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WRESTLING COLUMNS

The Undertaker-Dead Man or Just Dead"
July 27, 2004 by E-Jo 10488.

November 22nd, 1990 will be the day remembered as the day the Dead Man was born. The Undertaker made his in-ring WWF debut, being managed by Brother Love, when he and his team, Ted Dibiase/Honky Tonk Man/Greg Valentine, defeated Bret Hart/Jim Neidhart/Ko Ko B Ware/Dusty Rhodes. He has been in some good matches since then as well, from SummerSlam 1994 where he defeated Ted Dibiase's version of The Undertaker, to where he and Michaels had a very intense Hell In A Cell match, which his brother Kane debuted with Paul Bearer.

Ever since then, though, The Undertaker hasn't been The Phenom, The Deadman, or even The Undertaker. To me, an Undertaker is what he used to be back in the 90's. What he was when he returned at Judgement Day 2000 was a biker. He has gone from Deadman to Phenom to American Badass to Big Evil to a fake Phenom. I say fake Phenom because the current Undertaker is just Big Evil in a hat, with a trench coat and old entrance/music.

What I loved about The Undertaker, heel and face, was his look and the way he acted like a Deadman, taking in all the blows and sitting right back up after any move he got nailed with. When I heard about Undertaker vs. Kane at WM XX, I knew he would return as the Deadman and was psyched. When I watched the PPV, though, I saw a fake Undertaker. An Undertaker that isn't the TRUE Deadman or Phenom that he used to be. I was a little glad Undertaker was back, but when I saw him attempt the Last Ride, I was disgusted. Disgusted because the TRUE Undertaker wouldn't attempt a Last Ride, instead deliver a Tombstone or Chokeslam.

What else bothers me is the fact that he was stuck fueding with The Dudley Boyz/Paul Heyman in a stupid fued that had a stupid ending just to get rid of Bearer. Also being booked to fued with Booker T was pointless as it help neither of the two. Undertaker should of been fueding with someone like Kurt Angle or even Big Show. And now Taker is going to fued with JBL. Well, if this is what WWE tinks is good booking, then I would like to see what they think BAD booking is.

Another thing I find rather dumb is the fact that The Undertaker, after returning at WM XX, still uses some of the moves that Big Evil did. Honestly ask yourselfs, can you imagine The Undertaker from the 90's doing a Last Ride or a triangle choke submission hold" I can't. Now I know some of you will say that times change and he is getting older and stuff, but he can still get the true Undertaker look, with the purple gloves/boots and the old hat (not the stupid cowboy hat he has now). WWE should either do the Undertaker character right, or not at all. And they are not doing it right.

Some of you may like the new Taker look, but I think it is a mockery of what The Undertaker used to be. I will continue to watch The Undertaker wrestle, but knowing that he is just a rip off of the old Taker, watching him won't be the same again. No matter how many times you call him The Phenom, The Deadman, or The Undertaker, he will still just be Big Evil dressed as The Undertaker.

by E-Jo 10488..

XtremeFalls43 wrote:
Undertaker stop working for me when he showed up at Wrestlmania looking the same besides a over sized hat and Tad bit Longer hair, but when Tazz said that the undertaker isn't dead but in a mind state that is horrible idea. I mean damn that just kills the whole Gimmick and the storyline of a buired alive Match.

Anthony Tirado wrote:
If you really think about, The Undertaker does not have a new look at all, yet it's not about the look. He is playing the part of the phenom we all know and fear quite perfectly. Him having the same gear suited his resurrection quite perfectly. It gave you more of an elaboration of the story being played out of him returning from the dead, seeing as he had all his dead man aspects (the intro, the music, the jacket and hat, eyes rolling back, make-up, etc.) yet he was wearing the exact same clothes he was buried in. Now if that doesn't make you somewhat nostalgic of the chills the Dead Man gave you back in the day by his mere presence on the TV screen, I don't know what does! Someone was really doing their homework in the back for this scenario. Sure, we had the "gimmicky" little purple (previously gray) gloves and boots and what not, but times have severely changed. The Undertaker signaled the renaissance of professional wrestling in his late 80's-early 90's debut period as The Undertaker. We had been taught to laugh, cry, boo, cheer and all that from the likes of Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Jimmy Snuka, and many, many more I can name off the to of my head, yet we had never felt that genuine sense of fear; of being so terrified by even the slightest thought of a character that we almost shed a tear in pure fear (seeing as I was about 3 or 4 at the time of his coming). That's where the Undertaker came in. Yes, his character was cutting-edge, but for that time. In those times, the most shocking thing I had ever seen was Shawn Michaels super kicking then partner, Marty Jannetty, through a the "Barber Shop" window, ending any hope of seeing one of my all-time favorite teams, The Rockers, re-forming. Yet, we've evolved as things like rap, grunge n hard rock music and reality TV and movies and what not have taken over our minds, brainwashing into a new and more "reality-based" way of living, which eventually was manifested onto the WWF scene around late '96 (or the beginning of DX....it can be argued either way). And eventually we got to the point we are at now where even the gimmicks are reality-based, such as Eugene, who is the character mentally challenged child-minded wrestler who can, at the same time, out-wrestle the hell out of probably 75% of the current WWE roster if not 85%, seeing as wrestling is usually about a man's charisma over his ability, as it has been for years (compare The Warrior, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, or Sting's wrestling to people like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Triple H, The Rock and such, which group of men have the better showmanship/wrestling ability combination). And then, we have the return of Taker, after years, seeming like decades, of people for the dead man to walk amongst them once again, if only for one last run. No matter what his new slash old character is a genius idea. He couldn't come out looking like the old Taker, that would be so wack and lame that wouldn't even be funny. Ric Flair's character can evolve with the times, but the only real 80's style gimmick that can last any longer is Hulk Hogan; the immortal never die. The Undertaker character could not have gotten a better comeback. The character is indeed the old him, yet evolved into modern times that's all. No matter who you are, unless you are Hulk Hogan don't expect to make any comebacks (take a look at The Ultimate Warrior's two brutally lame comeback attempts throughout the spread of the 90's). The Undertaker is back, and not quite better than ever, but rather, as around the end of his Biker image he seemed to be gaining a lot of weight which noticeable in his gut especially, he came back as well as we could have ever hoped!

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