What was your favorite year of the Undertaker?

[CM Steel]

The phenom the Undertaker has been in the WWF/E for 22 years and counting strong. Over the years he just keeps getting better & better! But all in all. What was your favorite year of the Undertaker? If I had to give an answer on the question, I would have to say...1997.

In 1997 from that January to the infamous "Montreal Screwjob" at the Survivor Series pay per-view in November. It was the year of the deadman. He was a top favorite to win that years Royal Rumble match, but was one of the final four wrestler's. But at Wrestlemania 13 the Undertaker defeated Sid Visious for the WWF championship in Chicago starting a reign that lasted ti'l that years Summerslam. Where he lost the title to Bret Hart in their final showdown one-on-one.

But later on that fall the Undertaker was in two feuds at one time feuding with the newly born D-Generation X stable (HBK, HHH, and Chyna) and the debuting Kane who is the Undertakers storyline brother managed by the late Paul Bearer at that time. So really the Undertaker helped set the table for the Attitude Era for the following year with Stone Cold Steve Austin being the poster child of the company in that era. But in my opinion, 1997 was the year of the Undertaker.

So what was your favorite year of the Undertaker?

 

[Ares08]

While I'll always love the Deadman gimmick with a the mystical and ghostly stuff. My 2nd favorite I think is his Big Evil gimmick, I believe that came a little bit after his American Badass phase but I loved it because he was just a ruthless character. From his feuds with Hogan, Flair, The Hardy's, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, Maven (I know it wasn't a major feud but it was still kind of interesting (I'm sure I'm missing some). To me it was my second favorite. So I'd say my 2 favorite years were Deadman and Big Evil years.

 

[gers09]

got to be the ministry of darkness i loved the cult and sacrifice stuff it was soo creepy. I always liked the leader of a strange evil scary group it gave the feeling the ministry could do anything beat anyone and with taker powers do anything he wanted didn't like when they made corporate ministry they kind of ruined then except the way it came out that Vince was higher power (not that he was just the way it was done) i liked that taker could what he wanted when he wanted with corporate ministry he became a lacky doing what Vince/Shane wanted for them

 

[toon126]

1999 Ministry gimmick. It was unbelievable and frightening how real he made that whole thing feel. Throughout the whole angle you just never knew what he would do next, whenever he would appear and tell us, "tonight there will be a sacrifice" was absolutely chilling.

He could really make you believe he has supernatural powers.

Brilliant angle in probably my favourite year as a wrestling fan - with The Undertaker definitely one of the main reasons it worked so well.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

2000-2003 - When he was the American Badass & Big Evil. He had some of his best matches in those years with Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, Triple H etc.

Not a fan of Undertaker's 'Deadman' gimmick.

 

[smalltownfan]

My all-time favorite year/gimmick of the Undertaker was not his favorite and that was when he led the Ministry of Darkness. He was truly on top of his game at that point. He was evil, demonic, and really made the whole thing seem real. It was also a chance for him to showcase his very underrated mic skills. As mentioned before, though, he hated this character which I find interesting. I have always said that the Ministry of Darkness is the most intimidating faction in the history of the business and credits go to Undertaker for pulling it all together.

 

[Perfected123]

Hmm, there is only one definitive answer for me. The 1996-1997 period of Undertaker was flawless.

His initial feud with Mankind is very underrated and Paul Bearer was amazing on the mic around this period, similar to Paul Heyman in current WWE. 'Taker and Paul Bearer's back & forth was great television, and all that build up eventually leading to the debut of Kane. He was also putting on stellar matches in the main event at this point:

• vs Mankind in a Boiler Room Brawl at Summerslam 96
• vs Mankind IYH: Buried Alive
• vs Stone Cold, Vader & Bret Hart IYH: Final Four
• vs Bret Hart at Summerslam 97
• vs Shawn Michaels Hell in a Cell at Badd Blood IYH (*****)

So yeah, best time period for 'Taker, factoring in everything. Meaning, from a character standpoint, in-ring standpoint and storyline standpoint.

I also LOVED Attitude Era Undertaker, purely from a character standpoint. His in-ring wasn't as strong around this point, minus his matches with Stone Cold. Had a great look and presence around 98-99 period. I mean, how badass (no pun intended) did Lord of Darkness Undertaker look? (also loved the Ministry of Darkness theme)

 

[CMBryan94]

2001 was my favorite. Him and Kane as a tag team was awesome.

