Talking Taker

102 - Great American Bash 2004

It's the Concrete Crypt Match! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they take the podcast into "True Crime" territory to cover the Live Free Or Die debacle between The Dudley Boyz and The Dead Man at the Great American Bash 2004. It's one of the most ridiculous, infamous moments and matches in Taker's career and we hold nothing back as we try to unravel all of the absurdity of Paul Heyman trying to force The Phenom to "Do The Right Thing." What exactly is "The Right Thing"? No one seems to know! Why is no one calling the authorities when Heyman is trying to murder Paul Bearer on live television? No idea! Our heads are spinning as we find more questions than answers here. Plus we'll also discuss more shenanigans with Booker T, our new nickname for Taker, JBL's eerily relevant promos, Kurt Angle's ineptitude as general manager, trying to explain Rico's gimmick, the potential for a heel Dead Man run during this time, a forgotten classic with John Cena, Funaki's new catchphrase, The Dudleyz flop as main eventers, and if this PPV deserves to be known as the worst of all time. Do the right thing - download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
Check out our brand new 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! 
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101 - Judgment Day 2004

We're putting a spell on you 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 creepy and kooky and all together ooky match between The Dead Man and Booker T at Judgment Day 2004. Taker and Paul Bearer are back to their mysterious ways and ruling strong over Smackdown. So to combat The Phenom, Booker seeks some black magic from Mama Sangry! Yes, this really happens and yes, we really pick it all apart - dirt from an unmarked grave, tree-legged dogs, stereotypical cliches and all!. Along the way we'll also talk about another Grampa Simpson moment, the rapid decline in quality of Smackdown during this period, the rise of JBL, the epic failure of Mordecai, more F.B.I. beatdowns, Alex's terrible Paul Bearer impression, Taker's odd look and incredible entrances, Booker T's great matches (or lack thereof), and a long-overdue correction regarding The Undertaker's entrance music. Plus we discuss The Graveyard Dogs match at Extreme Rules 2019 and reveal the fan's vote for the Top 10 matches of the Biker Taker era! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
Check out our brand new 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! 
Pick up a Taker Easy shirt over at TeePublic to help support the show!
Join our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!

100 - WrestleMania XX

The Dead Man rises! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match for a special "live" episode as they get together in person to mark a milestone with their 100th show and cover the resurrection of The Phenom as he takes on his brother Kane at WrestleMania XX. After 4 years The Undertaker has returned to his glory days and his "old school" roots to kick off the next chapter of his career. And the best part? We were there for it! Alex and Travis reminisce about attending WrestleMania XX at Madison Square Garden and spending a weekend in New York City as unsupervised high school students. We talk about our plan to get out of school, the wrestlers we bumped into across town, our many instances of culture shock, and all the things you didn't see on TV at the show. Plus Alex interviews his parents about just what they were thinking sending 2 kids across the country to WrestleMania! Along the way to the match we'll also discuss the epic buildup including Kane's shirtless eulogy, Vince's exceptional heel work, a Royal Rumble shocker, Taker's paranormal mindgames, more announcer amnesia, misadventures with Bobby Heenan and Mean Gene, and, of course, the incredible return of Paul Bearer! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
Check out our brand new 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! 
Don't forget to vote for your Top 10 PPV Matches from the Biker Taker run! Click on the link to vote for your Top 10 and we'll reveal the fan's vote on next week's show. 
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099 - Survivor Series 2003

Big Evil rests in peace! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover the final match of the Biker Taker run - a Buried Alive Match vs. Mr. McMahon at Survivor Series 2003! Yes, it's as insane as it sounds and we'll cover every minute of it as we lay to rest this iconic 3 and a half year stretch of Taker's career. We'll discuss Taker's final bike ride, defeating the WWE Champ and U.S. Champ 4 times in one night, the crazy parallels to 2019, Vince's incredible (and incredibly blasphemous) heel work, Father Frank, Taker traveling back to the graveyard, the sword of Damocles, a gaggle of maggots, an all-time gusher of a blade job, and our new sponsorship from Oops I Crapped My Pants! Alex and Travis also get to cover the Smackdown taping that was the first wrestling show they ever attended together as it falls smack dab in the middle of this buildup. Plus we close it all out by discussing our favorite moments and memories of time-traveling motorcycle ride and share both of our Top 10 PPV Matches from this run! Click on the link to vote for your Top 10! And as always, Taker Easy! 
Pick up the I'm A Biker Taker Guy (Or Girl) or the T.C.B. shirt over at TeePublic to celebrate the end of this run!
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098 - No Mercy 2003

