Category: Mark Calaway Project

The Undertaker & Kane Vs MVP & Matt Hardy – WWE Smackdown 12/10/2007

I looked at my list of matches to review to see what I was to watch next. I saw it was Vs Big Show at No Way Out 2003. Simply put, I was not in the mood for watching it based on the fact I remember hating it lol. So, one quick change to something completely random!

Ha, ended up watching parts of the show before I got to the tag match, and who makes his Smackdown debut? DREW MCINTYRE! He targets the arm too :P.

Ok, enough of that randomness, it’s onto the tag match!

MVP and Hardy are the “odd couple” tag champs, who started feuding with each other and then ended up teaming together because MVP didn’t want to face Matt for his US title. Great storyline, shame Hardy got injured and it kinda lost steam from there.

LMAO at MVP when Kane comes out. They have a big history from 2006, and as soon as Kane comes into the ring MVP runs away like a scared little girl :P. And of course MVP has a bit of history with The Undertaker from 2006 as well, but Undertaker will happily destroy him regardless of history together lol.

And let’s not forget Matt Hardy. I do believe Matt has a victory over The Undertaker from 2002 during Undertaker’s feud with Lesnar! Although he DID have some help from Lesnar… but it still counts! Right? 😛

Great spot early into the match when Undertaker gets a tag in. Hardy avoids Old School, but gets shoved off the ropes. While the ref checks on Hardy, MVP clotheslines Undertaker, only for Undertaker to sit right up, drag MVP into the ring and almost give him a double chokeslam with the help of Kane! That should teach MVP not to try and work as a team! 😛

Kane and Undertaker are clearly the more powerful team, but MVP and Hardy do their best to keep in the match and even try to control things. Kane runs shoulder first into the ring post, giving the tag champs an opening, but a single boot to the face puts the Brothers of Destruction right back on top. Trying to isolate a BOD is much harder than the tag champs would like.

BOD demonstrate great team work as they isolate MVP and absolutely destroy him for a little while. Despite getting destroyed, MVP shows great resilience by kicking out of everything Undertaker and Kane can throw at him, and even making the long awaited tag to Matt!

Now the whole “MVP is a bit of a cunt” comes into play, as remember, he and Matt don’t really like each other and MVP is technically a heel. Matt manages to fight off Kane and drop him with a Twist of Fate, but MVP makes a blind tag to try and gain the win for himself! Unfortunately this backfires with MVP being left alone in the ring with The Undertaker and a Tombstone! This one is over.

Good TV tag match here. Hardy and MVP did a great job against a bigger, more powerful team when they got the chance, and BOD were impressive as usual. The finish played nicely into the feud MVP and Matt were having too. Glad I decided to watch this over the Big Show match lol.

Rating: ***

The Undertaker Vs Mankind – SummerSlam 18/08/1996

I think I have seen this match before at some point, but remember little to nothing about it, other than the finish. Given their great KOTR match I have already watched this month, and a casket match from a house show, and their 1997 and 1998 matches I have reviewed previously (which will eventually make their way to the site), I am struggling to believe that this will be anything less than good. Then again, it IS a Boiler Room Brawl match, and the concept doesn’t scream “classic”. But if anyone can make a crazy gimmick match work, it’s The Undertaker and Mankind.

So what exactly are the rules to this match? Well, they start off in the boiler room of the arena, and their objective is to escape and make their way to the ring, and then take the Urn from Paul Bearer. At least we should get some good brawling during this whole thing :P.

Mankind is already in the boiler room, so The Undertaker has to enter and try to find the crazy bastard so he can beat the crap out of him and then escape again. Ummm… why didn’t he just go back through the door he came in? Is there another door they have to exit from? Why doesn’t Mankind just leave while Undertaker is looking for him? Well, I guess if I had to defend them not leaving like that, I would say that they both want to destroy each other first.

As Undertaker is making his way through the boiler room, Mankind sneaks up from behind and decks the Dead Man with… a very flimsy object lol. Undertaker battles back a little before getting a version of the Stunner on a wooden horse thingy that you might find in a school gym. I best Austin never thought of doing THAT!