 

[themick]

I've been a fan since day 1, and I've always been partial towards heels, so I'm gonna say 1999 as well. Or, more specifically, KOTR 1998 to Summerslam 1999, as he missed the last few months of '99. Anyway, I absolutely loved the creepiness of the Ministry gimmick, and his in-ring work was top notch. The only negative during this timeframe IMO was that arguably his weakest WM match took place during this time (WM XV v. Big Boss Man), but that doesn't negate all of the amazing moments and contributions he made during that time.

 

[KingNick]

Thanks for starting this forum - I'm a HUGE 'Taker fan!

This is a hard one - I like all the variations of his gimmick, it's like comparing apples and oranges. I'd have to say that my favorite era of 'Taker is '96-'98. His feud with mankind leading to the rebirth in the gothic gimmick and the storyline leading up to Wrestlemania 13 (that's my favorite story line ever). After that he was world champion for several months and then had a great feud with HBK and Kane.

I also really liked when he came back at Wrestlemania 20. The costume from that point on was very very simple but sort of a manifestation of all his gimmicks. The match with Kane at 20 paled in comparison to 14 though.

I think when it comes down to it though, nothing can beat the original deadman with the grey gloves. He was unstoppable from '90-beginning of '94 and legit scary. One of my favorite segments ever is him and Jake Roberts in '92 shortly before Wrestlemania 8:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjIFYyCWS3g

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

To be honest, 1999.

Ministry of Darkness Undertaker, as over the top as it was, is my favourite version of him. He looked satanic. His music was insanely badass. The storylines were intense and made RAW compelling, must watch TV. He had more depth to his character at this time than any other time. He was a complete mystery until the Kane feud opened up his past. And at the same time opened up a lot of creative options for the character.

The Corporate Ministry was a stretch. And he soon got injured, which is too bad. But late 1998 until he was injured in 1999 is my favourite version of 'Taker.

 

[BrianFNPillman]

From a purely storyline standpoint, I love Heel 2002 Taker right up to his "rebirt" of The Phenom. I hear people shit about him being lazy in the ring and taking liberties. But I really think he did a solid job of portraying the perfect "mega heel." We haven't seen anyone that dominant or believable in a long ass fucking time.

Then he turned face and whoooooa, low and behold. Does a fantastic job of putting over everyone on Smackdown and making it look like THE wrestling show to watch. As a kid I looked forward to RAW, but 'Taker on Smackdown did it for me. He elevated Matt Hardy, turned Brock into a legend, tried his fucking best with Nathan Jones and overall made Smackdown a very, very solid show to watch.

Those were the years he honed his whole MMA style as well, using the dragon sleeper and all that lark.

Plus, slickback with a bandanna is a top look.

 

[MrHashasheen]

I wouldn't call it a year, but more along the lines of when he was feuding with Batista and Edge the first time around. Smackdown was my weekly fix (along with ECW since it came on right before back home), and that shit was always great for me.

 

[dWs]

Since it's "your favorite", I'll say 1991. He basically bulldozed through the WWF and for once the "unstoppable monster heel" actually won the WWF title. Undertaker seemed like just another gimmick; comparable to a One Man Gang or Kamala; but when they allowed him to beat Hogan at the '91 Survivor Series (with some help from Flair), it was huge. His matches with Ultimate Warrior that summer weren't too shabby, either.


His "best" year was probably 1997 as others have said. Or 2008 (I think that's the year)-- when he had the recurring feud with Batista, when the two put on matches that were much better than anybody expected.

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

1996 is my personal favorite. 97 would be second best for me with the title win at Mania 13 being one of my favorite moments in wrestling history.

Loved the way he came up through the ring and pulled Diesel down into the depths of hell. That was so awesome back in the day.

Then he starts feuding with Foley shortly after that. The early days of the Mankind character is some of my favorite wrestling characters/promos ever, so this is a part of why 96 is my favorite Taker year. Mankind brought out the best of the Taker character, bringing out more of a human emotion around the time of the Bearer doublecross. He had been booked like the WWF's version of Godzilla up to that point, slaying freak behemoths that were even more bizarre and gargantuan than he was. In Mankind was the ultimate bizarre freak in that long line of bizarre freaks. Loved everything about this feud all through 96. Taker was one of the greatest fictional characters ever created. Not a fan of American "Diesel 3.0" Bad Ass.

 

[HBsam31]

It would be 96-97 time period for me. Great matches with HBK, Bret Hart, and Mankind. The Mankind feud for me is easily one of Taker's best feuds. The first Hell in a Cell match with HBK was epic. Just always been a fan of early attitude era Taker the most.

 

[brandon5303]

Before it got derailed, I think Ministry Undertaker in 1999 was incredible. Close second place goes to late 1997/early 1998 Undertaker with the Lord of Darkness/Man from the Dark Side gimmick.