Jim Cornette Reviews A&E's WWE Rivals: The Undertaker vs. Mankind 

The image of Undertaker still being on top of the cage when they were lifting it up was such an amazing sight. Him just standing there looking at Foley.

"Good God Almighty. Good God Almighty. That kil led him. As God is my witness. He is broken in half" - Jim Ross

I loved Undertaker’s soundbite about how during the Hell In A Cell Match, after the massive bumps Mick had taken, he wasn’t going to even remotely mention his ankle injury.

Loved hearing Cornette talk about George the Rat. Hope that little guy got a bonus amount of feed, even if he was too polite to ask for it.

I was at Buried Alive ringside. This was during WWE's lean years, but those 2 still put on one hell of a match

It can be strongly argued that Mankind was the Undertaker's first ever great rival, after all those years of Phenom mystique carrying random matches and brief feuds.

The Mankind and Undertaker rivalry helped bring Taker into the Attitude Era environment. I loved The Ministry of Darkness Undertaker and his matches with Austin and the Rock. And a lot of that came from the early stuff with Mick.

One of the things that stood out to me when Mick did the Mankind interviews was the way he would shake. He had a crazy rattle to him when he'd yell or talk intensely. You'd see his hair shaking like he was always about to explode.

I agree Mik Foley was so much more than just extreme he elevated others like The Rock and HHH Edge and so many more

Foley's first book is my favorite wrestling biography ever. Dude is so down to earth but he's done some wild stuff all over the world and rubbed shoulders with so many great performers.

Mankind’s pre-HIAC promo on Raw, where he talked about a photo of Civil War veterans meeting again on the battlefields of Gettysburg, and how he always thought he and Taker would one day be able to reconcile the same way…so underrated.

One of the most hard hitting feuds in wrestling history. I love it when these two clash because they made it seem like they absolutely hated each other and did everything they can to destroy one another.

I do have to mention one thing, while it is true that the HIAC may be Mick's Citizen Kane, but his Laurence or Arabia is the Street Fight at Royal Rumble, it is a master class in how you do a Street Fight

I just watched the casket match when his hand coming out at the end a couple years ago for the first time. One of the greatest finishes ever

Pittsburgh is so proud that the HIAC match took place right here in the Steel City. Both guys will always be held in high regard in my city for that night

Taker: All I kept thinking was........look at the size of that BOOGER!🤔 Mick: Hahahahaha!!!😆

I know a lot of listeners love Jim's takes on modern wrestling, but segments like this is the best of the best. Even though he's spoken about Foley, Taker, and these situations plenty of times before. This little travel back in storytelling had me hooked as if I was hearing about it for the first time. Jim talking about any time in wrestling he was involved in is perfection.

I love hearing the story behind the story. I enjoyed watching this, now hearing Corny I get some more layers on the situation.

This rivalry elevated both wrestlers but it elevated taker most. It was the first time we saw taker free to wreak havoc by himself free of Paul. Like that one promo where he said “Paul I taught you everything you know about the darkness….but I didn’t teach you everything I know.” It was in this rivalry where I believe he wore a leather trench coat for the first time. We really saw taker transform for horror movie taker to the demon of Death Valley a cold remorseless undertaker hell bent on revenge and destroying everyone in his path.

For me Mankind worked because it acknowledged the past of both Mick and Cactus Jack as catalysts to how he lost his mind.

Mick Foley should definitely be in the conversation as one of the greatest of all time.

That boiler room brawl was so far ahead of its time in terms of shooting, angles, and making use of an arena.

I'm so glad they showed so much behind the scene stuff with that boiler room brawl I was like 13 when it happened and up until that episode I never knew it was pre taped and finding out all that now is why I've been a life long wrestling fan

We need a Mankind watch along

The WWE would like us to rank Shawn Micheals, Brock Lesnar or Triple H ahead of him but, for my money, Mick Foley was the Undertaker's greatest rival. They might not have had matches that were technically as good as the others but nobody took the Undertaker further in more variety of matches than Foley.

The method Jim describes as to how Undertaker reached his hand up through the soil is very much like how the Buried Alive magic trick is done. The magician is covered with a small amount of dirt, then disappears into a specially made side space. They then climb a small ladder to the top where they get covered with a few inches more of soil before they emerge as if they had tunnelled through six feet of dirt. Houdini didn't like it - he said rising through even a few inches of dirt was extremely hard and did not feel safe. Another magician was killed doing it as he had concrete poured on top of the dirt, which was insane.

Mick Foley has stated on his Podcast after the first Buried Alive Match, after taking forever to fill the grave, this is why Buried Alive Matches have Construction Pay Loaders filled with dirt following the initial Buried Alive Match.

It's unbelievable they would fall fro that high up. It was ridiculous,and deadly.

