The Undertaker vs. Vader

[7.0] "I liked it. A house show special for sure, but man that crowd is so hot and Taker is a madman for pulling that tombstone off flush."

[5.0] "An expectedly slow match that lost me quite a few times. Crazy how much the crowd was into this to the point the hard cam was shaking during some of the cheers."

[6.0] "Pretty good, here Taker defending the title again with Paul Bearer managing who's against him, the match wasn't as good as the previous one. But enjoyed it (50/50).6/10 [***1/2]"

[5.0] "One of Taker's greatest shows of strength is the finishing Tombstone of this match. It is almost worth a watch for that alone. By this match, the crowd has picked up even more than earlier in the show. The love for Taker is on full display, and the heat will carry into the main event. The problem here is that it is a fairly tame match and ice cold on top of it. This was supposed to be Ahmed instead of Vader, but an injury slotted Vader in here with little build up. The work is fine for a big man match, but I wouldn't call it super inspired either. A good addition to the overall show, but nothing worth going out of your way to watch."

[6.0] "This was a great big man match although I would have liked it more if Vader got some more offense in. There weren't enough nearfalls for him, which to me is what makes a championship match great. Still, the booking of the match was strong and it really made Undertaker look great because of the way he beat Vader. Two chokeslams and a Tombstone also makes Vader look awesome although they really didn't do much with him after this. Very good big man match between two of the best big men ever."

[10.0] "Definitely their best match together, this is the one where it clicked, sadly right around the time the WWF was giving up on Vader but he did a spectacular job here as usual. Just brutal attacks on Taker, who actually responded in kind. This was a great fight and clearly the second best match of the night."

[7.0] "Pretty good big man match, which is to expected from two of the best big men in the business. The crowd was electric for the match. Undertaker going after Paul Bearer was funny due to Bearer's reactions."

[7.0] "One of the better matches of Vader's WWF stint, joining The Undertaker for a spirited PPV clash. The work here is good, but the atmosphere is what gives this a truly distinct flavour, with the place shaking as 'Taker makes his comeback. That energy visibly fuels both grapplers too, producing some inspired clobbering that swiftly exhausts big Vader. They make it home though and do so in style, rocking the house in an underrated title tilt. ***1/2"

[8.0] "A good match between both men with real nice in ring work and chemistry and the antics from Paul Bearer were very interesting as well."

[9.0] "I absolutely loved this match and am very shocked by the low rating, i think people like to not rate Vaders work in WWF due to his bad booking but he had some really good matches and this was no different as Undertaker finally beat him to finish their feud"

[9.0] "Honestly a bit shocked by how low the rating for this is, this is probably the best big man match the WWF had put on to this point, and one of the best they've ever had. Vader and Taker can both move so well for guys their size, and Vader in particular looked like an absolute beast, even in defeat. And that crowd, they were just absolutely incredible for the whole night, and added so much to this match."

[8.0] "There was just something really special about this show as the crowd was absolutely electric throughout the whole match and to be fair it probably helped a lot that there was a really good storyline attached to it. It's a good hoss fight with a lot of hard hitting moments and stiff shots and it goes to a short and fast pace which suited them really well. Vader looks tough here as well kicking out of two chokeslams one off the top rope, before finally getting put away with the Tombstone. A much more enjoyable clash than the one at the Rumble. Also Paul Bearer screaming MURDERER at ringside is just gold!"

[7.0] "A really decent Undertaker match which I really enjoyed especially Paul Bearer's antics outside the ring"

[6.0] "Your typical big man match, though quite engaging since the two participants are quite athletic and know how to put on a good show. That being said, I never believed Vader could win for a second, so the match felt very transitional. Nothing special, but a good match overall for what it is."

[7.0] "This was a fun match. Undertaker and Vader went back and forth and both looked awesome to the hot crowd. Paul Bearer constantly calling Undertaker a murderer was some great character work. Undertaker won with a tombstone."

[7.0] "This was a darn good Heavyweight slugfest, as both wrestlers had their working boots on and the crowd really enjoyed the action. Vader took some super impressive bumps as well considering his size. The only thing that hurt it for me was the low blow spots, as I didnt think they worked and just made the ref look silly. If the story was that the ref let Takers low blow go because he showed leniency to Vader earlier, then they needed to do a better job of getting that across, with Tim White yelling at both wrestlers and then doing a sort of right, you both get one, but thats it gesture to sell the idea that he was showing some discretion rather than just being an ineffective official. Making the refs look stupid is a personal bugbear of mine though so theres a chance others wont be as bothered by it"

[4.0] "What is it with WWF of 1997 and low blows in front of the referee? It's baffling to me that it's happening on every single PPV. Apart from that it was one of those matches that were made much better thanks to the hot crowd, but if it wasn't for the canadian fans it would be another slow Undertaker match."

