Talking Taker

075 - Great American Bash 1990

Before he was The Undertaker, he was Mean Mark! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match on this very special edition of the podcast as they take a pause before covering the 2001 WCW Invasion and explore the origins of the man who would become The Phenom in World Championship Wrestling. Our main event features our signature in-depth analysis of Mean Mark's highest profile match in the company - a United States Championship opportunity against "The Total Package" Lex Luger at Great American Bash 1990. But before we get there we'll also talk about the very beginnings of Mark Calaway's pro wrestling career including his early encounters with Bruiser Brody, his numerous failed nicknames, his days as a young tag team specialist, and an early run in New Japan. We'll also take a look at his entire tenure in WCW including his time in the Skyscrapers tag team, the two managers who would continue to play roles in his career in the WWE, and the one and only time he went one-on-one with Sting! It's a fun detour on our encyclopedic exploration as we look for early signs of The Dead Man aura, see the evolution of some of his signature moves, and ponder what might have been had Mean Mark never became The Undertaker. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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074 - Judgment Day 2001

Well big whoopity doo! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover a no holds barred battle between The Deadman and Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship at Judgment Day 2001. It's a match we've already seen numerous times - but his time it's personal! We'll break down "Bring Your Wife To Work" month in the WWF as Debra, Stephanie, and for the first time Sara get involved in the bitter rivalry between The Brothers Of Destruction and The Two Man Power Trip. Along the way talk about reevaluating our perspective on Austin's heel turn, the reemergence of Taker's nasty habit, a dip spit moment that brought about flashbacks for Travis, Kane's new chain, Austin and Triple H deceiving the police, the greatest promo Jerry Lynn ever cut, Vince McMahon's triumphant return to commentary, and more before we cover a surprisingly entertaining match. Plus hear the moment that that made Travis laugh more than he has in all 74 episodes! Grab a plate of barbecue, download, and Taker Easy! 
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073 - Insurrextion 2001

We're taking the time traveling motorcycle across the pond yet again 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 a rare main event Handicap Match at the U.K. exclusive show Insurrextion 2001 as "Big Daddy Dead Man" takes on Stone Cold and Triple H with the WWF Championship on the line (sort of). Can this one live up to the fun of some of the other U.K. matches we've covered? Or will it fall victim to some shoddy psychology and some hardway color? And while there may be only one week of build-up to this show it's chockfull of great Taker moments including another classic carjacking, the Dead Man's new equalizer, a mystery opponent that made us laugh out loud, a one-eyed rattlesnake, and more new catchphrases. Finally, in addition to our coverage of the match, Travis gives an in-depth review of the "Undertaker: Rise Of The Deadman" graphic novel and we pay our respects to the late, great Mean Gene Okerlund. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy. 
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072 - Backlash 2001

He who has the power has the gold; he who has the gold has the power! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover an historic clash with three titles on the line as Tag Team Champions The Brothers Of Destruction take on WWF Champ Stone Cold Steve Austin and Intercontinental Champ Triple H in the main event of Backlash 2001. It's a jam-packed episode covering a wild month in Taker's career as he squashes Big Show, decimates the Right To Censor, serves some painsicles to Edge & Christian, possesses Kaientai, dishes out some life advice to the locker room, finally shuts up Kevin Kelly, and - unfortunately - walks all over The Hardy Boyz. Of course it's all leading to a huge showdown with The Two Man Power Trip at the PPV - which means we'll also examine the controversial heel turn of Stone Cold and all the desperate attempts to get over this new character. Can these 4 legends overcome some truly bonkers booking to pull out a great match? You'll have to listen to hear our thoughts. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
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071 - WrestleMania X7

It's Taker's way or the highway as we cover an all-time classic 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 epic WrestleMania 17 (or X7 or XVII or X-Seven) encounter between The Dead Man and Triple H. It's a truly memorable affair at arguably the greatest WWF show ever. It's got an incredible build-up as well that's full of intense promos and blood-soaked angles. Of course we still manage to find plenty of silliness and ridiculous stuff to laugh at as we cover Undertaker's abundance of dad jokes, Mike Chioda's incredible napping skills, Stephanie McMahon-equin, sledgehammer silliness, JR's word of the day, the debut of Paul Heyman, Motorhead rocking our faces off, the disappearance of Hak-Ishi and maybe the most disturbing "Bro"ment of the Week yet! Plus Travis and Alex share their memories of the purchase of WCW as we discuss the "closing time" of an era. Download, enjoy, grab a cookie, and Taker Easy! 
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070 - No Way Out 2001

