wrestling / Video Reviews
Dark Pegasus Video Review: Tombstone: The History Of The Undertaker (Disc One)
Although you may not know it to read my stuff today, I was actually a really big Undertaker mark from his debut until 1999. After that…not so much.
Thankfully, this 3-DVD set chronicles much of his good work from 1991-1998. Although it wasn’t a good time for him as a character (Dibiase’s Corporation anyone?), he really did hit a nice creative stride in 1996-1997.
There is no mention of Mark Callaway’s earlier career in WCW. It’s one of the rare cases where I think it was a good idea not to go back. After all, no one depends quite as much on their gimmick as the Undertaker. To see Mean Mark the Skyscraper would diminish the great character that followed.
Onward.
We open in November of 1990 as the Undertaker debuts for Ted Dibiase’s team and dominated. After a few weeks, Brother Love gave up his stewardship of the Taker to Paul Bearer.
Onto Taker’s first big match against Jimmy Snuka, who he demolished. After that, he formed an alliance with Jake “the Snake” Roberts. At Summerslam 1991, Taker and Jake have a little surprise for Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth.
That all led to a title match with Hulk Hogan at the 1991 Survivor Series.
A year after debuting, the Undertaker gets his first major shot at the WWF Title. Hogan ducks a clothesline early, but runs into a shoulderblock and decides to take a breather. Back in, Taker chokes him out on the ropes. Bearer even takes a cheapshot, prompting Brain to pull the old “my monitor went out” routine. Finally, Taker misses an elbowdrop. Hogan fails to slam him, so he goes to the eyerakes. MOVESET~! He clotheslines Taker over, but Taker lands on his feet and pulls him to the outside to wrap a powercord around his neck. More choking follows. Taker segues to a smother…which…goes on…forever. Hogan battles back and goes to the eyes again. Taker cuts him off with the flying clothesline. TOMBSTONE! Hulk no-sells and prepares to finish him off when Ric Flair struts down to ringside. Hogan gives Flair a shot and delivers the big boot to the Undertaker. Bearer breaks up the legdrop, which allows Flair to shove a chair in. Taker recovers and Tombstones Hogan on the chair for the win and his first WWF Title at 12:45. It’s a horrible match, but a fondly remembered moment. *
Taker avoids a charge and hits a series of clotheslines to fell the big man. Zuna stumbles around on the outside. Back in, Taker hits the ropewalk forearm drop. Yoko grabs a chair, but it backfires. Finally, Yoko grabs a handful of ceremonial salt and tosses it in Taker’s eyes. Now he can hit the chairshots. Back in, Yoko clotheslines Taker down and rolls him toward the casket. Taker grabs Yoko’s ankle and pulls himself back out of the casket. Belly-to-belly from Yoko is no-sold, and Taker chokeslams him. A flying DDT puts Yoko down again. Taker rolls Yoko into the casket, but Crush (another Fuji disciple) runs down before Taker can close the lid. Taker hits him with a clothesline. Kabuki and Tenryu come down because all Japanese people know each other. Taker takes them out too. Bam Bam Bigelow runs in, and they quadruple-team him. Paul Bearer hits Cornette and Fuji with the urn and holds it up. Magically, the urn gives the Undertaker the power to come back. Adam Bomb runs in, but Taker beats the shit out of everyone with the ceremonial salt bucket. Jeff Jarrett comes down and KILLS TAKER DEAD WITH A GUITAR SHOT! Oh wait, this isn’t TNA. Taker hits him in the face with the bucket. The Headshrinkers join the fracas. Undertaker fights all nine men off until Diesel walks down…then Taker fights ten men off. They finally get him into the casket, but Taker overpowers them. Yokozuna steals the urn from Paul Bearer and opens the urn. Suddenly, green smoke begins to spill out of the urn…and with it, the Undertaker’s power. With his powers gone, Fuji’s crew easily rolls the Taker into the casket and closes the door, giving Yoko the win at 14:26. 1/2*
