That Time The Undertaker Brought A WWE Superstar BACK FROM THE DEAD In Japan

Just days removed from his gruelling clash with Shawn Michaels, 'The Demon Of Death Valley' was back in Japan for a contest that has to be seen to be believed. The Undertaker took on his former WWE colleague Shinzaki, but not before bringing him back to life after mortuary attendants wheel his corpse to the ring.

Supposedly caught compromised to a permanent end after the Muta loss, Jinzaki - specifically as the Hakushi-esque version himself that wrestled for NJPW - was left in the ring by the assistants. The ghoulish and other-worldly presence of The Undertaker astonishingly returned him to life, with the mud-and-blood-stained Hakushi selling the experience as if he was literally learning to use his arms and legs all over again whilst attempting to yet again do battle with death.

Ordinarily considered a superlative performer for his in-ring work alone, this was character-driven stuff on another level from anything he'd had the chance to do for Vince McMahon and again highlighted the size of the open goal missed when he did wrestle for the biggest organisation in North America.

October 1997 was a different time. This sort of silliness wasn't hard to keep hidden from fans, and thus didn't damage the legacy of Kane or The Undertaker one iota. Unlike, say, coming back to perform quasi-comedy matches with fellow old-timers Triple H and Shawn Michaels in 2018 for a small fortune. Regrettably, it's hard to imagine this Undertaker inspiring life in a deceased soul when he seems so tragically unwilling to inspire it in himself.