Camera issues and the fact they start falling into the typical backstage brawling formula (slamming each other into walls) isn’t keeping me too interested in the match, but once they start trying to maul each other with weapons again it kinda picks up. Also, why the FUCK are the commentators NOT COMMENTATING? Every so often they will let out an “ohh!” and a few other random words… but why the hell aren’t they doing their fucking job? I know the action and whatnot should be what keeps me interested in a match, but no commentary can take you out of matches, especially when you can’t hear the crowd either as we are in a fucking boiler room after all. The only time we hear them is when they let out an “ohh!” or something.

In between the rather awkward silences and the boring wall slamming, we do get to see a few good spots, but nothing to make me think this match is going to end up being good. Shame, considering I came into the match expecting it to be at LEAST good. Now I’ll be shocked if it’s anywhere near good.

So, positives so far. Ummm… the Stunner spot on the wooden horse was kinda cool lol, and Mankind’s running knee to the face while Undertaker was against some steel looked and sounded great, and Mankind climbing a random ladder to hit an elbow drop to Undertaker on the concrete floor was great as well. The Undertaker, unfortunately, hasn’t done anything worth noting. Not often The Undertaker is the worst guy in a match…

Great, more “technical difficulties” with the camera going off, which gets the biggest reaction from the crowd so far (all be it a negative one), and seems to make the commentators speak a little too, for the first time in around 5 minutes.

Mankind again finds a ladder to climb, and is no doubt going for an elbow drop… again. But The Undertaker sits up, and HOLY SHIT at the spot we get! Foley is knocked back off the ladder and lands mostly on the concrete with the top half of his body landing on… a box. A single box. Yeah, bet that broke his fall lol.

Finally, they have made it to the exit. Maybe if they make it to the ring together we can get something that would resemble a good match.

LMFAO at Mankind escaping first and then trying to barricade the door with objects that weigh less than a WWE Diva. Undertaker just smashes through the door and the objects blocking it, and now the race to the ring begins! Not quite as exciting as it sounds.

Huh, the closer the two men get to the ring, the more the commentators speak. How very strange…

Both men get to the ring, but Undertaker is pretty beat up compared to Mankind, and a Piledriver on the concrete floor doesn’t help. Odd that as soon as they got to the ring area, things immediately started picking up lol. I get that Mankind was hanging out in boiler rooms and whatnot which was part of his gimmick at the time, but there was no need to make a fucking match out of it. Just stick these two in a ring and we’ll be good.

The Undertaker’s desire to keep control of his Urn forces him to get up from the Pilerdriver and send Mankind back first from the apron right onto the same concrete floor that Undertaker went head first into! The Dead Man then climbs into the ring, goes to Paul Bearer to receive the Urn, only for Paul to turn his back on him! SWERVE~!

Mankind locks in the Mandible Claw a couple of times as Paul Bearer looks on in sheer delight!

The Undertaker, betrayed and beaten up, looks up at Paul, wondering what is happening, and gets levelled by the Urn. Paul hands the Urn to Mankind, and the match is over.

Thank fuck.

Never thought I would be this excited for an Undertaker match to end… especially an Undertaker/Mankind match. It was just horrible for the most part. No commentary, silence from the crowd for the most part, boring and somewhat slopping brawling, and it lasted way too long. Everything they did once they got to the ringside area was good, but not good enough to bring up the match. Such a huge disappointment.

Rating: 1/2*

The Undertaker Vs Heidenreich – Survivor Series 14/11/2004

After costing The Undertaker the WWE Title at No Mercy, and running a car into the hearse that The Undertaker was knocked out in, The Undertaker damn sure wanted revenge… but it was Heidenreich that demanded this match! Heidenreich wears a straight jacket down to the ring, and given the fact he wanted a match with the Dead Man, he definitely needs it!

Believe it or not, this match was NOT a request! I actually wanted to watch it again, because I always remember this actually being a good match. So, time to see if I am as crazy as Heidenreich himself :P.

Match starts with both men staring each other down in their own ways. Undertaker standing completely still, with Heidenreich moving around while never taking his eyes off the Dead Man. Just a small thing for Heidenreich to do to help put over his gimmick more.

