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Post by The Brain on Oct 28, 2019 15:55:00 GMT -5
Undertaker(90-91)
It was as SSeries 1990 in which a new force would enter the Federation in the form of a nearly 7 ft tall monster named....The Undertaker. He would debut as the mystery partner of the Million Dollar team which consisted of Ted DiBiase,Greg Valentine and Honky Tonk Man.Their opponents were the Dream Team of Dusty Rhodes,Koko B, Ware and the Harts. Brother Love is his manager here and looking back it was a strange choice out the gate considering the vast difference in characters.He would have a dominant showing here with falls over both Koko and Dusty. Koko would be the first one to ever receive the tombstone. He would eventually get counted out but man what a debut here. You could tell they had something here. For a brief time after this they would call em ''Cain The Undertaker'' but thank God that never made it off the ground. At the Rumble in January he would have a decent run in the match itself by lasting a good 15 minutes with him eventually getting eliminated by the LOD.
That February on Superstars on a Brother Love segment, We would be introduced to his new manger Paul Bearer who was an instant fit to the character. Great segment here with Bearer playing the role to perfection. Thanks Rick Rude for recommending Mr. Pringle to Vince! At WM VII the streak was born with Jimmy Snuka being the first victim. It was originally supposed to be Tugboat at first but was changed last minute to Superfly. Again he looked dominate here. Mega star in the making humanoids that's for sure. Following Mania his next target would be the Ultimate Warrior in which he would call him out on the new talk show segment The Funeral Parlor. Warrior would make his into the Parlor not long after the challenge was thrown out but in the end it was all a trap as Taker would attack with him then putting Warrior in a coffin. I loved everything about this segment with everybody involved putting everything into it to make it believable. At SNME that April Taker would once again haunt the Warrior by coming out during his match with Sgt Slaughter. Hulk Hogan would get involved in the finish and would have his first confrontation with the dead man. Foreshadowing!
It was clear that Warrior was having problems in his fight so he would enlist the help of Jake Roberts in hopes to gain the knowledge of the dark side. Vignettes would air that Summer on Superstars which showed Warrior going through a series of tests which included being put in a coffin,buried alive with only his head showing and the final test which was getting to a box in the middle of a room filled with snakes. That final test would lead to Warrior get bit which in the end we would find out was all a ruse perpetrated by Jake and Taker himself. Great stuff here and one of my fav heel turns in history. This would lead to an alliance between the two. The feud with Warrior would abruptly end when he was fired right after SSlam. They would instead shift their focus to the match made in Heaven at SSlam. During the wedding reception both Taker and Jake would crash the scene and attack Macho Man as well as taunt a frightened Liz. Sid Justice intervened in the attack which would make him another target on their list. Taker feuding with Sid was teased on TV that Fall with them even filming a segment on Superstars in which him and Jake would attack the big man but nothing ever really came of it as Sid got injured prior to SSeries that year. That would leave the dead man without a target as Jake continued his classic feud withy Savage alone.
This would lead to the announcement that at SSeries in Detroit Hulk Hogan would defend his WWF Title against the Undertaker in a match billed as the ''Gravest Challenge''. Loved the build here with Taker attacking Hogan on the Funeral Parlor with Ric Flair aiding em. The man from Death Valley would reach the pinnacle at that event as he defeated Hogan with a (weak) looking tombstone onto a chair brought in by Flair. I can still hear Heenan screaming ''Hulkamania is DEAD! Long live the Undertaker!!'' The reign was short lived however as he would lose the belt just 6 days later at This Tuesday in Texas back to Hogan in controversial fashion. This would lead to the belt being vacated right after and put up in the Rumble match the following month.
Overall...What a debut year here.You could see from the start this guy had mega star written all of em and within a year he was winning the World Title.All around success and hands down the greatest character in wrestling history. And to think this was only the beginning....
What are your memories/thoughts of Taker's first year in the WWF? Share them below!
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Post by The Brain on Oct 28, 2019 15:57:09 GMT -5
Gimmick extra! Wedding reception aftermath....
WWF PTW 9-9-91
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Post by MKSavage on Oct 28, 2019 16:51:23 GMT -5
Loved the first year of the Undertaker, the gimmick was well played. Scared the crap out of me at the time, especially when he would put guys in body bag after defeating them. I remember one match between him and the Texas Tornado when Tornado stole the bag from Paul Bearer and threw it into the crowd so Taker couldn't put him in it. I agree it was an odd pairing of Brother Love and Undertaker, Paul Bearer was definitely tailormade for this character. I heard the reason that Brother Love was put with Undertaker was because he (Bruce Prichard) really pushed for the Mark Callaway to be brought into the WWF, according to Bruce he really fought hard to get Undertaker a meeting with Vince McMahon. Bruce said that he wanted a dark character to go with his (Brother Love's) light (all white attire) character. Overall, a great year for the Undertaker, he feuded with the top 2 stars in the company as well as worked with Jake, Savage, Sid, and Hacksaw.
