Kane vs. The Undertaker

[5.0] "A textbook case of the entrance completely eclipsing the actual wrestling match. Watching Paul Bearer return with the urn and The Undertaker walk down the Madison Square Garden aisle in his classic Deadman hat and coat for the first time since 1999 gave everyone chills--arguably one of the greatest entrances in WrestleMania history. Once the bell rang, however, the match itself was a brief, seven-minute squash-style sprint that felt entirely predictable. Kane played the terrified, unhinged heel selling Undertaker's supernatural aura, threw a few basic strikes, ate a Chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver, and got pinned cleanly to push the Streak to 12-0. Great nostalgia and presentation, completely forgettable bell-to-bell action. A fair 5/10."

[7.0] "The work is perfectly solid big man stuff, kept short enough not to pall and with some decent athleticism on display. It'd be fun enough as that, if nothing special (3/5). It is, however, elevated by the absolutely insane aura around the buildup, entrances, and Kane's whole persona in the match. Great event match, even if it's nothing amazing. 3.5/5"

[6.0] "Holy Aura! This man is full of it. What an entrance. And this marks the iconic attire for Taker. I don't understand what people want sometimes. In the story, Kane buried Taker alive and now has risen and come back as the deadman for vengeance. It is a squash match and it should be a squash match. I enjoyed it."

[4.0] "That was a pretty underwhelming match, known only for this famous moment, where the Undertaker returns, and it's a cool bit for sure, he was supposedly 'dead' after Kane appeared at Survivor Series and helped McMahon by burying him alive, so he was of course dead after this, and then after months of buildup, he was finally able to return here with Paul Bearer and everyone saw the Deadman once again. The beginning of the match with Taker staring Kane down and Kane not believing he's real, that was a good moment, well sold by Kane, but the action itself wasn't good, with everything looking very basic and heatless. The ring time didn't help as well, as it was basically a squash for Taker, after a couple of moves here and there, he hit his finishers on Kane and won the match super easily, it was only a showcase to feature his return, not a proper match - {*3/4}"

[2.0] "Undertaker Vs. Kane Round 132. The reason WWE felt the need to rehash this feud escapes me. This match was not very exciting. Undertaker and Kane will always be tied together in wrestling lore, but it won't be because of this match. That's for sure."

[4.0] "One of the coolest and hottest entrances, with the return of 'real' Undertaker, and you can tell Calaway is loving playing this version of Undertaker again, and he delivers a good performance, with the camera locked in on the closeups of both Kane and Taker for the beginning of the match. It's such a shame that the match had to actually begin. Their matches were never all that great, but this felt dull, the actual moves feeling like they were colliding on Raw. Worse than other matches in The Streak so far, only saved by the cool opening and entrance. **1/4"

[5.0] "These two never really had good matches apart from their WM 14 match (Easily Taker's best mania match of the 90s) But this one is nothing to write home about apart from Taker returning to his dead man gimmick. Which was needed because the biker gimmick had ran its course. At barely 6 minutes its a return to early streak matches where they are short and thankfully not very sweet. A match that's carried by Taker's amazing entrance."

[1.0] "This match is absolutely horrible. It's slow, it's boring, and the crowd is dead. I believe the one and only reason this has such a high rating is the Undertaker's entrance and return to the deadman gimmick. It was done very well but he came out wearing the same shitty looking leather pants he had been for the last 3 years. Kane had a nice run as a monster heel that yielded zero good matches as per usual for Glenn Jacobs. 1 point for the entrance."

[6.0] "The Undertaker entrance is my favourite entrance of his. This match did the job reintroducing the deadman character and it needed to be a squash match."

[4.0] "The beggining is pretty interesting and that's all. Really, like, I can't take anything else from that match besides the great entrance that solidify the return of the Deadman after spending half an decade as an american badass, everything else felt so quick, average, normal, even boring. The place on the card made them work in that way, it was right after Eddie Guerrero retained his title and right before the Triple Threat with HBK, Benoit and Hunter, so they really needed something to "slow down" the crowd, it really did. If you're a Kane stan somehow and you're reading this, sorry, I do really think that guy stinks."