Some awesome, and I mean fucking AWESOME strikes by The Undertaker put him in control at the beginning, but Paul Heyman on the outside helps distract the referee a couple of times allowing Heidenreich to target (and I can’t believe I’m actually typing this lol) the balls of the Dead Man. Thankfully this tactic is just to create an opening (do I even need to put a joke here?), but it seems the Dead Man has balls of steel, and he quickly regains control of the match while battling on the outside!

Back in the ring The Undertaker attempts Old School for the second time, this time actually landing it. When he hits the move, I’m pretty sure he grabs his balls to sell the previous attacks too. That’s right; The Undertaker is selling his balls. And again it’s his balls that cause The Undertaker to lose control when he runs at Heidenreich in the corner with a big boot and gets caught on the ropes. Usually he catches himself knee first in this situation, but I guess in keeping with the story of the match, he goes balls first this time.

Heidenreich tries to wear down The Undertaker as the Dead Man is constantly fighting for control. Some pretty great exchanges between the two during this time as well. Undertaker keeps using his strikes to keep himself in the match, and Heidenreich has some pretty good strikes too, as well as a great looking clothesline.

As the match goes on, Heidenreich continues to keep up with the veteran Undertaker, constantly matching his move for move and punch for punch, which seems to frustrate the Dead Man. Nothing he does is enough to put Heidenreich away, or even keep him down for long.

A rookie mistake allows The Undertaker to hit the Last Ride out of the corner, but not even THAT ends the match, as Heidenreich, despite being completely insane, is able to grab the ropes.

A little more back and forth action, and Undertaker hits the chokeslam, and finally puts Heidenreich away with a huge Tombstone! After the match The Undertaker sits in the corner and almost looks shocked that Heidenreich was able to last this long against him, and was able to take so much punishment and dish out more than his fair share too.

Well, turns out I wasn’t crazy; this match IS good. Really good, and perhaps a hidden gem as I doubt many people would look at the card for Survivor Series 2004 and expect this match to be good. Heidenreich actually looked great in the match, matching Undertaker blow for blow throughout the match. Nobody really gets a control segment; it’s very much a back and forth match for the entire contest with both men trying to put the other away. One of the better “big man vs big man” matches I can remember.

Rating: ***3/4

The Undertaker Vs Bret Hart – WWF Raw 05/02/1996

Everyone remembers the matches from SummerSlam 1997 and One Night Only 1997, and maybe their MSG match from 1992 that was played on WWE Classics on Demand earlier this year, but few people remember they had a match at the 1996 Royal Rumble (which was great), and even fewer people know about this Raw match (hell, I didn’t even know about it lol). So, is it simply not remembered because it happened so long ago and has never been released on DVD, or because it straight up SUCKS? Time for me to find out.

At the Royal Rumble a few weeks ago, The Undertaker had Bret beat, but Diesel got involved and attacked the referee. Bret Hart, being the great champion that he is, asked for a rematch, with the title on the line! And the winner of this will take on Diesel at the next PPV in a cage match for the belt!

Undertaker stalks Bret around the ring, but Bret’s quickness allows him to trap the Dead Man in the corner until a headbutt sends Bret down. As The Undertaker starts to wear down Hart, the fans are firmly behind him, which is a little unusual as Bret was still extremely popular at this time.

Just like their Royal Rumble match, things go at a slow pace with Undertaker trying to suffocate Bret, but during an Old School attempt Big Daddy Cool shows up and distracts him long enough for Bret to reverse the move and begin the typical yet smart work on the leg of his bigger opponent.

The Undertaker sells the leg work nicely, and does a great job of desperately trying to escape the grasp of the Hitman and avoid taking more punishment to his limbs. It seems that The Undertaker’s desperation is what is able to get him back into the match. Cool to see The Undertaker like this in 1996. As big of a supporter of The Undertaker as I am, even I think of him as only really becoming a good seller in the last decade, but the more “Old School” stuff I watch, the more I see that he was ALWAYS a good seller, but before his gimmick really started to evolve, he was limited to when and where he could actually sell. And hey, if there is ever a year for me to realise Undertaker was better than before, it’s 1996 lol, the year myself and other fans agree he truly came into his own (largely due to facing opponents like Bret who could work).

