Post by salTy on Dec 1, 2006 9:17:55 GMT -5
Over the years, the man known as 'The Undertaker' has held up many personas within the character. Often when discussing these different personas, it can become quite difficult and confusing knowing which is which and which Undertaker did what. Being a man that has followed The Undertaker throughout his entire career, I'm taking it upon myself to make this thread of reference. I won't go into too many details, I'll just cover the important parts. Short and sweet is the best method; I say.
So here we are, Survivor Series 1990. 'The Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase has a suprise in store for all WWF fans. He has yet to announce the last partner for his Survivor Series team. As it turns out, this 'mystery' partner turned out to be Mark Calaway.
"Old School Gray 'Taker"
"The Undertaker!"; Dibiase said. Of course most of us were like "Who?". However, we soon learned what this man was all about. He fought much like a zombie and seemed impervious to pain. He was accompanied to the ring by this man:
It was during this time that his catchphrase "Rest in Peace" was coined. However, Brother Love was soon replaced by this man:
It seemed this new guy, Paul Bearer, was able to control 'his' Undertaker with a golden urn he had within his possession. I suppose he also taught him the infamous 'Tombstone Piledriver' 'Taker took this persona all the way up to Royal Rumble 1994 in the World famous casket match against Yokozuna where it took roughly 183 heels to beat down 'Taker and finally seal him within the 'double wide, double deep casket'. During this beatdown, Paul Bearer also took a beating. The urn was opened up and green smoke poured out. Mark then made an appearance on the big screen while still inside the casket informing us that "I will never rest in peace". This signified the end of ol' 'Taker for a while. This suffering at the hands of WWE's most vile put Mark out of commission for a while.
Again, Ted Dibiase came along and announced the impending 'return' of The Undertaker. He was claming that he had "bought" The Undertaker and was going to bring him back at Summerslam 1995. He was half right. What he brought was Undertaker-ish. A man named Brian Lee was taken and repackaged into this "Undertaker". The only problem was that Brian Lee was about 6'7", and this was even more noticeable when standing face to face with, the newly decked out in purple, Mark Calaway.
"Purple & Black Attack 'Taker"
That's right, purple. Same Undertaker. Same Paul Bearer. Same urn. Same outfit. Now only more purple than before. 'Taker was also starting to amass an impressive amount of tattoos. 'Taker went on to destroy "The Undertaker", along with many other monsters Vince fed to him. This path of destruction amassed 'Taker an impressive win/loss record along with a noticeable streak at Wrestlemania. This "purple" Undertaker seemed even more impressive than his gray persona. However, things would soon change with the bomb about to go off known as 'The Attitude Era'.
The day after WM12, This man would make his debut by randomly attacking 'Taker. 'Mankind' would make things very difficult for 'Taker over the next few months, even scoring a few wins over the deadman. His tolerance to pain was the perfect counteraction to 'Taker's offense. When they finally had a match at KOTR 1996, it was 'Taker that lost. Suddenly there was suspected dissention in the ranks, and it all came to pass in the 'Boiler Room Brawl' match when the once loyal Paul Bearer took the side of Mankind.
This, of course, struck a nerve in our Deadman. At the 'Buried Alive' IYH, 'Taker displayed a newly found intensity by immediately pounding Mankind in the corner with a barrage of punches. This new style, however, couldn't save 'Taker from being buried alive. All was not lost, however, when a bolt of lightning struck the mound of dirt, and 'Taker's purple glove arose. The battle was lost, the war was far from over.
At the next In Your House, titled 'It's Time', 'Taker again redebuted. This time descending from the rafters complete with teardrop facepaint and a 'Batman' cape. The intensity stayed, and 'Taker was able to pull off the win this time. I assume he fed on some helpless victims before the match.
I dubbed him "Count Dracutaker".
His momentum would continue all the way into WM13 when he was crowned WWF Champion for the second time while wearing the old black & gray. I forgot the mention the first time he captured the belt, but that reign really wasn't important at all. Anyway, "Count Dracutaker" would continue with the momentum until Shawn Michaels cost him the title at Summerslam 1997 against Bret Hart. It was during this time that Paul Bearer would come back into 'Taker's life claiming that 'Taker's long lost brother, Kane, was making his way into the WWF. Shawn Michaels' hug-up at SS would set up the 5-star classic 'Hell in a Cell' match at IYH: Badd Blood '97. It was during this match that Kane made his debut, brutalizing 'Taker with a Tombstone Piledriver of his own.
