Skip to main content

A+ Match of the Day

Steve Austin and the Undertaker had weird chemistry for being two A+ guys that often crossed each others paths. The matches ranged from solid, but not memorable to flat out boring. It seemed like Summerslam 1998 was when they were aiming for their classic but Austin got concussed real early in that match and needed 'Taker to guide him through.

Well this isn't that match but rather their 2001 encounter with Austin in full-blown heel mode.

Enjoy.

Comments

  1. Yeah, the build to that SS match was just all kinds of hyped. That's the one where VKM licensed "Highway to Hell" and played THE SHIT out of it, yes? Match was not good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nailed it. I'm not so sure about this match... Austin's heel run + lazy Bikertaker = Uh-oh?

    ReplyDelete
  3. That ending was an overbooked cluster fuck.

    Oh and Randy Savage from 1980 attacking Ronnie Garvin

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRUP8wiIHE0

    ReplyDelete
  4. There was a lot wrong with that match, including the rumors that Taker didn't want to go full heel and the crowd "farted" as I remember someone (maybe Austin?) describing the heat.


    Also, Rocky/HHH totally stole the show. AND that match went long.

    ReplyDelete
  5. To be fair, Undertaker had terrible matches with everyone not named Mick Foley from 1998-2006.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah, I can't really watch this match at work, but I have a hard time coming up with much of anything I liked from BikerTaker.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A+ MATCH? LOL. TAKER WAS NEVER A+ OR A GOAT.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Angle, Flair, Orton, Edge, Batista and HHH point and nod.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well look at it on the bright side, the Raw after this match HHH tore his quad and disappeared off of our TV's.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Damn. Randy was pretty much was the same, wasn't he? Nice.

    ReplyDelete
  11. For the most part, although I thought his match with HHH at Wrestlemania 17 was a pretty kick ass bloody brawl.

    Of course maybe Wrestlemania 17 should get a special exemption since everything seemed to work that night.


    And the Wrestlemania match with Orton (2005 I think) was pretty solid. I thought most of the Orton stuff was between non-offensive to "hey that really didn't suck at all."

    ReplyDelete
  12. HHH was the rare exception.


    And he was out of his funk by 2005, IIRC.

    ReplyDelete
  13. And the Hell in the Cell match with Lesnar was like 2002 or 2003. That was great, he put Brock over like a man.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That is NOT a bright side.


    I've said it before: HHH pre-quad blow was quickly becoming "the man", and showing GOAT potential. HHH post-quad... was off a bit, and understandably so. He still had it at times, but overall he never got back to that level, IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hulk Hogan would jump in agreement, but he can't. Then or now.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Didn't that one have a screwy finish, or was it the month before? I just remember that whole angle being average at best.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The Hell in the Cell had a VERY decisive finish.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Remember when Undertaker tried to lift Hogan, couldn't, then yelled 'I'M NOT SORRY AND I NEVER LOVED YOU' and chokeslammed him dead-lift style?

    ReplyDelete
  19. ... that was the point.

    ReplyDelete
  20. After making him look like a bitch the month before.

    ReplyDelete
  21. There was barely any blood in the match. Taker bled from the sledgehammer shot, but the match ended a few minutes later.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Plus, you know. Rumble avec Steiner.

    ReplyDelete
  23. 1999-2000 HHH salvages something useful out of Steiner. 2003 HHH says "You think Rumble was bad? Watch No Way Out!"

    ReplyDelete
  24. Um... he is accurate about the blood folks.


    But the match felt like a bloodfeud, as it should have.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Taker's blood loss in that match was sickening. The finish was awesome too. Tombstone into an F5! It's my second favorite HIAC

    ReplyDelete
  26. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonOctober 31, 2013 at 1:14 PM

    Judging by how much muscle mass he had when he came back his rehab included being bombarded with large amounts of gamma radiation.

    ReplyDelete
  27. It's pretty sparse. WMX7 vs. HHH, the Angle matches from 2002 and 2003 and the HIAC vs. Brock are really the only standouts from what I remember.

    ReplyDelete
  28. He is correct. Given how liberal they were in 2001 I'm am a little surprised both guys didn't tap every available artery. I remember UT chokeslamming HHH off a camera tower and it looked like a hell of a bump given the crowd reaction but the replay show that he basically fell on a mattress.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yea, that always cracks me up. You think HHH is dead and took some insane bump. Then they show you how they did the trick.

    ReplyDelete
  30. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 31, 2013 at 1:29 PM

    Why are you happy about a guy suffering a massive injury?

