Undertaker vs. Undertaker

[The Brain]

In 1994 the WWF produced one of the most unusual programs in its history. The main event for SummerSlam that year was The Undertaker vs. The Undertaker. For those who need it I’ll provide a brief history lesson. After losing a casket match to Yokozuna (with the help of ten other men) at the Royal Rumble, the Undertaker disappeared from the WWF. About five months later Ted Dibiase said he found the Undertaker and was bringing him back to the WWF to manage him. Nobody believed Dibiase but after a couple weeks of promises the Undertaker did return with Dibiase. Paul Bearer claimed that the man Dibiase brought in was an imposter and he knew where the real Undertaker was. Eventually it was announced that Ted Dibiase’s Undertaker would wrestle Paul Bearer’s Undertaker at SummerSlam but Bearer’s Taker was still not seen leading people to wonder if Dibiase did indeed have the real Taker. Finally Bearer’s Taker arrived at SummerSlam and beat Dibiase’s Taker convincing everyone that he was the real Undertaker and Dibiase’s imposter would never be seen again (in that role).

So this was obviously a strange angle and one that I really did not care for at the time. I had tickets to SummerSlam 94 and was extremely excited to be attending my first pay per view. I remember eagerly anticipating that first SummerSlam report as I sat on the edge of my seat for the announcement of the main event. When Todd Pettengill announced Undertaker vs. Undertaker my jaw dropped and I sat in silent disappointment. I just thought the angle was ridiculous. For some reason I wasn’t fully grasping the angle. I thought WWF was trying to push some sort of supernatural nonsense claiming that there were actually two versions of the same person. I hated it.

A couple years later I looked at the storyline from another angle, the much more obvious one that for some reason I did not see at the time. In 1994 I thought Dibiase truly believed he had the Undertaker. That was wrong. The point was Dibiase was just a greedy evil manager. He knew he didn’t have the real Undertaker and he didn’t care. With Taker gone he figured he could find someone who resembled Taker and cash in on being his manager. When Paul Bearer confronted him about having an imposter, Dibiase just figured if his bogus Taker could beat the real one at SummerSlam everyone would accept his Taker as the real one. Taker was already a star so Dibiase would immediately have a main eventer and title contender in his corporation. I really don’t know why I didn’t see it that way in 1994. It would have found much more enjoyment in the angle if I had.

Ultimately it wouldn’t have mattered too much as I found the match at SummerSlam to be pretty bad. Turns out watching somebody wrestle himself is pretty boring. At least I could have justified the storyline in my mind and would have enjoyed the build a little more. So what did you think of this angle? Did you get it right away or did you misunderstand it like I did? What are your general thoughts on the bizarre storyline?

 

[Byks82]

Actually, I really liked the angle - but I was 11 years old

I remember the buildup all summer, which was a lot of fun. This of course was back in the day before internet spoilers and the like, so it was great to talk with all of my friends about what we thought would happen. Some thought it was a way to repackage the original Undertaker with some sort of new gimmick. Of course in the end, he was a slightly updated version, who made quick work of Dibiase's imposter, which really was no surprise.

And I agree that the match was pretty bad. Looking back, I think the bookers put themselves in a bit of a corner on this one. With all of the vignettes and hype for this match, they had no choice but to put the match on last at the PPV. Unfortunately for them, though, they also had Bret vs. Owen in the steel cage, which also received its' fair share of buildup. Of course that match was just before the final match (save for a quick Mabel vs. Jarrett crapfest separating the two). With the dramatic ending of the Bret & Owen match, the crowd was pretty much completely burned out and silent. Once the spectacle of the entrance of the original Undertaker was over, the crowd basically went to sleep, which didn't really help matters.

All in all it was fun for a one-off, but it wasn't long before it wasn't really talked about on TV anymore, and the Undertaker resumed his feud with Yokozuna.

 

[byrnside]

I really thought that Brian Lee had a future in the WWE as the phony Undertaker, Brain. I would've just turned 9 right before that year's Summerslam, and I saw it both ways. At first I thought DiBiase had managed to turn The Undertaker and bring him in as part of the Million Dollar Corporation, much like he was trying to turn Lex Luger and eventually turned Tatanka. It wasn't until after the match took place that I figured out that DiBiase was just the greedy manager looking to make a buck. I also enjoyed Leslie Nielsen coming around to try and solve the case so to speak. I wasn't disappointed in the angle at the time because I was more concerned with The Undertaker possibly turning heel. Looking back at it now, it seems pretty ridiculous. I actually remember when Kane was going to debut thinking, "didn't they try this already?"

 

[Killercam]

Although this was very unique and did accomplish its purpose, they mistimed it. Undertaker was put out by Yoko (rumble 94) so he should have came back after Yoko. The casket match Taker and Yoko had should have happened at SummerSlam and the match should have gone on before Bret/Owen. Then they could have done the Taker/Taker angle at WM 11, which would have added at least one more interesting match to what I consider the worst WM of all time.