After a lengthy control segment from the Dead Man, Bret is set up for a Tombstone. However, knowing that the Tombstone was the move that almost ended his title reign at the Royal Rumble, Bret makes damn sure to escape, and unfortunately the referee gets knocked out in the process!

After escaping the Tombstone, Bret wisely goes right back to the legs, but with the referee down and out, Diesel makes his presence felt and attacks Bret, only to in turn get attacked by The Undertaker, before retaliating and decking the Dead Man with a chair!

With Bret and the referee still out, Diesel gives The Undertaker his full attention, giving him2 Jackknife Powerbombs! Undertaker is out cold in the ring, and Bret is still down and out on the floor, and the referee hasn’t woken up yet either!

After a commercial break, we find out that the match ended in a draw :(. Kinda sucky that the match didn’t have a finish, but like the Royal Rumble match, the finish was just another way to build up to the next PPV and even WrestleMania, so I can live with it. Besides, everything including the way the match ended was great anyway. Undertaker looked great on offence, Bret was great working the leg and Undertaker sold it nicely, and the finish was well done too. Not quite as good as their 3 PPV matches, but a worthy addition to their collection of matches for sure!

Rating: ***1/4

The Undertaker Vs Steve Austin – WWF Smackdown 01/11/2001

On Raw a few days earlier, Kurt Angle defected to The Alliance, and The Undertaker is pissed for two reasons; his fellow WWF team member turning on the company The Undertaker helped to build, and because Vince McMahon questioned his loyalty. So tonight the American Bad Ass is going to take out all his anger on the leader of The Alliance, Stone Cold Steve Austin!

Austin knows The Undertaker is gonna be pissed, and jumps the Phenom just as he gets off his back, but makes the mistake of angering The Undertaker even MORE by messing around with the ABA’s bike!

From here The Undertaker unleashes hell in the form of rights and lefts to the face of the Texas Rattlesnake, and even tries to run him over with his bike since Austin seemed to want to play with it :P.

They brawl in the crowd (well, Austin gets his arse kicked in the crowd lol), then they make their way to the ring finally, with Undertaker still dominating the WWF Champion (speaking of the belt, it’s on the line here lol, didn’t know until now)!

Steve tries to escape with the title belt, but Undertaker chases after him, locks in a headlock with one arm while holding the title with the other, and walks back to the ring to end this match.

All of that stalling allowed Austin to recover a little, and he had enough in him to hit the Stunner! Unfortunately for Steve it knocks Undertaker out of the ring, but at least it put the WWF Champion back in control.

The Undertaker keeps trying to fight back, and eventually regains control as the match gets closer to the finish. Austin tries to cheat with a steel chair, but Undertaker counters, and we go into REF BUMP~! territory! Now Austin can use the steel chair without getting DQ’d, and he wants to break the ankle of The Undertaker, putting him in the hospital like apparently Angle did to Kane earlier in the night (more story to the match I didn’t know about lol)!

Before Austin can jump off the ropes onto the chair, Undertaker gets up and levels Austin with the chair, busting him wide open, and then Chokeslams him straight to hell! 1… 2… Kurt Angle shows up and breaks the count. Bah! From here, The Undertaker gets destroyed by the two men as the rest of Team WWF is either a traitor (Angle lol), in hospital (Kane), or too busy with their personal issues (Rock and Jericho).

Great TV main event! The Undertaker goes into the match with a whole bunch of different reasons to kill Austin and win the match. Angle turned his back on Team WWF and joined Austin and The Alliance. Vince McMahon questioned his loyalty. Kane was taken out by The Alliance. And the WWF Title was on the line. Destroying Austin, the leader of The Alliance, and winning the WWF Title would have been just what The Undertaker and Team WWF needed at the time to try and get back on top and put a stop to the “biggest threat” the company had ever seen. Some awesome brawling from the two, and just all round great action. It’s usually very hit and miss when it comes to these two having a match, but they definitely worked great here and put on an extremely fun match.

