That Time The Undertaker Brought A WWE Superstar BACK FROM THE DEAD In Japan
Alas, a seemingly natural feud between the opposing forces never materialised.
Hakushi engaged in eye- and boy-poppers alike with Bret Hart and The 1-2-3 Kid, but the stink of 'foreign menace' lingered too long on the 'White Angel' to ever find time to tackle the 'Lord Of Darkness'. Worse was to come for the athletic star when Vince McMahon's reverse midas touch at the time sucked the heat out of his crowd-pleasing offence by creating a happy-to-be-here babyface dork alliance with Barry Horowitz.
Seeing more writing on the wall than all the scripture tattooed on his chest, Shinzaki bid Hakushi and WWE farewell in early 1996 to find further fortune in his homeland.
It didn't go (storyline) well. Though spiritual home Michinoku Pro helped him hone his craft as it had years earlier, his one date for New Japan Pro Wrestling ended in disaster. A match against The Great Muta at Battle Formation 1996 was so one-sided that the sub-Hakushi persona he portrayed was pronounced dead. Evil had permanently defeated good, with no supernatural power strong enough to bring it back to life.
Enter The Undertaker.
CONT'D...