We’re back with “Best of The Streak” looking at some of the best bouts and storylines of The Undertaker. After WrestleMania XIV, we got The Undertaker hanging The Big Boss Man in the Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania XV.
Triple H Unintentionally Provokes The Undertaker
Absent from the ring during WrestleMania 2000 because of a torn pectoral muscle, The Undertaker returned as “The American Bad Ass”. Originally, he was busy with his Brothers of Destruction run with brother Kane—then Triple H opened his mouth.
Triple H wanted to be the main event at WrestleMania X-7. Fair enough, he was “The Game” at the time and he had spanked The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Why not make him the main eve—oh, he hadn’t beaten The Undertaker.
That’s right, Taker took offense to Triple H proclaiming to have beaten everybody of note. Taker wasn’t going to be silent while Triple H was like “F*** it, I’ll just have to spank you as well, Taker.”
Really, that was the crux of this match: Triple H had something to prove. It also continued the trend of Taker’s WrestleMania feuds going forward.
Instead of always being written into these lengthy build-ups all the time, now The Undertaker was responding to challenges, disrespect, and being nudged into beating someone up at the biggest show of the year half the time.
WrestleMania X-7
The first match in their WrestleMania thrillogy, this match is amazing. It has a lot going for it even if the roots of the match weren’t the strongest. I love a brawl and this one had everything I love in a large stage brawl.
There are several kinds of brawls and at a stage as large as WrestleMania, you want some decorum. This was the “slobber knocker”. In comic books when two superpowers with super strength and durability throw hands in the middle of New York City causing so much property damage? That was this match.
It’s fast-paced and had more than enough “OMG!” moments that even in the few minutes where things slowed down a bit, they picked it back up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8euEUvhuJU
I contribute this to The Undertaker being a smidge past his prime at this time but being so well-seasoned and still agile and durable that it didn’t matter. Triple H was in his prime, still young, seasoned, and he just had a motor on him!
The Game was taking spills to the outside, off elevated surfaces, onto the floor, and the crowd ate it up! In the whole match, there was only one chair used and the Spanish announce table was broken.
Triple H’s sledgehammer was there and lingered as the equalizer in case everything else failed but was never in the spotlight of the action until the end. Finally, Taker puts Triple H away with the biggest wedgie Last Ride up until that point.
This was a fabulous WrestleMania match; I highly recommend it!
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