Wrestling Rivalries Revisited – The Undertaker vs. Kane

Breakdown ’98 (27/9/98)

In a seemingly never-ending brawl that was amongst the weakest main events of the Attitude Era, Undertaker and Kane––who were now in cahoots––pinned Steve Austin simultaneously in a three-way, relieving him of his WWF Title. Because the double pin left no clear winner, the title was declared vacant.

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Judgment Day ’98 (18/10/98)

As bad as the Breakdown headliner was it could come close to the depths traversed by this snoozer between the two brothers. With the vacant WWF Title on the line and Austin as guest ref, there should have been enough going on to retain interest. Alas, the contest was so laborious that fans chanted “boring” throughout. The finish was farce typical of the era, as Austin dropped both combatants with a Stunner and declared himself the winner.

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Monday Night Raw (19/10/98)

Remarkably, a Casket Match between the duo on Raw the next night was perhaps even worse than their Judgment Day debacle. Three-minutes of rubbish non-action ended without a winner when both men smashed their way out of the casket then casually left. Down there with some of Raw’s worst ever matches.

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Survivor Series ’98 (15/11/98)

With the face and heel roles now reversed, Undertaker was forced to drop the majority of his popular schtick (the rope walk, sit-ups, etc), leaving him with little else in his arsenal than copious punches and, in the case of this match, an interminably long leg grapevine. At least there was a finish this time: ‘Taker put Kane away with a Tombstone after a distraction from Paul Bearer at ringside, sending him through to the semi-finals of Vince Russo’s optimum magnus opus––the ‘Deadly Game’ tournament.

• kane
• wrestling rivalries
• WrestleMania
• undertaker

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