Written by Stuart Cooper
We're moving onto the number 9 position and boy is it tough to narrow it down. So many good matches and classic moments have taken place at Wrestlemania, I could make a top 20 if I wanted to. After careful thinking, the list has formed in my mind and it's time to get to one of my favorite feuds of all-time...The Undertaker vs. Kane! I have fond memories of watching the RAW and Superstars episodes leading up to Wrestlemania 14, it was surreal to imagine The Undertaker meeting his ultimate match. So let's dive right into it!
9. The First Time Ever: The Undertaker battles his brother Kane!
Wrestlemania 14 (1998)
Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts
19,028 people in attendance
Thoughts: The months leading up to Wrestlemania were quite thrilling. This time period for wrestling was absolute madness. You had the NWO in it's peak in WCW, Stone Cold's rise to becoming WWF Champion, Mike Tyson and D-X are hanging around...it's truly classic. Towards the end of 1997 The Undertaker entered a feud with Shawn Michaels. This feud led to the first ever HELL IN A CELL match. The match was a brutal classic that many still consider to be the best HELL IN A CELL match of all-time. At the end of the match The Undertaker's brother KANE made his debut. Kane proceeded to walk down the ramp and rip the cell door off it's hinges. The crowd went absolutely nuts when Kane destroyed The Undertaker using his own moves. For weeks following the Undertaker refused to battle his brother in any type of match. It wasn't until Kane cost the Undertaker the WWF Title at the Royal Rumble that the Undertaker began pursuing a match with his brother. The match was set, the heat was on. Wrestling fans had begun to grow accustomed to The Undertaker being a unbeatable phenom, especially in the case of Wrestlemania, so it was going to take a strong opponent to get fans into another Mania match. Kane was the perfect opponent for The Undertaker. It's like watching Superman vs. Bizarro, Green Lantern vs. Sinestro, Goku vs. Vegeta, The Double Dragons vs. The Shadow, it's that legendary Good vs. Evil, Light vs. Darkness battle. Kane had the same size, the same power, the same moves, and even The Undertaker's former manager. It looked like the Undertaker may actually be in trouble.
The match started off with the entrances and boy was Undertaker's memorable. This was one of the first real elaborate Undertaker mania entrances. Druids came out with torches and ushered the Undertaker to the ring. It was absolutely brilliant and really created that classic Undertaker deadman aura the fans love. The match itself was pretty fast paced and hard hitting. Both men exchanged finishers multiple times, there was a sloppy table spot by Undertaker, and ultimately after 3 Tombstone Piledrivers, the Undertaker got the win. Kane was really the first man to go the distance with the Undertaker (without cheating) and this would be the beginning of a long and storied love/hate relationship between the two brothers (kayfabe). The following month was the classic Inferno Match that I would say is almost as good as the Mania 14 match. This match is definitely better than their 2nd mania match that took place 6 years later at Wrestlemania XX. But that's another mania for another day...
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