[6.0] "The return of The Deadman is some hair-raising stuffs, and it's glorious! This marks the revival of The Undertaker's career, and while it's a relatively poor match, but it's under 7 minutes, and it's The Undertaker back with full power, ready for the best run of his career, squashing his brother, and the crowd loves it, and that entrance with Paul Bearer returning is mesmerizing. ***1/4"

[5.0] "Worse than their other WM match. I liked the beginning quite a bit, from there though there's not much worth mentioning."

[3.0] "A dominant win for Undertaker. Not a very good match. The point was that Undertaker was back to full strength and he got revenge on Kane with a strong performance here. The amount of time was fine with me. If it went any longer it would have been too much."

[6.0] "A glorified squash etched up a little by an absolutely ravenous crowd for the return of The Deadman persona. It is almost surreal seeing Kane get his ass kicked for 80% of a match."

[6.0] "Not as much about the match, but a vehicle to get the dead man character back, unfortunately this match does a lot of damage to Kane as he was made to look weak and scared, which fit the story but derailed his momentum as the monsterous role he had been on, match was short and sloppy for the time given, not how I would have booked it but I understand the decisions made"

[7.0] "This match is all about aura and the feeling, the entrances included. It was a glorified squash match, but a helluva fun one at that. Points for the story and feeling."

[6.0] "Fun introduction to The Undertaker's new-old Deadman gimmick. Bearer's presence was truly heartwarming."

[8.0] "I am well and truly SPORTS ENTERTAINED. The build and entrances are up there with the best ever in wrestle mania history, and the match itself, whilst more spectacle than... not spectacle, was passable as can be and will have a nostalgic place in my heart forever"

[1.0] "Genuinely floored by the rating of this match, I thought it was really really bad. The entrance rules, and I am very excited to see Taker's second run as the Deadman, but I thought their Mania 14 match was bad and it's pretty highly praised. So you can imagine what I think of this later effort. These guys have no chemistry, and this version of Kane is becoming an all-time least favorite of mine. The gimmick is super lame and his work has become increasingly mercurial. I'll give props to Taker for moving pretty well in here and going for it, but the fact that they had a boring 7-minute match is kind of insane. Every positive rating for this match mostly mentions the return of the Deadman gimmick (which was awesome, but I'm rating the match), so I guess it would be much closer to my rating if reviewed in a vacuum. I really like Taker, but I have been increasingly disinterested in him ever working with Kane besides the early stuff that Paul Bearer carried."

[5.0] "Taker finally getting rid of the awful biker gimmick is great, but this match just felt a lot to be desired. From a storyline perspective, I found it very difficult to get invested in this, though I've never really minded Kane as a wrestler. Big points for it being short, however, they could've dragged this into like 20 mins if they wanted."

[8.0] "This match ruled, I don't get when the match was "boring" for some people. This isn't a squash, this is Undertaker coming back as the Deadman and slaying his brother, seeking revenge for his betrayal. You can't removed the context and the storyline of the match, but even if you take the match on itself, it was a good squash that was never boring or slow in my opinion."

[5.0] "Not a crazy good match, but it's still a fine one and a real great return for The Undertaker as The Deadman."

[5.0] "[2.5*] Goosebumps. The return of the Deadman after almost 5 years as the American Badass. Eternal moment that brings us back to our childhood. He came back alongside Paul Bearer which is super awesome too. The match is short and safe-worked, without any single flaw. Very methodical, just a crowd pleaser. It is way more important than it is good. The entrance has almost the same amout of time than the match. This return was an all-timer experience for everyone there, it was 100% the main thing. Decent match, fucking incredible segment."

[6.0] "The return of the Deadman is very cool and the spectacle is awesome for the live crowd, but the match itself disappoints in my opinion just a little. Taker gets most of his main spots in and Kane's acting here is fantastic. Solid 3 stars."

[1.0] "This match doesn't really contain any ugly moments, however it commits the sin of managing to be so boring and slow despite only being six minutes.This match like this feud in general just seems so crammed down and forced. Kane and Taker do pretty much nothing in this and Kane commits to a unreal amount of overacting."