Rating: ***1/4

The Undertaker Vs The Rock – WWF Raw 17/05/1999

Another casket match lol, but I’m 100% certain it’s the last one on my list :P.

As far as I know, this match is made for no other reason than the Corporate Ministry hating The Rock. So that’s a good enough reason for me!

The Rock also has a cast on his left arm… I bet the cheating little bastard will use that as a weapon in this match! You’d never catch Undertaker using a cast as a weapon *uses hypnosis on everyone reading this so they forget about a certain Hell in a Cell match in 2002* :P.

The not so great one takes the fight right to the Dead Man, knowing that The Undertaker only needs to catch The Rock with one move and he will be in trouble. And the one move comes in the form of a running DDT.

While The Undertaker is caving in The Rock’s skull, we see the Corporate Ministry fighting backstage with The Union (I think it was them anyway lol).

The Rock manages to gain the upperhand, and goes for a People’s Elbow, only for Undertaker to sit up, causing The Rock to kick him in the face before finally hitting the elbow. Pretty cool spot, even if I can’t stand The Rock.

HHH shows up and prevents The Rock from putting Undertaker in the casket, then gets his arse kicked on the outside, forcing him to retaliate by smashing a sledgehammer down on the already broken arm! Ha! A few more shots to the arm and The Undertaker sticks The Rock in the casket, then HHH locks it shut!

Its short, but its fun :). Mainly because The Rock gets the shit kicked out of him for the most part, then while he’s locked in the casket, HHH, Undertaker and Shane knock it over and HHH destroys it with a sledgehammer :D. Aside from being fun though, there really isn’t much to the match, mainly due to how shot it was.

Oh, and when they take the casket backstage and people are trying to open it, Sgt Slaughter takes one look at The Rock when they finally get the lid open and just says “get an ambulance”. Awesome.

Rating: *

The Undertaker Vs Big Daddy V – WWE Smackdown 25/01/2008

The majority of the list of matches I came up with for Undertaker Month were matches that I had wanted to see for a while but never found the time to actually review them, or matches I wanted to re-watch again just for the hell of it. But as I get closer to finishing Undertaker Month, the matches on my list are mostly requests, as I got a little stuck with what I should watch. Just thought you should know that, as I probably could have gone the rest of my life without watching another Big Daddy V match 😛 (same goes for the Mark Henry match, as I sure as hell didn’t WANT to watch that again lol).

Whose idea was it for Big Daddy V to not wear a t-shirt? Seriously, who? And why?

Interesting to see Big Daddy V and The Undertaker, given their very long history together. Starting with King Mabel back in 1995 when they originally feuded, then in 1999 when The Undertaker turned him into Viscera and made him apart of The Ministry, and now feuding with him again in 2008 in his new persona of Big Daddy V. I gotta admit, I kinda liked Big Daddy V, even if his monstrous man tits are on display :P.

The Undertaker comes out of his corner throwing those big rights in the face of BDV, but the power of BDV comes into play pretty quickly, and even the all powerful Dead Man is taken down.

Gotta love The Undertaker screaming out as he tries desperately to pick up the big man by the arm to set up for Old School. Lifting up BDV is no easy task lol. The match is very much back and forth here, with BDV using his weight and power to knock down The Undertaker, and The Undertaker using those big strikes and his veteran skills to keep the big man at bay.

Very surprised by the pace this match has set so far. It hasn’t slowed down at all yet! I guess being back and forth action is what’s helping it keep a faster pace, as no doubt BDV with a control segment would be incredibly slow.

A Chokeslam from Undertaker looks to end the match, but Big Daddy V kicks out! A massive Black Hole like slam buts BDV in control, as Undertaker tries to fight back. He attempts a triangle choke, but BDV is too big for it, so he is forced to evolve his moveset and he locks in the Hells Gate for the first time, causing BDV to not only tap out, but bleed from the mouth! This move it put over like death with BDV bleeding from the mouth, and even Mark Henry coming out to help his sort of tag partner at the time, yelling at The Undertaker claiming he has gone too far. Awesome way to debut a new submission hold for The Undertaker tbh.

