Ministry Taker is the best version of Undertaker that has ever existed. Everything that Zane hated about it is what I loved about it. The only problem was the very end with Vince having the shoehorn himself into the angle.
Exactly! Glad it wasn’t just me and my circle of friends who loved Ministry Taker. Zane got this one seriously wrong. Then again what can we expect, he didn’t start watching wrestling until 98 so that’s his first introduction to Taker.
AGReed! i mean you only had like two stars from wcw and you make one rock light and the other a stalker who gets battered .... vince i imagine when he was a kid would buy other peoples toys and smash them just because they weren't his first.
Anytime someone like Pritchard smugly says "WCW just didn't have any names people cared about" about why the Invasion angle failed still grinds my gears.
2:05 Those f*n laserpointers are soon going to be the only thing I remember from Attitude Era. Seems like in every entrance, some d1ckhead was always pointing them at wrestlers.
As a dishnourable mentions I'd add these: - his feud with The Great Khali - His 2010 feud with Kane - demolishing any credibility the Wyatt Family had - his match against Shane McMahon (or rather fighting on Vince's behalf)
idk match wise the kane matches in 2010 were very much much better than in years prior.... I agree with the rest though especially the wyatts (underused and undervalued) , the mcmahon thing was weird why would an undead dude who shows up when he pleases (kayfabe) why would he help vince? ughhh Khali... I was still new to wrestling as i only started about almost two years prior to khali and jesus as a kid i remember yelling WTF in the theatre screening it lol
Good call on the Wyatt family burial. They were allowed to get nothing against Taker and Kane, it stalled them pretty badly. The shit with Shane going toe to toe with Undertaker after the epic matches with HBK, HHH, Punk and the like...wow, it was really awful to watch.
I wouldn't do the whole Khali feud (I mean, Undertaker took a clean loss in a period where most guys who faced him had to settle with a DQ) but I would probably chuck in the Punjabi Prison Match at least.
For me, up until the meme'd swerve, Ministry Taker was the absolute best version of The Undertaker, because he was the version that was the most threatening. The fact that he didn't fit the more grounded attitude era helped the character and made him stand out. He was like the White Walkers. Or the Borg or The Meta. An enemy, an evil that feels greater in scope and conception than the standard fare. A Lord of Hell walking among mortal men.
Yeah, but his acting was bad and his job squad embarrassing. His gimmick was fine, sure, it was good to have some goth representation, but his actual performance made me question my life's choices.
The outfit was also one of the most awesome he's ever had. Problem is that Taker himself couldn't really pull it off and despite LOOKING threatening and doing some weird shit, he never truly FELT threatening.
Ministry Taker is the best version of Undertaker that has ever existed. Everything that Zane hated about it is what I loved about it. The only problem was the very end with Vince having the shoehorn himself into the angle.
@@PierzStyx He looked great, the theme was the best version of his theme before or since...but most of the rest of the stuff he was involved in was pretty bad. The rambling gothy promos that he'd often stumble over being the worst part. He became far better later in his career as a wrestler.
Anytime anything happens/goes wrong in life, JR'S "Aw, son of a BITCH" just goes on loop in my head. Bout the best thing that the vince reveal gave me.
@@1997lordofdoom exactly especially since now Shawn Michaels would be always tied to that "match" so bad it was brothers of destruction vs d-generation X like just why stay retired
My parents got me the “Undertaker: He Buries Them Alive” dvd back in like 03/04 and the imposter Taker match was on there. 10 year old me was so amazed that such a storyline happened years before Kane was even around. Even got me to go on the internet afterward to look up more about Taker’s early years since my basic knowledge of him at the time was his Ministry and Badass phases. Told my friends at school how there was a Taker vs Taker match and we all got together at one of their places after school to watch it. I ate that shit up lol still have that dvd til this day
i remember being in high school and being pumped for that match. meanwhile I was indifferent on the Hart vs Hart match. i didn't like either but was hoping owen won just because i hated Bret more. just shows how our interests change. cause id kick the shit out of young me over thinking that was a good Taker match now. lol
i dont think the kanyon spot was punishment for coming out. i think it was more about vince' s out dated, juvenile sense of humor. he thought in 2003 a wrestler singing a song from 1983 with a lisp to macho taker would be hilarious.