 

[HBsam31]

I was just about 14 when this happened, and I enjoyed it to a point. I realized The Million Dollar Man just bought himself a guy to be The Undertaker, and I liked the build to the match. I thought Leslie Nealson looking for the real Undertaker in backstage segments during Summerslam was a bit much, and I agree that the match was not very good. Overall it was enjoyable at times, but the stuff at Summerslam itself was not so good.

 

[CalciferBoheme]

I loved the angle as a kid. Though I don't remember them pushing it as two versions of the same person. Paul Bearer was pretty clear that DiBiase's Taker was an imposter.

Though even if he hadn't done that, I would have known he was an imposter as I watched Smokey Mountain Wrestling at the time as recognized Brian Lee. The illusion was definitely starting to fade when I was 11. Watching 5 different promotions and seeing guys get repackaged will do that I guess. It never hurt my enjoyment though

The match itself wasn't great, but it served its purpose.

 

[JJ15776]

Although this was very unique and did accomplish its purpose, they mistimed it. Undertaker was put out by Yoko (rumble 94) so he should have came back after Yoko. The casket match Taker and Yoko had should have happened at SummerSlam and the match should have gone on before Bret/Owen. Then they could have done the Taker/Taker angle at WM 11, which would have added at least one more interesting match to what I consider the worst WM of all time.

How in the blue hell would they have Undertaker vs Fake Undertaker at WM 11, after Undertaker had already beaten Yokozuna?? And WHY would they do that?? Which Taker would beat Yokozuna? I assume the real one...but how and why would the fake one be introduced, if the real one was already back and had established himself? Sorry, you're free to have your own opinion, but that makes NO sense!

I thoroughly enjoyed the fake Undertaker storyline. It was a great way to bring back Taker and get him going before resuming the Yokozuna feud, it was an entertaining storyline in its own right(it was clear that DiBiase had a fake), and people forget that was the unofficial beginning of DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation. Of course the match sucked, but that's nothing new for that era, or for an Undertaker match in any era. But the match was passable, which is really all you need in the WWF/WWE.

 

[Crankjai]

The entire build up for SummerSlam 94 was pretty epic. Don't forget Michaels vs. Ramon in the follow up ladder match from Wrestlemania X.

I remember as a kid I was 12 at the time, that me and my friends mostly debated whether or not it was an imposter or the real Undertaker. We would talk about his tattoos, and how his face and beard were slightly different.

I always kept thinking "How are they going to do this" I was young at the time. I never thought of someone having the same look being able to mimic it. When they finally came face to face at the end of SummerSlam it was silent, because mostly everyone was creeped out . Especially if you were a kid, here they were..side by side.. one looked different but it had been so long since I'd seen the real Taker I doubted my own instincts.

This I think was fueled by of course, being a kid..and the Ultimate Warrior old rumors that there were 2 of him etc.. etc.. I was still a young innocent fun mark and I loved every second of it.

This is written in the books more as a Storyboard Match instead of an actual wrestling match as the promos and showbiz angle of the business is what the match is remembered by. I barely remember the match, just the lead up..amazing SummerSlam card and the new big Urn that Paul bearer debuted at the end. Which I didn't really care for.

 

[berlinbrawler]

I remember hating the angle as much as The Brain did. And the retrospective didn't change my view, either. Whether or not Dibiase knew he was managing an impostor makes little difference to me. ... Come to think of it, didn't they show Dibiase to be totally surprised at finding out there were indeed two guys? So what was this, a double-bluff? Considering that program was apparently written for the very youngest members of the audience I doubt that. But whatever. I make it a point not to give things more thought than the creators apparently did. (As opposed to the people who will tell you that everything they showed on LOST made sense and can be explained.)

But I feel for you, Brain. First ever live PPV and it had to be this one. That's just wrong. That card featured highlights such as Jeff Jarrett vs Mabel and Adam Bomb vs Kwang. Razor vs Diesel looked good on paper, but I'll be damned if their match that night didn't put me to sleep. There was Owen vs Bret, OK. But did anyone even remotely believe that Owen had a shot at winning? I didn't and I was one of Owen's biggest fans (smaller sibling sticking it to big bro? He's my man!). Oh, and who could forget Alundra Blayze vs Bull Nakano? The one match I did enjoy, in a perverse way, was Tatanka vs Lex Luger, but only because I had seen the Tatanka heel turn coming months in advance and my buddy insisted I was dead wrong throughout the whole time.

