10 Great Wrestling Feuds With Awful Payoff Matches

2. The Undertaker Vs. Kane

Kane Undertaker WrestleMania XIV
WWE.com

If somebody said to you that Kane’s WWF debut was the very best debut in the history of the wrestling business, even if you didn’t completely agree with that statement, you wouldn’t think it unrealistic. The build and initial impact of Kane’s debut in 1997 was simply the stuff of legend.

Paul Bearer had revealed to the world that The Undertaker’s long-dead brother was actually alive and well. And not just that, but he would soon be making his presence known. Said presence would be felt at October ‘97’s Badd Blood PPV, with Kane attacking The Phenom during his Hell in a Cell match against Shawn Michaels.

Undertaker and Kane would eventually square off at WrestleMania XIV, and the end result was a stinker of a match. Regardless of how great the brewing rivalry had been between the brothers, the ‘Mania match was enough to send audiences to sleep.

This wouldn’t be the last time that an Undertaker/Kane rivalry culminated in an awful payoff. Years later, Undertaker would famously ditch his American Badass persona to return to his familiar Deadman character and face Kane at WrestleMania XX – that match being a dud. Then, there was the whole “vegetative state” angle that culminated in a drab SummerSlam 2010 match between the Brothers of Destruction.

Despite being two of the WWE’s greatest ever characters, and despite working on-camera so well together, matches between The Undertaker and Kane often ended up being major let-downs.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.