Undertaker in an Iron Man Match

[SD619]

Throughout his career Undertaker has been a part of almost all major kinds of matches except an Iron Man Match..

My question is :IN THE PAST would you have him in an Iron Man Match??
If yes then when and with whom?

I personally would have liked to see him with Kane before he unmasked..

 

[jhauth11]

Only on man comes to mind and would be able to match entertain and have you glued to your screen for the whole hour is Shawn Michaels

 

[ugotpwned999]

I'm a mark of HBK, but i'm not being biased here.

Shawn Michaels would have been his greatest opponent in an ironman match. They had 2 of the greatest matches of the past 10 years together at Mania 25&26 and also great chemistry with eachother

I'd say these two could have pulled off an hour while still keeping the match entertaining.

 

[Psyclone]

i wouldnt have booked him in one even in his prime... It's not a match that he could get some interest into even if booked against someone like shawn.... It wouldnt have worked out because of his size.. he'd be gassed about 35 minutes in and the last bits would be long rest holds... not something you'd want to be watching..

 

[GameOver]

I concur, Taker is not an iron man, he's a pure striker with a medium level aerobic level.
You can see clearly in any of his matches if it goes over 20mins he's out on his feet.

I'd go as far to say that no "Big Man" should be in a 1hr iron man match.
now if it was a 30min one then ok Taker would survive that, but still it's not really his style, he's better at dangerous and slug fest style matchups, not the technical ones.

Iron man matches are for the talented guys that can change styles on the fly, be more technical (working body parts) Taker is not one of those, as much as i respect him.

 

[bigtrav01]

I don't know if I would have put him in one even in his prime, sure now he can go 30 minutes at WrestleMania, but that destroys his body, so I'd say, even in his prime, he could do that and still feel really beat afterwards. He has never come across as a guy that could go an hour. Now don't get me wrong, it isn't because I don't want to see Taker go an hour, I love Taker, he is one of the best, if not the best, of all time. He just doesn't seem like he go last that long without being dead (no pun intended) afterwards. The best opportunity though I think they had for one was his feud with HBK, back when they had the Hell in a Cell match, HBK could have carried Taker the rest of the way after Taker gave out.

 

[mayankeagle]

In his prime, Taker could have definitely gone for 60 minutes. If he can work 30 minute matches now, why couldn't he work 60 minute matches in say 1997? Whoever says that Taker can't go for more than 20 or 30 minutes is considering Taker as he is right now and not as he was in the 90s. Do you remember that the first Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels was also over 30 minutes long and that when Taker signalled the tombstone and Kane debuted during that match, Taker didn't look half as tired as he looks now after such long matches?

And I have to agree with most of the people here who say that Shawn Michaels would be the best opponent in an iron man match. Hell yes, can you think of anyone else? It has to be either him or Bret Hart or Kurt Angle, but I still think that from an entertainment value, you will like the match more if it has Shawn Michaels in it because he has the right mix of skill/ technical ability/ charisma/ gimmick/ entertainment/ emotion that can carry the match for that long.

I regret that we were not able to see Taker vs Mankind, Taker vs Bret Hart, Taker vs Austin, Taker vs Lesnar and Taker vs Angle at Mania despite the fact that Taker had long and intense feuds with them, and also had great matches with them at other PPVs. But instead of them, we got to see Giant Gonzales, King Kong Bundy, A-Train, Big SLow, Mark Henry.... please, let Taker's last Mania be against a skilled guy like Alberto del Rio. I wouldn't fancy a third Taker vs HHH match since the third wouldn't be able to match the first or even the second.

 

[SharkBoy247]

i have to say when i read the thread title i actually laughed out loud. well because i was just thinking of Undertaker now days trying to do an iron man match. which, would probably be equivalent to watching paint dry. Cause he sucks. take him out back and put him down already.
in his prime..honestly i think i'd like to see him square off for an entire hour probably with someone like Stone Cold. You know during the crucifix angle. that could have been pretty cool. but other than anyone outside of SCSA or HBK or HHH or maybe mankind i cant really think of anyone else that would keep it interesting. Two big heavyweights of course would be kinda of boring and slow paced i'd imagine.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As others have said, Shawn Michaels against The Undertaker would have been a great setting for an Iron Man Match.

I've honestly thought a lot about this and, at least in my mind, I'd still like to see Taker go in an Iron Man Match that's no DQ and no count out at WrestleMania. A no DQ/count out match works well for Taker here because it generally allows both wrestlers to put on a match that has a more epic feel to it. After all, nobody wants to see an Undertaker match at WM end that way. It's also a good way of protecting Taker as the wear & tear have caught up with him.

Aside from HBK, I think that the one guy that it could possibly work with right now would be John Cena. Let's face it, the WWE would be able to build Cena vs. Undertaker as an epic clash of two titans. The most dominant superstars of two generations clashing for pride, bragging rights and just to see who wants it more. I have little doubt that the match would be able to tell a helluva story and an Iron Man Match between Taker & Cena really drives home the "let's really see who the best man is" feeling.