GET THE TABLES! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover a crazy Tag Team Tables from No Way Out 2001. Yes - you read that right - Undertaker and Kane team up to face Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz in a triple threat battle for the tag team titles. But that’s not the only story here as the Brothers Of Destruction also have a few intense battles with the "Island Boys" Rikishi and Haku. It sure looked like their feud was set to go longer - was there supposed to be something more to it? We’ll try to uncover it as we explore their wild tag team First Blood match. Plus we’ve got another edition of Talking Trousers as we look at both Taker and Kane’s odd choices of attire for the PPV and wonder if we should really just #BlameSara. All that plus another Russo “Bro”ment of the week featuring some "continudity" with Travis's favorite faction, XFL memories, Smackdown Xtreme, and we find out what really turns on The Dead Man on this week’s Talking Taker! Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy!
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069 - Royal Rumble 2001 Watch -Along

2001 - The Undertaker Odyssey begins! Cue up the WWE Network and watch along with us as we provide a running commentary for the 2001 Royal Rumble match on this week's Talking Taker! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they relive one of the best Rumble matches ever. Undertaker and Kane appear to be reunited which could spell doom for the other 28 competitors in this star-studded match. We'll give you the time cue so you can watch the match live with us. But you'll still have fun with us even if you just listen as we riff through Drew Carey's Hall Of Fame-worthy appearance, Kane's record-setting performance, the most black jeans you'll ever see in one match, Stone Cold's epic blade job, the surprising return of Haku, the Hall Of Fame credentials of each man in the match, and so much more as the match flies by. Plus before the watch-along we'll talk about Undertaker's Tag Team Title win with The Rock, an "impotent" match with Raven and another Russo "Bro"ment of the week. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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068 - Armageddon 2000

The Undertaker makes Rikishi famous! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover a wild and crazy 6 Man Hell In A Cell at Armageddon 2000. The Dead Man tries to wrestle the WWF Championship away from Kurt Angle but he's also gotta deal with The Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, and The Big Brown Machine. It's a match with a classic spot and it forces us to bust out the patented Talking Taker Blood Tracker. But it never really comes together, and we try to analyze why. Before we get there we're also talking about the long-awaited arrival of Limp Bizkit, some memorable promos leading up to the match including a classic from The Rock, the writing team change behind the scenes that shook things up going forward, Taker debuting yet another new catchphrase and nickname, Vince McMahon's Alabama hayride, "Dirty" Dean Malenko's torrid tryst, and so much more. Plus Travis shares his story from attending one last Nitro and Thunder taping from around this time and why Alex couldn't make it to the show. Download, enjoy, and Taker Easy! 
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067 - Survivor Series 2000

It might be a Decade Of Destruction but we're ditching Talking Taker this week for an episode of Talking Trousers! Join wrestling superfans Alex Doriot and Travis White on their journey through every Undertaker PPV match as they cover The Dead Man’s 10th Anniversary in the WWF at Survivor Series 2000 with a WWF Championship Match against Kurt Angle. But really we’re here to talk about Taker’s incredible and ridiculous white snakeskin pants he wore for this one night and one night only. Where did they come from? Did he borrow them from The Godfather? Did Sara sew them up as a gift? Or did The Undertaker go full “Chris Gaines” on us? We’ll try to get to the bottom of it. Plus the craziness keeps on coming as The Undertaker has some awkward interactions with William Regal and The Right To Censor, Kurt Angle pulls an old-fashioned switcheroo, we hear another new catchphrase, Travis goes on a rant about the WWF’s selective memory, and so much more as we tell the story of this underrated match. So put on your tight pants, download, and Taker Easy! 
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066 - Unforgiven 2000

The Undertaker takes on all comers 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 a Fatal 4 Way encounter with The Rock, Kane, and Chris Benoit at Unforgiven 2000. Can this match live up to the high expectations set by the other 4 Way battles we've covered so far? We'll break it down in-depth. Along the way we'll also talk about the debuts of Old School and Taker's Yard, The Rock's incredible promos, Kane speaking up on commentary, Undertaker spitting tobacco while the WWF tells us it's whacko, why genital warts don't rule, the elevation of Edge & Christian and The Dudleyz, The Phenom's taste in fashion, and much more. Plus the Russo "Bro"ment of the week gives us the long-awaited debut of NAKED MIDEON *shudders*. Download, enjoy and Taker Easy! 
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