They actually had a short run together in 1997 as well... In Your House: Revenge of the Taker' - Undertaker v Mankind for the WWF championship, one month after WM13.

The Undertaker and mankind had one of the best feuds of all time, not only did they have their first feud in 96, but they also feuded over the world title in 1997, which led to a pay-per-view called in your house revenge of the Taker where we saw the Undertaker throw a fireball in pall bearers face, then of course their feud continued in 1998 which had several tag team matches involving Kane and Steve Austin and eventually we got the famous hell in the cell, but even after that they continued on and off in particular when the Undertaker was teaming up with the Big show taking on Mankind and The Rock, so pretty much the last 4 years of the 90s they feuded in some way shape or form.

People forget taker won the buried alive match,but he still got buried and had that iconic lightning bolt and had. Man goosebumps! Also jim, you forgot the 1997 title match in between the 96 program and hell in a cell.It was when taker was burned a few weeks before the match,then Paul got burned,the match was great,but the fire gag was botched.Great time for taker fans 96 to early 99.

I know most people hate Bruce Prichard but his telling of George the rat dying is some of the funniest shit ever said on a wrestling podcast

I painted Mick Foleys' childhood home on long Island. His mom was so nice

I was super invested in / loved taker as a kid. I was soooo irate when Paul Bearer turned. I learned to love Mick overtime, but boy that boiler room brawl took me for a ride. 😂 Don’t remember being that mad for taker til the time Ken Kennedy was getting his push and pounding him with a microphone. “I’m Paul Bearer and you’re not!”

I remember when Mankind fell trough the ping pong tables and when he was trying to stand up he cut his hand with glass that was shattered on the ground.

Whats amazing about Mick is that despite all the bumps he's taken, he's still maintained his intelligence and still very articulate and well spoken. He was super chill when I got to meet him

The stories like this and about the 70s 80s are why this in my opinion is the best podcast going at the moment. It stands alone. 🙌 Jim Cornette

I had no idea Jim had a pet rat, nor that his name is George Cornette lol

Undertaker vs Mankind was the pro wrestling equivalent of Batman vs The Joker.

It wasn't quite two years between their Buried Alive match and the Hell in a Cell. Mankind and Taker went one on one at the 96 Survivor Series. They had a couple of matches on RAW in late 96/early 97, including a couple of tag matches. And Mankind was Undertaker's first defence of the WWF Title in April 97 at In Your House: Revenge of the Taker. it was shortly after that Mankind turned babyface with that sit-down interview with Jim Ross, that Mick started working as Dude Love and then Cactus Jack in the WWF. So it didn't make sense to have him and Taker as opponents, until Mick turned heel again in 98 just after WrestleMania.

We need more stories about the sketchy special effects man

And when you throw Kane and Paul Bearer in the mix it was even better. They tried hard to make Vader get involved too but Shawn Michaels ruined that

I would like tho point out that shopping carts, frying pans, cookie sheets etc made sense for wrestling shows at the ECW arena in Philly, because there was a dollar store right next to the arena. Fans used to buy weapons before the show to hold out for their favorite wrestler to use.

I know Jim was joking about the rat but as a kid it really added to the spooky ness of the mankind promos and was one of the reasons I like mankind and thought he was a good guy. Bat shit crazy but a good guy lol

When Jim didn't know if it were in the budget... "We're making Major motion pictures and Sitcoms Baby!!!"

I’ve been watching Raw and the subsequent PPVs on Peacock since it’s founding so I can watch with adult eyes. I also want to remember the exact moment it jumped the shark for me. But once again, this rivalry is, in my opinion, one of the best of all time. They interacted so many times and it never got stale or old. Everything moved forward. They were great.

Jim's forgetting that they also worked with each other in 97 after Taker won the belt. So really, they feuded for 3 years in a row. They had tons of matches against each other overall, wasn't quite as short as Jim makes it sound lol.

Mick Foley, Shane McMahon and of course Jeff Hardy had the best bumps

If I had to break down the Attitude Era, I think I would go with 1996-1998 as being the best. That time frame is what grabbed everyone's attention with the perfect combination of realism and entertainment.

It makes sense that the locker room would empty to help bury the Under Taker.

The undertaker vs mankind is a great rival. But my favorite feud was Jake the snake Roberts vs Ravishing Rick Rude.

To this day, Mick still refers to Vince as "Mr. Mcmahon." He shows nothing but respect.

All of those matches Corny mentioned were classics. I got to see raw tapings when they were going at it the nine six and in 98..those matches were very good as well

“I brought him a rat…” means something completely different in this context.

Nobody tells stories as good as jimmy

Corny forgot about April of 97, revenge of the taker. They had a classic match

I was at the Buried Alive match Indianapolis @ Market Square Arena. Back when stone cold was the first match lol!!