    ReplyDelete
  31. Funny that these 2 never had great matches together. The first blood match @ Fully Loaded 99 was SO damn boring

    ReplyDelete
  32. I can't totally blame Taker for the poor match because something was botched early, and I forget what...and I don't want to watch that match again, really fucked Austin up. So whatever they had planned was probably scrapped or at least adjusted heavily.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I know...There are some situations where you don't need the overhead replay and that was it because I was willing to buy it based on the crowd reaction

    ReplyDelete
  34. They hit heads on an early spot... I know it's in a Botchamania somewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  35. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 31, 2013 at 1:42 PM

    Yeah their match at Over the Edge that year wasn't that great either. Then again I was just watching because I wanted to see The Blue Blazer vs The Godfather.

    ReplyDelete
  36. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2cQ8y0vZno



    The camera angle is outright unlucky, but at 7:27 Austin kicks a bent over Taker, and Taker's head flies up into Austin's jaw, and nearly KTFO the "toughest son of a bitch in the WWF".


    So that match has a very valid excuse for not being great, IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Where you one of his dr/nurses/rehab people? That would explain a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  38. The SummerSlam match was solid but unspectacular.


    But you know what? It really didn't matter. It was one of those occasions where the storytelling going into the match had been done so well, that nobody was going to come out of the building or turn off the PPV with anything other than a 'That was EPIC' feeling. It wouldn't be until months or years of retrospective that most would say 'yeah, that was actually kinda meh'.

    The hype for it was insane. They had slow-built that feud from Over the Edge 1998 (so... April?) with Undertaker helping Austin overcome Mcmahon and the stooges, through, the Austin/Kane and Undertaker/Foley feuds, through the Austin/Undertaker vs. Kane/Mankind tag feud, way to late August. Fans were FROTHING to see the two biggest names in the company go at it.

    It was a 3-star match I would say. Would have been better had Austin not been completely out of it.

    Their Revenge of the Taker match was pretty good if I recall, minus a run-in ending by the heart foundation.

    ReplyDelete
  39. YankeesHoganTripleHFanOctober 31, 2013 at 2:20 PM

    Umm...what?

    ReplyDelete
  40. Also steroids. Lots of steroids.

    ReplyDelete
  41. I'm aware. I used "dude" as a gender neutral term.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Wasn't that against Kane?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonOctober 31, 2013 at 3:56 PM

    Another glaring fuckup was the multiple angle replay of Evan Bourne getting caught in the RKO by Orton.

    ReplyDelete
  44. His matches with Cena were pretty decent too if I remember correctly.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Ironic how the word "under" was written over "taker".

    ReplyDelete
  46. Undertaker didn't really have "great" matches until like 2006.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Exactly. He didn't start having great matches until he reinvented himself in about 2006

    ReplyDelete
  48. Exactly. That was Brock's first big feud after winning the title (and murdering Hogan AND Rock). He should have beaten Taker like that the FIRST time and moved on, if they wanted Lesnar to be the dominant monster. That Unforgiven match didn't help his development one bit

    ReplyDelete
  49. I recall the one with Jeff Hardy being pretty great too

    ReplyDelete
  50. Krispy Kreme McDonaldOctober 31, 2013 at 6:04 PM

    glorified squash

    ReplyDelete
  51. Krispy Kreme McDonaldOctober 31, 2013 at 6:06 PM

    month prior

    ReplyDelete
  52. The build for this match was incredible. I LOVED the teased and then confirmed Undertaker/Kane alliance. This was the first PPV I ordered in, I'd say, close to 6 years. I was hooked on this story.

    ReplyDelete
  53. The Summerslam match you mean? If so, I liked the teased/confirmed alliance to. It was actually a surprising twist because usually in wrestling when it looks like the good guy is in cahoots with the heel it's a set up - but in this case he actually was.

    ReplyDelete
  54. I've said it before, but Undertaker being Austin's first feud killed the heel turn for me. I was curious to see where it went. I'd still rather be cheering Steve Austin than booing him, but I was willing to see how it all played out. Triple H aligns with Austin, The Rock leaves, Jericho goes nowhere, and we get the fucking Undertaker. I didn't understand the appeal of the Biker-Undertaker character at all - he looked filthy and he walked around like he had the biggest cock in the room and wanted everyone to know it. Seriously, go back and watch how Biker-Undertaker carries himself and I challenge you to find another wrestler who thought he was as cool and badass as he did.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Everyone is talking about how awesome the build to their SummerSlam match was... but it really wasn't. It was merely the two top starts of the promotion, facing off one one one for "the richest prize in our industry." Simple as that...

    ... but AC/DC did help.

    ReplyDelete
  56. You're acting as if Undertaker is supposed to adopt the character of a pussy...

    ReplyDelete
  57. I'm with you in not liking Bikertaker originally, but once he turned heel, he was fantastic, for all of the reasons you mentioned.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Calling this the "A+ Match of the Day" is the joke.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Sometimes, that's all you need.

    ReplyDelete
  60. I liked his hardcore match with RVD at Vengeance 2001 enough.

    ReplyDelete
  61. pardon her, she meant the cat's pajamas.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment