Best/Worst Era of the Deadman Nominations

[Valdora]

In addition to voting above please reply below with your reasons and dicussion on the following:

Me and the other hosts have covered this before but that was awhile ago and people may have changed view points/ arguments plus I want to start a good thread for you guys to chime in.

Also as well as overall submit your nominations for the following and why.

Okay so lets start with my personal favourite apperance wise. This is a toss up between purple gloved and the various versions of LOD and MOD but I will have to say my personal favorite Undertaker look is the Lord Of Darkness Attire with ministry beard he wore during the good ministry stuff and occasionally later on. He just looked like a true demonic lord of darkness or demon with a medievil style about him and a true sense of evil power.

Best Apperance Wise: Ministry/LOD combo

Now for worst apperance wise and for me I will have to say how he looked when he returned in 2005 with a full hobo beard and tights. He just looked like a hobo ballerina, sorry but he did. With the regular beard it isn't so bad but the wrestling vest he has worn since 2003 has never been my favourite despite how he seems to be able to wrestle more freely in it. Ironically this is the what my poster has but what can you do. It was a gift.

Worst Apperance Wise: Hobo Ballerina 2005 return

Close follow up was anytime he wore denim during the biker era/ the infamous snakeskin from Survivour Series 2000.

Now for the best in terms of actual matches. This to me is a no contest. While techinically more in his prime in the close second of the LOD I have award this to the modern era where he has had classic matches with anybody that is anybody.

Best Wrestling Wise: Current/ Hybrid with Tights

Worst wrestling wise. This is a no brainer and while some may say Ministry since he didn't wrestle often and when he did it wasn't some of his best work for me it goes to the original western era. Slow boring matches with slow boring terrible giant opponents. Nuff said.

Worst Match Wise: Original Western

And finally on my list in the best story and character wise. This is the era that had the best Undertaker storylines and feuds. The one that we always think back to when we think great Undertaker times and moments. For me this is a no brainer as the Lord of Darkness. He had classic matches with Mankind including the infamous Hell in the cell 2, a lengthy and meaningful WWF title reign, a superb fedu with Shawn Micheals and DX. But what really tops the scales is the fact we got the origin story and the resulting debut of Kane which to this day is the best build up to a character ever done in the WWF/E. The story was dramatic, perfect, greatly acted and told and more than ever made the Undertaker much more realistic while at the same time keeping the supernatural mystique. We then go the debut and great rivalry with Kane and while it went off the tracks a bit years later this was great as well and the matches were dam good for big man matches.
To me this era perfectly balanced the supernatural and realistic Undertaker and told great stories of a heroic dark saviour while doing it. Nuff said.

Feel free to add more catagories if you think of them guys. I look forward to reading and replying.

[DM]

This is quite tough actually since I am a HUGE fan of the purple gloved era of Taker, however the character and his best matches came from his Lord Of Darkness persona. He had a fued with Shawn, Vader, Mankind, Kane, Austin and a few others in the mix during the era, however this particular Taker did show pain while the purple gloved Taker or 'Darkside' Taker we can call him was more of a monster that couldn't be stopped (hence where Kane sort of came from). Darkside Taker had the long hair that covered his face and whenever his face was exposed he was on his back with his eyes closed, slowly sitting up. Once the match was over, he would whip his head back, rolling his eyes and that was a scary as hell sight, where as with the Lord of Darkness he became more 'humanized' and he wasn't as 'scary' as many would say, but the upside (and perhaps downside) was that we got to get into his head and understand the character more, though pull away mystery, it's hard to follow up.

His best appearance I still can't really decide on since again I am a fan of Darkside and LOD Taker, however after seeing the Hybrid Taker live and feeling that aura, it's a real toss up. Darkside Taker had that aura of mystery and the clothes were basic but still it was not being able to see expression on his face that did it, while Lord of Darkness Taker he looked more Metallic so it became more of the attire, rather what's behind the hair, now the Hybrid, while I'm not a fan of the singlet, it's the presentation though I enjoy.

His worst, by far, camo pants...hell...Taker in camo just, not a great look. Plus without the trenchcoat....horrible.

