That Time The Undertaker Brought A WWE Superstar BACK FROM THE DEAD In Japan
WWE.com
Alas, a seemingly natural feud between the opposing forces never materialised.
Hakushi engaged in eye- and boy-poppers alike with Bret Hart and The 1-2-3 Kid, but the stink of 'foreign menace' lingered too long on the 'White Angel' to ever find time to tackle the 'Lord Of Darkness'. Worse was to come for the athletic star when Vince McMahon's reverse midas touch at the time sucked the heat out of his crowd-pleasing offence by creating a happy-to-be-here babyface dork alliance with Barry Horowitz.
Seeing more writing on the wall than all the scripture tattooed on his chest, Shinzaki bid Hakushi and WWE farewell in early 1996 to find further fortune in his homeland.
It didn't go (storyline) well. Though spiritual home Michinoku Pro helped him hone his craft as it had years earlier, his one date for New Japan Pro Wrestling ended in disaster. A match against The Great Muta at Battle Formation 1996 was so one-sided that the sub-Hakushi persona he portrayed was pronounced dead. Evil had permanently defeated good, with no supernatural power strong enough to bring it back to life.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
