Talking Taker
Digging up the career of The Undertaker one PPV match at a time every Friday. Hosted by wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White.
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Episodes
Thursday Nov 28, 2019
Thursday Nov 28, 2019
It's Mr. Kennedy vs. Mr. Dead Man on this week's Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover the first match in a trilogy between Taker and Kennedy at No Mercy 2006. Mr. Kennedy was a rising star at this time and seemed set up to be a future WWE Champion. So what the heck happened? Travis and Alex try to figure out where it all went wrong and just why this guy was so beloved back then. Before we get there though we also wrap up The Great Khali rivalry with a Last Man Standing Match that gets bumped off the SummerSlam card. We'll also discuss a couple of matches with King Booker, Big Vito's big mistake, William Regal horseplayin' backstage, exploding microphones, Kennedy's A.C. Slater impersonation, who can and can't say "Taker", and our Jurassic park movie rankings.
Plus, we kick things off by giving our in-depth review and analysis of the recent "Broken Skull Sessions" special on the WWE Network with Stone Cold and The Undertaker! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Thursday Nov 21, 2019
Thursday Nov 21, 2019
The Undertaker goes to prison! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover the colossal cluster of his Punjabi Prison match at Great American Bash 2006 against The Big Show. Wait - isn't the Punjabi Prison the signature match of The Great Khali? Why yes it is - and we'll discuss the three bizarre words that led to Big Show stepping into the bamboo cage in Khali's place on the day of the show: Elevated Liver Enzymes. But before we get to the cursed PPV and the incredibly confusing Punjabi Prison, we've got a wacky build-up to discuss including a Piper's Pit filled with stuff you can't say on TV anymore, Khali's tongue, The Undertaker in ECW, another Saturday Night's Main Event, Daivari's fashion faux-pas, JBL's debut on commentary (with even more stuff you can't say on TV anymore), the break up of the Mexicools, Gunner Scott (who?), Tatanka, Simon Dean, more incomprehensible Khali promos, and some behind the scenes stories involving Dusty Rhodes and Pat Patterson crafting the big match. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Thursday Nov 14, 2019
Thursday Nov 14, 2019
We're covering one of the bleakest moments in The Undertaker's timeline on this week's Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover his Judgment Day 2006 encounter with the dreaded Great Khali. It's hard to call this anything other than a shocking squash - The Dead Man's most devastating and surprising defeat in 16 years. We'll discuss exactly why it was so shocking and so disappointing to see the Punjabi giant run roughshod over Taker, the WWE, and the English language in his first two months. We'll also discuss Taker sliding into Teddy Long's DMs, the unexpected resurgence of Finlay, young Joey Ryan, The Gymini, "The Longest Yard", Funaki, Rey Mysterio's flop of a World Title Run, that one time Khali killed a guy (literally), our thoughts on the Terminator franchise, the brutal Smackdown roster during this time, and the cinematic spectacle that was "See No Evil". Plus Alex and Travis share about their brief time training to become backyard wrestlers that took place in early 2006 - you don't want to miss these stories! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Check out minddriftbooks.com to pick up a copy of John Doriot's new book "Intersections"!
Check out the latest episode of The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast as we join Mike and JV for a Watch-Along commentary of the Fully Loaded 1999 match between The Undertaker Stone Cold Steve Austin!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Thursday Nov 07, 2019
Thursday Nov 07, 2019
It's the first and only Casket Match in WrestleMania history on this week's Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they hit the Big Time of WrestleMania 22 to cover Taker vs. Mark Henry as The Dead Man tries to take The Streak to 14-0. It's an interesting match-up as we discuss the evolution of The World's Strongest Man, why we weren't all that excited or intrigued about this one at the time, and how it's a lot more fun than we remembered. We also discuss the amazing rematch between Undertaker and Kurt Angle on Smackdown, the exciting return of Saturday Night's Main Event, awkward casket poses, Mark Henry's awesome eulogy, excellent crowd signs, the best opening video ever, Shinedown, Peter Gabriel, and much more. Plus Alex and Travis reminisce about watching this one live together in Travis's college apartment back in the day! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Check out minddriftbooks.com to pick up a copy of John Doriot's new book "Intersections"!
