His Best Feud: The Undertaker

[The Brain]

I saw there was someone out there stepping on my toes and posting a best feud thread about Chris Jericho. As Triple H would say that’s gimmick infringement. I thought I would get this one in before I was beaten to it. For the first time in my series I am going to discuss an active wrestler. I’m not sure if this should go in my usual old school area or the WWE area. I guess that’s for the moderators to decide. Let’s get down to business.

As we all know The Undertaker as been a main event player in WWE for nearly twenty years. I thought of approximately fifty feuds that he has had during his career. Some of the feuds are not as memorable as others (Berzerker and IRS for example). This was very hard to narrow down to just ten. This will probably have more debate than any of my other posts. It’s reasonable to say you would replace at least half my list with people that didn’t make my cut. For this I’m just as interested to see opinions on who I left off as I am to see who you think is #1.

There are a lot of big names in WWE history that Taker has feuded with that aren’t on my list. I’m talking big names like Hogan, Rock, Hitman, Angle, Flair, and more. This is not about big names, but about best feuds. Taker has had good feuds with all of them, but when you’re around for twenty years there are going to be more guys off the list than on it. A couple honorable mentions. I loved the feud with Diesel going in to WrestleMania XII. I also enjoyed the feud with Brock Lesnar. Both just missed the cut for me. Without further ado here is my list:

10. Triple H
9. Yokozuna
8. Ultimate Warrior
7. Edge
6. Batista
5. Shawn Michaels
4. Randy Orton
3. Steve Austin
2. Kane
1. Mankind

I’m satisfied with my top two choices. Other than that you can shuffle the list around and not get an argument out of me. I loved the feud with Mankind. This was the first person that posed an actual threat to The Undertaker. Taker had been beaten down plenty of times before. Giant Gonzalez, Mr. Hughes, King Kong Bundy, and Mabel had all attacked Taker and left him lying. I didn’t think anyone of those guys had a chance in a match with Taker. On Mankind’s first night he left Taker laying with a beating of his own. This looked like a familiar scene and he was going to simply be Taker’s next victim. Except a strange thing happened. Mankind beat Taker in a match. Then something even stranger. He beat him again. Mankind seemed to have Taker’s number. Mankind even got Paul Bearer to turn against Taker. These two battled in Boiler Room Brawls, Buried Alive, Hell in a Cell, and several non gimmick ppv matches. The feud ran from for a full year from April 1996 to April 1997 and was revisited in the summer of 1998. None of us will ever forget the Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring. Also Mankind was a different kind of opponent for Taker. Before he mostly feuded with big guys he couldn’t do much with. It was hard for him to have a good match with Kamala, Gonzalez, and Bundy. We got to see a new style from Taker during his feud with Mankind. These were much better matches than the standard punch, kick, choke, clothesline. Taker finally had someone he could really work with. I’m sure there are many different opinions, but for all these reasons I say the feud with Mankind was Undertaker’s best. Let the debate begin.

 

[SSJPhenom]

About time a best feud thread was made for The Phenom, The Demon of Death Valley, The Deadman, The Undertaker.

I completely agree with The Brain on this one. Mankind was definitely 'Taker's greatest feud. The two of them had some great matches together. Also, it remains that no one in WWE history has the win/loss record against 'Taker that Mankind does. Mankind has beaten 'Taker more times than anyone.

Their matches were always something to behold. From Buried Alive, Boiler Room Brawl, Falls Count Anywhere, Paul Bearer suspended above the ring, etc etc. All the way to the famous Hell in a Cell match that is forever etched into the minds of us all. 'Taker and Mankind were great together. They had great chemistry with one another and the fact that they were two bigger guys putting on some great memorable matches is another plus. 'Taker probably did more for Mankind in his career than anyone else when he threw him off that cage.

I loved anytime they stepped into the ring together. It was always golden.

 

[HSB]

I agree 100% with the argument for Mankind. Seriously, look at all of Undertaker's feuds. He's always been known as a top guy...but how many of his feuds were really, full out feuds? Not too many.

He worked a lengthly program with Mankind. The only other REAL feud the Undertaker has had with real substance was the one with Kane. All his other feuds if you really look at them closely were either rushed, or ended abruptly. Kane and Mankind feuds has the most character, most substance and actually drew fans in the MOST. Both were his best booked feud from all angles. Kane (and later Mankind) in the Hell in a Cell, Mankind (and later Kane) with the Paul Bearer betrayal were just so interesting to watch. I loved those feuds and on paper, were the best for the Undertaker.