Well, I am pleasantly surprised with this match. It’s kept relatively short, and the pace doesn’t slow down much at all, and the finish is really good. Couldn’t really ask for more with a Big Daddy V match.

Rating: **

The Undertaker Vs The Big Show – No Mercy 05/10/2008

Already talked about this series of matches when I reviewed a House Show match between them last week, so I’ll just say that I am super hyped to watch this one again :D. Oh hey, look at the date too! Took place 11 years after the greatest match of all time, which also happened to involve The Undertaker!

So, this is the first time these two men have faced each other in quite some time, and I guess they will take their time and just warm up first, right? As fucking if! Neither man wastes any time with that warm up crap; its big lefts and rights all the way.

Makes a HUGE change from the last match I watched for Undertaker Month, as Big Show can actually fucking move and even RUN at pretty good speeds! 😛

Show always steps it up when in the ring with The Undertaker (as does everyone else, but a lot of the time it’s more noticeable when Show is in the ring with him), and everything he does looks awesome. The body shots, the slams, and one hell of a running shoulder block that turns the Dead Man inside out. You wanna see how two “Big Man” wrestlers have matches together, then you want to watch this match, and the majority of their others from this series. The pace is faster than it has any right being, and the action, while not filled with flippy shit, is awesome.

I’ve mentioned about Undertaker and his opponent wanting to cave each other’s face in quite a lot this last month, but this is probably the only Undertaker feud that’s really ever been based on trying to knock the other guy out with a punch to the face lol. Show did it to Undertaker, and Undertaker wanted revenge big time, so he uses ever opportunity he can to throw a big right hand into the face of Big Show during this match. Unfortunately for The Undertaker, The Big Show’s right hand is bigger and better, and when it hits, it’s over. A couple of those massive shots, and holy fuck, Big Show beats The Undertaker by knockout! In 20 years, I don’t think that’s ever happened.

Amazing to think that this match lasts for 10 minutes, because it feels like 2 or 3 at most due to the fast pace they keep up. An awesome contest on its own, and a great build to their Last Man Standing match a Cyber Sunday. Nothing quite like 2 giants punching each other in the face!

Rating: ***3/4

The Undertaker Vs Mark Henry – Unforgiven 16/09/2007

Well, this match unfortunately had to happen. Undertaker was injured a few months earlier during his title reign, and after going to another draw with Batista, was attacked by Mark Henry and put on the shelf. And with Khali as the champion going into this PPV, WWE needed to keep Undertaker occupied with someone on his return while Batista regained the World Championship so they could continue their title feud at the next event.

In terms of build-up and video packages for this feud and Undertaker’s return, it was pretty awesome. All the things they did with the druids showing up when Mark Henry was in the ring and whatnot was great, and the videos going to Death Valley to resurrect the Dead Man were fantastic. Don’t recall the match being anything close to fantastic though…

Still amazing to think that this match was the MAIN EVENT to the show. Then again, Khali/Batista/Mysterio and Orton/Cena didn’t exactly scream “classic” on paper either, so The Undertaker’s big return was definitely the way to go

Undertaker’s return entrance is pretty spectacular with the flames, the awesome lighting, the lightning, and a ton of smoke/fog. But the bell is about to ring, and I somehow doubt the word “spectacular” is going to come up in this review again…

The Dead Man is back, and pissed at Henry for taking him out, so he goes straight after the face with those massive right hands, hoping that one of them will cave in the skull of the self proclaimed World’s Strongest Man. Henry reverses Old School, and they battle on the ropes for what seems like a lifetime before Henry actually hits a fucking superplex. Mark Henry. Superplex. Good GOD!

Henry begins to dominate now, with Undertaker getting some big shots in every so often, only to be put down again mainly due to his intentions of killing Henry rather than beating him.

Gotta love JBL going VINATGE~! SummerSlam 1994 commentary by claiming that the crowd is DEAD because they are just in awe at Henry dominating The Undertaker. Somehow I just can’t believe that.

