The 90's for the WWF were just outstanding with multi-layered story lines, and unexpected twists and turns that kept you watching from week to week. It may have been a mixture of being young and naive about the world of wrestling, or watching for years have made me jaded, longing for the days were I believed it was all real.
There was one superstar who remained my favorite for a decade The Undertaker. The Undertaker came into the federation of Ted DiBiase, and he was the first "unbeatable monster" gimmick I have even seen. Taker was almost 7 feet tall, and had the character of being an undead, supernatural, mystical, machine who was one of the first people to make Hogan look powerless. He was main event right off the bat, and the WWF made a pretty convincing case that no one was able to beat him, in fact it only took one year for him to take the title from Hogan (with the help of Ric Flair).
In 1991 the romance between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth was the centerpiece of the world at the time. They invested alot of time, and effort into the production of this story. Do yourself a favor and watch the wedding reception between the two. I was only going to do a gif of what I needed, but the whole video is hilarious. Macho is incredible!
The RSVP clearly states only, OH YEAH! I can only imagine the phone calls she must have gotten during the wedding planning. Poor Bobby Henan gets bounced for no reason, and I now regret not having Lord Alfred Hayes and Mean Gene MCing my wedding, it adds so much to the day. Macho was so happy about the blender and candlesticks he got! Strangely, and ironically "Syko" Sid "Justice/Viscous" was the most level headed one to clear out traffic. This video is classic!
Back to my point, Jake "The Snake" decided to be a dick and put a snake in a gift box for no apparent reason. Then Jake and The Undertaker bust in the scene (obviously jealous for not getting an invite) knock out Savage and tease Miss Elizabeth with a snake.
What on earth was going to happen next week? Savage had "retired" to be a husband and do commentary next to McMahon, so he obviously could not get revenge. The next week Jake Roberts showed up and called out Savage, calling him basically calling him a bitch for doing this wedding stuff, and hiding behind Miss Elizabeth.
Well Macho was not going to stand for it retired or not. Savage marched down to the ring to beat some sense into Jake Roberts. Then this happened ...
Pretty hardcore, and terrifying when you're a kid. So Savage started his campaign to get re-instated to get revenge on Jake Roberts. You can even call a 900# to vote! Macho was back to get revenge!
Savage beat Roberts clean with the elbow drop. Macho went berserk and went to jump Roberts after the match, but as sneaky as Roberts was hit the DDT out of nowhere knocking Savage out. Jake went for his signature snake, making the crowd shriek in protest. Miss Elizabeth stupidly come out from the back to try and save her man from the same fate he fell upon weeks ago. This interference caused Savage to get yet another DDT, to the dismay of Miss Elizabeth.
We all saw it coming, but didn't want to imagine it.
Now it happens all the time, but someone smacking on woman on TV back in the early 90's was a big deal. There was no two ways about it, Jake Roberts needed to pay for what he did.
Saturday Night's Main Event Roberts faced Savage for the last time. In a great clean match Macho finished off Jake with the Elbow drop. Macho wanted to punish Jake some more and wanted to exact more revenge by beating him down after the match with the ring bell. Roberts escaped to the back with his tail between his legs. The match was over, the good guys won, and everyone was going to move along. Jake had other plans. He waited behind the stage, with a chair looking to hit either Elizabeth or Savage, "whoever comes first". The tension was building, Jake Roberts was ready to take out anyone who came through that curtain, Savage and Elizabeth were trotting down the aisle unknowingly, high fiving and smiling. What was going to happen?!
What?! The Undertaker saved Elizabeth, and took out Roberts?! The Undertaker is a ... good guy?! He's a good guy now! I can like him?! Yes!
Now as we have seen Jake the Snake not take a defeat as a deterrent for his tenacity. He went on "The Funeral Parlour" with Paul Bearer to straighten things out. Jake was to the point and asked Mr. Bearer who side is the Undertaker on (wasn't it obvious?).
It was like Jake never learned his lesson, he gets beat by Savage twice clean, and now he's jumping the Undertaker? The touched his urn, and slammed his hand in the casket?! The Undertaker no sold it all, and chased him with the casket on his hand. Pretty funny now, but bad ass then.
It set them up for an epic encounter for Wrestlemania 8, where Undertaker beat Roberts clean.
The Undertaker's face turn was so unexpected, and it was something I wanted so bad, but never thought possible. When you are 12 those things mattered to me, and I continued to cheer Taker for a decade afterwards. Roberts was such a legend on the mic, and in the ring. Take the epic character of the Undertaker, the chilling promos of Jake Roberts, and the Charismatic Randy Savage, it had all the makings of such a classic, and unforgettable storyline that has never left my mind.
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