After many, many, many gimmick matches against his brother Kane, that took up the majority of 1998, the focus once again shifted to Mankind. Their sort of 'unsettled' feud ended in the world famous 'Hell in a Cell' match at KOTR '98 which became known as one of the most brutal matches in WWE history. 'Taker still had the "Count Dracutaker" look, and held onto it all the way into Summerslam '98 when he challenged "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the WWF Championship. This marked one of the few times that 'Taker was pinned cleanly as a face, maybe the only time.
Since he hadn't been the top man in quite some time, it was time for a heel change. Not being a heel in about eight years, it was a fresh change for the Deadman. Gradually he swtiched from being a vampire into being Satan himself.
'The Lord of Darkness' Lucitaker, I dubbed him.
This 'Lord of Darkness' Undertaker soon started a stable, the 'Ministry of Darkness' with Mideon, Viscera, the Acolytes, and the Brood. During this time he did many odd things like trying to join Stephanie McMahon in unholy matrimony and lighting teddy bears on fire. When he joined with Vince and formed the 'Corporate Ministry', he once again captured the WWF title at Over the Edge '99 from Steve Austin. He lost it back to Austin at Fully Loaded '99. He then teamed with Big Show, but his injuried kept racking up and it was time for another hiatus.
It wasn't long before Undertaker rumors were spreading, and an impending rebut was in order yet. The day was Judgment Day 2000, and it was 'Taker's most radical change to this day.
"Bikertaker".
He came rolling out to the ring mounted on a chopper while Kid Rock blasted over the P.A. This was certainly shocking to almost all of us. Some embraced this 'American Badass' Undertaker. I, for one, didn't. But like always, he played it well and it got over. He remained as 'Big Evil' all the way up until Survivor Series '03, when he was buried alive by VKM. During his three year stint as a biker he managed to change allegiance once again, capture the WWE title for a fourth time, reunite with Kane, and be betrayed by Kane...again.
Fast forward to WMXX. We have Kane being played with by vignettes of our Deadman. Some of those 'old-school' mind games. Much to our (un)suprise, he re-debuted yet again as a combination of 'Big Evil' and classic Gray & Black. This unholy union of personas popped out of the womb looking something like this:
"Legend 'Taker"
This is the guy we're dealing with these days. No need for a history lesson, you all know the man. I wasn't as brief as I promised, but I get carried away sometimes. 'Taker is one of the greatest of all time, there's no arguing that. He is the greatest big man of all time, and I feel there's no denying that either.
Hope you all enjoyed my history lesson, and I hope it shed some light on the various personas of our favorite Deadman.
So here we are, Survivor Series 1990. 'The Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase has a suprise in store for all WWF fans. He has yet to announce the last partner for his Survivor Series team. As it turns out, this 'mystery' partner turned out to be Mark Calaway.
"Old School Gray 'Taker"
"The Undertaker!"; Dibiase said. Of course most of us were like "Who?". However, we soon learned what this man was all about. He fought much like a zombie and seemed impervious to pain. He was accompanied to the ring by this man:
It was during this time that his catchphrase "Rest in Peace" was coined. However, Brother Love was soon replaced by this man:
It seemed this new guy, Paul Bearer, was able to control 'his' Undertaker with a golden urn he had within his possession. I suppose he also taught him the infamous 'Tombstone Piledriver' 'Taker took this persona all the way up to Royal Rumble 1994 in the World famous casket match against Yokozuna where it took roughly 183 heels to beat down 'Taker and finally seal him within the 'double wide, double deep casket'. During this beatdown, Paul Bearer also took a beating. The urn was opened up and green smoke poured out. Mark then made an appearance on the big screen while still inside the casket informing us that "I will never rest in peace". This signified the end of ol' 'Taker for a while. This suffering at the hands of WWE's most vile put Mark out of commission for a while.
Again, Ted Dibiase came along and announced the impending 'return' of The Undertaker. He was claming that he had "bought" The Undertaker and was going to bring him back at Summerslam 1995. He was half right. What he brought was Undertaker-ish. A man named Brian Lee was taken and repackaged into this "Undertaker". The only problem was that Brian Lee was about 6'7", and this was even more noticeable when standing face to face with, the newly decked out in purple, Mark Calaway.
"Purple & Black Attack 'Taker"
That's right, purple. Same Undertaker. Same Paul Bearer. Same urn. Same outfit. Now only more purple than before. 'Taker was also starting to amass an impressive amount of tattoos. 'Taker went on to destroy "The Undertaker", along with many other monsters Vince fed to him. This path of destruction amassed 'Taker an impressive win/loss record along with a noticeable streak at Wrestlemania. This "purple" Undertaker seemed even more impressive than his gray persona. However, things would soon change with the bomb about to go off known as 'The Attitude Era'.