So yeah, I feel bad that this had to be your first live PPV.
And this is coming from a guy whose first (and only) live PPV was the Royal Rumble 2006, which saw such highlights as the Boogeyman defeating JBL, John Cena becoming champion (such a RARE event!), Rey Rey winning the damn Rumble match (WORST! EVAH!), and Mark Henry being in the main event for the sole reason that the Undertaker could magically collapse the ring as a challenge to Kurt Angle afterwards...

 

[harrythem]

I hated that match so much. It was a completely awful match and should never have happened.

Although a bit of trivia I remember picking up from somewhere. Because the Bret vs Owen match over-ran they changed the original ending to the match. Apparently the 2 Takers were going to lock up in the middle of the ring, lighting effect hit the ring as it's pitch black. Lights come up and only the one Undertaker there. Seems even worse then what they went with (and sadly, seeing as the whole thing started with taker "dying" at Royal Rumble, far too believable a direction).

 

[President Evil]

I thought it was cool. In these situations, like movies, you have to use your imagination to enjoy it a bit more, because this story was pretty far out. This event must've had tons of ppv buys simply for the matter of seeing what the then WWF was going to come up with in the ring.

Ive always wondered if whomever came up with this idea of Undertaker vs Undertaker, was influenced by the Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat games. In which charatcers get to fight a mirror image of themself. With only a slight color change. Just thought Id mentioned that since Ive never heard anyone say it.

One of the turn offs was the real Taker being like 3 inches taller than the fake one.

 

[GameOver]

the leadup was far better then the match itself
it was obvious Dibiase didn't have the real Undertaker soon as you saw him, the "fake" taker was shorter for one thing.

The idea was good, but the match was pretty bismal, Kane vs Kane was better and that was only a backstage segment lol

as for the reasoning, ROyal Rumble of that year Taker lost a casket match and was apparently "killed" in one of the best after match promo's he ascended to the heavens. after WrestleMania Dibiase started saying he had found the Undertaker again and would bring him back to reek carnage on the WWF.
Dibiase also did debut the Undertaker on PPV and Paul bearer later took control so i think the idea was that after Taker had a sabatical that Dibiase claimed he had brought him back under his control again, so they weren't really saying there was 2, Dibiase was just pulling a swifty to scare people or something.

But ofcourse that came undone when Paul Bearer finally responded with the real Undertaker

and it lead to Taker fueding with the Million Dollar Corporation for most of the following year.

funny after match though, Brian Lee claimed because of that match Undertaker screwed his career, he was meant to win lol..... was he ever relavent to start with? other then being the best man at Mark's wedding to Sara apparently

 

[Wald]

I didn't like the angle, although I loved the Naked Gun skits for some reason, and the match itself was awful.

The thing that bothers me most about the match is that it was positioned as the main event. Bret vs Owen in a cage for the WWF Title was a much better main event option, but Vince opted for this nonsense instead.

 

[HeenanGorilla]

The entire build up for SummerSlam 94 was pretty epic. Don't forget Michaels vs. Ramon in the follow up ladder match from Wrestlemania X.

So epic that you can't keep the years straight. This match happened at Summerslam '95.

The WWF lost a lot of its appeal to me after Wrestlemania IX. I still tuned in when I flipped by it on TV; but, the Hulkamania days of my youth were over and I didn't enjoy the product as much. However, I found the idea of Undertaker vs. Undertaker interesting. It was a rare mid 90s moment that I wanted to follow. As many have stated, this sounded better than it looked.

I do feel that the concept could have worked very well with an actual twin in the other role. For example, if Kurt Angle had been a masked superstar and Eric came out in the same outfit. They could have had similar enough styles where the "angle"--I swear that pun was not intended--could have worked for a little while. (Perhaps with the assistance of some Kane/Sin Cara mood lighting to help the illusion along.

As I write that, I just get mad that Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara wasn't bigger. haha! Forget the Angles, this one had two similar looking guys and mood lighting AND--in a world where botches didn't exist--could have had some amazingly high spots and a nice multi-PPV feud.

But Real Taker vs. Shorter Taker just didn't cut it for me.

 

[rokuma]

I liked the angle...I'm a sucker for evil imposters/evil twins/mirror images squaring off/etc. However, I think Bret/Owen should've main evented Summerslam 1994 and the Undertaker situation should've been shortly before. Bret and Owen had been building since Survivor Series 93 up until then and Bret was WWF champion.

They should've had the Fake Undertaker come out with his schtick, had Paul Bearer come out to the Undertaker's music (see: Jose Lothario at WM 12 before HBK came down from the rafters) and then the real Undertaker emerge after Paul Bearer lifted the urn. After that, the real Undertaker should've came in and just annihilated the Fake Undertaker....a complete squash. What was there to protect from the Fake Undertaker? The Real Undertaker needed to go over. He should've beat him from pillar to post and had an easy win. No reason to try and make this a legitimate back and forth matchup. Show the fans who the undisputed, real Undertaker is.