(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Batista vs. The Undertaker – WWE WrestleMania 23

A few days ago we looked at a famous Undertaker match that had an amazing story and terrific build only for the final match to disappoint. So now it’s fitting that we look at the opposite: a match with an ordinary story that ended up exceeding pretty much everyone’s expectations.

This is the match that started The Undertaker’s secondary WrestleMania Streak. From WrestleMania 23 to WrestleMania XXIX he stole the show with legendary matches that more than made the price of a ticket/PPV/Network purchase worthy. And while many people still consider his ‘Mania matches with Shawn Michaels to be his best, it’s important to compare those performances to the new measuring stick that began here.

Previously I was writing for a site called TJR Wrestling and now this series is coming to Blog of Doom. For now you can check out the series in its entirety here.

The story

On-screen this was a simple champion versus challenger story with Batista claiming that he wasn’t afraid of The Undertaker. And unlike almost every single other person to ever make that claim, Batista meant it as he showed no fear in any of their big promos or confrontations.

But there was more to this match beneath the surface. A major factor at play here was card placement. Historically, the winner of the Royal Rumble got the main-event (read: show-closing) spot at WrestleMania. But there had been exceptions to this over the years: 1995 (due to the publicity that Lawrence Taylor was bringing), 1997 (because Shawn Michaels lost his smile), 1999 (because Vince McMahon wasn’t THAT egomaniacal), and 2006 (because…erm…Rey Mysterio is small, I guess?).

Undertaker won the 2007 Royal Rumble, but for whatever reason he and Batista weren’t given the show-closing spot. It’s possible that Vince tried his mind tricks on them (“It’s WrestleMania! ALL the matches are main-events”) but both guys were probably too smart to fall for such things.

Frustrated that they wouldn’t get to close the show as promised, the two men decided to try and steal the show. If their match was going to end up lost in the middle of the card, they were going to show Vince and his crew how wrong they were.

But could they? There were only two other matches with similar or greater hype: the RAW WWE title match between champion John Cena and challenger Shawn Michaels; and the attraction match of Vince McMahon battling Donald Trump via heavyweight proxies. If Undertaker and Batista, the top guys from SmackDown (which was living up to its “B-show” treatment more and more with each passing year), had their hands full.

The match

This match originally took place on April 1, 2007. It was rated **** out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

The instant the bell rings Batista hits a spear. He follows with some corner punches but ‘Taker retaliates with a choke-toss and punches of his own. Batista fires back with corner shoulder thrusts, a hard Irish whip into the opposite corner, and a clothesline. A second clothesline sends ‘Taker to the floor but he lands on his feet and pulls Batista out. They brawl around the ring until Batista sends ‘Taker knees-first into steel steps. Batista tosses ‘Taker back into the ring and hits a top-rope diving shoulderblock for a two-count.

Undertaker boots Batista coming off the ropes but Batista bounces back with another clothesline and gets a two-count. Batista hits a few more strikes and goes but another boot but ‘Taker catches his foot and strikes back once again. ‘Taker wins a yay/boo punch exchange and hits some running corner clotheslines. That followed with his snake eyes/boot/leg drop combo for another two-count and a successful Old School. Undertaker tries a chokeslam but Batista powers out and the crowd boos him loudly. No Hogan-style “overcoming the monster” story tonight; these fans are 100% behind Undertaker.

Batista sends Undertaker into the ropes but ‘Taker hits first with his flying clothesline for another two-count. Undertaker punches Batista to the floor and then lands his apron leg drop and then lands his suicide dive to the floor. That’s probably one of the better versions of that move that he’s ever done especially since Batista actually caught him.

The brawling continues ringside but it ends when Batista reverses an Irish whip and ‘Taker demolishes a piece of barricade. Both men break up the ref’s count at different points to continue the brawling and to hammer each other with punches. The crowd boos as Batista takes control but then they cheer when he powerslams Undertaker through one of the announce tables, demolishing it in the process. Batista tosses ‘Taker back into the ring and covers. One, two, Undertaker survives.

Batista starts growing increasingly frustrated as he lands mounted punches for another two-count. Undertaker blocks a Batista Bomb and hits some corner elbows. Batista counters a corner whip with a belly-to-belly suplex for another two-count. He does the ten corner punches spot and while some people boo even as they count along, they erupt in cheers when ‘Taker responds with a Last Ride Powerbomb. One, two, Batista kicks out. Undertaker tries capitalizing but Batista counters with a spinebuster. He shakes the ropes but turns around to find Undertaker sitting up zombie-style. Undertaker counters into a successful chokeslam but only gets two. Batista escapes a Tombstone and hits both a spear and a successful Batista Bomb. The referee counts one, two, and – Undertaker kicks out again.

Batista tries a second powerbomb but Undertaker escapes. Batista blocks an attack and lifts Undertaker into the powerslam position. Undertaker escapes, sends Batista into a corner, and spikes him with a successful Tombstone Piledriver. One, two, and three! Undertaker is 15-0 at WrestleMania!

Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion after 15:47: The Undertaker

Review

Even after over fifteen years this match still holds up very well. Few people believed that Undertaker would lose but Batista put up a hell of a fight. Instead of being a lumbering giant, Batista matched ‘Taker’s agility with his own. The two men bounced off each other and threw heavy bombs from start to finish. They did the opposite of what’s found in most Undertaker matches: instead of starting light and finishing strong, these guys started at 100% and kept pace until one man ran out of gas. By going in that direction, these two were able to put on a much better match that left the finish way harder to predict and therefore more fun.

The match was helped by a great crowd who turned on Batista almost instantly. Even though he wasn’t really presented as a heel in this feud or during the build-up (the closest he got to any of that was being the tweener/antihero that wasn’t going to be intimidated by an even bigger babyface), the overwhelming majority of people in attendance wanted to see Undertaker win. And so, Batista got booed like he was John Cena as he resisted Undertaker’s big moves and dropped the Deadman time and again. The fans did the yay/boo punch spot and it was crystal clear that Batista was the heel here by default. They went nuts for Undertaker’s biggest spots and never really quieted down. A great crowd can elevate a match into something special which is what happened here.

Final rating: ****

This is something of a forgotten classic because it suffers in comparison to Undertaker’s later WrestleMania matches. After having such a great match with Batista – who, let’s be honest, was a great powerhouse during his prime but his PPV matches sometimes left a lot to be desired – ‘Taker went on to go even further in his goal to have the best match at WrestleMania, regardless of whether or not he was in the show-closing slot.

Many fans and commentators have romanticized the Streak because of how unique it was. With each year that Undertaker got one more win at the event, the Streak grew until it became mythical. But the Streak was only as good as the matches that comprised it. If Undertaker had 21 squash matches or 21 matches with one-sided build then no-one would’ve cared.

Batista did something in this match that, up to that point, only Randy Orton was able to: actually make people truly believe the Streak was in jeopardy. Orton did that by being a slimy heel; Batista did it with manhandling the Deadman. The end result was a match that not only surpassed expectations but, according to many fans, ended up being the best match on the show.

It goes to show that you don’t always save the best for last, as several subsequent WrestleManias would further demonstrate.

Thanks for reading. You can email me with any questions or comments, and be sure to check out my 5-Star and Almost 5-Star Match Reviews series here.