Henry does a decent job working over the ribs of The Undertaker to set up for the World’s Strongest Slam, but he’s just so fucking slow that it’s hard to get into. Undertaker even gets bored of Henry’s blatant resting by sitting up and picking up the pace as he makes a comeback. Massive Chokeslam to Henry (who legit bounces on impact lol), but it only gets The Undertaker a two count!

As Henry regains control again, he makes a dumb move of climbing the ropes with Undertaker in the corner, and gets a fucking HUGE and rather epic looking Last Ride for his troubles! 3 count and it’s over.

Well, it’s not a great match by any means. It’s just too fucking SLOW. Henry was slower here than I ever remember him being, and he was constantly taking rests in between his offence. And given his size, it limited The Undertaker’s offence too, and with all the factors mixed together, we got a rather slow, rather dull match. Wouldn’t call it fucking horrible or terrible or anything, but it sure as hell isn’t something I would choose to watch again.

Rating: *

The Undertaker Vs JBL – SummerSlam 15/08/2004

Since returning as the Dead Man earlier in the year at WrestleMania XX, The Undertaker had been unstoppable. Which worked out perfectly as he was set to face JBL for the WWE Championship, and boy did I want JBL to lose that belt lol. Looking back at JBL’s reign, I kinda like it, but at the time, like almost everyone else, I just wanted it to STOP.

Undertaker goes right after JBL and looks to be in control, but once he goes for Old School, those awesome clubbing blow of JBL come into play and he manages to counter the move by trying to cave in Undertaker’s face. From here JBL shows some great aggression, and even goes to the top rope for a shoulder block! Good to see JBL stepping up his game while being in the ring with The Undertaker, because it’s going to take a hell of a lot to stop the Dead Man.

Unfortunately for JBL, it’s his aggression that causes his downfall, when Undertaker reverses JBL running into the corner at him. Undertaker then shows us that perhaps JBL and his new found aggression IS a threat to him by taking Bradshaw down and locking in a triangle choke!

Orlando Jordon (urgh), JBL’s Chief of Staff, gets involved and allows JBL to smash a steel chair over the leg of The Undertaker! Some great offence from JBL following this move, doing things like tripping him up on the steel steps so he falls on the bad knee. Despite this match being really good so far, the fans decide it’s more fun to do a Mexican Wave (in Canada) instead. Fuck you.

Undertaker brings some of his MMA skills to the match as he gives JBL a taste of his own medicine going after the leg. The fans continue to randomly shout and scream and seemingly ignore the match… until they chant for the “Spanish Table”, I guess hoping someone will go through it… or maybe they are just a big fan of the table. Hard to tell tbh.

The action continues to be awesome, with some great brawling between the two, and even a superplex by Undertaker to JBL! Great to see JBL going back to work on the leg too, after he uses the injury to escape a Last Ride and Chokeslam attempt!

After JBL kicks out of a Chokeslam, Undertaker looks to go for something bigger, until OJ gets involved, distracting The Undertaker long enough to get levelled with a Clothesline from Hell! Instead of ending the match though, it just angers the Phenom, resulting in some punch exchanges, a ref bump, and then a double big boot that takes down both men! With the ref down though, OJ gets involved again, and following a shot to the head from the WWE Championship, drags the referee over and begins to count, only for The Undertaker to kick out at 2! Loved that spot lol. Even through cheating and doing the count for JBL, OJ was unable to help his boss actually get the win!

The WWE Championship belt is brought back into the ring again, and this time Undertaker uses it to deck the champ in the face, but the referee just woke up and DQ’s the Dead Man! Damn JBL, getting to hold onto the belt for another month (or another 6 months before he ACTUALLY loses it…).

The Undertaker isn’t pleased with the decision, and decides to make JBL pay. He slams him onto JBL’s own limo, busting him open, then proceeds to walk to the back, before deciding he isn’t done yet :D. Chokeslam through the roof of the limo! Undertaker may not have won, but that was a great way to end the whole thing.

Awesome contest here. Lots of stiff shots, some great leg work, nice selling, good use of OJ on the outside, and while I don’t like the ending, it served its purpose to help build to the Last Ride match between the two.

Rating: ***3/4