The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar get overshadowed by The McMahon Show 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 penultimate contest of the Biker Taker Era - the Biker Chain Match at No Mercy 2003. But even though BIg Evil is back in the main event scene with Lesnar, this storyline gets completely co-opted by the first ever Father-Daughter Match in WWE History. (Yuck.) We'll tear all this family drama apart before covering a match whose stipulation doesn't really make any sense. In fact, The Dead Man himself can't even explain it! This episode is jampacked with 2 months worth of build-up as we talk talk Brock's new and hilarious personality, a incredible match with Kurt Angle, Paul London's re-debut, Heidenreich, Brock and Sable's love connection, Taker's complete dominance of this feud, Blind Melon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Tazz's Keys To Victory, The F.B.I.'s continued incompetence, BIg Evil turning blue, and an answer to a theory we've long-held about Taker's backstage whereabouts. Plus we react to The Undertaker's surprise return to Raw in 2019 and his upcoming Extreme Rules match! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
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097 - SummerSlam 2003

People get ready, the A-Train's a-coming! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover Big Evil's battle with the former Prince Albert (and future Lord Tensai) at SummerSlam 2003. It's a match you probably forgot about, but don't skip over this one - we've got plenty of absurd and hilarious buildup to cover. Just why on earth did the WWE see so much in the nipple-pierced, hairy-chested behemoth that was The A-Train instead of someone like a Kanyon or a Chuck Palumbo? And why did The Dead Man get stuck carrying this dead weight on the 2 biggest shows of the year? We'll try to figure it out. Plus we're talking more jaw-dropping raps from John Cena, The World's Hairiest Love Machine, Sable's hotel key, the greatest moment in Matt Bloom's career, Mr. McMahon's type, maybe the weirdest Smackdown main event ever, Taker's strangest tag team partner ever, and the true reason why Travis hated Bradshaw for all these years. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
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096 - Vengeance 2003

Word Life! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover the classic clash between the Old School Dead Man and the New School John Cena at Vengeance 2003. John Cena is red-hot and on a rapid rise to the top at this time. But Big Evil is still the Big Dog and has a few lessons about respect to teach the Doctor Of Thuganomics. But that's not the only feud we're covering as we also take a detour to Little Italy and recap Undertaker's short-lived rivalry with the F.B.I. This episode is jam-packed as we cover Cena's intense (and un-PC) freestyles, Italian wack-jobs, more Nathan Jones, Chuck Palumbo's cigar, the greatest Last Ride ever, the reunion of the Middle Aged Ministry Of Darkness, a rare team-up between Taker and Brock Lesnar, Cena getting handsy with Stephanie, Orlando Jordan's yawner of a debut, and so much more. Plus Alex and Travis offer their initial assessment of the Saudi Arabian debacle between The Undertaker and Goldberg. And we hear about an incredible fan interaction with Taker himself! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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095 - WrestleMania XIX

The Undertaker goes for 11-0! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover Big Evil's taking on the biggest handicap of his streak. No - not The Big Show and A-Train. We mean Nathan Jones! Yes, we're discussing the rapid rise and fall of the Colossus Of Boggo Road, his short-lived team-up with The Dead Man, and their WrestleMania match that wasn't - or was it? Why was the WWE so high on this bloke? What made them change their mind so quickly? How did Taker get stuck in the middle of it all? It's all very confusing and crappy and we'll try to understand just how it all went down. Along the way we'll also talk about Taker as a Tough Enough trainer, our conjuring of Bill Demott, the Full Blooded Italians, Tazz's questionable commentary, watching this show on WWE.com, the WWE's favorite band in the whole world, and arguably the single dumbest backstage segment we've covered in 95 episodes! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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094 - No Way Out 2003

It's the most Out Of The Box episode of Talking Taker ever! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every PPV match of The Undertaker's career as they unbox the first ever PPV match between Taker and The Big Show at No Way Out 2003. After a few stops and starts throughout their careers these two giants finally face off on PPV and we discuss if it lived up to the enormous hype. But more importantly we're talking about a month of some of the most bonkers build-up we've ever discussed on the show. Brian Kendrick delivering a singing telegram? Yep. Brother Love coming out of a box? Yep. Chris Kanyon impersonating Boy George? Yep. The Undertaker cuddling an adorable puppy? Yep - all these things really happened on Smackdown in 2003 and we'll discuss each one of them. Plus we'll cover the rises of The A-Train and Nathan Jones, the greatest sweater you'll ever see, The Dead Man's new catchphrase, more confusing WWE Network edits, and the debut of one of Big Evil's signature finishing moves. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
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093 - Royal Rumble 2003 Watch-Along

We're rollin' rollin' rollin' into 2003 with another Royal Rumble Watch-Along 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 Dead Man's return to action after being tossed off the stage by his former tag team partner and riding buddy The Big Show. We'll cover this devastating attack by Aiken, SC's favorite son plus the misleading vignettes that led up to the PPV before we cue up the WWE Network and provide our signature running commentary for the big match. Taker's not in it too much, but he does make quite the impact when he arrives and goes hunting for Brock Lesnar. But don't worry - we've still got plenty to talk about riff on including the Smackdown 6, Tommy Dreamer, Bull Buchanan, Bill Demott, Maven, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Kane, A-Train, Batista, John Cena, The Hardyz, and more! We'll give you the time cue so you can sync up and watch with us. But as always if you can't watch-along don't worry - we know you'll still be able to enjoy our conversation as well as Big Evil and The Next Big Thing continue their rivalry. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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