Diesel’s big advantage was that he wasn’t afraid of Taker. Probably because he was just that cool. They slug it out, and Diesel delivers a corner clothesline. Taker gets his boot up to counter another charge and clotheslines Diesel down. Diesel clotheslines Taker to the floor. Taker pulls him out and punches him in the gut. Taker slams his head into the ring steps. Taker goes for the Tombstone, but Diesel slips out of it. Taker gets two off a crossbody block. Taker with the Ropewalk Forearm. Diesel doesn’t go down, and in fact, ducks under Taker’s ensuing charge. Taker surprises him by snapping his neck off the top rope. Taker knocks Diesel to the floor and rams him to the ringpost. He tries to use a chair, but Diesel ducks out of its way. Diesel sends Taker into the ring barrier. Diesel rams his back into the post. He does it once more. Back in, Diesel boots him and delivers a sideslam for two. A Snake Eyes sets up a vertical legdrop splash against the ropes. Diesel charges into a reverse elbow, and the Undertaker starts his big comeback. They hit each other with boots to the faces. Diesel recovers first and locks in a bearhug. Undertaker fights out of it. Diesel tries to go to a side headlock, but Taker backdrop suplexes him. Taker goes up and delivers a flying clothesline from halfway across the ring. Diesel blocks a backdrop attempt and delivers the Jackknife. Diesel starts to taunt him, but Taker does the Zombie Situp. Diesel gets cocky (cockier) and gives him another Jackknife. Diesel goes for the cover, but Taker grabs him by the throat. Diesel backdrop suplexes him, but Taker sits up. Taker avoids another big boot and delivers the flying clothesline. CHOKESLAM! Taker calls for the finish, picks him up, and finishes with the Tombstone at 16:46. Some decent brawling by both guys, marred by a noticeable slow spot in the middle. Undertaker goes 5-0 in WrestleManias. **1/2
They slug it out right away. Taker wins that battle and kicks Mick headfirst to the railing. He rockets himself off the top and takes Mankind out on the floor. Mankind scurries away but realizes he’s run to the grave. He uses a shovel to get out of trouble. The Taker actually busts out a small package, and they roll off the dirt mound to the floor. They head down to ringside and out to the crowd. Undertaker tosses Mankind back over the railing and SKIES over the rail to clothesline him back down. Taker tries the Ropewalk Forearm, but Bearer shakes the ropes, causing the Undertaker to crotch himself. Mankind takes over, and Bearer hands him a pen to stab the Taker with. Undertaker catches him with a reverse elbow and takes the pen away. He hits Mankind with a Flying Clothesline and a legdrop. Bearer draws the ire of the Undertaker, allowing Mick to grab a chair and wallop Taker with it. Mankind takes him up to the dirt pile and puts him in the hole. Taker suddenly pops up and drags Mankind in, but Mankind tosses a clump of dirt in his face. Taker hiptosses him off the dirt mound to the floor, and they head back to the ring. Mankind gets a piledriver, but there are no pinfalls. A double-arm DDT on the metal chair is just as futile. Taker suddenly sits up and crushes Mankind’s skull underneath a chair. Mankind takes him to the floor for a piledriver, but Taker backdrops him into the steps in a sort of awkward Emerald Frosion. Back inside again, Taker slams the steel steps on Mick’s back and drops him with a Tombstone Piledriver. The Undertaker takes him back to the dirt mound. Mankind tries one last desperate grab with the Mandible Claw, but Taker turns him around and chokeslams him into the grave. The ref rules that Mankind is buried enough at 15:23. That’s not enough for the Undertaker, though. He wants Mankind completely buried. The Executioner (Terry Gordy) runs out and hits Taker with a shovel. Mankind and Gordy then commence to burying the Undertaker alive. A plethora of other heals join in until the Undertaker is completely buried. Even Triple H is there, doing manual labor, which is out-of-character for him. Just when they have him buried, though, lightning strikes the grave and the Undertaker’s hand shoots out of the dirt. HE’S ALIVE!!! I actually liked this a little more than their Boiler Room Brawl, despite the obvious limitations of a Buried Alive match. **1/4
A few months later, the Undertaker won his second world title by beating Sycho Sid. Mankind came calling once more, this time with a fireball.
