From the first couple of matches of the streak to The Undertaker really getting in the mix of major stories, you knew at least one story leading into WrestleMania would come close to being a memorable epic.
Now that doesn’t mean that the matches themselves would be close to being an epic but The Undertaker and his foe were often built to mythic proportions for their match.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be looking at the best matches and feuds of The Streak. Let’s get started with his 1997 showdown against Kane at WrestleMania XIV.
Kane and Paul Bearer Start Harassing The Undertaker
After Vader and Mankind prove ineffective and putting The Phenom into the ground, Paul Bearer gathered all the pieces of Exodia and brought in The Big Red Machine.
Introduced as the long-lost brother of The Undertaker, Kane was very much like Taker during his early years when Bearer was his manager. He was, mean, didn’t speak, and survived a house fire.
The main difference is that he wore red and black and wore a mask. Bearer had been taking care of Kane following the house fire that supposedly took their parents as well as Kane.
Now working alongside Paul Bearer and Mankind, the goal was to destroy Taker physically. However, Bearer added some psychological warfare in for flavor by revealing that he had an affair with Taker and Kane’s mother!
Yes, the Big Red Machine was his son and The Phenom’s half-brother. What’s Attitude Era’s Eve without some soap opera twist to storylines, right?
It’s an easy enough tale to work off of for a wrestling feud. So easy that it would’ve been hard for WWE flub this one. They even boosted it by playing on the supernatural edge to their story with Kane controlling fire and The Undertaker throwing lightning bolts.
WrestleMania XIV
The match that came out of it was fun and exciting as well. I wouldn’t say it was a mat classic but the build-up to it and the match itself went a long way in adding to the lore of The Undertaker.
Plus, I didn’t expect it to be great as a kid—especially after being meh on RAW’s in-ring stuff at this time. I did expect a decent-at-the-minimum match. People were paying for this show after all.
As a match in WWE’s storytelling-driven approach, this was great. It also fits in with the direction WWE was going at this point with the Attitude Era: higher drama and even larger than before.
This wasn’t a match that brought the event down either as it was one of the better matches on the card. If you haven’t checked it out, I say give it a watch.
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