[6.0] "The return itself was amazing and they already had the crowd in the palms of their hands, so I think that making it a squash match would have been a better idea. But still the match was fine, Taker did some of his classic stuff and fans reacted to it gladly, so they did their job."

[6.0] "It's exciting to see Undertaker coming back to his older gimmick of The Phenom, but I believe it's not a great match. There was a much better Taker vs Kane at Wrestlemania before. Predictable ending. Undertaker entrance is probably the best thing ot this match. It's okay but I think it could have been more exticing. ***"

[9.0] "Similar to the Cena/Big Show match, this was all about the angle and the hype/crowd. This was easily one of undertakers best, most memorable nights. The second the gong went off in the garden, chills throughout. One of the defining moments of Undertakers career and WrestleMania overall. I will never get over how well done his return as the deadman was."

[6.0] "It was fine, some big movements, and the start of a legend on wrestlemania, nothing amazing, but a fun streak match"

[6.0] "So, here's the thing for any younger reviewers/readers out there when it comes to this match. It's about more than the match. To do this match justice when you review it, you need to really try and take your mind back to what it was to see this live for the first time, which can be quite hard to do, but I want to try and frame it for you. I watched this event live. For YEARS at this point..almost 5 years...The Undertaker had his biker gimmick. Now, I think the biker gimmick gets too much hate, but I think even the most hardcore Biker Taker supporter will agree the Deadman is better. So nearly 5 years we had that. You cannot IMAGINE the chills...the goosebumps...when that gong hit. When the lights turned off. When the funeral dirge played. To see him hit the Tombstone again as a true finish. Nowadays, you don't need to think of it like that. Since Taker retired, all of his clips have the Deadman gimmick, with maybe one or two Biker clips in there. But to us live, Taker very well could have been that Biker gimmick for the rest of his career for all we knew. Seeing Taker return like this was like an actor with a famous role who retired from it for half a decade and then finally returned to it. The 'match' almost didn't matter. Now, as a match, this one certainly isn't bad, but it's just an extended squash. If this was for the match alone, it'd be 4 points easily. But this is an instance where, you really need to look beyond the match to do it justice. I can totally understand anyone watching this match today and come out of it going "Meh. That's it? " It's nothing special at all if you just randomly watch it. But when you put yourself in the shoes of anyone on March 14th 2004, this was truly something special."

[8.0] "Any time I watch this match I just get goosebumps. The return of the Deadman just felt really special after such a long build as well as the unexpected return of Paul Bearer. The match isn't a technical classic, but it is exactly what it needed to be and Kane's facial expressions where he looked deranged and scared was fantastic. There was some small touches I liked here too like the referee bolting out of the ring whenever he was trying to enforce the rules. Just things like that really put the Undertaker over as a man to be feared. The match was basic in execution essentially putting Taker over in a bit of a squash, but with all the build up that made sense to me and it made for one of the Undertaker's most iconic moments."

[2.0] "Undertaker and Kane despite their long history, never really chemistry as opponents or tag team partners and this match is no exception. By the numbers and boring, definitely worth a skip."

[5.0] "I'd prefer what they did here than actually trying to have a great match. Kane does a great job in selling the fear of Undertaker here. Taker gets an elongated squash here, and the crowd eats up everything that he does.**1/2"

[3.0] "Another boring matvch between the two Brothers. Yes it as the return of the original Taker (and the Kane selling was good), but god damned, even then, the match is so boring. They do their stuff, as always, and as always, it's bad... The problem is that the match is so hyped by WWE that it need to be long. It's the exact same thing than their WM14 bout, only in 98' it was the first time. Now it's a heavy storytelling-driven match, like it was, and a match as boring, as it was, but the 2nd time around. So twice the boringness."

[3.0] "I dont think ive ever enjoyed a match between these 2, their styles just never seem to work, which is funny when you think they share half a moveset."

