Name their best match. Number 3: The Undertaker

[Andy]

Sorry for the delay, been a bit busy recently. So lets kick this back off with the greatest WWE wrestler of all time.

There's just so, so many amazing matches to go through here so lets discuss them all and hopefully rediscover a few gems.

First, three of the best matches of all time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwyGsdPPhs0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piOOrMyRz2o


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ6Gz1IgQlY

Next: Undertaker out of his comfort zone.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwHD67ZKBNc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOdXlUj-Ka0

I absolutely love everything about this match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeUcD-EsEKQ

Obviously there are countless others but it won't let me post any more videos in this post. His series with Edge, great matches against Batista, the majority of his Wrestlemania matches, his feud with Orton, rivalry with Mankind, to name but a few.

So lets have it. What is The Undertaker's best match? And remind us of some of his forgotten classics.

[The Law]

I think the match against Michaels from Wrestlemania 25 is his best match and might be the best wrestling match I've ever seen. It's splitting hairs, but it was a smoother, more fluid match that relied less on big spots than their match the next year. Hell in a Cell against Michaels is another match I consider a ***** classic. So you hit the big ones there.

As for forgotten gems, I offer the following:

-vs. Mankind, King of the Ring 1996. Overshadowed by the Boiler Room Brawl and Hell in a Cell, but definitely an excellent match in its own right. Just an awesome brawl that established Mankind as a legitimate threat to Undertaker.

-vs. Rey Mysterio, Royal Rumble 2010. I watched this for the first time recently and was really impressed. Great clash of styles. Taker is always best against smaller guys who can pinball around the ring, and Mysterio is about as good at that as anyone in wrestling.

-vs. Bret Hart, One Night Only. One Night Only was a UK and Canada exclusive show in September 1997. This was a month after the Summerslam match and much better for my money. Only downside here was a crappy DQ ending.

-vs. Kurt Angle, Smackdown 2003 and 2006. Everyone remembers the No Way Out match for good reason, but these two were almost as good.

-vs. Shawn Michaels, Ground Zero. Overshadowed by all of their other matches, but this one is a lot of fun. Chaotic with tons of referees getting knocked out and Shawn and Taker brawling all over the arena. Taker hit an awesome Plancha onto half the roster at the end. Really did a good job setting up Hell in a Cell.

[Cewsh]

I have rated two Undertaker matches 100/100 (vs. Michaels WM 26, vs. Triple H WM 28.) But there are like 20 matches I'd rate in the 90s for the guy. You'd have to say that about half of his career was just plain rotten, but the other half is off the charts.

[Kneeneighbor]

The half that was rotten has to do with booking too.

How do you book a zombie who doesnt sell anything and keep him out of the title picture?

[Andy]

I have rated two Undertaker matches 100/100 (vs. Michaels WM 26, vs. Triple H WM 28.) But there are like 20 matches I'd rate in the 90s for the guy. You'd have to say that about half of his career was just plain rotten, but the other half is off the charts.

Glad to see someone else who rates Mania 28 better than 27. I thought I was the only one on here.

[Cewsh]

Well it reflects your philosophy on wrestling, I think. 27 is better in terms of the pure ringwork involved, and 28 is better in terms of story and spectacle. I always lean towards the second one.

[Kdestiny]

I'd like to throw out his match with Ric Flair at WM 18 for honorable mention as well.

[Anaconda Sniper]

Hell in a cell with Lesnar.

Pretty much all his matches with Batista.

Vengeance 2003 against Cena.

And nots let forget he had a good run of matches with Orton. Taker SAVED Ortons career in my eyes.

[Peter Griffin]

I honestly don't even know where to begin, all the ones that have been mentioned obviously. Will have to get my thinking cap on.

[Peter Griffin]

On a personal level I loved his match with Flair at WM18 (I actually thought Flair was going to win after the AA spinebuster :nono: ) , He also had a pretty great Hardcore match with RVD on ppv in 02. His WM17 17 match against Hunter I really liked, his WM 14 match with Kane, against Diesel at 12, His series of matches with Punk in 09 (I think), Kurt Angle survivor series 00.