Vince is the same man who thought naming a 2017 wrestling event after a 1957 Jerry Lewis song was somehow hip. Was he trying to see who could say Great Balls of Fire with a straight face without laughing?
Yeah I definitely see it as Vince thinking someone acting gay against undertaker was funny and they picked Kanyon because he liked working with him this company is guilty of a lot of things but I don’t think that was punishment for Kanyon’s sexuality I mean Pat Patterson was Vince’s right hand man forever and I even think he’s Stephanie’s godfather
Worst moment? Not even bothering to show up to build the feud with Bray Wyatt. They literally played an old recording of him saying "rest in peace", he couldn't even be bothered to say his catchphrase.
The WrestleMania 31 match simply shouldn't have happened. There is no reason for Undertaker to go after Wyatt and then back to Lesnar and then back to Wyatt. Both feuds should've been continuous.
@@Joe90h I wish he buggered off after the streak was broken... His body was long since giving out, he looked not good appearance or shape wise... At that point the dude gave everything he had and nothing left to do.. except the one thing he never did on the way out, losing clean to the next big future star, didn't care for the aj match, but he should have lost to drew or someone rising through the ranks.
Exactly, that was Big Evil ‘Taker in a nutshell. This was the Taker that won the hardcore title, and beat the absolute piss out of the likes of RVD, Tajiri, Crash Holly, Maven and others to retain it.
One moment that came to my mind was the promo in 99 before he went on hiatus, where he talked about driving motorcycles in the desert with Big Show, then abandoned him and left him to find his way back. It’s like for a minute, he became a psychotic, murderous version of the Jim Morrison character from Wayne’s World 2.
Jake Roberts would have been perfect as the higher power during the ministry era. Perfect persona for that, and it would have made even more sense given Undertaker’s feud with Austin at that time - Austin cut the original 3:16 promo on Jake Roberts, which already had a religious slant to it.
I’m no Bruce Prichard fan but I think a sick cult leader Brother Love could’ve worked as the higher power I can see the ministry attacking someone and him coming out with the “IIIIIIIIII LLLOOOOOVVVVEEEEE YYYYOOOOUUUU
@@PaxBisonica89 Very true, but I'm heartbroken about what we could have had. Imagine Jake Roberts pointing at Austin and telling the Ministry to 'get that piece of trash out of my ring.'
He would have been and he was at least discussed for it, but drug use is a bitch. Bruce Prichard claims that having Vince being the higher power was just a "get us through it" decision. Chirstopher Daniels was also going to be the higher power at one point but McMahon claimed he was too small.
pretty sure that was the initial plan but Jake had already burned his bridges and once he ruined another Vince couldn't rely on him.. as a recovering junkie its one of the bad payoffs i cant fault Vince for. trusting someone who has already shown they cant be trusted is too risky and the WWE where still losing the war at that time. not a risk id take either.
I read a column around the time that proposed that the Higher Power should have been money, in the form of Ted DiBiase. Don't recall what his relationship with the fed was at the time, but it made more sense than Vince (at least, from the perspective of what Taker did to Steph; DiBiase would have had no reason to care about that), had a nice meta element to it between money's role as a motivator for evil deeds, and calling back to the Underfaker angle in a way that would hopefully not suck, and DiBiase could hold his own on the mic and help make it make sense. (Also helps manage the return of the Ministry from evil Satanic cult to a more mundane form of evil, and honestly would have made the Corporate Ministry merger less bizarre, IMO.)
Yeah that was when he really started to become more human, from that match on pretty much, and thus was able to do things his earlier character could not.
Right? I'm surprised that and the Goldberg match weren't a combined first place. Hell, I thought Undertaker in Saudi Arabia was just going to be number 1.
