Tombstone – The History of the Undertaker DVD Review

The WWE aren’t the most praised company of the moment right now. Every little thing they do seems to come under criticism and everyone from fans to network bosses want a piece of McMahon and co. Of every aspect of business, it seems that the only real bright spot is the DVD collection that the WWE is releasing, chronicling the careers of everyone from Rob Van Dam to the Road Warriors in tremendous fashion. So would this Undertaker DVD live up to the expectations

Cert: 18

Length: 547 mins

Matches

Disk 1

• Survivor Series 1991 vs. Hulk Hogan
• Royal Rumble 1994 vs. Yokozuna
• WrestleMania XII 1996 vs. Diesel
• In Your House Buried Alive vs. Mankind
• In Your House Revenge of Taker vs. Mankind
• SummerSlam 1997 vs. Bret Hart

Disk 2

• In Your House Ground Zero vs. Shawn Michaels
• In Your House Badd Blood – Hell in a Cell Match vs. Shawn Michaels
• WrestleMania XIV vs. Kane
• Unforgiven 1998 – Inferno Match vs. Kane
• King of the Ring 1998 – Hell in a Cell Match vs. Mankind
• King of the Ring 1999 vs. The Rock

Disk 3

• Fully Loaded 1999 – First Blood Match vs. Stone Cold
• WrestleMania XVII vs. Triple H
• Judgment Day 2002 vs. Hulk Hogan
• No Mercy 2002 – Hell in a Cell Match vs. Brock Lesnar
• Vengeance 2003 vs. John Cena
• Survivor Series 2003 – Buried Alive Match vs. Mr. McMahon
• WrestleMania XX vs. Kane

Highs and Lows

The first thing you need to know is that this is not an in-depth look at the career of Mr. Mark Calloway as you would find with the Road Warriors DVD. Instead, this is merely a brief chronological take on the key moments of ‘Taker and his WWE tenure, with a series of matches that either should be here or should never have been featured. As with most WWE releases, there are a lot of matches that you have to wonder why they were left off, and in some cases, let on. For example, the Undertaker vs. Yokozuna casket match of 1994 at the Royal Rumble. The match was pretty darn terrible, and the ending was so annoyingly unrealistic and cartoonish that you either question why it was put on here or why they didn’t add the Undertaker/Underfaker match from Summerslam 94. Actually, I question why the angle took place in the first place, but beggars can’t be choosers, or so I’m told.

Despite this, there are some good matches on here. The Hell In A Cell match from Bad Blood 1997 with Shawn Michaels is here, as is his Inferno match with Kane from Unforgiven 1998, his Wrestlemania X7 encounter with Triple H, and his Hell In A Cell loss to Brock Lesnar from No Mercy 2002. Add this to a number of other decent matches with Mankind and Bret Hart, and you have a strong line-up for what looks on paper to be a good DVD.

The problem is that, even at three discs long, it just doesn’t do Taker any real justice. If his abysmal match with Hulk Hogan for the Undisputed title (Judgment Day 2002) is here, why isn’t his equally abysmal WWF title win over Psycho Sid from Wrestlemania 13 here? At least it would have a reason within historical context. Where are his outstanding matches with Rob Van Dam from 2001 and 2002? And why isn’t his Wrestlemania winning streak covered more in-depth when it’s a huge part of his entire character? I can’t help but feel slightly jaded by half of the stuff that is left off of the DVD, but then there is admittedly so much of it.

Even more disappointing though are the DVD extras. Ok, truth be told, there are a few gems such as the UK One Night Only match from 1997 with Bret Hart, but for the most part it’s either a weird interview or a weird interview in a graveyard, and it gets really boring. Why was there not more coverage of his Ministry Of Darkness exploits? I’d have sooner seen Stone Cold crucified symbolically on the Taker symbol rather than the fifth graveyard promo or a shot of the Phenom building a casket. Maybe it’s because I’m a long time fan. Maybe a newer fan would find this kind of stuff appealing and entertaining. But as a lifelong fan having grown up on a lot of The Undertakers work (and having been a big fan of it), I really am disappointed at just how much was left off. They could have made so much more out of this, and chose not to. It both saddens and disappoints me.

DVD Extras

Disk 1

• Undertaker attacks Hulk Hogan at the Funeral Parlor

• Undertaker builds a casket for Yokozuna

• Undertaker in the graveyard talking about Diesel

• Undertaker in the graveyard talking about Mankind

• Undertaker interrupts Mankind’s interview

Disk 2

• Undertaker interview about Shawn Michaels

• Undertaker talking to his parents’ tombstones

• Undertaker interview – Kane burns his parents’ tombstone

• Undertaker breaks into Paul Bearer’s house and mauls him

Disk 3

• Undertaker interview about Triple H

• Undertaker promo on Hulk Hogan

• Undertaker talking about the Hell in a Cell

• Undertaker in the graveyard promo on Mr. McMahon

Overall

I watched it the first time, and found myself skipping through a lot of it, because it was considerably boring to watch. As the disc progresses, the quality of matches steadily improves. The problem lies in how big of a Taker fan you are. If you’re a casual fan looking to see some good historical Taker action, you’ll enjoy it. If you’re a hardcore Undertaker fan, you’ll enjoy it. If, like me, you were a big fan and remember Undertaker for a lot of entertaining segments and matches not featured here, you’ll be disappointed. I’d be surprised if anyone else gave it lower, but from this fans perspective, Tombstone is a disappointment of grave proportions.

Points: 6 / 10