Talking Taker

BACK FROM THE DEAD: SummerSlam 1999

We're looking back at one of the most underrated matches in The Undertaker's history on this month's BACK FROM THE DEAD! Join our cohosts and wrestling buddies Alex Doriot and Travis White as they take the time-traveling hearse back to SummerSlam 1999 and a shockingly fun tag team match between The Unholy Alliance of The Undertaker and Big Show and the oddball pairing of X-Pac and Kane. Travis was a big fan of this match and even ranked it in his top 10 for this era - we'll see how it holds up when we watch it along on our next brand new episode August 1 as we celebrate its 25 year anniversary. Consider this classic episode as a preview as we discuss the story of this match including Taker and Big Show's epic "ride through the desert promo", the true meaning of "X-Pac Heat" in the summer of 99, Hardcore Holly's involvement in this build, and how this match ended up as the final PPV match for The Dead Man before he became the American Badass. Enjoy this look back and be sure to join us for our next new episode August 1st!
 

227: Batman Meets The Undertaker

The Dark Knight finally crosses paths with The Lord Of Darkness on this very special edition of Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White as they trade in the time-traveling hearse for a Batmobile and devote an entire episode to one of Travis's favorite long-running threads on this podcast - the connections between The Batman and The Undertaker. We've joked about it since the earliest days of the show, but there truly is a deep crossover between these two iconic characters and if you're anything like us you've probably got a deep personal affection for both of them as well. We're taking a deep dive into every Batman movie and TV show ever made in honor of the 35th anniversary of the release of "Batman '89" and finding a way to connect them all to our favorite phenom. Plus we're sharing all the nostalgic memories we have of watching these movies from an early age including Travis's very first time in a theater, Alex's love of the original tv series, all of the incredible toys we played with, the epic soundtracks, Travis's personal association with The Dark Knight, and some heated disagreements over the Batman Animated Series and the Zack Snyder movies. Plus we'll discuss which villains remind us of some of Taker's greatest rivals including Edge's inspiration from Heath Ledger's Joker performance, the way The Phenom's career arc coincided with each different director's series of movies, the actual rarely discussed comic book villain known as The Undertaker, and of course our full rankings of all the Batman films. All that plus another round of Undertaker sightings discussing his appearances on two of the top wrestling podcasts on YouTube plus our thoughts on the debut of the Wyatt Sick6. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
 
Today's episode is brought to you by The Cappy! Pick up a pack of Cappys to protect your drinks from spills, insects, and from going flat all summer long! 
 
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Subscribe to Travis's YouTube channel to stay connected and hear all his latest music coming soon - also available on Spotify and Apple Music! 
 
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our collection of figure unboxings, vlogs, video podcasts, and more!
 
 

BACK FROM THE DEAD: Survivor Series 1996

The Undertaker is doing the Bat Dance on this month's BACK FROM THE DEAD! Join our cohosts and wrestling buddies Alex Doriot and Travis White as they take the time-traveling hearse back to Survivor Series 1996 and The Undertaker's bat-like entrance to face off against Mankind. This classic episode is the perfect preview for our July episode as we celebrate the 35th anniversary of Batman 89 and finally dedicate an entire episode to the many parallels between The Dark Knight and The Lord Of Darkness! Be sure to join us July 1st for our next brand new episode: The Batman Meets The Undertaker! 
 

226: The New Skyscrapers

We're covering The Undertaker's earliest days as a tag team specialist and his debut for a major wrestling company on an all new Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their encyclopedic exploration digging up The Dead Man as we take the time-traveling hearse back to WCW in early 1990 and Mean Mark Callous's short-lived run as part of The New Skyscrapers alongside Dangerous Danny Spivey. It's a brief run of less than 10 televised matches, but it's an incredibly important and formative run in Taker's career including the origins of his relationship with ol' Peanuthead himself Teddy Long and his first exposure to his future finishing move. We're breaking down every one of those televised matches against some of the most ridiculous jobbers you've ever seen and culminating with a couple of wild brawls with the greatest tag team of all tiz-iiiiime, The Road Warriors! Along the way we lose our minds laughing at the likes of Zan Panzer, The Galaxians, Agent Steele, ridiculous commentary from Kevin Sullivan and Terry Funk, incredible haiku poetry from Hawk, Gordon Solie's resemblance to Harry Caray, Dan Spivey's college football credentials and JR's obsession with them, The Flying Wallendas, the brotherhood of the traveling mask, deadly elementary school chairs, Thomas Dewey, 10 items or less lines, the Wild Thing Rap, and the embarrassment that was The Masked Skyscraper. 
 