WRESTLING (in ring) wise, I'd go with Diesel. Before you all raid me for saying it, Nash's in-ring work was much sharper when he was on top of the WWF. Taker brought the best out of him in their Feud, culminating with their 'Mania match. Some say the match was boring, but 2 big men carrying a match for like 20+ mins, it was great IMO.


1. Mankind
2. Kane
3. Diesel

 

[SimplyJay]

Its hard to choose between mankind and Kane. It gave me chills when KAne debuted. Their first encounter at Wrestlemania was epic. In Mankind's case- well just 1 sentence- their Hell in a Cell match.
Both feuds were awesome but i have to go with Kane on this one.

 

[PG ERA FAN xfb4]

Ummmmm.........Shawnathan Micheals obviously. The match with The Undertaker was in the same leauge as America vs. Canada. We saw them wrestle and do a bunch of finishers with great competive kickouts to falsify tremendous endings reacing out farther in the granduear of their epic feud that was probaly better than Undertaker vs Steve Borden

 

[Acid]

About time a best feud thread was made for The Phenom, The Demon of Death Valley, The Deadman, The Undertaker.

I completely agree with The Brain on this one. Mankind was definitely 'Taker's greatest feud. The two of them had some great matches together. Also, it remains that no one in WWE history has the win/loss record against 'Taker that Mankind does. Mankind has beaten 'Taker more times than anyone.

Their matches were always something to behold. From Buried Alive, Boiler Room Brawl, Falls Count Anywhere, Paul Bearer suspended above the ring, etc etc. All the way to the famous Hell in a Cell match that is forever etched into the minds of us all. 'Taker and Mankind were great together. They had great chemistry with one another and the fact that they were two bigger guys putting on some great memorable matches is another plus. 'Taker probably did more for Mankind in his career than anyone else when he threw him off that cage.

I loved anytime they stepped into the ring together. It was always golden.

Just wanted to let you know, Mankind was never actually thrown off. Taker had his hands but he slipped and fell off.

 

[KANE-A-KNIGHT]

Xfearbefore? Who is this? Can he do that?

Anyway, Edge was a serious candidate for me here but think the fued got stale, like most nowadays. They had some great matches, no match of the year candidates in my opinion but good solid matches none the less.

That left Mankind and Kane, which was a hard one if you are talking about matches it would hands down be Mankind. some of the best matches in Takers long career have been with Mankind, but his best fued has to be Kane. There has never been a fued like this, which made me the Kane fan i am today. Definatly Takers best fued and mabeys one of the best fueds ever.

 

[oogieboogie]

I would have to go for the Mankind feud. Even though the time of the feud i was watching wcw. I do remember watching clips of a few matches they had. They had all sorts of matches with different gimmicks. The match which stanmds out most is the HIAC when Taker throws him off the cage, that was awesome!

Though i would love to have seen a proper long decent feud with Warrior. I was so into that feud, cos at the time Taker was like this big unstoppable monster and even Warrior could not deal with him. I was upset they never had a match at a ppv. They hyped up the feud with the locking in the casket and then a few chance encounters and then it faded away, doh!

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Just wanted to let you know, Mankind was never actually thrown off. Taker had his hands but he slipped and fell off.

No fuckin' way. It's clear to see from the high angle that Taker has hold of Foley's pants and his shoulder when he throws him from the Cell. 'Had his hands and slipped', ppffff please. You wouldn't fall at that angle, and at that velocity if he simply 'slipped'.

I'd personally go with the '97/'98 Taker/HBK fued featuring the original HIAC match. Granted it didn't have the emotional mysterios build up like the Kane/Taker fued or the waves of gimmick matches that Taker/Foley had, and was spawned from yet another 'accidentally hit the wrong guy with a chair' schtick, but i remember their first PPV match at one of the In Your House PPVs and that match went for a good 25 minutes with no winner. Then following that, you had the very first HIAC, which again, set new levels of brutality and high risk, ON TOP of the same quality wrestling they showcased in their previous match. And of course the feud culminted in the Casket match that resulted in a 4 year break from WWF for HBK.

I felt that the first Kane/Taker fued in a way was too much like the Mankind fued in the beginning. Guy, in mask, turns up, bashes the fuck out of Taker when beforehand it took a group to do it (and even then they failed more often than not), and continues to do so for ages, Paul Bearer up and leaves, beat down continues, Taker starts winning, fued ends.

So, my vote goes to HBK/Taker in '97.