[9.0] "This match is great, Vader was past his best but Undertaker and him got on well and it showed in their stiff matches. Undertaker dominates the 1st half before Vader takes control before Undertaker fights back to win and give a great showing from both men."

[5.0] "Taker beats up Vader all match apart from a few boring moments where Vader dominated. The action was decent but nothing special. At least the champ looked strong."

[7.0] "A good title defense for taker here. Undertaker dominates the first half and we don't really see Vader get to trade blows with him for a while. Undertaker had the crowd fully behind him when he started making his comeback towards the end.***1/2"

[7.0] "Vader is subbing for Ahmed Johnson, who is injured. Clocking in at a mere 12 minutes, this was all killer and no filler. Just a big stiff hoss fight with little downtime. The crowd is so into the Undertaker that the building is actually shaking when they try to cheer him on when Vader has him locked in a nerve hold. Paul Bearer was tremendous at being a total creep. There were a few miscommunications and botches during the final few minutes, but they covered for them well and they never killed the crowd. Undertaker retains after scooping Vader up and landing a Tombstone. It made for a hell of a visual, and keeping Vader in the Tombstone position without dropping him on his head must have been a challenge! Despite this match having little build, I thought these two put in a hell of a shift."

[5.0] "New Nation member Ahmed Johnson was supposed to be the challenger but he injured himself, AGAIN and the spot went to Vader, which is a better choice anyway. This was Ahmed's last chance of being any worth then he just fizzled out in Feb 98 then came back in WCW in that lousy Harlem Heat 2000 angle in worse shape. Taker starts first, stinger splash for 2. They fight outside for a bit and Bearer keeps calling Taker a murderer for some reason. Vader with a suplex and a splash for 2. Vader goes to a rest hold but Taker punches out of it then Vader drops him with a clothesline. Taker fighting back and goes for a choke slam but Vader kicks him low. Taker goes for a tombstone but Vader counters and they fall to the mat. Taker runs into an elbow and Vader misses a Vader bomb, as Taker chokeslams him from the position but Vader kicks out at 2 1/2. Another chokeslam but Vader kicks out AGAIN. Taker finally gets the tombstone for the win. These two usually had good chemistry."

[6.0] "The next chapter in Vader's long decline in WWF, he got realtively little offence in here as Taker dominated the match. At no point did the result look in doubt, as Vader looked slower than Taker, and his moves had less impact than they often did. It was still a good brawl, and a great showcase for the Undertaker, but nothing compared to what Vader could do a few years previously."

[6.0] "Respectable big-man match with solid moves and good pacing. The passionate support from the audience for The Undertaker and Paul Bearer regularly shouting "MURDERER" kept the energy up which I appreciated. I found it odd that they used low blows without consequence as WWE is usually pretty consistent with DQs. The tombstone botch bothered me as well since they probably shouldn't have attempted it. Still, a successful match in my eyes."

[6.0] "A solid title defence for Taker. It was hard buying Vader a winner given the placement on the card but he worked like he usually does which is always good. Taker working from beneath being the size of he is. Some of his comebacks were good and the crowd seemed into it. Just a fine, fine match. ***"

[7.0] "Good big man battle with both trying to use their strength to overpower the other. Undertakers' strength during this time was terrifying. (***1/4)"

[7.0] "Good hoss v. hoss type match. The best part was the crowd which was just going CRAZY for Taker, I mean you can literally see the main camera shaking they are cheering so loud. Taker delivering 2 chokeslams and tombstoning Vader was a pretty impressive finish."

[6.0] "Kinda your typical big man match but at least these two are pretty athletic. Action is decent but I really like the ending with the top rope chokeslam. Paul Bearer is probably the best thing about this match though, the dirty manager who hits Undertaker when he can and it also makes sense given the story around this time with Bearer accusing Taker of killing his family and wanting to get revenge. Also, Bearer yelling "MURDERER" at random points never gets old. Also, A REALLY HOT CROWD. Jesus, you can feel the room shaking near the end of the match. ***1/4"

[6.0] "Disappointing because it was slow and with less selling than usual. There are good moments but still it could have been a better fight between them. ***"

[6.0] "It was alright, just a bit slow for my liking. Paul Bearer was awesome during this match but I liked their rumble bout better. ***"

[6.0] "About what you would expect from these two big men. 3 Stars."