#2 The Undertaker faces himself at Summerslam
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One of the more bizarre moments from 1994 came when The Undertaker, after taking several months off for a back injury, made his return to RAW under the guidance of his new manager Ted Dibiase.
For a few weeks leading up to the return, the WWE showed video packages of ordinary people claiming to have spotted the Undertaker in very strange locations such as in their places of work or down by their local cemetery. The company was clearly trying to play off The Undertaker as this mysterious, almost otherworldly figure whose presence could be felt almost anywhere.
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The return itself wasn’t what it first appeared, however. Ted Dibiase’s Undertaker had a habit of hiding his face with his hat and long hair. He didn’t talk as much as Taker did before his absence and generally came across as not like his normal self. That’s because, of course, he wasn’t actually the same man. Paul Bearer, Undertaker’s original manager and personal friend, eventually confronted Dibiase, arguing that his Undertaker would never turn on his ancestry, and that money was not something his phenom would be tempted by.
Any confusion was soon put to rest when the real Undertaker, played by Mark Calloway, returned to the screen and immediately went after the imposter. The two men would face each other in the main event of Summerslam 1994 in a passable match, and Dibiase’s Taker was never seen again.
This feud, while not one of Undertaker’s best, did mark a bit of a turning point for the Deadman. Fans were noticeably happy to see him return after being put in a casket by Yokozuna earlier in the year. He was now an out and out babyface and spent the rest of the year feuding with Dibiase and his heel faction.
The feud also gave another layer to the relationship between Taker and Paul Bearer, something that would become crucial to the evolution of the two characters in 1997. In all, it helped to humanise the Phenom just a little bit and made his character slightly more relatable in an era of pro-wrestling that was starting to embrace more real to life characters rather than the cartoonish gimmicks of old.
AS for the man who played Fake Undertaker – Brain Lee, the 50-year-old wrestler worked for many promotions such as TNA and other indie companies, and till date – at the age of 50 – works for NWA Southern All-Star Wrestling.