 

[CKDaimen]

Ur the man, Brain. This list is flawless and I agree completely. Before opening I thought it was futile to pick a #1 Taker feud since he has been in so freakin many. I thought of a whole bunch of people, and seeing as how I only thought about it for 45 seconds or so, I didnt even think about Mankind. But brain, you hit the nail on the head on Mankind and I totally agree with Kane at #2. I think Kane WOULD have been #1 had he had key victories over The Undertaker or at least one major key victory that sticks out...and he doesn't, but Mankind does. Mankind and Taker was a classic feud and it was very personal. For once Taker had met someone who wasn't afraid of the darkness....who liked it there.

Once again, great job.....give this man some props.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Going to have to go with HBK on this one. I've proably seen their Hell In A Cell match from In Your House '97 at least ten times. HBK and Taker have put on some classics including their HIAC match, and the match from this year's Wrestlemania. I don't remeber whether their match from Royal Rumble '98 was good or not, but let's not forget that's where Shawn injured his back.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

I have to agree with everyone on this board. Excellent idea for a forum discussion. I might be a little biased since Undertaker is my favorite wrestler of all time, but damn it, the man's been around for 20 years. He deserves a discussion like this.

But who was Undertaker's greatest feud? For me, I can't just say "Well, he had a great match with..... so, that makes the feud." In thinking of my top five, I'm looking at everything in terms of storyline, importance, AND great matches. There are so many great feuds that I don't think anyone on this discussion can go wrong with their choice. But for me, here are my top five and why I chose them:

5) Yokozuna- For me, this will always stand out as a great feud because there was a little bit of give and take between Undertaker and Yokozuna. Both were considered unstoppable monsters. However, with Undertaker, Yokozuna faced his first legitimate threat to his title, a man who introduced Yokozuna to fear. It was WWE's Battle of the Titans. I personally thought it helped make Undertaker for Yokozuna at 600lbs to resort to having 12 henchmen interfere to put Undertaker away in their first casket match.

4) Shawn Michaels- The 1997 feud was great and had a lot of buildup: Shawn "accidentally" costing Undertaker the championship, Undertaker being bloodied by Shawn and his entourage, etc. The feud had several great matches including Hell in a Cell and a Casket Match. It was great to see this otherworldly figure opposed by this in-your-face, brash, cocky degenerate. The latest feud between the two was well done as well with Shawn wanting to end Undertaker's streak concluding with the match at Mania.

3) Edge- This feud to me was even better than the feud with Shawn Michaels because Edge just rubbed it in that much more. Edge rubbed in his successes and the fact that he kept getting away with spitting in the Undertaker's face down the collective throats of the audience for months. Edge from May 2007 to March 2008 always one upped the Undertaker. He stole the World Title from Taker after getting destroyed by Batista and Henry, cost Undertaker a match in Hell in a Cell, used decoys and the "opportunity" to cost Undertaker the title in a Triple Threat Match, and used his relationship with Vickie Guerrero and La Familia to continue to try to stop Undertaker. Most of the best matches in 2008 were Edge vs. Undertaker matches.

2) Kane- Brother vs. Brother. Again, this story was a long drownout affair that delved into Undertaker's backstory and gave us, for all intensive purposes, a spinoff character in Kane. The back and forth of the story from "Will Undertaker fight Kane?" to finding out Paul Bearer was Kane's dad to the alliance between the two brothers.... in 1998, there were a lot of twists and turns in the Kane-Undertaker saga. The two had some memorable matches as well between Mania XIV and the Inferno Match. Plus, they made a pretty decent tag team together. It's the storyline that they have revisited many times for one off matches or tag matches, and it works because of the backstory made in 1997-98.

1) Mankind- What hasn't been said about this feud that hasn't been said above? When these two met, it wasn't a pretty, technical wrestling match. It was always an all out war. Everyone remembers Hell in a Cell... and for good reason. But watch the matches from the years before and the storylines from the years before. Taker and Mankind's feud helped elevate both and helped introduce the hardcore styles of Mick Foley to WWE fans in a big way.

 

[byrnside]

Ya know Brain, I love that you've been posting these basically weekly for a while now. I feared the day would come when you chose The Undertaker as the subject topic, however. That being said, I just racked my hung over, under slept brain for a couple minutes a came up to one conclusion. Mick Motherfuckin' Foley. Undoubtedly one of the most entertaining feuds that carried over from the WWF's New Generation era to the Attitude era. Embarking in such legendary gimmick matches as the Burried Alive Match, the Boiler Room Brawl and of course who can forget the legendary Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring '98. Mankind was also the reason for Undertaker's long time friend and manager Paul Bearer's infamous heel turn. These two feuded off and on for the better part of 3 years, and never left us unsatisfied.

