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The Undertaker

The Lord of Darkness is back from the grave!!

4 attires, logic, and parameters.

(1995 - 1997)

The Undertaker returned in November at Survivor Series, wearing a Phantom of the Opera-like, gray upper-face mask. In the main event of the Royal Rumble in January 1996, The Undertaker was unmasked in a WWF Championship match against Bret Hart, but Diesel interfered during the match, costing The Undertaker the championship. A rematch for the title on the February 5 episode of Raw saw similar interference. At that month's In Your House: Rage in the Cage, while Diesel was facing Hart in a steel cage match, The Undertaker delivered a surprise attack, emerging from a hole he had ripped through the ring canvas and dragging Diesel with him down under, allowing Hart the victory. After several weeks of more tit for tat between Diesel and The Undertaker, the feud culminated in a singles match between the two at WrestleMania XII, where Undertaker was victorious.

The Undertaker's next feud started the next night on Raw, when Mankind made his debut and interfered in Undertaker's match against Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw. For the next few months, Mankind ambushed and cost The Undertaker several matches. The feud intensified and they began taking their battles into crowds, backstage areas and in the boiler rooms of different arenas. Mankind cost The Undertaker the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog, assisting champion Goldust to victory. As a result, the first-ever Boiler Room Brawl was booked between the two at SummerSlam. After 20 minutes of brawling with Mankind in the Cleveland Gund Arena's boiler room, the arena corridors and the entrance ramp, the Undertaker reached for Paul Bearer's urn to take the win, but Bearer hit him with it, betraying The Undertaker and allowing Mankind to "incapacitate" him with the mandible claw, giving him the win. After Bearer's betrayal, The Undertaker took his rivalry with Mankind to a new level, resulting in a Buried Alive match in the main event of In Your House 11: Buried Alive, where The Undertaker won the match after a chokeslam into the open grave. However, after interference from The Executioner, as well as the help of several other wrestlers, Mankind escaped the grave and shovelled dirt onto The Undertaker, was ultimately resulting in him being "buried alive".

After being buried alive, The Undertaker returned at Survivor Series again pitting him against Mankind, but with a unique stipulation; hanging 20 ft above the ring was Paul Bearer, enclosed in a steel cage. If Undertaker won the match, he would be able to get his hands on Bearer. Even though The Undertaker won the match, interference from The Executioner enabled Bearer to escape Undertaker's clutches. It was also at this event that Undertaker had developed a more informal, casual "Deadman" incarnation than before. In this then-new form, he took on a Gothic, brash and rebelling persona (perhaps to better fit in with the then-budding, more adult-oriented Attitude Era). In this form, he proclaimed himself as "The Lord of Darkness". Following Survivor Series, The Undertaker briefly turned his attention to The Executioner, who had been interfering in his matches since his arrival. At In Your House 12: It's Time, The Undertaker defeated The Executioner in an Armageddon rules match. He then moved on to feud with Vader, whom he faced in January 1997 at the Royal Rumble in a singles match, which Undertaker lost after Bearer interfered on behalf of his new protégé.

Music: Undertaker - Graveyard Symphony.mp3