Here at About Undertaker you will be able to find all the information you need to know about "The Deadman".
 Undertaker, Deadman |
1997-1999
In 1997, the night before WrestleMania 13, The Undertaker won three awards at the WWF Slammy Awards: Best Tattoo, Best Entrance Music, and Highest Magnitude. At WrestleMania 13, The Undertaker won his second WWF Championship from Sycho Sid in a No Disqualification match. After WrestleMania 13, Paul Bearer revealed that the Undertaker had burned his family's house, killing everyone except his brother. He announced that Undertaker's brother was still alive, waiting for revenge all these years. In defense, Undertaker responded that Kane, a pyromaniac, had set the fire and that his brother could not have survived.
Meanwhile, a number of wrestlers pursued Undertaker's title, including Vader, Faarooq, and Steve Austin. At SummerSlam 1997, referee Shawn Michaels accidentally hit Undertaker with a steel chair shot meant for Bret Hart, costing the Undertaker his WWF Championship. Although the chair shot was accidental, Michaels repeated this with added taunting in the oncoming weeks on RAW is WAR. This led to two well-received matches at In Your House: Ground Zero and In Your House: Badd Blood, where the Undertaker challenged Michaels to the first ever infamous Hell in a Cell Match.
During this match, Undertaker's storyline brother Kane made his debut, ripping off the door to the cell and then giving Undertaker a Tombstone Piledriver, Undertaker's trademark finisher, allowing Michaels to pin him. During the next few weeks, Paul Bearer and Kane often challenged the Undertaker to fight his brother, but these challenges were refused consistently by the Undertaker. The Undertaker's final encounter with Michaels was in the return of the casket match at the 1998 Royal Rumble. Again, Kane cost the Undertaker the win by trapping him in the coffin. Kane then went on to padlock the casket lid and set it ablaze. However, The Undertaker had disappeared when the casket lid was opened.
After a two-month hiatus, Undertaker returned to challenge and successfully defeat Kane at WrestleMania XIV with three Tombstone Piledrivers. The two had a rematch in the first ever Inferno match one month later at In Your House: Unforgiven, where the ring was surrounded by fire and the only way for a competitor to win was to set his opponent on fire. The Undertaker won by setting Kane's right arm on fire. Undertaker's longtime feud with Mankind was renewed afterwards, on an episode of RAW, when Mankind cost the Undertaker a number one contenders match against Kane. As a result, Undertaker and Mankind faced each other in a Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998.
In one of the most memorable matches in professional wrestling history, Undertaker threw Mankind off the roof of the sixteen foot cell onto the Spanish announcers' table below. He later chokeslammed Mankind through the roof of the cell into the ring and finally finished the match by back dropping and chokeslamming Mankind onto a pile of thumbtacks. The Undertaker was able to compete in the match even while sporting a bone spur in the heel of one of his feet. (For more, see Hell in a Cell - Undertaker vs. Mankind).
In July 1998 at Fully Loaded, Undertaker and Steve Austin defeated Kane and Mankind to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. Despite this, there were growing suspicions that Undertaker was in cahoots with Kane. Undertaker and Austin did not work well as a team during the match and their title defenses and their reign as tag champions lasted for only two weeks, as Kane and Mankind regained the titles on an episode of RAW. Undertaker then became the #1 Contender for the WWF Championship at SummerSlam 1998, now held by Austin. However, shortly before SummerSlam, Undertaker revealed that he and Kane were together as brothers. This led many to believe that he would use Kane's interference to become champion. During the match, Undertaker told Kane that he wanted no help in the match, and even though Undertaker did not win the match, he handed Austin his belt back after the match in a show of respect.
However, in September, Undertaker began to show heel characteristics, becoming a tweener, when he and Kane revealed the fact that they were in cahoots to rid Austin of his title for Vince McMahon. At In Your House: Breakdown, Undertaker faced both Austin and Kane for Austin's WWF title. Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin simultaneously after a double chokeslam, so the title was vacated by Mr. McMahon, whose leg was then (kayfabe) broken by the brothers. This led to a match at In Your House: Judgment Day between the two brothers for the title, with Stone Cold as the Special Guest Referee. Near the end of the match, Paul Bearer came to the ring and asked Kane if he could hit Undertaker with a steel chair, but as Kane had his back turned, Bearer hit Kane with the chair, which gave the Undertaker the opportunity to hit Kane in the head with that chair, foreshadowing a reunion between Undertaker and Bearer. Undertaker went for the pin, but Austin, in typical Stone Cold fashion, refused to count the fall, attacked the Undertaker, and counted out both brothers. Finally, Undertaker turned heel the next night on RAW is WAR for the first time in over six years, reconciling with Paul Bearer and claiming that he and Bearer would unleash their Ministry of Darkness on the World Wrestling Federation. He also admitted that he had indeed set the fire that killed his parents for which he had previously blamed Kane. The Undertaker participated in The "Deadly Games" tournament at Survivor Series 1998. After receiving a bye in the first round, The Undertaker defeated Kane in the quarterfinals. However, he lost to The Rock in the semifinals by disqualification when Kane interfered by chokeslamming The Rock (who went on to win the tournament and his first WWF Title).
After Survivor Series, Undertaker turned his attention to Austin for costing him the title at Judgment Day, viciously hitting Austin in the head with a shovel during a title match with The Rock, returning the favor for what happened a month earlier. Vince McMahon scheduled a Buried Alive match between Undertaker and Austin in December 1998 at In Your House: Rock Bottom. In the weeks leading up to Rock Bottom, Undertaker became increasingly demonic and satanic, attempting to embalm Austin alive, trying to have Kane committed to a mental asylum, and even having his druids chain Austin to his symbol and raising it high into the arena. However, Undertaker lost the match after Kane interfered.
In January 1999, Undertaker returned, remaining a monster heel and forming the Ministry of Darkness, explaining that he was taking orders from a "Higher Power." Eventually, the Ministry merged with Shane McMahon's Corporation heel stable to form the Corporate Ministry. During this time, The Undertaker went on to defeat Austin for his third WWF Championship at Over the Edge 1999 with help from Shane McMahon, the special referee. Two weeks later, it was revealed on RAW that Vince McMahon had been the Undertaker's "Higher Power" all along. After Undertaker lost the WWF title back to Austin one night after King of the Ring 1999 and a brutal First Blood match at Fully Loaded 1999, however, his relationship with the McMahon's dissolved, and the Corporate Ministry disbanded.
Undertaker then started aiming for the WWF Tag Team Championship, teaming with the Big Show. He was scheduled to perform at Unforgiven 1999, contending for the WWF Championship. However, a groin injury knocked him out of action for the remainder of the year and part of the next. His absence was explained by The Undertaker's statement to Vince McMahon that he quit.
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