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The Undertaker was presented as the top star ever seen, making his WWE debut back in Survivor Series 1990. He won his first World Championship in 1991 when he was only 26, and his success story never stopped. He had always been a main eventer in WWE, even to his final day in the ring. He is considered one of the biggest legends in the history of professional wrestling.
One of the early and biggest rivalries of his career was against Mankind from 1996. This rivalry is quite forgotten, but The Undertaker's long time manager Paul Bearer stood against him during this feud for the first time to stand beside mankind, who also used to play a dark character, and he was not as famous as in 1998 on 1999 back then.
The Undertaker remembers his Bat Wing entrance from Survivor Series 1996
At Survivor Series 1996, Undertaker defeated Mankind in a match where Paul Bearer was locked in a shark cage. During this match, The Dead Man made a special entrance from the sky with Bat Wings to be presented similarly to Batman. He remembered this entrance after nearly 3 decades and also revealed what McMahon said about it. Speaking on his “Six Feet Under” podcast, he explained the following;
“I did [ask for them], that was my idea. This was my early attempt at being more demonic, I guess? The character, kind of taking it to that demonic state. So I figured, ‘What would be more demonic than me being in like, all shiny leather with some really big bat wings? And hey, I’m not just going to do this anywhere. I’m going to do it at Survivor Series in Madison Square Garden.’ I mean, if you’re going to go, you go big, right? Again, not one of my better ideas.”
The Undertaker faced Mankind at Survivor Series 1996
“I just had to pitch it to him. So I mean, by this time, I’m five, six years into my run here. And I’d done pretty well with the things that we had changed. And you know, I constantly was always trying to evolve the character and keep it fresh. So I came in, I was like, ‘I want to take this character in a darker place.’ He made me explain it and give my reasoning for… and I’m not just talking about the bat wings. I’m just talking about the whole different look.
"Because it was different. And then he trusted me, because I didn’t win a lot of arguments with Vince. If we there just weren’t a lot that I came out on the upper hand with. But yeah, I think I was very passionate when I delivered my idea to him and explained what the look was going to be, and what the character, why I’m doing this. And [Vince said], ‘God damn, that’ll be great. I love it!’ And that’s all I needed.”
Paul Bearer was locked in a Shark Cage in this match
The bad blood between The Undertaker and Paul Bearer continued for a long time, and in the next year, Bearer brought an obstacle for the Dead Man, who went on to become one of the biggest legends in the history of professional wrestling, Kane. But later, Paul Bearer and The Phenom teamed up again, and Bearer will always be remembered as the manager of The Undertaker.
