This is an article that I knew that I would need to write one day, and the time has finally come. Let me start from the beginning, it was either 1996 or 1997 and I was at a friend’s house watching TV and we were flipping through the channels and landed on the PPV channel, and they were showing a commercial literally on an endless loop. It featured a man in all black attire walking around a cemetery talking about how at some wrestling event he was going to make his opponent rest in peace. At the time neither one of us were wrestling fans and didn’t know who this man or his opponent was, but we kept laughing at the commercial and reciting the lines because they were so over the top. Fast forward to around February 1998, one Sunday morning I’m flipping through the channels, and I see the same guy dressed in all black and I remembered him from the commercials a few years prior. The show was talking about a feud with the man in black’s brother and how the brother chokeslammed him into a casket and set it on fire and I became hooked. The man in black was The Undertaker and the show was WWF Superstars.
The feud between Undertaker and his brother Kane is what started me on my pro-wrestling fandom. Since that time, I fully embraced the world of professional wrestling and have seen countless matches and can have a debate about most things in wrestling. Becoming a fan and gaining some lifelong friends is all because of our shared passion for wrestling and my passion started with the connection that the Undertaker made with me years ago.
The Undertaker is one of if not the most respected man in WWE, his peers from over the years, the industry as a whole and the fans. A huge part of that respect came from his working even while injured. The man has been the Godfather of the WWF/E for over 30 years, which is unmatched. Debuting at the 1990 Survivor Series, it was clear to everyone that this man was something special, not just the gimmick but the performer behind it. Within one year of his debut, he’d go on to become WWF Champion by beating the face of the promotion at the time, Hulk Hogan. Taker would go on to face every big-name performer for the next 30 years and most are either current or future WWE HOFamers. He would have classic matches with Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Triple H, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, HBK, Kane, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles and Mick Foley just to name a few. The matches such as casket, Hell in a Cell, Boiler Room Brawls, Buried Alive, Inferno and of course Boneyard have become synonymous with the Undertaker has he participated in the first ever versions of them. His Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels, which in my opinion is still the best one for pure wrestling psychology in a cage match from two of the best ever. This match is probably best known for Kane’s debut:
Then his Hell in a Cell with Foley, which would be a defining match in both men’s careers for the sheer punishment that Foley took, and many people forget Taker went into the match with an injured ankle to being with and only made it worse after this match.
