The Tombstone

Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the Tombstone. First of all, before I get to my column, I want to get something out of the way. This past Friday, the world lost another great entertainer and a great guy (I'm getting really tired of having to write about people dying). Joe C, from Kid Rock, passed away in his sleep. If you don't know about Joe C's medical problems, you should probably go to MTV.com and read about that, but basically he took a lot of pills, was hooked up to machines constantly, and just had a pretty rough go of it. Anyway, as a huge Kid Rock fan, a huge WWF fan, and a guy who just really finds the sound a guy with the voice of a little kid telling people to suck his d*c* and shove off really funny, I was pretty upset by the news of Joe C dying. You might remember Joe C's involvement with the WWF back in May, he even cost Edge & Christian the tag team titles at one point. Anyway, a damn shame, and I just wanna say this much before I go on with the column, Joe C, thanks man.for providing some really funny stuff, RIP man.

Now then, onward to the column itself. In case you didn't realize it from the constant mentioning of it on WWF television lately, this past Sunday at Survivor Series marked the Undertaker's tenth anniversary of working for the World Wrestling Federation. So I have decided as a huge Undertaker mark to reflect on 10 years of destruction with ten of my personal favorite Undertaker moments from these last 10 years. And please note that these aren't in any particular order. So without further ado.

10. Hey, where better to start than Survivor Series, 1990, where the Undertaker made his WWF debut as Ted DiBiase's mystery partner. Okay, so he didn't win the match, but he didn't get pinned or anything either. All in all, it was a good debut, and even if it hadn't been, just for the fact of what had started with that night it's worth a mention. The Undertaker had arrived.

09. One year later, Survivor Series 1991, the Undertaker had his first taste of WWF gold when he pinned Hulk Hogan to capture the World Wrestling Federation Championship. Just the fact that I got to see Hulk Hogan get Tombstoned onto a steel chair was worth mentioning this one. I still grin every time I picture it, and sometimes I giggle like a school girl when I imagine the thud sound it made along with the picture. WHOOPS! I mean I let out a manly laugh! Yeah.moving on.

08. The 1994 Royal Rumble, Undertaker fought Yokozuna for the WWF title in a casket match. The end result was Yokozuna having about ten other guys help him beat the Undertaker and stuff him into the casket. The aftermath was Undertaker mysteriously appearing on the video wall from inside the casket, vowing he would never rest in peace, and then rising out of the video wall and to the sky. Creepy stuff, good television, and one of my favorite Undertaker moments.

07. Summerslam, 1994. The Undertaker fights The Undertaker. Man, that was some cool stuff right there. I bet you'll never see the Rock vs. the Rock or any crap like that. Only the Undertaker can pull off a match as cool as that! (Sorry, I'm marking out.as usual). Ted DiBiase had been bragging about his money having the power to bring back the Undertaker from what had happened to him at the Royal Rumble (see #8). Paul Bearer, however, had said that he had the real Undertaker, and the urn was the only power the real Undertaker answered to. So, we had Undertaker vs. Undertaker. Obviously the real Undertaker came out victorious, and all rejoiced.

06. Boiler Room Brawl, Summerslam , 1996, Mankind vs. The Undertaker. A good, brutal fight between 'Taker and Mick turned into one helluva bad night for the Undertaker when Paul Bearer turned his back on the Undertaker and aligned himself with Mankind. Bearer cracked 'Taker over the head with the urn, and cost him the match. Of course the Undertaker would live to fight another day, but frankly, this is one of my favorite moments for the simple fact that it meant no more listening to that annoying voice of Bearer's talking for the Phenom.

05. Buried Alive, October, 1996. Just a very cool match, a very brutal match, very enjoyable to watch. Just as it looked as if Undertaker had Mankind beaten, a shovel to the back of the head put the 'Taker down inside of the burial plot. And then, when the Undertaker had been buried, and it looked like everything was over, a lightning bolt strikes the tombstone, and the Undertaker's hand shoots out of the ground. Cool stuff man.

04. Wrestlemania 13, March, 1997. Undertaker beats Sycho Sid for the WWF title. A pretty crappy match and all, but man, it was about damn time that the Undertaker got the title again.

03. Hell In a Cell, vs. Shawn Michaels, Badd Blood, October, 1997. The first ever Hell in a Cell match, it was awesome. Undertaker and HBK tore the house down, and then the ending with Kane making his debut and costing the Undertaker the match was well done as well. It was just a great match and definitely needs to be on this list.

02. Hell in a Cell, vs. Mankind, King of the Ring, June, 1998. If you don't know why this match is on this list, then you are NOT a wrestling fan, you have NO business reading this article or this newsletter, and you should be beaten severely for your stupidity. I will simply say this much about that match - DAMN!

01. Judgment Day, May 2000, the Undertaker returns as the American Bad Ass. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of the American Bad Ass persona, I still like the Phenom thing better, but the Undertaker is awesome one way or another. It was great to see him come back and kick some ass, especially since he gave Triple H the WWF title.

Ten years, ten moments. There's so many more I could have listed, but I don't have the time to write about every memorable Undertaker moment, because frankly there's just way too many of them. I'm sure the next few years, or however long until the Undertaker decides to hang up the boots, will be just as incredible, and I can't wait for every twist and turn along that Highway to Hell.

Until next time.

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This column is the opinions of Jeremy Strunk. Any comments can be directed at jsut316@swbell.net.