Terrific lineup, if you do the Best of the Undertaker make sure you add in the ladder match with Jeff Hardy from RAW 2002. Almost 20 years later it still amazes people and my 16 year old son has that match has his personal favorite top 10 matches.
because jeff worked his ass off that match , still very great it was actually my first jeff hardy match as by the time i got into wrestling at 12, matt was out after the kane wedding, and jeff was i think in tna , so downloading this was my first match seen of jeff and my second for taker,
I loved the Ministry of Darkness..However even I will admit the Vince higher power stuff pissed me off! But even before that I thought Undertaker had never been scarier and more unpredictable! Then he turned to Biker Taker and with that his aura was smashed to me. So I will ten times prefer Ministry or any other form of the Undertaker over Biker Taker.
THIS ^ a thousand times over!!!!! Never understood why people like big lazy version of taker, out of shape, looking like a hick from a biker bar and not the tough guy kind either... I think he just wanted to calll people boy alot... That motor bike entrance was silly too, just pushing the bike forward with your feet XD!
@@dennett316 I disagree with that.. His work rate was horrible he got sloppy in the ring for the first few months. He put on a lot of extra weight. He got back in shape months later but I mean when he went back to The Deadman persona he got the classic matches against Kane, Shawn, HHH etc.
Thanks Brian. I just had to look up temporary secretary. I couldn't even get through a minute of it. Yikes. That said, thank you for your content and I'm wishing you and the ROH crew much love and luck going forward
Maybe it's the fact that I became a wrestling fan when he had the persona, but Bikertaker is my personal favorite era of his so it always disheartens me to see when people write the entirety of that era off. So big props to you for putting little pieces of it on the list and giving actual criticisms as opposed to including the entire era, saying "It's not the _real_ Undertaker", and calling it a day like plenty of others would've done
@@MikeJr9284 Agreed. On the whole his matches weren't the greatest he'd ever have in his career (with the notable exception imo of Hell in a Cell against Lesnar at No Mercy '02; that match was fantastic), but he was more than capable of putting on an entertaining match and had a fair share of good storylines and moments, like his crusade for respect when he first changed a bit to be Big Evil or the feud with Vince that ended the gimmick, which had a lot of really well-planted foreshadowing within
@@MikeJr9284 Well, it WAS a pretty drastic and unexplained change. As someone who saw his reveal live, when he went Biker I kinda tuned him out until the revert back.
If there was one streak that ended too early (or shouldn’t have ended for the mystic sense) it’s the undertakers streak, Maybe he did want it over and done with, but WWE did the undertakers final years dirty.
He should have lost it to someone who actually needed it and elevated another talent... instead lost to his friend brock and then went on to job guys out afterwards.. Great talent but also a hypocrite for not doing what he said talent should do when they are done.
@@HeinerGunnar You didn’t like Undertaker telling a convoluted, drawn out, incoherent story about Big Show runnin out of gas and wearing snake skins???
Another stellar video BZ but hey how about top 8 worst referee storylines in wrestling history ? Just a random video idea I had you would make it great I'm sure.
Really surprised you didn't mention Undertaker vs Sycho Sid at Wrestlemania 13. It came off the heels of one of the most brutal matches ever, Brett Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin, and it was slow and boring by comparison. The only entertaining moments were the beginning of the match when Bret came out to yell at everybody about how they screwed him over, finally getting powerbombed by an annoyed Sid, and the very end, where Taker won and struck one of the most famous poses he ever did in his career, getting on one knee while holding the belt up, his eyes white. It's such an iconic shot to an otherwise crappy match.
You can't call "the ministry" and "the corporate ministry" the same arc. Even though that was the swerve ending of the ministry arc, the stable was pretty decent before it's corporate merger.
Exactly. The Ministry merging with Vince's stable, was a huge turn off. They should've stuck with Taker looking to conquer the World Wrestling Federation the same way The NWO stuck with trying to take over WCW for at least a full year.