All that and we've got another month's worth of Undertaker sightings to discuss including a big interview on Busted Open and some highlights from Six Feet Under. Plus Alex shares about his experience watching Smackdown live from a suite and meeting up with a Pod Street Krew member in real life! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
 
Show your P.S.K. Pride with our brand new double-sided Pod Street Krew shirt over at TeePublic.com! 
 
Stay connected with our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
 
Subscribe to Travis's YouTube channel to stay connected and hear brand new music - also available on Spotify and Apple Music! 
 
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our collection of figure unboxings, vlogs, video podcasts, and more!
 

BACK FROM THE DEAD: Invasion 2001

Before we go back to The Undertaker's origins in WCW, we're taking it back to the infamous WCW Invasion on this month's BACK FROM THE DEAD! Join our cohosts and wrestling buddies Alex Doriot and Travis White as they take the time-traveling hearse back 23 years to the absolutely insane era of the summer of 2001 including the formation of The Alliance between ECW and WCW as well as the stalker angle with DDP and Taker. It was a wild ride and arguably one of the worst storylines of Big Evil's career, and we discuss it all in-depth. Plus we cover Travis's debut on Monday Night Raw - for real! Enjoy this trip back in time and be sure to join us June 1st for our next brand new episode covering The Complete History Of The New Skyscrapers! 
 

BONUS: Backlash 2007 Revisited With Watchalong Tommy!

Just in time for this year's Backlash event, enjoy this special bonus audio of our cohost Alex Doriot joining friend of the show and P.S.K. Member Watchalong Tommy on his YouTube channel to revisit Backlash 2007! Alex and Travis were there live in Atlanta for this hidden gem of a PPV so you'll hear all about the experience inside the Philips Arena. Plus we'll discuss all the goings-on of 2007 in the WWE and beyond including forgotten WWE Dot Com shows, American Idol contestants you haven't thought about in years, a Divas match that blew us away, a dark match and a backstage segment that you won't see on Peacock, and two World Title matches that are worth looking back at including The Undertaker's Last Man Standing Match with Batista! 
Check out the full video version of the show on the Watchalong Wrestling YouTube channel and be sure to like and subscribe! 
Check out Alex and Travis's original episode discussing their trip to Backlash 2007 and all the buildup to The Undertaker's match! 

225: The Thursday Night War - April 29, 1999 with The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast (Smackdown Pilot Episode vs. WCW Thunder)

We're breaking down the opening shots of the Thursday Night War of the Attitude Era on an all new Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their encyclopedic exploration digging up The Dead Man as they look back 25 years to the pilot episode of Smackdown featuring a massive tag team match (playa!) between The Undertaker and Triple H against The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. It's so massive we had to call in another tag team to discuss it with us - Mike and J.V. from The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast! We'll discuss this historic night that features Taker in the main event of the first episode of another one of the WWE's signature programs and how the show stands up 25 years later. And we'll match it up with the other wrestling program that was airing at the exact same time that night - WCW Thunder featuring a World Title match between DDP and Bam Bam Bigelow! We'll give you the watch-along cues to watch both of these huge main events with us as we discuss the very different vibes of these shows as well as some of the other pop culture highlights of April 1999 on TV, the movies, and even the radio at the time. 
 
Plus we'll also give a full breakdown of The Undertaker's exciting WrestleMania 40 weekend including his Hall Of Fame appearance, narrating the Bray Wyatt documentary, and shocking main event run-in that saved the story for Cody Rhodes! You don't want to miss this one - 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!
 
Show your P.S.K. Pride with our brand new double-sided Pod Street Krew shirt over at TeePublic.com! 
 
Stay connected with our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
 
Subscribe to Travis's YouTube channel to stay connected and hear his latest release, "Bridges" - also available on Spotify and Apple Music! 
 
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our collection of figure unboxings, vlogs, video podcasts, and more!
 