[7.0] "Honestly, I prefer this over their 1998 match at Mania 14. While Mania 14 had more powerful moments and the story going in was perhaps more dramatic, the in-ring action here is much better and faster paced. Special mention should go to Glenn Jacobs AKA Kane's acting chops here, who sells his terror of his returning brother tremendously. Multiple shouts of YOU'RE NOT REAL" and "I BURIED YOU, I KILLED YOU" are made while the monster Kane almost shrinks into himself, as if he's back to being that scared little kid who was burned in the Funeral home fire."

[3.0] "I remember being very very pumped up for The Undertaker's return, only to have one of the biggest disappointments of my life."

[7.0] "Honestly, this was solidly entertaining and I? m surprised to see it so lowly rated. Sure, it was more spectacle than workrate classic but so are many higher rated matches on this site. Some good back and forth with a smattering of really enjoyable moments from the return of Taker himself and Kane? s incredible selling of it to the running through of classic Deadman tropes like the sit up and tombstone"

[8.0] "What an unexpectedly good match ! There was non-stop action and what's more, good action. Both have a pretty great ability to be impactful, the story told was very good. Short but terribly effective."

[6.0] "The match itself wasn't that great but it was clearly meant as more of an angle than a match. Undertaker's entrance was fantastic and Kane did a good job selling the fear of seeing Undertaker come out."

[9.0] "People seem to be rating according to technical prowess during the match. The match doesn? t begin when the bell rings, it starts when the first man walks out the curtain. Holding the match in a vacuum? of course it is bland and unimpressive, but matches like these don? t exist in a vacuum. The crowd went nuts when Paul Bearer came out and they threw their babies in the air when Taker finally came out? that? s a pretty important part of any match, the crowd reaction. They weren? t silent during the match as someone claimed around here, they would cheer anything Taker did. Everyone was just happy that he was back and that the whole biker gimmick was nothing but a bad dream."

[4.0] "This sucked. Very forgettable, did not deserve this place on the card. The crowd wasn't into this match at all. Just boring, not a good match for any PPV."

[3.0] "This is not a good match. Too slow and overall forgettable. We just remember the return of the Taker in Deadman gimmick."

[4.0] "I understand the moment, and the importantance of the return of taker, but this match isn? t any good. Taker does his stuff, Kane isn? t any good at all. Crowd didn? t care. Just a whatever match. **"

[9.0] "BRO HOW IS THIS MATCH THIS LOW? The return of the Deadman, the (in my opinion) greatest entrance in WrestleMania history. And a 5.46 rating. Yes, the match was just okay, but if we are talking moments, this is one of the best."

[4.0] "The return of the Deadman! Kane can't believe it. Undertaker hits some pure strikes. Fine little brawl."

[2.0] "The entrance is one of the best Mania moments ever, and kicks off the second Deadman era that would give us some of the best WrestleMania matches ever, but said great Mania matches are still a ways away as even though the American badass is gone the stink of his match quality has carried over and will do so for the next few years. This match is very much part of the stink as they just trade punches with no purpose, Taker does his signature spots and it's all over. These two provided some of greatest moments in the history of the WWE it's a shame they didn't have any chemistry in the ring. Crowd loved it though and definitely go out of your way to see the Taker entrance if you haven't"

[4.0] "A cool moment more than a match though I will say that Undertaker coming back and not looking that much different from his biker gimmick was a letdown."

[5.0] "It was a serviceable match, but nothing to go out of your way and watch. Both guys worked together well enough, had some good moments, and this ended up being a good way for the Deadman to make his return. But nothing truly special. **1/2"

[4.0] "Much like their bout at Wrestlemania XIV, this relied on spectacle to make up for the lack of work rate. Seeing Undertaker return to his Deadman persona, complete with Paul Bearer, was a cool moment. The wrestling itself wasn't pretty though, with Kane nearly spiking 'Taker on his head after a botched back body drop attempt. There are some splendid visual moments here, such as Kane freaking out and not believing his own eyes as he sees his brother the first time since he buried him and I liked the dueling choke spot. Ga-ga like this is needed to break up the card and I had no problem with this."