From The Shelf – Undertaker: This Is My Yard

Undertaker: This is My Yard

This DVD came out in 2001. The documentary portion is a simply recap of the Undertaker’s career up until that point. Everyone puts over the evolution of the Undertaker character and goes over his transformation into the “Bikertaker” version of the character. It’s a decent watch, there is nothing that is mind blowing or memorable coming out of it but it wasn’t a waste of time, so for the documentary it’s a mild recommendation.

Hell in a Cell Match- Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker from WWF In Your House: Bad Blood
Big boot by Taker and he works over Michaels. Rights by Michaels and he hits some punches in the corner. Clothesline by Taker gets 2. Taker works over the shoulder of Michaels and he goes OLD SCHOOL~!!!! Taker slams Shawn into a leg drop for 2. Backdrop by Taker and he knocks Shawn down a few times. Taker dumps Shawn and Shawn climbs the cell to try and escape Taker. Taker pulls him down and knocks Michaels down with a clothesline. Taker goes for a powerbomb on the floor but Shawn hammers away to block. Taker drives Michaels back first into the cell a few times and he throws some jabs at the ribs of Michaels. Taker rams Shawn into the post and cell a few times and knocks him down again. Taker works over Shawn and charges at the cell but Shawn moves and he pounds away on Taker. Taker snaps Shawn’s neck off the ropes but Shawn knocks Taker off the apron into the cell to come back. Suicide dive by Michaels and he climbs the cell before coming down with an elbow drop on Taker. Shawn hits a clothesline off the apron onto Taker and he drives the steps into the back of Taker a few times. Piledriver onto the steps by Michaels!!!! Michaels goes up and hits a double axe handle to the floor onto Taker. Back in, Shawn nails Taker in the back with a chair a few times for 2. They slug it out and Shawn ties Taker in the ropes. He charges at Taker but eats boot and Taker backdrops him to the floor, where Shawn crashes onto a camera man!!! Shawn continues to beat up the camera man and back in, he hits the flying forearm on Taker. Shawn goes up and hits the flying elbow. Sweet Chin Music by Michaels but Taker sits right up!!! WWF officials helps the camera man out of the cage and it allows Taker and Shawn to leave the cage. Shawn dropkicks Taker and he goes for a second one but Taker blocks and catapults Shawn into the cage!!! Shawn is busted open as Taker pounds away at Michaels. Taker battery rams Shawn into the cage. He does it again and Shawn goes low to finally get him some separation. Shawn climbs to the top of the cell and Taker follows!!! Shawn goes for a piledriver but Taker backdrops him on top of the cell to block!!! Taker rakes Shawn’s face against the cell and he hits a press slam onto the top of the cell!!!! Shawn tries to climb down but Taker stops him and he stomps on the hands of Michaels CAUSING SHAWN TO FALL OFF THE CELL THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!!!! Taker tosses Shawn across the other announce table and he press slams Shawn onto the floor. They head back in and Taker hits a clothesline. Taker puts Shawn on top and he follows up. CHOKESLAM OFF THE TOP BY TAKER!!!! Taker CREAMS Shawn with a chair shot!!!! Suddenly, the lights go out. THAT’S GOTTA BE KANE!!!! Kane comes out with Paul Bearer and he rips the door off the cell!!!! Kane tosses the ref into the cell and he stands face to face with Undertaker. Kane sets off his pyro and he lays out Taker with the Tombstone!!!! Shawn crawls into the cover for 3!!!
Winner- Shawn Michaels ****3/4 (The first portion of the match was a pretty good brawl but it’s wasn’t anything spectacular. After the camera man bump, this reached legendary status, as Taker gave Shawn the ass kicking off a lifetime and cemented the brutality and carnage of Hell in a Cell. This match also had one of the most memorable debuts in company history with the introduction of Kane, so as a whole package, while not perfect, is one of the most famous and memorable matches in company history.)