I don't know how likely it is to ever happen but if it did, I'd wanna see it.

 

[SydTinDad]

Nah, I don't see it. Love Taker, but not for 60 minutes.

I personally can't stand Iron Man Matches because I don't need to watch the same shit for an hour. Give me 3 fresh matches at 20 minutes each instead.

But if I was an Iron Man mark, HBK-Hitman-Rock-Angle would be my only choices to ever pull that off with Taker.

 

[RyanCallaway]

I would've enjoyed Taker in an Ironman Match against a number of opponents. Kurt Angle or Bret Hart would be first because all of their matches were great, and gave Taker the chance to demonstrate his technical ability. Then of course Shawn Michaels, The Rock, and possibly even Stone Cold. As for how gassed Taker looks after his matches - I think that has more to do with acting than it does him being in poor shape. I remember his selling during his match with CM Punk when he was still "weak" from the coma. He looked like he was done 3 or 4 minutes into the match. It was obviously selling because a few weeks later, same type of match, he looked great the whole time. Sure Undertaker has some injuries, but I doubt he's in as bad a shape as everyone seems to think.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I would go with Bret Hart. This match would have made a lot of sense in 1997 with Bret having freshly turned heel and Undertaker being this babyface champion with superpowers. Bret could have challenged Undertaker to this type of a match saying that he knew moves that could even make the Undertaker cry out in pain. Bret is probably the best submission wrestler of all time and him trying to make a guy who never quits "quit" could have been an interesting story. Bret could have claimed to have chosen this type of a match because an hour would give him more than enough time to work on the Undertaker's body parts and sink in his submission manouvers.

Undertaker would have accepted in typical babyface fashion by saying that he has never quit before and is also supposed to have endless stamina and that he would love to see Bret try...and ultimately fail.

HBK is also a very fine choice for this type of a match as he won his first title in an IronMan match and it would make sense if he challenged Undertaker to one assuming that he can outperform anyone, especially in his type of match-up.

In any case, if you had to put Undertaker in an IronMan match, 1997 would have to be the year. He put on some classics that year and he had not been slowed down by injuries.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I have seen the guy work 60 minute matches in the past so there is no doubt it could happen.

Sadly there are realistically only a few guys that could go the distance with him. The Rock, HBK, Bret Hart, HHH and Kurt Angle are realistically the only ones that could go that long with the Undertaker.

The easy answer is HBK because him and Michaels have put on many classic bouts (like the first HIAC match) and have no doubt those 2 could have torn the house down.

Personally I would go with HHH because he can go an hour, and if it was in a no DQ scenario that match would have been classic (they went pretty long at WM17 if I remember correctly), so basically having a match of that nature that went an hour. I feel HHH blends with Undertakerr better than the rest as he is the only one that could go into an Iron Man match with Taker having no fear which could equate to some tremendous moments and a tremendous match overall. In the past EVERYBODY was scared of Taker so back in lets say 97-00 HHH is the only person who could put on a great match but also keep the mentality that he could severly hurt the Undertaker, he is the cerebral assassin after all and shoulds less fear than the rest which makes him more believable to pull it off.

Shawn Michaels back in the day could go an hour, but in order for him to be believed he could take the Undertaker in a 60 minute match is with all the help in the world.

 

[mykeymayhem]

As people have said before 60 min taker matches are as boring as it gets even if the streak is on the line.....taker would need someone to carry him that whole time. Honestly if I had to answer the question i'd say hbk vs taker in there prime or bret hart vs taker in there prime but now takers to old to wrestle for 60 mins he tryed 30 or 40 at mania and spent most of that time flat on his ass.

 

[All That Jazz]

When you think of Undertaker, you think about that so distinct persona and mysterious quality that has always made him different. You don't look at him and immediately compare him to someone else because he is one of a kind. But a lot of this comes with the fact of the way they've built him as more than just your normal wrestler. He's got almost superhuman powers, has an inhuman resilience to pain and he will never ever die. Does an Iron Man match really fit those qualities? Especially when he is beginning to tire very soon into matches? With such a large following (good chunk of them being kids), it will send everything crashing down if he is weak and slow before the whole thing has ever came to an end. Did everyone even see his last match at WM? They got to the heavy hitting stuff basically right after the ref called for the bell, and he was still huffing and puffing before a finish was even in view. It would've worked a while ago, when he was in his prime and was capable of keeping pace for as long as needed. But those times are far behind him, and we need to all realize this. Everyone can dream! In fact, I encourage it, but there is a difference between keeping it to yourself or spreading it as reality.

 

[aboynameddirt]

I'm not a fan of the Iron Man match, especially if the Undertaker is involved. I think the Undertaker is great in all aspects of the word, but I don't think his style would work well in that type of match at all. The match would just get slow and monotonous after awhile. It would eventually start to seem pointless because the whole thing would just get off track.

 

[jaceynightheat]

Taker could probably still go 60 minutes but I don't want to see him in an iron man match. I don't think it fits his character at all.

Maybe when he was American Bad Ass Taker.