BACK FROM THE DEAD: King Of The Ring 1999

They just played a role in the main event of WrestleMania 40, so now we're looking back 25 years at the origins of The Undertaker and The Rock's rivalry on this month's BACK FROM THE DEAD! Join our cohosts and wrestling buddies Alex Doriot and Travis White as they take the time-traveling hearse back to the height of the chaotic Attitude Era in June of 1999. Taker and The Rock have a highly memorable build up to their match including The Rock busting out his own Brahma Bull symbol, plus we try to unravel every loose thread and plot hole from the Greater Power reveal and so much more. Enjoy this trip back in time and be sure to join us May1st for our next brand new episode covering 25th Anniversary of the pilot episode of Smackdown featuring our friends Mike and J.V. from The Bottom Line Wrestling Cast! 
 
Today's episode is brought to you by Stubforge! Check out their ticket stub replica creation tool and share your creations with us on our social media and we'll pick one listener to receive a physical ticket replica of their choice!

224: The Undertaker vs. The Iron Claw!

Can The Undertaker break The Von Erich Curse? Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their encyclopedic exploration digging up The Dead Man as they take their time-traveling hearse back to Dallas in 1989 to cover some of the earliest footage of Mark Calaway as The Punisher facing off with The Modern Day Warrior Kerry Von Erich and many more characters from the USWA. This episode is inspired by the award-winning film "The Iron Claw" and we'll give our thoughts on the movie before discuss these "deleted scenes" and why we think The Punisher got cut out of the movie. We'll discuss some matches and characters we never thought we'd talk about on this show including Taras Bulba, Latin Lover, Uncle Elmer, Cousin Junior, Billy Toe Travis, Eric Embry, Gentleman Chris Adams, Matt Borne, and more. Along the way we'll cover The Punisher roaming free in the badlands, grown men ripping cigs in the front row of these matches, grandmas going nuts over The Von Erichs, brawls running through the fire exits, whether or not Uncle Elmer is a trained athlete, Marc Lowrance's unintentionally funny commentary, Kerry's amazing babyface promo, the pure fun of territory wrestling, the returns of Percy Pringle III and Skandor Akbar and P.Y. Chu Hi, plus a final encounter between The Undertaker and The Texas Tornado in the WWF. All that and another jam-packed edition of Undertaker Sightings for the month of March including predictions for The Dead Man at WrestleMania XL. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
 
Today's episode is brought to you by Stubforge! Check out their ticket stub replica creation tool and share your creations with us on our social media and we'll pick one listener to receive a physical ticket replica of their choice!
 
Show your P.S.K. Pride with our brand new double-sided Pod Street Krew shirt over at TeePublic.com! 
 
Stay connected with our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
 
Subscribe to Travis's YouTube channel to stay connected and hear his latest release, "Bridges" - also available on Spotify and Apple Music! 
 
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our collection of figure unboxings, vlogs, video podcasts, and more!
 
 

MEGASODE: The Complete WrestleMania 25-28 Quadrilogy Commentary With Randy Turco!

This year marks the 15th Anniversary of the first match of The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels/Triple H WrestleMania Quadrilogy, and we're celebrating this momentous occasion with a special MEGASODE edition of Talking Taker! Collected here for the first time is all 4 of our Watch-Along alternate commentaries joined by special guest Randy Turco for each of these matches, back to back to back to back! We'll give you the time cues and invite you to join our three man booth as we look back The Undertaker vs Shawn Michales from WM 25 and 26 and The Undertaker vs Triple H from WM 27 and 28. It's the greatest story in Mania history and some of the best matches in WWE history, and this feels like a fitting way to honor them. It's also the perfect audio for you to listen to on the Road To WrestleMania whether you're traveling to Mania 40 in person or just getting hyped from your own home. So sit back, relax, rewatch these classics with us, and Taker Easy! 
 
Today's episode is brought to you by The Art Of Manliness Podcast! Be sure to check out their latest episodes, subscribe, and let them know that Talking Taker sent ya! 
 
Give Randy a follow over @PokeysLittleDog!
 
Show your P.S.K. Pride with our brand new double-sided Pod Street Krew shirt over at TeePublic.com! 
 
Stay connected with our Creature Community by following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
 
Subscribe to Travis's YouTube channel to stay connected and hear his latest release, "Bridges" - also available on Spotify and Apple Music! 
 
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and check out our collection of figure unboxings, vlogs, video podcasts, and more!