Kane w/Paul Bearer vs. Undertaker from WrestleMania XIV
Rights by Taker and Taker hammers away on Kane in the corner. Clothesline by Kane but Taker sits right back up. Kane rams Taker into the corner and stomps away on Taker. Kane works over Taker in the corner and he gord busters Taker onto the top rope. Kane goes up and hits a guillotine forearm to the back knocking Taker to the floor. Kane fires away on Taker in the corner and he catches Taker with an inverted electric chair. They head to the floor and Kane drops Taker on the railings. Kane drives the steps into the back of Taker and Bearer gets some cheap shots in. Kane suplexes Taker back into the ring and he hits the Chokeslam for 2 as he pulls Taker off the mat. Kane goes to the chin lock but Taker is able to fight out. Kane clotheslines Taker to end the momentum and he hits an elbow drop. Kane goes back to the chin lock but Taker dumps him to the apron to break. Big boot knocks Kane off the apron and TAKER GOES FOR THE SUICIDE PLANCHA BUT KANE SIDESTEPS HIM SENDING TAKER CRASHING THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE!!!! Back in, Kane goes up and hits a flying clothesline for 2. Kane fires away but Taker fights back. Taker catches Kane and goes for the Tombstone but Kane counters into his own for 2!!! They slug it out and Taker knocks Kane down with a clothesline. Chokeslam by Taker and he hits the Tombstone for 2!!! Leg drop by Taker and he hits another Tombstone for 2!!! Taker goes up and hits a flying clothesline on Kane. Tombstone by Taker gets 3. Bearer attacks Taker after the match but Taker knocks him down. Kane nails Taker in the back with a chair and he hits a Tombstone on the chair.
Winner- Undertaker *** ( Solid for the spectacle of their first meeting. It told a good story of Taker overcoming his demon brother after months of mind games and torture. It had some sluggish spots and some questionable decision making on Kane’s part but for what they were going for, it worked. )

Inferno Match- Kane w/Paul Bearer vs. Undertaker from In Your House: Unforgiven
To win the match, you have to set your opponent on fire and flames surround the ring. Taker attacks to start but Kane fires back. Avalanche in the corner by Taker and he goes OLD SCHOOL~!!! Kane stun guns Taker onto the turnbuckle and he hammers Taker in the corner. Clothesline by Kane and he tries to drive Taker into the fire but Taker blocks. Kane takes Taker down by the hair and Taker rakes the eye of Kane to come back. Powerslam by Kane and he nails Taker in the head with a chair. Kane works over Taker and Taker tries to fight back. Kane ends the momentum again and he tries to put Taker in the fire but Taker refuses to go in. Taker comes back with a side Russian leg sweep and he hits a leg drop. They both attempt the Chokeslam and Kane wins that battle!!! Taker blocks the Tombstone and he hits the Chokeslam on Kane. They hit the big boot on each other and both men are down. Leaping clothesline misses and Kane hits a sidewalk slam. Kane goes up but Taker crotches him and he follows up. Superplex by Taker and he tosses Kane to the floor. Kane starts to walk out but Vader attacks him. SUICIDE PLANCHA BY TAKER OVER THE FIRE ONTO KANE AND VADER!!!! Bearer nails Taker in the back with a chair but Taker no sells and nails Kane with the chair a few times. Taker stalks Bearer up the entrance way and they head onto the concert stage. Taker drives a drum onto Bearer’s head!!!! Taker blocks a chair shot from Kane with a big boot which knocks Kane’s arm into the fire!!!! Kane’s arm is on fire and he runs to the back!!!
Winner- Undertaker *** ( A much better worked match than WrestleMania and they managed to work around the limitations of the gimmick and do some cool stuff. Say what you will about Kane and Undertaker’s matches in terms of quality, but their first two encounters sure were memorable. )