Man it sucks that taker has alot of crap moments, cause I love the character and I think he was great to watch in the ring, he's always been one of my favorites
You nailed it, Brian. I have to agree with your choices. The Ministry started out kind of cool. But the Vinnie Mac reveal ruined the whole damned thing. And the fact that they kept Undertaker lumbering around for a while after with no clear direction. Probably the worst botch of the Attitude Era. If they just HAD to have a higher power, a Kevin Sullivan or James Mitchell reveal could have been interesting. Better yet, just let Big Evil be BIG EVIL! And that Taker vs. Taker thing. Terrible. And the dirt they did poor Kanyon. I don't think it was BECAUSE he was gay so much as because he was moving up in WCW when it went down. Kanyon was an awesome worker, but WWE just had to destroy yet another member of the old competition. Never mind that he was working for them. They REALLY dropped the ball with the Invasion and the WCW locker room destruction.
Dude, you did such a good job with this video. I'm actually blown away by how perfect this list is. A lot of moments I didn't know about but agree with. You haven't missed a beat my guy.
5:35 I believe that the point of the streak ending was it to be a surprise, like it was the first time since wrestlemania 22 was the last time we had a simple storyline for the streak.
Well reasoned video as always. I personally enjoyed the Ministry for the same reasons I enjoyed Broken Matt Hardy. I’m also glad you talked about times when Taker just acted like a douche (he’s a legend but not above being flawed.) I’ve always thought he got royal strops for doing things other wrestlers routinely get vilified for.
The Brothers of Destruction vs DX should have been at Survivor Series with The teams being Dx and probably some Nxt guys vs the Brothers of Destruction,Demon Fin Balor and some other dark character. Would have taken the load off the old guys and probably made for a decent match
I'll never forget when he almost ended the career of the Hulkster. 😢😢what kinda maniac holds someone so tightly and safely? Thankfully the Hulkster was just to tough and had so much passion he made a full recovery. Doctor's told him anyone else would've died had they been held like that and the Hulkster died twice on his way to the hospital. Fought his way back from full permanent paralysis though.
I absolutely loved Ministry Undertaker. He and his members were a part of a very interesting time on WWF television and helped give the show a variety that otherwise wouldn't have been there. The payoff with Vince was a mistake, but I really enjoyed that stable and consider it one of my favorite times and stables in history, despite few members of the MOD going anywhere after the stable and the corporate ministry disbanded. Also, I thought the Leslie Nielsen bits were funny during the Undertaker vs. Undertaker angle, especially when he ran into Macho Man at the pool. The rest of that angle though was not good, agree with you there. This is a great idea for a Top 8, thanks Brian!
I was never really a fan of the Undertaker period no matter what gimmick he had but i respected his dedication to the company and staying put in the monday night wars when others were coming and going. What i hated the most is when he basically killed Kanyon like that beating was so uncomfortable and nasty as hell then and now. Now i am a fan of Chris Kanyon and i developed that over time watching his matches and even watching Velocity and seeing him on there plus he was gay and him coming out was a real standout for me and made me think about myself more. He had problems sure just look at dark side of the ring but he didnt deserve that beating from the Undertaker (even if he was acting on the backstage peoples orders). It just never made me look at the Undertaker the same way
Actually disagree with a couple of these. Surely if, as you say, Taker had no more great matches left in him, that was EXACTLY the right time for him to lose to Lesnar. And in all honesty, the fact that so many fans considered it a foregone conclusion made the shock and the payoff even better when Brock won. Secondly, the Taker-Dudleys feud was classic WWE schlok. Gimmick match. Ridiculous over the top plot. Twist ending. You nitpick it but it was a fun, short feud involving some of their best guys. Of course it was dumb, but I personally think it was the right side of dumb that WWE actually manages to do well. I also really enjoyed Taker-Cena match. It was great for what it was, Great video though, a lot of these were new to me. Thanks Brian!