Check out the latest episode of The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast as we join Mike and JV for a Watch-Along commentary of the Fully Loaded 1999 match between The Undertaker Stone Cold Steve Austin!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
Thursday Oct 31, 2019
The Dead Man and The Wrestling Machine square off in one of the greatest matches of the decade on this week's Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they discuss Taker and Kurt Angle's breathtaking WWE Championship battle at No Way Out 2006. It's remembered as one of both men's greatest matches and we go in-depth on how these two experts of their craft painted a masterpiece on the squared circle canvas. Of course it's not all serious talk as we kick off a new year in the career of The Undertaker by discussing his continued streak of ridiculous P.T.O., an epic return at the Royal Rumble (just 2 months after an epic return at the Survivor Series), more silliness from Tazz and Cole, being a fan of MNM's entrance for different reasons, Mark Henry's rise to prominence, and one of the most jaw-dropping Tombstones you will ever see. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Check out The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast every week as Mike and JV cover the career of Stone Cold Steve Austin one PPV match at a time!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Thursday Oct 24, 2019
Thursday Oct 24, 2019
The Undertaker and Randy Orton go to hell! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as the cover the final match in the 2005 Taker and Orton "quadrilogy" inside Hell In A Cell at Armageddon. It's a wild clash full of blood and drama and an even wilder build straight out of the pages of WCW! We talk about all the ridiculous mind games The Dead Man plays with Randy including a mirror hallucination, a bloody Cowboy Bob, a driverless car, a possessed announcer, and why it was all way too much of a leap storyline-wise for us. Plus we'll also cover Taker's epic Survivor Series return, one of the greatest Tombstones of all time, more attempted murder, an illegal fireworks display inside the arena, The Orton family's sports psychiatrist, Randy's early retirement, Taker's new interest in poetry, Cowboy Bob's "C"-level decision making skills, and the true story of why Massive Tool Josh Matthews blocked Alex on Twitter 8 years ago! Plus we'll cover the untimely passing of Eddie Guerrero and take a look ahead to 2006 in the career of The Undertaker. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Check out The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast every week as Mike and JV cover the career of Stone Cold Steve Austin one PPV match at a time!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Friday Oct 18, 2019
Friday Oct 18, 2019
It's a very special Tag Team Crossover episode as The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast crosses over with Talking Taker! Our cohost Alex Doriot is joined by Mike and JV for a very special Watch-Along episode as they team up to cover - what else? - the first ever team up between The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin at Fully Loaded 1998 against Kane and Mankind for the WWF Tag Team Titles! We'll give you the time stamp to cue up and watch the match with us on the WWE Network, but as always you'll still enjoy things even if you aren't able to watch the action with us. Before we kick off Mike and JV tell us about growing up as wrestling fans in another part of the country, what got them into pro wrestling including a classic 80s house show memory, and we hear JV's incredible Stone Cold impression for the first time ever. Then as the action begins we discuss how on fire the pro wrestling business was during this time, Mike's hatred for Earl Hebner, the things you could do in 1998 that you can't do in 2019, some hilarious Stone Cold t-shirt memories, and much more during a pivotal match from the biggest boom period in the history of professional wrestling. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Check out The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast every week as Mike and JV cover the career of Stone Cold Steve Austin one PPV match at a time!
Check out The Extreme ECW Live Cast every week as Mike and JV go episode by episode through ECW!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Thursday Oct 10, 2019
Thursday Oct 10, 2019
The Undertaker and Randy Orton's rivalry goes west as The Cowboy gets involved on this week's Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White as they cover they first ever Handicap Caket Match pitting The Dead Man against Randy and his dad Cowboy Bob at No Mercy 2005. If you're thinking it was crazy to see Bob Orton in a PPV main event in 2005 - you're correct! We'll talk about the Hall Of Famer wheezin' his way through not just this match but multiple others on Smackdown at the ripe old age of 54. He's not the only legend getting in on the fun either as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper inexplicably becomes part of this rivalry as well! We'll discuss all this plus cover the fiery post-match antics at No Mercy that left the crowd stunned (well, at least until the Mexicools came out to clean everything up). Plus we'll discuss Randy's retirement fund for The Undertaker, an autographed Taker DVD, some major Smackdown debuts during this time, the Raw Homecoming show, Teddy Long's timely hip-hop references, another call for the "calvary", more life-like mannequins than you can shake a stick at, The Dead Man's complete dominance of this rivalry, a horrifying superplex attempt, and more on this double-wide, double-deep edition of the podcast. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Thursday Oct 03, 2019
Thursday Oct 03, 2019
It's Taker vs Orton, Round 2! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover the second meeting between The Legend and The Legend Killer at SummerSlam 2005. It's a rivalry that put Orton on the map, and this next chapter is an important piece of the story as it truly becomes a family affair by the end of the match. Along the way we'll also discuss the buildup including a déjà vu match against JBL, Teddy Long bowing up, an alphabet lesson from The Dead Man, Mr. McMahon's first Presidential campaign ad, and the return of The Ugandan Giant Kamala! Oh my! Plus we'll discuss The Undertaker's all-time record at the summer spectacular and debate if he's the low-key "Mr. SummerSlam". Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
Thursday Sep 26, 2019
Thursday Sep 26, 2019
It's one of the most controversial moments in The Undertaker and the WWE's history on this week's Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover the chaotic clash between Muhammad Hassan and The Undertaker at the 2005 Great American Bash. The match itself gives us plenty to talk about including Hassan's (very) Last Ride in the company. But what we're really here to discuss is the so-called "terrorist" angle from July 7, 2005. It's a storyline that would have had people talking no matter what. Unfortunately it just so happened to air on the same day as a major terrorist attack. We'll discuss how this through this storyline into chaos, if anything could have been done to change it, how the WWE reacted, and what did (and didn't) work about the Hassan and Daivari characters. As if that's not enough, we'll also cover the 2005 Draft, Randy Orton's WrestleMania revenge, Muhammad Hassan's attorney who would go on to NXT stardom, another raucous match with JBL, Cole and Tazz's continual stupidity, and a few things we think could have saved the Muhammad Hassan character. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Get a FREE MONTH of exclusive and ad-free podcasts on Stitcher Premium when you use the code TALKINGTAKER
Pick up the BRAND NEW King Of *GONG* Style shirt & merch at TeePublic to help support the show!
Check out our Spotify Playlist highlighting all the music featured across our episodes throughout the years and see if you can remember which songs went with each match - updated every week!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!