This match took place in a time before Taker was renowned for his show stealing performances. He was a man known for putting on solid bouts with maximum effort. His matches up until this point were short and he rarely lost, let alone sold his opponent's offence. This match went over 15 minutes and added a new dimension to Taker's repertoire. The subsequent rivalry with Mankind would take his game to the next level again. The story line the pair were sent on was pretty compelling. Both men had cost the other World Title matches against Bret Hart which meant there was a heightened sense of bad blood heading into the match. This was one of the classic clashes between two big men that could actually work, not one of those where Taker's performance was slowed down by his overweight and/or giant adversary. The early stages of the match were frenetic as both men held nothing back. This obviously took its toll as the pair were seemingly struggling towards the end. Taker, as was becoming the norm at Mania, survived two of his opponent's finishers before hitting Big Daddy Cool with a Tombstone for the win.