I actually love ministry Undertaker and the twist that McMahon was the higher power. It helped explain how Undertaker was able to get away with doing so much evil shit and explained how he managed to do all that supernatural stuff - clearly even in kayfabe, it was just special effects.
dang Brian great video! today taker was on the ticket sports radio here in fort worth Texas today doing a interview during the noon show! thanks again for great content!
The weird, highly uncomfortable angle of a chick saying Taker was cheating on Sara with her. Then Stephanie of all people cleared Taker’s good name LOL. I will never forget how cringe that shit was. Him even having a wife was so weird for me as a kid.
I actually enjoyed the Ministry era (until they went corporate) and Taker VS Taker, so I'd not personally include either on a list like this, but to each their own. My list would probably be something like this: 8. Killing Paul Bearer. 7. The backstage bullying of Renee Dupree. 6. Saudi Arabia. 5. Donating money to the Trump campaign. 4. When he randomly started cutting his own hair in taped promos to get at HHH. 3. The chair shot to Kanyon. 2. The American Bad Ass/Big Evil. 1. Losing to Brock at WM30. Bad idea, terrible match.
Undertaker vs His Evil Doppelganger at Summerslam 94, Undertaker vs DDP and his Heel Turn at the end of 2001 are the worst Undertaker Moments in my opinion
🤘🏼The Ministry angle was both my Favorite & Least Favorite…. The crazy over the top evil shit was great!! But the big greasy turd in that punch bowl was definitely the Reveal of Vince as the Higher Power!! 💩
Ministry Taker is a massive part of why I started watching wrestling and still love it. I always liked dark stuff and when 6 year old me saw The Undertaker being lowered to the ring in a cape with bat wing looking shoulder thingies I was like "woah, its Dracula!"
Taker vs. Goldberg will always be my #1 worst moment, not only because every moment was cringe-worthy, but it was the first and so far only match I've watched live to make me actually worry about the lives of the in-ring competitors. Wrestling should not *ever* be that dangerous.
That was the point. Glenn Jacobs said Callaway wanted to pay Kane back for doing jobs in the early part of their fued. Callaway wanted Kane too look like his equal for once.
When I saw the title of this video my first thought was you can't talk bad about Taker that's sacrilege but then I thought about it and was like yeah he has had his share of shitty moments. Uh cough cough super showdown cough
To be honest as a kid at 7 going on 8 years old, I actually loved that Undertaker vs. Undertaker match in 94. Sure now we can see it was hokey and botched, but it reminded me of seeing a fighting game mirror match like Ryu vs. Ryu in Street Fighter for the build to the thing. Back then I didn't fully understand the actual build and thought it was cool seeing Undertaker fight himself which boggled my mind. Fun fact, during the time Mark Calloway was away, he did do matches in Japan still in his classic Undertaker garb while his doppelganger was holding ground before the match at SummerSlam. I was going ape seeing his entrance and was just wowed like hell seeing it when I watched the SummerSlam 94 on VHS.
What about his alliance with the Big Show which included that epicly bad promo about leaving him in the desert? I would put that on this list before Giant Gonzalez. Sure, that feud was bad but Giant Gonzalez's level of selling is so funny that I think it elevates it to the mythical #9 spot.
I loved ''American Badass'' Taker. Yeah, he was different to what came before and after. But that isn't automatically a bad thing and even Brian admitted in this video that the old style Taker really seemed a bit silly in the far more gritty Attitude Era.
Ministry Taker was good on paper, and to an extent, worked pretty well...when he wasn't talking. The more 'Taker talked, the more it became clear he just wasn't really into those promos--they were kinda a little too hokey, even by his standards. Credit where it's due though--he said "Hower Power" and didn't corpse. I think most of the Ministry worked better when they didn't talk--Gangrel's voice, for instance, incited giggles for all the wrong reasons in some of those early promos. No excuse for that terrible Saudi Arabia affair, though.
NO THE STREAK SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BROKEN. you can have undertaker lose on any of the other 11 pay per views in the year. The streak was one of the most special things in wwf\wwe history.