I’m sure all of us are still buzzing over the return of the Undertaker, so I decided to go with an Undertaker inspired “Remember When” this week.
Do you remember when he was Cain the Undertaker?
Back in the day he was already a dominant force right from the get go. After his stint as Mean Mark Callous in WCW, he was brought into WWF where he would be packaged as an evil monster heel from Death Valley. His official debut was at Survivor Series 1990 as part of Ted Dibiase’s Million Dollar Team.
He made his TV debut on an episode of Superstars taking out a jobber. Obviously he would drop the “Cain” soon thereafter and he would continue laying waste to jobbers for a bit until moving on to the main event scene only less than a year later where he go on to feud with the Ultimate Warrior.
At the very next Survivor Series in 1991, he would dethrone Hulk Hogan for the WWF Title and the rest they say is history.
Another thing to note here, is that his very first manager was Brother Love. That’s right, Mr. “I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU!” was Undertaker’s original manager. Brother Love would then sell the services of the Deadman to an up and coming manager named Paul Bearer and we all know how these two got along.
Looking back I’m glad Undertaker ended up with Bearer as I think these two had better chemistry then Taker/Love. Some say that it was “Cain” and some say it is “Kane” I’m not sure what to go with so I’m just going with Cain and leave that up to you to decide which is right.
The Undertaker gimmick has been around for close to 22 years. There was the time where he was the “American Badass” for a few years but other than that, he still is the monstrous Deadman from Death Valley we all know and respect. Why do you think this character has been around for that long? What is it about the character and the man portraying it, that has made it such a success after all these years?
Here’s the TV debut of Cain the Undertaker.
Ringsidehustle.com 
Such dominant impact and straight away you knew Taker was going to be a top star. You can see his muscles were much bigger then. You don’t know if he was one of the steroids stars? I don’t think he was.
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WCW definitely missed the boat on him.
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Paul Bearer always suited being with Undertaker, so like you, I’m glad Taker went with him over Brother Love. Just felt a weird combination of Love/Taker looking back on it. I’ve always believed it to be Cain the Undertaker, think it was supposed to be that way to do with the biblical Cain (not 100% sure if it’s true, do remember reading it somewhere though). One good thing for me, is how his gimmick has changed so often, yet still had that presence. Whether the original look, his Ministry look, or how he looks now, he has that presence and aura that sends chills down foes backs. Will be a sad day for me when he hangs the boots up.
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And to think, the gimmick was originally supposed to go to Rick Steamboat in the late 80’s.
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WOW, really!?
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No, I was just being a smartass, sorry. 😉
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One of the few people I’d be ok with ending the Streak, is Ted Dibiase Jr. Simply because the story of his dad bringing Taker in, and now Ted taking him out could be great. Plus, WWE seemingly has a good relationship with Sr, so one could assume that Ted will around for a good while, with a bright future.
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I don’t see that happening. No offense to Ted Jr. he’s a great talent but I don’t think he’d be the one to end the streak.
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That’s why he’s only #3 on my list. If he had a good, long, build up, plus a great story, then he could. Seems too late now, though.
The other two guys are Kane and Daniel Bryan.
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I remember a few months back you’d write a column on booking this, been anxiously awaiting this. 😛
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Undertaker vs. Daniel Bryan sounds good. The Hell’s Gate vs. The LeBelle Lock
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Good article. I love ‘Taker. He keeps reinventing himself. He evolved a lot in the late 90s when he had piercings and a funky beard to go with his rock entrance music. I loved ‘the ministry’ undertaker. Not so sure about his little wig now though. Is it going to come off with the hat when he wrestles Triple H?!
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