Kurt Angle vs. The Undertaker from WWF Fully Loaded 2000
Taker brawls with Angle in the crowd to start and he works Angle over on the floor. Back in, Taker hits a big boot followed by an elbow drop for 2. Delayed suplex by Taker gets 2 as he pulls Angle off the mat. Angle catches Taker with a sleeper but Taker rams him into the corner to break. Corner clothesline by Taker and he hits a sidewalk slam for 2. Taker dumps Angle to the floor and Angle drives a wrench into Taker. Angle sends Taker into the barricade and back in, Taker hits some rights. Angle chop blocks Taker and he begins to work the leg of Taker. Taker fights out and they slug it out. Taker goes for a Chokeslam but Angle blocks and goes back to the leg of Taker. Taker is able to escape and he drives Angle’s knee into the mat. They slug it out and Angle throws a kick to the bad leg to end that. Taker throws some shots at Angle and he hits the Chokeslam. Last Ride by Taker gets 3.
Winner- The Undertaker ** (This was a total squash for the Undertaker, as he dominated the match even with the leg injury heading into the match. This did no favors for Kurt who was heading into a title shot at SummerSlam but this didn’t end up hurting him in the long term, so this was just a minor booking snafu but Angle needed a win or at least a good heel performance here.)

Triple H vs. The Undertaker from WWF WrestleMania X7
They fight on the floor to start and Taker knocks HHH through the new Spanish announce table. Back in, HHH hits some rights but Taker fights back. High knee by HHH and Taker tosses him into the corner to hammer away some more. Backdrop by Taker and he hits some corner clotheslines to HHH. Powerslam by Taker and he misses an elbow drop. Leaping clothesline by Taker and he goes for Old School but HHH tosses him off the top to block. Neck breaker by HHH gets 2. HHH hammers away on Taker and he works over Taker on the apron. Back in, HHH hits a swinging neck breaker for 2. Taker fires away to come back and HHH hits the face buster. HHH grabs the sledgehammer and he goes to use it but the ref stops him. HHH goes for the Pedigree but Taker blocks and he catapults HHH into the ref in the corner. Chokeslam by Taker gets 2!!! Taker attacks the ref because of the near fall. Taker tosses HHH to the floor and he backdrops HHH into the crowd. They brawl in the crowd and they make their way into the technical area. HHH nails Taker in the midsection, back, and head to regain control. HHH hammers Taker multiple times with the chair and TAKER CATCHES HHH WITH A CHOKESLAM OFF THE ELECTRICAL AREA TO THE FLOOR!!!! Taker hits an elbow drop off the electrical area onto HHH!!!! Taker continues to hammer away on HHH and they finally head back to ringside. Taker grabs the sledgehammer but HHH goes low to block. HHH charges with the sledgehammer but Taker blocks with a big boot. They slug it out and HHH goes for the Tombstone but Taker counters into his own!!!! He covers but the ref is still out of commission. Taker goes for the Last Ride but HHH nails him with the sledgehammer to block for 2!!! Taker is busted open as HHH hits some rights in the corner. HHH with punches in the corner and Taker takes him out with the Last Ride for 3!!!!
Winner- The Undertaker ***1/2 ( This was a good brawl but it never quite got into the next level. The finishing stretch was hot and they had a pretty good match prior to the crowd brawling which I felt overstayed its welcome, even with the big choke slam spot. Still, very good match and an underrated one in Undertaker’s Wrestlemania resume. )

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

This is a decent look at the midpoint of the career of the Undertaker. It's more in depth than recent DVDs on him since he was in his "Bikertaker" phase, so he was more open about both his career and personal life. The match selection here is OK, but this is one of the WWE's early attempts at producing a DVD so it wasn't going to be filled with rare classics or anything. It provided enought to give you a taste of both elements of Taker's character and you got the early appearnce of the original Hell in a Cell on a DVD, so it worked for what it was supposed to be. If you find this DVD for cheap somewhere i'd recommend picking it up but you can find the matches on the Network and Taker will eventually get a much better documentary once he calls it a career.