9 Wrestling Personalities Killed Off In Mainstream Wrestling Storylines

Paul Bearer's death has been used in WWE programming almost as often as his apprentice's. And like The Undertaker, Paul Bearer has come back from the most ridiculous of circumstances to shriek his way into our hearts time and time again.

Most notably, Taker's manager was used as bait during a handicap match with the Dudley Boyz. D-Von and Bubba Ray's manager, Paul Heyman, unveiled a kidnapped Bearer who was being held inside a glass case with a cement truck waiting nearby to essentially bury him alive. If Undertaker didn't comply with Heyman's demand to lay down for a defeat, the case would become a cement tomb for his manager.

When it became apparent Taker wasn't going to do the job, Heyman began filling the case up to Bearer's shoulders. Luckily, the Dead Man was able to scare him off with some well-placed lightning bolts. (Yay for supernatural abilities!)

But then, without any real explanation ("Paul, I have no other choice" doesn't count), Taker proceeded to bury his own manager in cement anyways. And that's how the Great American Bash of 2004 ended.

Fans went nuts, sending an avalanche of hate mail WWE's way for simulating a murder onscreen. So on the following week's Smackdown!, it was acknowledged that Bearer survived the incident and was merely "badly injured".