Also
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YsD_E6IsdA

Think thats enough from me :D

[Tim]

So hard to pick just one. I love WM25, 26 was meh for me, and then 27 and 28 were both off the charts. Trips/Taker was like watching a Summer blockbuster saga. I might go with WM25 as the best, the two matches vs Trips rely on eachother to tell the whole story. As a collection I like the matches vs Trips better, but if I'm comparing 1-1 I think WM25 stands alone as the better match than the two matches vs Trips do as individual matches.

[Tempest]

I adore his HIAC with Michaels every bit as much as the Wrestlemania ones. It's that one match that no matter what point people raise against it, I refuse to listen or acknowledge it. Plus it contains my favourite Taker sit up of his career.

I have to pick that one, because beyond that, there's too many for me.

[Andy]

Undertaker's sit up at Wrestlemania this year got an unbelievable pop. Man that was a cool spot.

[Ochoa]

Any match with Edge. WM25 is the best though.

[Tainted Eclipse]

I watched the Michaels HIAC last summer and frankly it just sucked.

Wait, did we already have this exact thread? Anyway, it's probably the HIAC vs. Brock. Some of the Big Show matches in 2008 were really good.

[Atty]

My top ten, with a cop out at the top. Depending on the day, I could go either way, but Badd Blood is a perfect wrestling match. Has everything you could hope for, right down to the debut of a new top talent.

1a. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels: Hell in a Cell at Badd Blood 1997
1b. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels: WrestleMania 25
3. The Undertaker vs. Triple H: WrestleMania 27
4. The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar: Hell in a Cell at No Mercy 2002
5. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels: WrestleMania 26
6. The Undertaker vs. Mankind: Hell in a Cell at King of the Ring 1998
7. The Undertaker vs. Edge: WrestleMania 24
8. The Undertaker vs. Triple H: Hell in a Cell at WrestleMania 28
9. The Undertaker vs. Dave Batista: Cyber Sunday 2007
10. The Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle: No Way Out 2006

[EDIT] Note: I'd really wanted to include Punk/Taker on here, but it's so recent that I didn't.

[Andy]

Vengeance 2002 vs Angle and Rock in a triple threat. I'm gonna have to look that match up again cos I remember it being really, really good.

[Ringo]

Brock in the Cell would probably be my choice. But I do want to sit down and watch all three Shawn matches (Manias + the Cell) and all three Trips matches (Manias) back to back. As well as the Batista matches because whilst all four on PPV were fantastic, I only remember much about the Wrestlemania match.

[Atty]

I preferred the Cyber Sunday match, where Dave won. Adored the ending. There's this bit where, like at Mania, his finisher (who no one had kicked out of until Taker) didn't work. Dave sells his reaction brilliantly as you can see him thinking about what to do. It evokes thoughts of a heel turn in my head (Austin's in particular) when I watch it, but he backs away from that and uses his finish again to win. It was a brilliant selling of his pride and how much proving that he, not a weapon or run in, could beat Taker with his move.

[G-Fresh]

Takers match with Austin at Over The Edge 1999 gets a bunch of hate, but that shit is dope. Especially considering what had happened earlier that night.

[Atty]

I have never seen it because of what happened earlier in the night and probably never will for that same reason. Too hard to watch anything from that show.

[G-Fresh]

The match with them 2 at IYH: Cold Day In Hell is pretty good too. I don't think Austin & him have ever had a bad match against each other.

[Bluegunn]

Undertaker VS Kurt Angle No Way Out 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOfT5SOlnc0

Proves Undertaker does not need to win or have a gimmick match to put on a great match

[G-Fresh]

Yeah. He did the job a fair amount of times and made his opponents look good while doing it.

[Andy]

Brock in the Cell would probably be my choice. But I do want to sit down and watch all three Shawn matches (Manias + the Cell) and all three Trips matches (Manias) back to back.

I did this recently. HIAC, casket, WM17, WM25, 26, 27 and 28 in a row. I know the three of them had more matches together than that, but I feel like they're the the main ones involving Taker.

All incredible of course and I think doing that makes you appreciate how good the cell match at 28 is. It's an amazing match in isolation, but when you consider it was billed as an end of an era match, it's just incredible. The chemistry between them all, the little nods to previous matches, Shawn's dilemma etc. It's one of my favourite matches ever without a doubt.