His best match, damn that's hard to pick. His match against HBK in the cell is by far the best Cell Match in history, kind of strange how that set the tone later on in years. Undertaker and Kane was the best storied match ever in my opinion. I am BIG into long drawn out stories that have a massive blow off at the end and both of them put on a hell of 'monster' match. Undertaker and Kurt Angle I believe at No Way Out when Kurt was champion was a superb match as well. And of course, Taker/HBK WM25 was a match of pure epic and showed the world what a wrestling match is.....however, maybe because I was there in person, but WM26 match against HBK..my GOD talk about drama, it had all the elements you needed, while it wasn't the best 'wrestling' match it held your attention from beginning to end.

Worst wrestling wise, this hands down goes to Ministry Taker. While the character was great, in ring, he was horrible, he did little to nothing during this era which is a real shame though I'm sure due to injury and being out of shape there were reasons. I wasn't a fan of his wrestling during this era because it felt that he was 'retiring' during this stage and lets face it, does Taker REALLY need to be in a faction to get over? Really? To me, Ministry Taker was all about cutting evil promos, having his group beat people up (and get them over) have a crap ten minute match, and preach more. They were more so embellishing over how 'powerful' he was but couldn't perform in the ring.

His worst match, see for me, I grew up watching big guys fumble around (Andre, Big John Studd, Bundy) so seeing Taker do this was common formula. Now while everyone is going to give me complete crap for this, I think his match against Rock at KOTR (I believe it was) was his worst match. Taker gets a rock bottom in ten seconds and thanks to paul bearer, the ref didn't count. They wouldn't even do that to Chavo these days yet they were able to pull that off with Taker and afterwards, the match was just...I hate to say it..Rock was carrying him.

Now best story...screw it I'm doing a top five.

5. Undertaker/Mankind - While Taker had been top dog beating everyone in his path, Mankind was the ONLY character to not be scared of Taker, most opponents would run in fear or take a hit and the match was over, Mankind, loved the abuse and this pushed the Taker character to new heights of violence. We always wondered "What if Taker did..." now apply that to Mankind..and we saw it.

4. Undertaker/Randy Orton - Not that Orton needed anymore of a push since he got the rub from HHH and Flair, plus the whole Evolution thing, but turning him Face was the BIGGEST mistake they made with him and having him go up against Taker. That match at Mania was one of the ones where I went "Shit...he could do it" and afterwards, Orton was made.

3. Undertaker/Roberts - Now I know a lot are wondering...why this is number three. Case in point, Jake was the man when it came to promos. You literally believed him when he spoke, wrestled and came into the building. You literally believed, this is the real deal, now, apply that psychology with the mysterious Undertaker.....gold. At that time, there was no streak, there was no 'big aura' except for him being a big man that can't be beaten...though Roberts, no matter the size, was always able to get into your head. Granted their match wasn't the best at WM8, it was the psychology behind it. Ironic....Taker also loved Roberts for his wrestling mind.

2. Taker/Kane - One of the longest build ups, one of the most anticipated, one of the best ideas and one of the best concepts ever done. What made this great is EVERYONE is always interested in the unknown, or some dark/biblical force because it has that 'epic fight' feel to it. These were two characters that in 'real life' would never exist, but in the world of wrestling, they're as real as the person sitting next to you.

1. Taker/HBK - Every promotion has that staple, that match that forces you...to choose. WcW/NWA had Steamboat and Flair, TNA has Styles and Daniels, WWF(E) has Taker and Shawn. You know 5/10/15/20/30/40 years down that line if they cross paths in the wrestling world they'll always be that 'one more time' aspect, similar to Steamboat and Flair and AJ and Daniels. They have that storied history not just from the cell, but way prior to that as well, both of them got their metoric rise nearly at the same time, while one went away, his aura never left and while Taker was reinventing himself, still, that aura was there and when they finally met at the Royal Rumble prior to their epic bout at WM25, Everyone and I mean EVERYONE said 'remember when..?" Again, long fued/history. I look at it like this, when Steamboat and Flair talked during their Hall of Fame inductions and they locked eyes, you knew, even then, you pair them up and you're going to get a classic match, the same will be with Taker and HBK. They're two conflicting styles, two conflicting characters and both are respected amongst the wrestling community.

(Epic Post Finished)