The Undertaker: Matches I've Watched Live

At the Boneyard Match at WrestleMania XXXVI we saw a version of the Undertaker that we haven't seen in a long long time.  It was an awesome match, even my wife who doesn't care for wrestling enjoyed it.  Sunday after night 2 of Mania was over they had a First Look at The Undertaker: The Last Ride.

This leads me to believe that this will be Taker's last year in the ring, some thing the Boneyard match was his last.  Undertaker debuted at the 1990 Survivor Series so I think his last match should be at the 2020 Survivor Series 30 years later.


August 15, 1995 
WWF Television Taping, Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine

This was a marathon television taping of Wrestling Challenge, Superstars, & Action Zone.  I attended this show with my buddy Jay and his brother Scott. Undertaker appeared twice this night.  Summerslam 1995 was just 12 days away which featured  casket match between Undertaker and Kama.  The first appearance saw Undertaker at ringside with Paul Bearer and the casket he made for Kama being interviewed by Dok Hendrix.

Taker vs. Kama from SummerSlam 1995

The second time we say him that night was the main event of the evening in a dark match, and the 26th match of the night.  In this match The Undertaker defeated Kama: The Supreme Fighting Machine in a casket match.

March 1, 1996
WWF House Show, The Civic Center, Augusta, Maine

World Champion: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. The Undertaker

I attended this show with my pal Rob and Mom & Dad.  It was a solid show with great talent like Godwins, Bodydonnas, Triple H, Owen Hart, Goldust, "Ringmaster" Steve Austin Savio Vega, Davey Boy Smith, Shawn Michaels, and more.

Surprisingly this was not the main even of the evening, that honor went to HBK vs. Smith.  Bret was out first and then Undertaker took and exceptionally long time to get to the ring.  He wasn't wearing his hat or coat and just his wrestling gear.  It was a good match and in the end Bret Hart retained his championship by count-out after Goldust ran down and gave Taker a piledriver on the floor.

I took these pictures on a film camera back in the day and then took a picture of the picture with my camera phone to post them here.

March 28, 1998
WrestleMania XIV, Fleetcenter, Boston, MA

The Undertaker vs. Kane with Paul Bearer

I really don't have to say a whole lot about this event, it's where the Austin era began!  This was my first Pay-Per-View, we had seats in the front row of the balcony, but Jay and I didn't care.  We were overlooking the entrance way so we got a great view of Taker's entrance with the druids.

This was the first epic battle between the Brother's of Destruction, this was also the first time that Kane tombstoned Pete Rose.  Undertaker defeated Kane after three tombstone piledrivers, the last one looks real bad as Kane's head was low.  After the match Kane tombstoned Taker on a steel chair.  This win seven on the Undertaker's WrestleMania win streak.

July 11, 2005
Smackdown! Brand House Show, Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine

The Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan with Daivari

I attended this show with my buddy Rood  Hassan was a talented wrestler who was saddled with a wrong gimmick at the wrong time.  After this match he would only have two more matches in the WWE before leaving wrestling.

On this night even with the help of Daivari and the Shane Twins in black garb Hassan fell victim to the tombstone piledriver.

I took these pictures on a film camera back in the day and then took a picture of the picture with my camera phone to post them here.

December 10, 2005
Smackdown! Brand House Show, The Colisee, Lewiston, ME

The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton with "Cowboy" Bob Orton

This was the first time WWE ever had a show at this venue, also two days before this show I bought my first digital camera and sitting in the fourth row I got some great shots!  I went to this show alone, and it was a last minute decisions because two days later my buddy Rood and I went to Boston for Monday Night Raw.  I took these pictures.

This was a super fun show with a lot of great talent on the card.  Taker and Orton main evented in a very good match that saw Undertaker get the win after a tombstone piledriver.

On the way home I stopped at Burger King on the highway in Litchfield, I used to work there.  My camera battery was beyond dead so I have no proof however, I met Sylvain Grenier, Kid Kash, Steve Keirn, and Arn Anderson!

March 30, 2008
WrestleMania XXIV, Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL

World Heavyweight Champion: Edge vs. The Undertaker

I attended this show with my buddies Jay & Rood, we bought Silver Packages from WWE as we had heard the rumor that this was going to be Ric Flair's final match and we didn't want to miss that.

