Talking Taker

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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092 - No Mercy 2002

WARNING - this episode is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as we cover quite possibly the bloodiest match of Big Evil's career as he battles Brock Lesnar inside Hell In A Cell at No Mercy 2002. You know we're busting out our patented Blood Tracker for this one to count all the times we're seeing red during this match and the buildup to it. Unfortunately, that's not the only thing that gets messy on the road to the PPV. That's because this week we're not just Talking Taker, we're also Talking Tracy! An evil woman from the Undertaker's past has been dug up by Paul Heyman to distract The Dead Man - and it's as terrible as it sounds. We'll cover all this plus all of the drama surrounding Undertaker's cast, more Mattitude, the best/worst Smackdown intro ever, Heyman's MVP performance, Chuck Palumbo, Tajiri, giant popcorn bags, and Taker's absolute gusher of a blade job. You don't want to miss this one - download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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091 - Unforgiven 2002

#SaraRuinsEverything! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover the first ever encounter between Big Evil and "The Next Big Thing" Brock Lesnar. It's an awesome battle between the dominant, young rookie and the Decade Of Destruction. And unfortunately it's overshadowed by the return of the Undertaker's wife Sara and her unborn child. Alex and Travis discuss the highs and lows of what was at times a truly awesome feud and at others utterly abysmal. Along the way we'll talk about The Undertaker's final Raw appearance for a while, the PG-13 word of the week, another fun triple threat with some rising stars, the rise of Matt Hardy V1 and his pivotal role in this rivalry, Taker's weird one-off entrance music, the way this match parallels a Taker's rivalry with Shawn Michaels, more great work from Paul Heyman, Stephanie McMahon's peaches, and much more. Plus we explore some of the reasons why The Undertaker gained a bad reputation with the "smart marks" during this era and if he deserved it or not. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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090 - SummerSlam 2002

It's time to Make America Badass Again! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they discuss an a star-spangled battle between the Dead Man and the UnAmerican Test. The Red Devil has become the Red, White, and Blue Devil now as he turns from his evil ways and lets the world know he's proud to be an American. We discuss this patriotic rivalry and debate on the value of the UnAmerican faction and why Vince McMahon was so obsessed with getting Test over. Plus there's a ton of other fun stuff for us to talk about this week including a short-lived rivalry with Chris Nowinski, a new alliance with Booker T and Goldust (and MiniDust), an epic 8-man tag, Taker's new favorite cereal, 3 Minute Warning, Sgt. Slaughter, Mae Young, Fabulous Moolah, and one ridiculous segment that Alex calls his favorite of all-time. Plus we discuss the all-time classic rib the roster played on Undertaker during this time where they attempted to get him to pull off a "Takeroonie"! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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089 - Vengeance 2002

Three is a magic number as we cover an underrated triple threat match, an iconic debut, and a legendary ladder match on this week's jam-packed episode! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover the main event of Vengeance 2002 and Taker's defense of the Undisputed Championship against The Rock and Kurt Angle. It's a match that gets slept on but could go down as one of the greatest three-way matches ever. We'll talk about what makes it so memorable including all the stolen moves and near falls as well as a really fun build. But before we get there we'll also discuss the debut of a young kid named John Cena and his handshake with Big Evil which instantly made him a star. And to top it all off, we're also going in-depth on the one non-PPV match all you Creatures Of The Night have been waiting for us to cover since day one of the podcast: Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy in a Ladder Match from Raw! Alex and Travis analyze the incredible storytelling on display that sets this match apart makes it still hold up all these years later. All that plus Busta Rhymes, more Marc Lloyd bullying, Jerry Lawler's Crossword Puzzle Party, Jackie Gayda, Eric Bischoff, a cursed episode of Raw, and more as we begin the Ruthless Aggression era. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!  
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088 - King Of The Ring 2002

It's a true game of thrones as The Prince Of Darkness fends off all sorts of challengers to his crown on the way to King Of the Ring 2002 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 the build-up to and the confrontation between Big Evil and the King Of Kings Triple H at the 2002 KOTR show. But The Game isn't the only contender the Red Devil has to deal with. Our fighting champion also faces threats from The Hardy Boyz, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, Tommy Dreamer, and more! We'll talk about all these men's run-ins with The Dead Man plus one of Hulk Hogan's biggest tall tales, a full cup of dip spit, an even fuller bucket of puke, the answer to who is Vince's Boy, Billy and Chuck jokes that don't age well, early shades of Evolution, Lance Storm's big push, Stone Cold's walkout, The Rock's return to the company, Paul Heyman's return to commentary, another Punk Card pulling and so much more.
PLUS - Stay tuned to the very end of the show as Alex gives Travis a very special audio Birthday present featuring a guest appearance from a WWE HALL OF FAMER! Seriously - you don't want to miss maybe the coolest moment in the history of this podcast. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
 
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087 - Judgment Day 2002

Somebody say something 'bout nostalgia? Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover a rematch over a decade in the making between Big Evil and Hulk Hogan at Judgment Day 2002. We'll make sure to put enough gas in our time-traveling motorcycle, since apparently The Hulkster did not! Yes, before we cover the match (and 2 of the worst chokeslams you'll ever see), we're covering the hilariously botched motorcycle chase between Hogan and Taker that stalled out on Raw. What were they even thinking with this one? And just when you think it can't get any worse, we also get to cover The Red Devil hog-tying The Hulk and dragging him around on a motorcycle drive-by backstage! If that's not enough for you, we're also talking the debut of Batista, getting the F out, lumberjack Booker T, spookin' creeps out in Canada, ridiculous ovations, Yapapi straps, bags of roadkill, and so much more. Plus we share our thoughts on The Undertaker's involvement (or lack thereof) at WrestleMania and the Raw After Mania. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
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