten for how good it was because of the shenanigans between Bret and Shawn leading up to it and after it. The story coming into it was Bret wouldn’t wrestle in the United States again if he lost, and when Shawn Michaels was named the referee it seemed like that stipulation would be a foregone conclusion. The fight between Shawn and Bret leading up to this kind of put the champion to the waste side, as Bret was essentially feuding with the referee.
The match gets overshadowed because of the injury to Stone Cold Steve Austin earlier in the night for sure. If you watch it again you see the story-building and building throughout, it’s one of those matches, that isn’t great because of the wrestling per-say, but the story being told is what draws you in. Undertaker just wants to keep his championship but Bret Hart frustrations continuing to build and build to where he and Shawn Michaels get into it. Bret had a sharpshooter around the ring post, and when Undertaker powered out Bret was launched onto Shawn who was counting Bret to a DQ. Bret uses that time to introduce a chair, and smack Undertaker right in the head. Doing a horrible job of disposing of this chair, Shawn finds it and confronts Bret about it, and Bret gets mad and spits in Shawn’s face.
Shawn gets pissed about that and swings the chair, Bret ducks, and Shawn hits Undertaker square in the face. Setting off a chain reaction, that would lead to Bret holding the championship until the infamous Montreal Screwjob incident, and Shawn Michaels going down a road he never wanted to go down, a series of matches with Undertaker, that would include the first-ever Hell in a Cell match, and a casket match. If you haven’t seen this match or haven’t seen it in a while, check it out again, it’s a gem of a match that gets overshadowed for sure, and that’s why it’s on this list.
4. Undertaker vs. Vader vs. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin – In Your House 13: Final Four, WWE Championship, Four Corners Elimination Match
From 1995-1999, WWE ran these smaller pay-per-views, called “In Your House”, they were shorter and cheaper PPVs that took place during that weren’t the big 5 shows (now 4). This match in particular is forgotten because of everything that took place before and after. Shawn Michaels gave up the championship because he “lost his smile”, and the reason this match was taking place in the first place was to determine who would face him at Wrestlemania. Steve Austin had won the Royal Rumble, but he was previously eliminated and officials missed it. The answer was to have these four men face in a four corners elimination match. Eliminations taking place by pinfall, submission, or over the top rope (like the royal rumble).
This match was very good because unlike most elimination matches where everyone was eliminated early until the final two brawl, this one built and built over time with everyone involved. The story of the match early on, was Vader get a chair kicked in his face by The Undertaker, and that cutting him around the left eye. This got worse and worse over time and made it very hard for Vader to get the upper hand. This actually made the match better and built a bigger story throughout the match. Steve Austin and Bret Hart had been feuding since the past November, and this was the feud that put Steve Austin on the map. Austin was the first eliminated over the top, but he never leaves the ringside area.
Officials couldn’t get Austin out of the ringside area pissed his rival, Hart, eliminated him first and he wanted to make his presence known because of it. Vader, still bleeding, still unable to see clearly from this bloody eye, now has removed his mask to help to see better, is next to be eliminated after Undertaker hits him below the belt and dumps him over the top rope. As Undertaker and Bret are brawling as the last two in the match, Undertaker goes for the Tombstone and it is thwarted by Steve Austin who causes a distraction that gives Bret enough time to win by clotheslining Undertaker out. I’d say watch this match and you’ll see how good it is, from a commonly forgotten PPV event, also as a side note, watch most of the shows from 1997, a great year for wrestling as a whole.
3. Undertaker vs. John Cena – Smackdown, June 24th, 2004
Two months prior, The Deadman returned, after spending 2000-2001 as The American Badass, and 2002-2003 as Big Evil, Undertaker returned to his roots as a hybrid of all three characters with the aura, mystique, and power of the Deadman, but the physicality and cunning of the other characters. At this point, it was time for this Undertaker to come back, and when he did he had shot in the arm as a character, and we had a new better, and less watered-down Undertaker.
Two months after returning to this character he even had Paul Bearer in his corner again for the first time since 1999. However that didn’t last very long, Bearer was captured by Paul Heyman and the Dudley Boyz, and Undertaker was not in the mood to be tested by anyone, that included John Cena. Cena, not yet the face of the company had won his first championship ever (United States) at Wrestlemania two months prior, and in this match, he happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
The Undertaker was on this entire match. Going back and watching this, for the first time in a while it was so odd seeing Cena working from behind the majority of the match, and also seeing The Deadman version of Undertaker using the chain out of frustration because he just couldn’t keep Cena down and following it up with a tombstone for a victory. Check this match out, it’s probably the best match between the two, and a great watch.
2. Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle – WWE Championship, Smackdown, September 4th, 2003
There’s a bunch of great matches between these two, but this one is so under the radar too so many that it’s forgettable that it even happened. Kurt Angle had been feuding on and off with Brock Lesnar, while Undertaker came out of a nothing feud with A-Train. Undertaker getting a title opportunity here, the thing that overshadows this match more than anything, exactly two weeks later, Angle and Lesnar had the best Iron Man match ever on free TV.
This match in particular saw Undertaker do more submissions and more of a grounded offense, trying to compete with Angle and try to get on his level in that aspect. There’s a great sequence where Undertaker reverses an ankle lock attempt by Angle and has a triangle choke on Angle for a long time to the point where it would have been believable that it was the finish, but it wasn’t. They traded shots, Undertaker played the hits, chokeslams, the last ride. Just when you think Undertaker has secured a victory, Brock Lesnar enters and smacks Undertaker in the face with a chair causing a DQ.
As I mentioned earlier this match is forgotten for the aforementioned Iron Man match that takes place two weeks later. It’s a very good match that is up there with one of the best TV matches Undertaker ever had despite the DQ finish.
1. Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy – WWE Championship, Ladder Match, Raw, July 1st, 2002
We go from one of the best Undertaker TV matches to easily the best one. This match is remembered sure but, I still put it on this underrated list because it’s not remembered as well as most great Undertaker matches. For me, I remember where I was, what I was doing while watching this match. The story was Vince McMahon wanted Undertaker to make a new superstar by having him face the champion, that was Jeff Hardy, and when Undertaker won, Jeff asked for another match, this time for the title, in his type of match, a ladder match.
This match for the most part is Undertaker trying to keep up with Jeff Hardy, Undertaker was way out of his element, and he made it work, and this match builds over time. It starts out fast and Jeff very much being in control. Undertaker, however, as soon as he gets comfortable he takes control and never loses it. Jeff of course never loses the fight finding a way to stay in it even when it seems very bleak. There’s a great spot where Undertaker goes for the last ride but Jeff grabs a chair on the way up and smacks Undertaker in the face with it. This prompts Jeff to climb but Undertaker puts him away for good after chokeslamming Jeff off the ladder and grabbing the title for the win. The one thing Jeff did accomplish on this night he earned the Undertaker’s respect, and sometimes that is bigger than any title win.
For me, it’s one of the best Raw main events ever, and the reason it’s on this list is I believe it’s forgotten as a great Undertaker match. It’s very much a coming out party for Jeff Hardy. This match was a proving ground for Jeff Hardy and I believe if he hadn’t have left a year later and he wasn’t spiraling out of control, he could’ve been a world champion much earlier in his career.
Is there an underrated Undertaker match that didn’t make the cut, that you believe should be on the list? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @SLTDWrestling.
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