8 Ups & 6 Downs From The Undertaker's WWE Career

2. That First Kane Feud

WWE have never built a wrestler's introduction as effectively as Kane's in 1997.

The storytelling leading up to his Badd Blood: In Your House arrival was immense, with Paul Bearer telling tales of The Undertaker's long lost half-brother returning for revenge, having almost burned to death in the fire that killed their parents. We were drip-fed new details every week. Initially teased as Undertaker's "biggest secret," we eventually learned Kane's origins. This was a source of torment for 'Taker, who was shamed as the man behind the fire, and now, the burned sibling was coming for blood.

An explosive pay-per-view arrival saw Kane arrive by Bearer's side, tearing the Hell In A Cell door away as 'Taker wrestled Shawn Michaels. He planted him with a Tombstone Piledriver, and thus began one of the Attitude Era's most important programmes, immediately establishing 'The Big Red Machine' as a major force, and giving Undertaker a rival (and eventual partner) he'd be tied to for the remainder of his career.

Subsequent Kane vs. Undertaker feuds didn't hit the same heights (particularly their historically bad 2010 run against each other), but how could they? The duo set an impossibly high bar back in 1997.