The day after WM12, This man would make his debut by randomly attacking 'Taker. 'Mankind' would make things very difficult for 'Taker over the next few months, even scoring a few wins over the deadman. His tolerance to pain was the perfect counteraction to 'Taker's offense. When they finally had a match at KOTR 1996, it was 'Taker that lost. Suddenly there was suspected dissention in the ranks, and it all came to pass in the 'Boiler Room Brawl' match when the once loyal Paul Bearer took the side of Mankind.
This, of course, struck a nerve in our Deadman. At the 'Buried Alive' IYH, 'Taker displayed a newly found intensity by immediately pounding Mankind in the corner with a barrage of punches. This new style, however, couldn't save 'Taker from being buried alive. All was not lost, however, when a bolt of lightning struck the mound of dirt, and 'Taker's purple glove arose. The battle was lost, the war was far from over.
At the next In Your House, titled 'It's Time', 'Taker again redebuted. This time descending from the rafters complete with teardrop facepaint and a 'Batman' cape. The intensity stayed, and 'Taker was able to pull off the win this time. I assume he fed on some helpless victims before the match.
I dubbed him "Count Dracutaker".
His momentum would continue all the way into WM13 when he was crowned WWF Champion for the second time while wearing the old black & gray. I forgot the mention the first time he captured the belt, but that reign really wasn't important at all. Anyway, "Count Dracutaker" would continue with the momentum until Shawn Michaels cost him the title at Summerslam 1997 against Bret Hart. It was during this time that Paul Bearer would come back into 'Taker's life claiming that 'Taker's long lost brother, Kane, was making his way into the WWF. Shawn Michaels' hug-up at SS would set up the 5-star classic 'Hell in a Cell' match at IYH: Badd Blood '97. It was during this match that Kane made his debut, brutalizing 'Taker with a Tombstone Piledriver of his own.
After many, many, many gimmick matches against his brother Kane, that took up the majority of 1998, the focus once again shifted to Mankind. Their sort of 'unsettled' feud ended in the world famous 'Hell in a Cell' match at KOTR '98 which became known as one of the most brutal matches in WWE history. 'Taker still had the "Count Dracutaker" look, and held onto it all the way into Summerslam '98 when he challenged "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the WWF Championship. This marked one of the few times that 'Taker was pinned cleanly as a face, maybe the only time.
Since he hadn't been the top man in quite some time, it was time for a heel change. Not being a heel in about eight years, it was a fresh change for the Deadman. Gradually he swtiched from being a vampire into being Satan himself.
'The Lord of Darkness' Lucitaker, I dubbed him.
This 'Lord of Darkness' Undertaker soon started a stable, the 'Ministry of Darkness' with Mideon, Viscera, the Acolytes, and the Brood. During this time he did many odd things like trying to join Stephanie McMahon in unholy matrimony and lighting teddy bears on fire. When he joined with Vince and formed the 'Corporate Ministry', he once again captured the WWF title at Over the Edge '99 from Steve Austin. He lost it back to Austin at Fully Loaded '99. He then teamed with Big Show, but his injuried kept racking up and it was time for another hiatus.
It wasn't long before Undertaker rumors were spreading, and an impending rebut was in order yet. The day was Judgment Day 2000, and it was 'Taker's most radical change to this day.
"Bikertaker".
He came rolling out to the ring mounted on a chopper while Kid Rock blasted over the P.A. This was certainly shocking to almost all of us. Some embraced this 'American Badass' Undertaker. I, for one, didn't. But like always, he played it well and it got over. He remained as 'Big Evil' all the way up until Survivor Series '03, when he was buried alive by VKM. During his three year stint as a biker he managed to change allegiance once again, capture the WWE title for a fourth time, reunite with Kane, and be betrayed by Kane...again.
Fast forward to WMXX. We have Kane being played with by vignettes of our Deadman. Some of those 'old-school' mind games. Much to our (un)suprise, he re-debuted yet again as a combination of 'Big Evil' and classic Gray & Black. This unholy union of personas popped out of the womb looking something like this:
"Legend 'Taker"
This is the guy we're dealing with these days. No need for a history lesson, you all know the man. I wasn't as brief as I promised, but I get carried away sometimes. 'Taker is one of the greatest of all time, there's no arguing that. He is the greatest big man of all time, and I feel there's no denying that either.
Hope you all enjoyed my history lesson, and I hope it shed some light on the various personas of our favorite Deadman.