10 Most Outstanding Career Revivals In WWE

Back in the day, the Undertaker wasn’t exactly notorious for five star matches. One of the most agile big men in the business, Mark Calaway was lumbered with a slow-moving zombie gimmick, forced to work with whatever other big men were available.

Things began to improve in the late nineties, especially with the advent of the much-maligned American Badass/Big Evil version of the Undertaker character. Returning to a version of the old supernatural Dead Man gimmick in 2004, Calaway kept the speed and style of that more realistic approach – and at No Way Out in February 2006, the Undertaker and Kurt Angle delivered a stone-cold classic. No gimmicks, just serious wrestling.

When his next two feuds were with the usual ponderous giants, Mark Henry and a debuting Great Khali, it looked like more of the same: but everything changed later that year.

The decision was made to feature the Undertaker as the World Heavyweight champion and face of Smackdown! Booked to win 2007’s Royal Rumble, he would face Batista for the title at Wrestlemania 23...in the middle of the card.

The Animal and the Dead Man killed it that night. The story was that Undertaker and Batista were legitimately angry at the placement of their match, and determined to steal the show: and steal it they did. Although injury would derail plans for a long run with the World title, the feud set the tone for the next six years, the Undertaker’s signature WrestleMania appearances becoming one of the must-see matches on the card.