Mankind jumps him right away. Taker is coming in with a bandage over his right eye after Mankind hit him with the fireball. Mankind takes him over the top with the Cactus Clothesline, but Taker lands on his feet and chokeslams him into the steel railing a few times. Then, it’s into the audience for Mick. Back to the ring, Taker slips while doing his Ropewalk Forearm and turns it into a clothesline instead. Bearer distracts the Undertaker long enough for Mankind to clock him with the urn. Mankind hits a running knee in the corner and a swinging neckbreaker. That leads to a nerve pinch on the mat for a while. Taker fights out of it, but Mankind smashes a pitcher of water over his head. A chairshot follows, setting up the Taker for an elbowdrop from the middle-rope to the floor. Mankind rips the bandage off Taker’s eye. Mick hits a piledriver. Then another! **squeallll** **squeallll** Taker comes back with a Flying Clothesline. He tries another clothesline, but Mankind pulls the referee in the way. The Mandible Claw seems to put the Undertaker out, but there’s no ref. Another ref runs down, but Mankind puts HIM out with the Claw as well. Mick grabs the ringsteps with evil intentions, but the Taker DROPKICKS it back into his face. What? Undertaker? Dropkick? Where am I? Well, in fairness it wasn’t a very good one. A wicked chairshot leads to Mick getting tied up in “the hangman” position in the ropes. Taker unleashes him and knocks Mankind headfirst from the apron through an announce table at ringside. Shawn Michaels would top that bump a few months later before Mick got really serious about bumping a year later. That’s not enough to finish Mankind, but a Tombstone puts Mankind out of his misery at 17:26. After the match, they try to do a spot where Mankind accidentally lights a fireball in Bearer’s face, but poor Mick can’t get it lit. Taker finally decides to take it away from him and burn Bearer’s face right off to set up the entrance of Kane to the WWF. It was a wild brawl that was probably their non-gimmicked match. ***1/4
But there was another man who didn’t care for the Undertaker holding the title — Bret “the Hitman” Hart.
Shawn Michaels is the special referee as a result of all the tension he had with Bret during the summer of 1997. The stipulation is that if Bret touches Shawn, he can’t wrestle in Canada. If Shawn favors the Undertaker, he can’t wrestle in the U.S. ever again. Bret takes the belt and jumps Taker from behind with it. Taker turns the tables and rams Bret into the ringpost. Back in, Taker follows it up with a backbreaker and a stretch across the knee. A bearhug follows. Taker hits him with a big boot but misses a second attempt. Bret stomps away at the leg and dives into it like he owns it. A figure-four does even more damage as Paul Bearer waddles down to ringside tell us that Kane is coming. Taker reverses the figure-four, but Bret is in the ropes. Now it is the Undertaker’s turn to slam Bret’s knee into the mat. He goes out after Bearer, allowing Bret to clip his knee from behind. Shawn Michaels sends Bearer to the back as Bret applies the ringpost figure-four. Shawn makes him break the hold, prompting the two to get in each other’s faces. Brian Pillman and Owen Hart come down to watch. Back in the ring, Bret uses a leglock to work Taker’s knee even further. Taker elbows out of it and goes after the Hart Foundation. Shawn sends them to the back as Bret runs right into a CHOKESLAM! Taker covers, but Shawn is busy making sure Pillman and Owen are gone. That leads to a confrontation between Shawn and the Taker. Bret schoolboys him for two. To the outside, Bret rams him into the ringpost. Back in again, Bret gets a backbreaker for two. The vertical suplex sets up an elbowdrop off the middle-rope. Taker finally hotshots him into the turnbuckle out of desperation. Bret stays on top with a Russian Legsweep and goes for the Sharpshooter. Taker grabs him by the throat to counter. Bret charges into another chokeslam, but he counters with a kick to the knee. I can’t remember the last match the Taker’s had where he’s had someone with this mastery of psychology. He comes back with a Flying Clothesline and decides to start ignoring the legwork by hitting a big boot and legdrop. Yes, I know he was working the other leg, but try hitting your knee with a hammer as hard as you can and see how easy it is to use the other one. Taker chokeslams Bret from the apron to the middle of the ring, but it only gets two. Taker tries the Ropewalk Forearm, but Bret crotches him and counters to a superplex. Both men are out of it. Bret recovers first and locks in the Sharpshooter. Taker powers out of it, tossing Bret all the way to the floor. Back in, Bret slips out of the Tombstone and locks in a Sharpshooter around the ringpost. Taker forces out again, shoving Bret into Shawn. Bret gets a chair and LEVELS the Undertaker with it. ONE, TWO, THRE–NO! Shawn sees the chair and interrogates Bret about it. Bret spits on Shawn, and that’s the final straw. Shawn swings wildly, but Bret ducks and Shawn winds up taking out the Undertaker. Bret quickly covers, and Shawn is forced to count the pin and give Bret the title at 28:09. This was the kind of match at which the Undertaker is best. He just keeps fighting and fighting against a smaller opponent who is trying to wear him down as they stick and move. It worked with Bret, and it worked with Shawn. Too bad they stuck him in there with guys like Yokozuna and King Kong Bundy for so many years (or guys like Heidenreich today). ***3/4
EXTRAS:
Undertaker attacks Hulk Hogan at the Funeral Parlor (11/16/91): Paul Bearer sounds disturbingly like that old pedophile on Family Guy. This, of course, is an interview segment hosted by Paul Bearer, much like Carlito’s Cabana, the Highlight Reel, or Piper’s Pit. Bearer brings out a paranoid Hulk Hogan to make threats regarding the Survivor Series. Ric Flair comes out and says he’s glad he’s finally face-to-face with Hogan. In a really weird conflagration of circumstances, the NWA Title is no longer blurred out, but Hulk Hogan’s mention of “WWF” has to be dropped. Anyway, the Undertaker attacks from behind and leaves Hogan laying. Randy Savage and Roddy Piper make the save.