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Post by The Brain on Oct 28, 2019 16:59:29 GMT -5
Loved the first year of the Undertaker, the gimmick was well played. Scared the crap out of me at the time, especially when he would put guys in body bag after defeating them. I remember one match between him and the Texas Tornado when Tornado stole the bag from Paul Bearer and threw it into the crowd so Taker couldn't put him in it. I agree it was an odd pairing of Brother Love and Undertaker, Paul Bearer was definitely tailormade for this character. I heard the reason that Brother Love was put with Undertaker was because he (Bruce Prichard) really pushed for the Mark Callaway to be brought into the WWF, according to Bruce he really fought hard to get Undertaker a meeting with Vince McMahon. Bruce said that he wanted a dark character to go with his light (all white attire) character. Overall, a great year for the Undertaker, he feuded with the top 2 stars in the company as well as worked with Jake, Savage, Sid, and Hacksaw. I'm so glad they didn't put em in all white.
The body bag stuff was great and added so much to the character. I also liked how after he put some poor ham n egger in the bag he would give an extra stomp on the guy.
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Post by Hulkster2001 on Oct 29, 2019 8:45:49 GMT -5
Love Taker, he’s in my top 3. I especially love his look during this time only his ‘98 and his late 2000’s looks beat it. I never knew Tugboat was an option at Mania 7, Taker had said Andre told him he had plans for him maybe a match at Mania 7? Who knows but regardless the Streak was born and should’ve never ended.
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Post by LA Times on Oct 29, 2019 10:08:28 GMT -5
To me Undertaker 1990-91 was Mean Mark working in a funeral parlor, but it was a beginning to a legendary career. It also made the Undertaker a link from the Hulkamania Era to all other WWF/E eras since that time.
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TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,631
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Oct 29, 2019 21:14:44 GMT -5
To me Undertaker 1990-91 was Mean Mark working in a funeral parlor, but it was a beginning to a legendary career. It also made the Undertaker a link from the Hulkamania Era to all other WWF/E eras since that time. I've only ever known him as being The Undertaker, but I can't even imagine how ridiculous the whole character must have seemed early on if you remembered him from his WCW days. That gimmick was probably laughed at around the world initially. Who would've thought? The world of wrestling sure is a strange one.
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alexxx
Superstar
Joined on: Dec 27, 2008 15:54:38 GMT -5
Posts: 782
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Post by alexxx on Nov 3, 2019 20:35:43 GMT -5
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TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,631
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Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Nov 3, 2019 21:08:33 GMT -5
Fun read. It really is crazy how his first year in the WWF is bookmarked by a win over Hulk Hogan for the WWF title. Clean or not, Hogan didn't get pinned often in those days so it was a big deal.
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Post by The Brain on Nov 3, 2019 22:05:30 GMT -5
I loved how they booked em so strong leading up to the event. The announcers putting over how this is Hogan's biggest test of his career was well done.
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Deleted
Joined on: May 2, 2024 22:32:06 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2019 12:50:53 GMT -5
Great thread, I follow it regularly and enjoy the trip down memory lane.
A few suggestions for future retrospectives, if I may:
One Man Gang Skinner
Disco Inferno
The Machines The Killer Bees Powers of Pain
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Post by Gorilla on Nov 8, 2019 13:06:59 GMT -5
Did we ever get a Mountie write up?
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Post by LA Times on Nov 8, 2019 13:45:44 GMT -5
Did we ever get a Mountie write up? He's on the first page, brother.
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Post by The Brain on Nov 8, 2019 16:41:49 GMT -5
60 gimmicks strong!! Polls for #61 coming soon. Stay tuned humanoids!
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Post by The Brain on Nov 8, 2019 18:16:56 GMT -5
Great thread, I follow it regularly and enjoy the trip down memory lane.
A few suggestions for future retrospectives, if I may:
One Man Gang Skinner
Disco Inferno
The Machines The Killer Bees Powers of Pain
Thanks brother very much appreciated. I myself enjoy writing these entries up.
We had Skinner and the Bees on the polls before but they lost out. I'll keep your others in mind though for sure.
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Post by Gorilla on Nov 8, 2019 18:49:37 GMT -5
Did we ever get a Mountie write up? He's on the first page, brother. Hulkamania is like a single grain of sand in the Sahara desert that is Macho Madness. Oh yeah!
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Deleted
Joined on: May 2, 2024 22:32:06 GMT -5
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2019 21:30:08 GMT -5
Great thread, I follow it regularly and enjoy the trip down memory lane.
A few suggestions for future retrospectives, if I may:
One Man Gang Skinner
Disco Inferno
The Machines The Killer Bees Powers of Pain
Thanks brother very much appreciated. I myself enjoy writing these entries up.
We had Skinner and the Bees on the polls before but they lost out. I'll keep your others in mind though for sure.
Aww, that sucks.
Does that mean those that lose out in the polls are removed from contention for future polls?! The Killer Bees are worth a second chance IMO, I hope to see them added at some point.
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Post by The Brain on Nov 8, 2019 22:53:39 GMT -5
Thanks brother very much appreciated. I myself enjoy writing these entries up.
We had Skinner and the Bees on the polls before but they lost out. I'll keep your others in mind though for sure.
Aww, that sucks.
Does that mean those that lose out in the polls are removed from contention for future polls?! The Killer Bees are worth a second chance IMO, I hope to see them added at some point.
No as every 10th gimmick, all the ones who lost out the first time around will be eligible again.
We just past #60 so when we get to 70 the Bees will be back on the table again.
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Post by The Brain on Nov 10, 2019 17:34:37 GMT -5
Polls close Friday...
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Post by LA Times on Nov 10, 2019 18:08:32 GMT -5
Blacktop Bully
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