"Well, that's FUBU. I wouldn't associate them with WWE" "That's right. WWE was associated with FUBAR" 🤣🤣🤣

This entire feud is the greatest of all time!

I sit back and think, Mankind seriously made careers being the alternative, even down to Randy Orton as a serious competitor, iconic hardcore match they had.

Wrestlers are crazy. They see an unplanned bump that knocks a guy's tooth out and think "I wanna do that!" They take such a bump and say "we still need the thumbtacks!"

In regards to BW3's (Buffalo Wild Wings), yeah their portions have gotten smaller, prices have gotten higher and service has gone down a tad. Still an awesome place to go though! -Proud Cleveland Native

HITC between those two is still the best one ever, and one of the top 5 cage matches of all time

Most like the only time someone got away with having a wrestling rat in the same building Vince was in

I guess my question at this point would be, was this match designed to turn Mick babyface? I don't see what other result you can expect, especially after Jim revealing that his dramatic return was planned.

watching that just showed me that the hardcore thing today is so over and done with. can't outdo that, though lots have tried to diminishing returns

They forgot about Taker and Mankind's Survivor Series 96 match and when Taker defended the WWF Championship against Mankind at the Revenge of the Taker IYH ppv following Wrestlemania 13

They forget all about the survivor series 96 match where undertaker comes back has a bat flying

Without Mick Foley, The Undertaker would most likely have never become the legend he is today. Before their rivalry, he was having nothing but terrible matches and rivalries against slow giants, especially during his famous "WrestleMania streak" (aside from squashes against over the hill Jimmy Snuka and Jake the Snake). And after his rivalry with Mankind, both men's careers and lives changed forever.

I was at the buried alive match in Indy, was so cool to be there for that match

Buffalo Wild Wings used to be the place to go to watch UFC PPVS in the early 2000s ✌️

wait a damn minute, if Mankind lived in the bowls of the building then one would think that he would permanently stay in the "bowls" of the venue he debuted in. unless he travels with everyone else just to set up shop in the next arena's bowls again. dafuq?

Taker fractured his ankle on the Raw before KOTR during the segment where he attacks Paul Bearer.

Cactus was easily ’Taker’s best opponent.

I miss Buffalo Wild Wings 25 cent wing Tuesdays from back then…

Jim has mentioned where he ate after this 96 SummerSlam a few other times. Must be good eats in Cleveland.

I’m getting a George cornette tattoo.

Was hoping George Cornette would have made Travis’ artwork on this one 🐀

There's not a better wrestler in history than Mick Foley. Many were more successful inside the ring, and many were more successful outside the ring. But nobody was better. He was never supposed to be this successful. He just rose to the occasion every time he was given a shot.

ice cream UFO unidentified frozen objects are the best I agree with Mick Foley all the way.

Infinitum, I learn a new word from Corny every time very eloquent speaker...

I remember mankind vs Kane hell in a cell on raw shortly after king of the ring. And a 4 corners tag match on raw between outlaws. Kane n Foley. Taker and stone cold. Rock b Dlo

BDubs is good and I'll have you know they now have their name on an arena. In Troy, Mich., the Sports Arena there is officially the Buffalo Wild Wings Arena due to a restaurant on the premises.

Jim's missing that they had a feud in 1997 for the belt. Watching as I type comment, will edit if it's caught.

You have to listen to Bruce's story on when poor George died. It's hilarious 😂

Austin, rock, mankind all debuting in 1996.

I had no idea the rat was Conette's,. What a lovely little tidbit.

I watched this nd it brought back good memories ❤

Corny I’m glad you enjoyed Buffalo Wild Wings I’m Cleveland 😂. Next time try Quaker Steak and Lube

I miss when wild wings was good.Jim s assement of them now is spot on

Haven't listened to Bruce in ages, but stuff like his Corny loss of George impression was gold.

Duuuuddde. Don’t tell us how the magic is done!!!!

Young Rock should change to Young Jim and they act out these wrestling stories exactly as Jim tells them

Wasn't it Mason the mutilator not Mankind the mutilator?

Terry got chokeslammed out of his shoes ......literally

4:50-5:03 is why CM Punk was so successful in WWE🤣

It’s shameful that Jim isn’t on creative and doesn’t works for wwe his knowledge of how to tell a story through a character is amazing. I know he has no desire to work for wwe again but you can’t deny his knowledge for the business I’d put him Paul heyman an Jim Ross as maybe the 3 greatest minds ever in wrestling in my opinion

I didn't like the boiler room brawl & the buried alive matches,I thought they were too slow & boring while watching as a kid but I loved the chaos in the hell in a cell match,I never saw anything like that as a kid,so it was shocking & horrifying,I thought Mankind was dead or going to die,HBK vs Taker is still the best cell match with the best debut of Kane,everything was so well done that night.

When rasslin was still rasslin

Any1 else tryna go catch some bullfrogs down at the pond?