Undertaker builds a casket for Yokozuna (12/18/93): In what looks like a leftover set from Shyamalan’s “The Village,” we catch up with Bearer and the Undertaker constructing an XXXL casket.
Undertaker in the graveyard talking about Diesel (3/23/96): We join the shadows of the Undertaker and Paul Bearer talking about forcing Diesel into eternal darkness. Man, they just can’t stop burying WCW.
Undertaker in the graveyard talking about Mankind (9/23/96): Yadda, yadda, yadda. Taker is going to bury Mankind alive.
Undertaker interrupts Mankind’s interview (4/6/97): This is from Raw. Mankind is in the middle of the ring giving one of his usual whacked out speaches that would make Pat Robertson seem sane. Taker appears on the Titantron and talks about darkness and evil and things of that sort.
This is the rematch from Summerslam where fans were hoping for a measure of revenge. Bret attacks at the opening bell, but Taker whips him into the buckle and chokelifts him. Bret unfurls the turnbuckle pad, but Taker attacks before he can do anything about it. Taker misses an elbowdrop to allow Bret to take over. Bret clotheslines him over the top and slingshots into a sliding dropkick. Taker catches him in a spinebuster on the outside. He rams him into the ringpost. They brawl all the way up and all the way down the aisle. Back inside, Bret nails a DDT out of nowhere. He starts choking Taker against the ropes, prompting Vince to wonder if he’s trying for an intentional disqualification. Taker reverses a whip and Bret takes the “Bret Bump” to the corner. That leads to a surfboard from the Undertaker into a Crucifix for two. Bret kicks away at Taker’s knee, but Taker responds with a backbreaker and holds Bret across the knee. Bret goes after the knee again. Taker charges in the corner but rams his own knee into the turnbuckle. Bret works the leg over and over leading to a figure-four on the ringpost. The ref makes him break it, so Bret drags Taker back to the center for a regular figure-four. Taker nearly gets counted down a few times before rolling the hold over. Bret makes the ropes. Taker staggers to his feet, but Bret stays on top, taking the challenger’s legs out from under him and spinning into a leglock. It begins. Side Russian Legsweep. Backbreaker. Taker blocks the second-rope elbowdrop, and they clothesline one another. Undertaker delivers a legdrop between Bret’s legs. A second attempt is countered to the SHARPSHOOTER! Just like at Summerslam, though, Taker powers out of it. Bret avoids a chokeslam but falls victim to a big boot and a legdrop. Hmmm. “Big boot and legdrop.” Bret tries to get himself disaqualified by using the ringbell, but the Taker boots him in the face. Taker is about to use the bell when the ref snags it away from him. Taker whips Bret into the ringpost ribs-first. Ouch! Bret breaks up the Ropewalk Forearm. Bret actually tries his own Tombstone, but the Taker counters to his own. Bret slips out of that but gets caught in the “Hangman” position in the ropes. Taker refuses to stay back and let Bret loose, so the ref disqualifies him at 28:34. A very worthy followup to their near-classic at Summerslam. The Undertaker destroys the WWF officials after the match. ***1/2
Final Thoughts: A middling start to the series. Don’t expect any mention of Red River Jack or Mean Mark Callous. This is strictly a WWE production, and it’s probably a good idea not to spoil the “Undertaker mystique.” The extras are pretty sparse and repetative (Why wouldn’t you just include the “One Night Only” match with the others?). Once we hit 1997, easily Taker’s best year in terms of match quality, the disc takes off. With two Shawn Michaels matches yet to come, the trend will no doubt continue on disc two.
J.D. Dunn
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