This match received top billing over a WWF Championship match. The first major meeting between two of the top stars of all time. The match may end in a schmozz, but how they got there is the story. This would set up the first-ever Hell in a Cell match the next month. The video is in two parts, so click the Read More link to get the second half.
THE UNDERTAKER VS SHAWN MICHAELS [P1] by ivan2007martinez
THE UNDERTAKER VS SHAWN MICHAELS [P2] by ivan2007martinez
THE UNDERTAKER VS SHAWN MICHAELS [P1] by ivan2007martinez
THE UNDERTAKER VS SHAWN MICHAELS [P2] by ivan2007martinez
I love how Taker/Brock had a PPV main event in September 2002 that ended in a DQ, to set up a HITC rematch, and there was an outrage that Taker buried Brock by not jobbing to him in the first match.
ReplyDeleteThis video is an example that this kind of thing happens all the time.
It's just the general disappointment of not getting the payoff right there. Sure, it COULD be for an even better payoff (see Bryan, Daniel) but sometimes you invest three hours into something and want to have awesome things happen while you're actually watching.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy. I love this match quite a bit, but my favorite part of the entire spiel is the post-match shenanigans. Taker's crazy no-hands plancha still remains one of the all-time wrestling memories that's stuck in my brain forever.
ReplyDeleteThis match is so fucking good. It's so anarchic and even the fuck finish didn't piss me off. I wish we'd get stuff like this main eventing B PPVs these days.
ReplyDeleteBrock and Shawn Michaels occupied very different roles on the card and are very different types of wrestlers. Shawn not going over Undertaker clean makes less sense than the up and coming monster who destroys everyone.
ReplyDeleteAfter Rock and Hogan did clean jobs it was fair to expect the same from Taker.
And he did it clean as a sheet in the Cell the next month, in a blood bath. Clearly still not good enough apparently!
ReplyDeleteGround Zero was an underrated PPV. Obviously this match rules. But the Bret/Patriot match is pretty solid too. And the segment where Austin and Dude forfeit the tag belts and then Austin stuns J.R. is as essential an Austin moment as any.
ReplyDeleteWhy couldn't he job to him twice?
ReplyDeleteThe storyline progression should have been to beat Undertaker and move on to the next opponent. Undertaker was not really high up on the card at this point and was really a step down in terms of who he was feuding with since Undertaker was feuding with Test before.
ReplyDeleteHe got to beat Hogan in a blood bath the first time, so I don't see why Undertaker is special.
Also famous for being Pillman's last PPV match, sadly.
ReplyDeleteDear god...
ReplyDeleteNo, it's a fair question.
ReplyDeleteIt's what should have happened if he was going to wrestle him twice.
ReplyDeleteVery sad. And even sadder was that interview Vince had with his widow. Worst Raw segment ever besides Katie Vick.
ReplyDeleteEspecially after a really inert PPV. I remember most of that PPV except the Angle/Benoit match being torturous.
ReplyDeleteEddie/Edge was very good as well, and the opening 8-man tag was fun. Everything else was pretty bad though, especially the burial of RVD as a top contender.
ReplyDeleteThis match has largely been forgotten, which is understandable given the classics these two would later have. This, however, was an awesome brawl. And Undertaker's plancha was just crazy.
ReplyDeleteGoing over in a bloody cell match > going over in a forgotten title match
ReplyDeleteDidn't Ambrose/Rollins at MITB pretty much finish like this?
ReplyDeleteEh, I took me a while to consider the World Heavyweight Title to be a top title. It had just been introduced earlier that month.
ReplyDeleteTo this day I don't understand what the point of bringing Pillman's widow on RAW supposed to be. Poor woman.
ReplyDeleteMy cynical side says that Vince had a very specific legal agenda; her appearing on the show and saying certain things would absolve the WWF of any responsibility in his death and undercut any potential lawsuits.
ReplyDeleteHogan had been promised he would destroy Crock in a rematch, win the title, but then job it back to Brock -- and Bince also didn't want to pay Hogan the overinflated fee to do such nonsense and Hogan claimed back pains and left until Feb.
ReplyDeleteStill convinced he od'ed on something and the heart attack was a coverup.
ReplyDeleteOne of the great things about this match was the buildup. The commentary was selling the fuck out of this match on Raw as a "first time ever" match. You got the idea this was a big match feel.
ReplyDeleteOn the negative side, Faarooq vs Crush vs Savio (pushed as the WWF's first ever triple threat match, IIRC) is the absolute pits.
ReplyDelete