Thank You Taker

[Captain Kronos]

1 hour ago, Technico Support said:

I'm really glad @Curt McGirt remembered that Jeff Hardy match.  Holy shit was that incredible.  Hardy wasn't a top guy yet and wow did Taker make it believable that a career tag match guy was going to win to world title.  

I woke up last night and couldn't fall back to sleep immediately, so I ended up watching that match. Taker does a terrific job putting over the young guy while not looking remotely weak. And it seems to me maybe it's a face turn at the end for him? Everyone wins, and JR's commentary was fantastic. 

My one complaint is the segment where Taker is almost all the way up the ladder. Jeff's still "passed out" on the floor. Taker comes down and starts beating him some more. Kayfabe, shouldn't he have claimed the title? Then if he wanted to keep beating on Jeff, do so? 

It's not the story they were telling, and the result was better. But it took me out of the match for a moment. I wonder if they had a miscommunication about in-ring placement?

[J.T.]

More Mean Mark Callous goodness.

HarleyRacesLeftHand is my favorite person on the internet today because he's gone through his tapes and made a playlist of Mean Mark's WCW matches in tribute to UT's retirement.

Some asshole fan at ringside has the audacity to tug on Mean Mark's vest (Mark breaks kayfabe and says the word "fuck.") and poor unfortunate Max Miles pays the price for it.

[J.T.]

RIP Rick Ford.  Looks like we got our first glimpse of the Bikertaker here.

 

[J.T.]

The pro wrestling world is very small.

Jason Knight would eventually trade his blonde hair for black and eventually go to work for Paul E in ECW.

You probably rememeber him best as a former ECW TV Champ and the man that led the Impact Players to the ECW World Tag Team titles...

 

[J.T.]

RIP Larry Santo.

 

[The Natural]

As you’ll know I’m a big fan of the Undertaker, he’s one of my five favourite wrestlers ever with Bret Hart, Kenta Kobashi, Daniel Bryan and Mick Foley.

The gimmick of the Dead Man (excluding when he wrestled as the American Bad Ass/Big Evil) the longevity of it keeping up with the times and not breaking character.

The matches with Mankind in 1996 when Undertaker was able to show what he could really do in the ring and the graphic Undertaker vs. Mankind Hell in a Cell at King of the Ring 1998. Shawn Michaels in the first Hell in a Cell match at In Your House 18: Badd Blood 1997 was the best match both ever had, the chemistry between them with that classic and two more at WrestleMania XXV and XXVI. Amazing. The Brock Lesnar series within the Hell in a Cell at No Mercy 2002 the standout, at WrestleMania XXX (more on that soon), SummerSlam 2015 and inside Hell in a Cell 2015. These were the last two great matches Undertaker had.

The Streak at WrestleMania. The Undertaker went 21-0 and a new Streak came out of it. The Undertaker having the best match at WrestleMania from 23 to XXIX, that’s seven years in a row! In that run: the Batista match I knew would surprise people, it did and should have gone on last,  against Edge in one of the greatest WrestleMania main events as Edge countered numerous times ‘Taker’s big moves. The previously talked about bouts with Shawn Michaels, against Triple H twice and CM Punk.

The Streak ending at WrestleMania XXX. The biggest holy shit moment by far I’ve ever seen in my years watching wrestling. I was stunned. My jaw just dropped now recalling it. We learnt Undertaker suffered a severe concussion early on so it’s remarkable he finished the match and explains why it wasn’t at the level of the Undertaker/Brock matches I singled out.

I’m glad I stayed up to watch Undertaker’s last match against Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania XXXIII for all these reasons. I found the post match retirement truly moving as Undertaker dressed as he entered took his gloves, trenchcoat and hat off laying them in the middle of the ring and left the building.

Thank you, ‘Taker.

Thank you, ‘Taker.

Thank you, ‘Taker.