You can read all about our adventures in these two posts: this first post was written in 2008 and posted on Facebook Note.  The second post was written a few years later for a different blog of mine.  You can read all about out travels down, the hotel, going to Universal Studios, a crazy bloody indy show, The Hall of Fame, and of course Mania itself.

This was an amazing night of wrestling, we had awesome seats, and it was a truly excellent adventure!  Taker's entrance was amazing!  The best one that I have experienced live complete with flames shooting 40 feet into the air!  Beyond words.

The match was the main event and it was well deserved.  The Undertaker captured the World Championship after submitting Edge.  This was win sixteen of his WrestleMania win streak.  I took these pictures from my seat.

November 23, 2008
Survivor Series, TD Garden, Boston, MA

Casket Match: The Undertaker vs. The Big Show

I attended this show with Rood, two PPV's in one year!  This show featured a dark match, three singles matches and three survivor series matches.  I am a strong believer that Survivor Series should be nothing but Survivor Series matches.

I enjoyed this show, but if I'm being honest when I sat down the write this I had remembered every Undertaker match except this one.  I remember this show and have talked about it often, I can recall every match except this match.

Undertaker got the win when the casket was standing upright and Taker irish-whipped Big Show into the open casket which fell over and the lid fell shut.  This is probably why I don't remember the match.  I took these pictures from my seat, there are more at the bottom of the post.

All in all I have seen the Undertaker wrestle live seven times.  His record is 6 - 1 with his only loss being by count-out.  I saw his win two casket matches, compete at two WrestleMania's and watched him win the World Heavyweight Championship.

If this is Taker's last year and if I never get to see him live again I'm okay with that.  I feel very fortunate that I got to witness Taker live several times and in some significant matches at that.

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Until next time

WWE Payback Thoughts

Payback Kickoff

R-Truth vs. Stardust

We were treated to a bonus match tonight in the kick off show with R-Truth taking on Stardust in a decent match.  I’ve always like Cody Rhodes and not been too keen on R-Truth.  Truth picked up the victory to continue the apparent lifetime angle of Cody Rhodes losing and getting frustrated. 

The Ascension: Konnor & Victor vs. The Mega Powers: Curtis Axel & Macho Mandow

The Ascension were a good team in NXT and had they just come into the main roster as the same guys and not tried to compare themselves to Demolition and the Road Warriors they could be top contenders.  Instead they have basically been buried.   Sandow with another gimmick that he has managed to get over and Axel has gone full blown Hogan look-a-like.  They haven’t allotted much time for this one.  Axel hulks up and hits the leg drop but that’s about the all the offense he gets in.  Mandow tries the big elbow and is instead taken out with Ascensions finish and the pin fall loss.

Payback

Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus

Ziggler once again in the opening match which is a testament to the work horse that Ziggler is that he kicks off the show.  The fans continue to rally behind Dolph wanting desperately to see him become the guy in the WWE, as do I, but I just don’t see WWE ever getting behind him, which is unfortunate.

Hard hitting battle between these two and Dolph got his revenge from Extreme Rules with a PG-Era stink face.   Ziggler head butted Sheamus and it busted him open bad, I mean crimson mask bad.  Sheamus got the victory with a brogue kick while Ziggler was on his knees.

2 out of 3 Falls

WWE Tag Team Champions: New Day: Big E & Kofi w/ Xavier Woods vs. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro w/ Natayla

New Day should just be Kofi & Xavier Woods as a Tag Team, Big E doesn’t fit and he looks awkward smiling and clapping his hands “dancing” around.  I like that WWE has been having more 2 out of 3 falls as of late.

Kidd & Cesaro pick up the first fall quickly with their big spin drop kick combo.  Woods tries to enact the Freebird rule to enter the second fall but it is not allowed, that would have been cool! 

New Day picks up the second fall after Cesaro is taken out from the Big E spear to the floor, and then Big E hits the Big Ending while Kofi jumps off the top rope and does nothing to add emphasis to the finish.  Have I mentioned I think New Days tag team finish is dumb?  Because it is.

Cesaro went for what looked like was going to be Angel’s wings on Big E but he couldn’t pull it off which is odd because Cesaro is freakishly strong.   New Day get the final fall when Xavier Woods slides in and pins Cesaro with a small package.   I really thought this match was going to be better, it was a good match but the time constraints really hurt it from building each fall.

Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback

I really like Wyatt and his gimmick, he’s way over with the crowd, but he is a heel through and through.  Wyatt just did a version of the Pounce taking Ryback down.  I really like Monte Brown and I thought the Pounce finish was really good as it was one of those do to anyone of any size finishers.  Wyatt has that suplex slam that he does that is pretty neat, and it just a slight variation that makes it unique.  Wyatt gets the win with Sister Abigail after Ryback hits the corner chest first that was missing the turnbuckle pad.  Glad to see Wyatt get the win, he needs it to maintain the idea that he’s a threat as he hasn’t had the best win/loss record as of late. 

I Quit Match

United States Champion: John Cena vs. Rusev w/ Lana

I’m glad they were very specific in the introductions that you “literally have to say I Quit” to lose.  No passing out, having the towel thrown in, and ect.  I hate the “tension” between Lana and Rusev, it’s dumb.  Rusev never should have lost the title, I’ve enjoyed Cena’s open challenges every week and the matches he has been having is great, but Rusev should be the undefeated evil foreigner and not the verbally abusive boyfriend.

One of my all-time favorite matches is the 1985 Starrcade I Quit match between Magnum TA & Tully Blanchard for the United States Championship, the level of brutality really raised the bar for an I Quit match, I know this one isn’t going to come close to living up to that, but so far they’ve only brought the stairs into play and haven’t done anything that I would wager someone would quit over.   But then again, Flair beat Funk in his I Quit match with the figure four.

Match hasn’t been that good, it’s been very slow and methodical with big bump, then asking if they quit, the answer is no, then another big bump and repeat with a huge delay between moves.  Finally Rusev has the accolade on Cena, a maneuver were someone could be coaxed into saying I Quit, of course Cena passes out so he can’t say I Quit.  Top rope has been undone, swear to god Cena better not win with the “STF” using the rope for leverage, he’s done that before. 

Cena vs Umaga Royal Rumble 2007, choke not "stf" same difference

That was something; Cena applied that STF using the rope, again, and according to Lana Rusev said I Quit in Russian so the ref called for this bell. 

As an I Quit match, this match sucked.

The Bella Twins: Diva’s Champion Nikki & Brie vs. Naomi & Tamina

Naomi and Tamina got the win when Naomi threw Nikki off the top rope, essentially the body slam Ric Flair has taken ten thousand times, and pinned her.  The match wasn’t very good.  You have the ladies down in NXT just killing it, matches so good that Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte just main evented an NXT house show in Philadelphia, and this is what the main roster is delivering. 

King Barrett vs. Neville

Neville won by count-out and then was attacked after the bell by Barrett.  The post-match beat down was more effective than the actual match.  Neville hit the german suplex, which broke the scepter, then executed red arrow. 

Fatal 4-Way

Champion: Seth Rollins w/ J&J Security vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose

   If Rollins loses the title then Kane is fired from his Corporate position in the authority

Of course J&J and Kane got involved in this match very early on so it was basically a 7 way match, but that’s not a surprise.  At one point they teased a Shield reunion as J&J were taken out and Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose triple power bombed Orton through the announce table.  Crowd popped big for that.  Then of course Reigns and Ambrose tried to do the same to Rollins through the Spanish announce table, but Kane stopped them.  So they power bombed Kane onto Rollins through the Spanish announce table.  The first attempt the table didn’t break so at the audience’s request they did it one more time and sent them crashing to the floor.  Ambrose and Reigns squared off for a bit before everyone got involved again.  Kane took out Reigns and Ambrose then ate and RKO which allowed Rollins to hit the pedigree on Orton to retain his title.

It was a good match, fun to watch, but I hated the pedigree finish, the curb stomp is so awesome, I mean right after the RKO on Kane if he hit Orton with the curb stomp it would have looked so much cooler than the awkward Pedigree.  Because let’s face it, if anyone but Triple H does it, it just looks awkward.

Pretty good show, I’m sure many will be comparing it to the NXT Takeover special that is this Wednesday.  Best match was the main event, followed by the tag match. 

If you watched the show what did you think?

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Later Readers!