Arguably some other contenders in this would have to be Shawn Michaels, Kane, Triple H, Randy Orton, even Batista [no one has yet to make him look better, not even Triple H.]

 

[Daly1888]

As a massive Undertaker Fan for the last 18 years, i have followed his career most of the way.

Today i voted as his best feud of all time was his engagements with Mankind, these matches that those two guys put on where done perfectly, it was just a great feud ending at the 1998 King Of The Ring.

Yes his feuds with Shawn Michaels and Kane were exceptional also, but i give the edge to his feud with Mick Foley.

Another feud i would give the thumbs up too was his feud with Randy Orton in 2005.

 

[unique.enigma.666]

His feud with Edge has to be my favourite, it started off with the way Edge solidified his main event status, cashing in the briefcase on a beaten down 'Taker and ended the right way in Hell In A Cell. It wasn't over-done and each bout they put on was epic. I've only been a follower of WWE for the past 6/7 years so I haven't seen the entire HBK/Taker history, own the Undertaker Tombstone DVD however and each match they have is nothing short of spectacular, hard to pick my favourite match WrestleMania 25 or Badd Blood out of HBK and Undertaker, but I did enjoy their Ground Zero match, the WrestleMania match in my opinion has to be the greatest WrestleMania match, the feud they had leading up to the event was awesome, made it seem as if HBK was the chosen one to end the streak aswell.

 

[legendfest70]

thats a hard one, it could be any1 from hulk hogan,yokozuna,kane, mankind, batista, edge, big show, randy orton and a few others im sure im forgetting. but then you narrow it down to kane or mankind. im goin say mankind cause they were fearless in those matches. kane vs undertaker is really the same guy fighting with undertaker always winning. i think it could be kane if they let him win a few of those matches

 

[BOSS Productions]

I am going to have to say his feud with The Next Big Thing Brock Lesnar was my personal favorite just because I am a huge of Lesnar and I loved Undertakers Persona at that time this feud was great and just like many have mentioned SmackDown was at its best during this time, although Undertaker had amazing feuds with other superstars this feud in particular was just of the charts and the fact that it happened in my favorite era 2002-2003 was just a HUGE bonus so all in all this was defiantly his best feud.

 

[SteamboatForPresident]

Finally a thread worthy of me registering for this site. Undertaker is undoubtedly one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and deserves to be where he is without a doubt.

I have an honorable mention in Jake the Snake Roberts. The one person before Mankind that could get to the Undertaker's mind. It may not have been very long but without a doubt Jake could really sink to a level that no one could. It is sad that he wasn't able to control his demons because this fued could have gone on for years and I am sure with the level of these two men it would have never been stale.

 

[Slyfox's Bitch]

This one is a little obvious to me. I'm going with the Mankind feud. It was Taker's only real feud, aside from the one with Kane, that was very detailed, lengthy, and exciting, producing some top of the line matches that really made history, and sure as hell made some Attitude Era moments for the majority of us. The Kane feud was a bit illogical and like a flat ride home. It really made the Deadman less of a Phenom, and more of a psychopathic mortician trying to look cool and act all magical. All the other feuds didn't really stand out, except for Shawn Michaels'. That had to have been the greatest feud that never really made it to spotlight and lived to the hype until Wrestlemania 25, which is probably a match that I can call my definite favourite. Even the Hell in a Cell they had wasn't all that great. I'd call it a long string of stints rather than a feud. It was more teased than hyped. 'Taker Vs Mankind all the way.

 

[radicaliam]

Like many others, I wish there had been a culmination to his Warrior feud, which had there been, might take the top spot. I also think Jake Roberts has been a bit overlooked, after all it was this feud that first made the Undertaker a face. And I give a minor honorable mention to Superfly Snuka, though it wasn't really a feud, he was the first wrestlemania victim. My top 4:

Yokozuna. Overlooked by many, but this was hotly hyped and really made the Undertaker seem even more otherworldly.

Shawn Michaels. For me a feud between 2 wrestlers encompasses all of their confrontations, and in combining the Wrestlemania match with their late 90s conflict, Shawn deserves top 3 distinction.

Kane. I mean, without Undertaker Kane wouldn't exist, and Kane is a major star himself.

Mankind. Nothing I can say that hasn't been said. Except, I hope before the Undertaker is done, WWE brings back Mick for one last Mankind/Undertaker stint. I'd also like to see them bring in Hogan for the same (at Wrestlemania... I know, not likely, but I can dream).