[The Natural]

A difficult go at Undertaker’s top twenty matches:

1. vs. Shawn Michaels, In Your House 18: Badd Blood 1997. *****

2. vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania XXV. *****

3. vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania XXVI. *****

4. vs. Triple H, WrestleMania XXVIII. *****

5. vs. Brock Lesnar, No Mercy 2002.

6. vs. Edge, WrestleMania XXIV.

7. vs. Mankind, King of the Ring 1998.

8. vs. Batista, WrestleMania 23.

9. vs. Brock Lesnar, SummerSlam 2015.

10. vs. Batista, Backlash 2007.

11. vs. Brock Lesnar, Hell in a Cell 2015.

12. vs. Jeff Hardy, RAW, 1st July 2002.

13. vs. Triple H, WrestleMania XXVIII.

14. vs. CM Punk, WrestleMania XXIX.

15. vs. Kurt Angle, Smackdown, 3rd September 2003.

16. vs. Kurt Angle, No Way Out 2006.

17. vs. Kurt Angle vs. The Rock, Vengeance 2002.

18. vs. Steve Austin, SummerSlam 1998.

19. vs. Bret Hart, One Night Only 1997.

20. vs. Kane, WrestleMania XIV.

[Curt McGirt]

13 hours ago, Kronos said:

I woke up last night and couldn't fall back to sleep immediately, so I ended up watching that match. Taker does a terrific job putting over the young guy while not looking remotely weak. And it seems to me maybe it's a face turn at the end for him? Everyone wins, and JR's commentary was fantastic. 

My one complaint is the segment where Taker is almost all the way up the ladder. Jeff's still "passed out" on the floor. Taker comes down and starts beating him some more. Kayfabe, shouldn't he have claimed the title? Then if he wanted to keep beating on Jeff, do so? 

It's not the story they were telling, and the result was better. But it took me out of the match for a moment. I wonder if they had a miscommunication about in-ring placement?

I think it was the story they were telling. Taker is a sadist and wants to beat on him some more, Jeff is the underdog and extending his comeback makes him look better. Hubris/arrogance almost brings Taker down and by the very end he realizes it and acquiesces to the fact that he was almost undone by it (and that the kid is that damn tough), giving Jeff his props for that. Great storytelling. 

[J.T.]

I normally despise run-ins, but the night the BoD disrupted everyone's matches and segments and beat the living shit out of the entire roster was a glorious evening of the pro wrestling.

We were also witnessing the evolution of the Shoottaker.

[J.T.]

I wish I could find a better quality version of the BoD video package with Marylin Manson's Fight Song.

 

[Web Conn]

 

[Captain Kronos]

 

[Captain Kronos]

 

[(BP)]

Listened to a clip from what I think was JR's pod where he's talking to Meltzer, and Dave tells a story about going to dinner with a top wrestler on the roster in 97 and the guy being certain Taker had only a year or so left because of injuries. In 1997. Ross also mentioned Taker getting hip surgery later this month. 

I also just came across this Sad Hulk Theme version of "Undertaker" that rules.

 

[NikoBaltimore]

Undertaker scared the living fuck out of me.  I remember the casket scene with Warrior, between that and the bodybag I had quite the nightmares.  But what turned me around was when Jake trapped his hand in the casket.  Once he became good I was fully on board.  Whether he was in the early getup (looking back it's my favorite look) or going Bikertaker I loved everything he did.  I'm getting a kick out of this thread and thanks OSJ for starting it up.  All I can say is he's a first ballot HOFer and should be in them all ASAP.

[The Iron Yuppie]

15 hours ago, The Natural said:

The Undertaker having the best match at WrestleMania from 23 to XXIX, that’s seven years in a row! In that run: the Batista match I knew would surprise people, it did and should have gone on last,  

YES! Dude, I'm so glad you shouted out the 23 match. Everyone loves the two HBK matches, and rightfully so. But of the run from 23 to XXIX, the match against Batista is my next favorite. 

