The Beginning of The UndertakerThe Undertaker debuted in
Survivor Series 1990, as the mystery member of Ted Dibiase's team. He was managed by Brother Love, but management was changed over to Paul Bearer soon after.
Physically, he was a giant. Billed at 6'10'' 1/2, wearing a wide-brimmed black hat and a long trench coat, he marched to the ring slowly, in stride to his song The Funeral March. His hair, first bright red which was dyed black later on, always covered his face, and eventually grew well past his back. One of his signature expressions was rolling his eyes backwards, so that you could only see the whites of his eyes. He won the championship on
Survivor Series 1991, but he only kept it for 6 days - the shortest reign during this time (ironically, Kane would beat this record by holding it for only a day).
Nothing was known about The Undertaker at this point. He came from Death Valley, California, and he drew power from an urn Paul Bearer held.
He would defeat many opponents at this time, including Hulk Hogan, Yokozuna, Giant Gonzalez, and Diesel. He eventually rose to the top in the mid 90s, defeating main contenders and gaining main event status - until Mankind debuted in 1996.
During Summerslam 1996, after feuding with Mankind (which led to the Boiler Room Brawl), Paul Bearer turned on the Undertaker. After exchanging blows with Mankind and approaching the ring, Paul Bearer hit him with the urn - he wasn't his friend any longer. Bearer soon joined up with Mankind. The Undertaker and Mankind would feud for months after this incident, leading to a Buried Alive Match and Armageddon Rules Match. The Undertaker won, but Paul Bearer wasn't satisfied.
The Undertaker battled many main contenders during the beginning of 1997, leading to a heavyweight championship match with Sycho Sid, which he won. This was a longer reign than previously, holding it for 5 months. After this win Paul Bearer attempted to blackmail him by threatening to expose his darkest secret: he killed his family.
According to Paul Bearer, he was employed in a family business run by The Undertaker's parents, a funeral home. He said that The Undertaker had been playing with matches, and in a stroke of bad luck, caught the house on fire, killing his parents and his younger brother. His younger brother, he revealed, was not actually dead - he survived but was badly scarred. Paul Bearer raised him privately, locking him in a room for many years. The Undertaker disputed this claim and said that his brother, Kane, started the fire and couldn't be alive.
n a later segment, The Undertaker discussed this further. This is a word by word translation of that segment:
It's true. Yes, it is true. My mother, my father, and my little brother burned to death in the family funeral home. But I think it's important that we have all the facts straight. Yes, Kane and I were playing with matches that day...and we were punished when my father found us. Me more so that Kane, I was the oldest. I should've known better. My father explained to us what we were doing, and how those liquids were flammable. After he punished me, he sent me on my way to do my daily chores, as I was leaving the funeral home I looked back and I'd seen Kane, leaving out one of the rear doors of the embalming room and I'd seen that he had those liquids in his hand. You know, it never occurred to me what he was going to do. I thought nothing of it. And I live with that fact every day of my life. Kane was my responsibility. He was my little brother. As I returned to the funeral home from doing my chores, I could hear the sirens. I could see the smoke filling the sky. Without knowing, I knew. I knew what had happened. And I ran, and I ran as fast as I could. When I got to the funeral home, it was engulfed in flames. I never slowed down for one second, I ran for the front door. That's when they grabbed me. They wouldn't let me go in. The firefighters, they held me back. And as I stood there, restrained, I watched the funeral home, and inside that funeral home was my mother, my father, and little Kane. I watched that funeral home burn down to the ground. And yes Paul, it's true! I wasn't at the funeral! But you didn't care to explain to the people why that was, that two nights before, during the middle of the night, you drug me to the neighboring funeral home...so that I could see ...my family. Till this very day, the image of my mother, laying on that table...as you pulled that sheet back, and I'd looked at the burnt and charred body of the most wonderful woman that had ever walked on this earth lay there, the air escaped from my lungs. I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to be sick. But you insisted! You insisted that this small boy, in the middle of the night, go and look at the charred remains of what two days earlier was his family. It was a day...that changed me forever. For me to be able to deal with the death of my family, I had to look at death. I had to understand that without death, there cannot be life. So I have taken it upon myself to walk a path where no one else chooses to. I draw strength from the spirit of the dead, and that spirit of my mother, of my father, and of my little brother, will strike you down, Paul Bearer. Will strike. You. Down."
The Debut of Kane
On October 5th, 1997, Kane debuted. The Undertaker was battling Shawn Michaels the first Hell in a Cell match, and as he was approaching victory, Kane came out with Paul Bearer shouting. The Undertaker, stunned that he was alive, stood there as Kane tore off the chained door to the cage and entered, standing face to face with his older brother. Kane was physically identical to his older brother, and wore a mask over his face, most likely from severe burns he suffered. Kane tombstoned his brother in the middle of the ring soon after, allowing Shawn Michaels the victory.
The feud between Kane and The Undertaker will be continued in Part 2 of this series.