 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I know this is the Thank you Taker thread, but I don't feel like Paul Bearer gets enough credit for the early days of the character. The little touches he adds that only people in the funeral industry would get added so much, from the terminology he used, using a casket key in the Warrior Funeral Parlor segment. I don't think the character lasts as long if Brother Love is left with Taker. First, why is the corrupt televangelist with a mortician that may or not be be the living dead? The pairing didn't make a lot of sense.

[joseph2112]

17 hours ago, The Natural said:

A difficult go at Undertaker’s top twenty matches:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

1. vs. Shawn Michaels, In Your House 18: Badd Blood 1997. *****

2. vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania XXV. *****

3. vs. Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania XXVI. *****

4. vs. Triple H, WrestleMania XXVIII. *****

5. vs. Brock Lesnar, No Mercy 2002.

6. vs. Edge, WrestleMania XXIV.

7. vs. Mankind, King of the Ring 1998.

8. vs. Batista, WrestleMania 23.

9. vs. Brock Lesnar, SummerSlam 2015.

10. vs. Batista, Backlash 2007.

11. vs. Brock Lesnar, Hell in a Cell 2015.

12. vs. Jeff Hardy, RAW, 1st July 2002.

13. vs. Triple H, WrestleMania XXVIII.

14. vs. CM Punk, WrestleMania XXIX.

15. vs. Kurt Angle, Smackdown, 3rd September 2003.

16. vs. Kurt Angle, No Way Out 2006.

17. vs. Kurt Angle vs. The Rock, Vengeance 2002.

18. vs. Steve Austin, SummerSlam 1998.

19. vs. Bret Hart, One Night Only 1997.

20. vs. Kane, WrestleMania XIV.

 

 

I have the same #1 for several reasons and I wouldn't sleep on that Smackdown (your 15) match with Kurt Angle, which may have been my favorite match from 2003. 

[Go2Sleep]

That piano version of his theme is really cool.

My favorite Taker theme was the guitar-heavy 98 theme that later evolved into the Ministry theme.

 

[(BP)]

This was such a money TV spot. I had only been following wrestling for about a year, and Stone Cold and Taker had been the two focal points of the company nearly the entire time, so the match felt huge. 

 

[J.T.]

On 4/5/2017 at 8:02 PM, Go2Sleep said:

That piano version of his theme is really cool.

My favorite Taker theme was the guitar-heavy 98 theme that later evolved into the Ministry theme.

Ah, the Ministry Of Darkness theme.

Mark Calloway will also be forever remembered and beloved as the man who worked a portion of Merlin's Charm of Making from the movie, Excalibur, into a WWE entrance theme.

 

[Curt McGirt]

I absolutely love that piano version. It needs to be the main theme for a really depressing horror movie. 

On the other hand, that SummerSlam has made me avoid hearing "Highway to Hell" any time it comes on anymore. When you can make me not want to listen to Bon-era AC/DC then you played something WAY TOO MANY GODDAMN TIMES

[J.T.]

And for record, the Charm of Making is not gibberish. 

I learned from Finn Balor's Twitter feed that the language is Gaelic.

"Anal nathrach, orth' bhais's bethad, do che'l de'nmha."

"Serpent's breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making."

Who says that pro wrestling is not educational?  Everything you discovered about Irish mythology, you probably got from Balor's Demon King promo.

[odessasteps]

Best use of Gaelic recently 

 

[Wyld Samurai]

27 minutes ago, J.T. said:

And for record, the Charm of Making is not gibberish. 

I learned from Finn Balor's Twitter feed that the language is Gaelic.

"Anal nathrach, orth' bhais's bethad, do che'l de'nmha."

"Serpent's breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making."

Who says that pro wrestling is not educational?  Everything you discovered about Irish mythology, you probably got from Balor's Demon King promo.

"The Charm of Making" was made famous by Nicol Williamson as Merlin in the 1980 John Boorman film "Excalibur".