Minus-Star Match Reviews: The Undertaker vs. A-Train – WWE SummerSlam 2003

The Undertaker has had his fair share of questionable opponents over his three-decade career in WWE. For over half of it he was fed monsters that were bigger than him, stronger than him, tougher than him, meaner than him, scarier than him, or some combination of these. Yet in almost every case he emerged on top. That ability to come back, and not his hokey magic powers, is what made him into the mythical figure he has become today.

Much has already been said about his supernatural rivalry with his brother Kane, so how does he fare against someone without any power beyond simply being big, hairy, and hard-hitting?

The Story

WWE in 2003 was dominated by one central larger narrative: The McMahon Family being everywhere and everywhere. When they weren’t directly involved in certain feuds they were indirectly involved as critical but unseen supporting characters. That’s how The Undertaker found himself staring down this big, hairy beast. A-Train, who had gone through more ringnames than Ric Flair had wives, had been feuding with ‘Taker since No Way Out. He was a hired gun for Vince that, as his name implied, ran over people like a train.

This was pretty easy for him to do: standing at 6’7 and weight between 335 and 350 pounds, A-Train was a token superheavyweight monster the likes of which was seen many times in WWE throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He had a killer look and move-set, though at times it was hard to take him seriously with all the “shave your back” chants aimed at him. Anyhow, this hairy monster-for-hire went after The Undertaker at Vince’s behest and sought to gain a bit of revenge for his loss to ‘Taker at WrestleMania XIX.

The Match

This took place on August 24, 2003. It was rated *1/2 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer. Undertaker comes out first, then A-Train, then SABLE, who gets the close-up treatment for fairly justifiable reason.

A-Train powers ‘Taker into a corner and then applies a headlock. He shoulderblocks him down but misses an elbow drop. He knocks ‘Taker down again and tries throwing him but ‘Taker counters with a Russian leg sweep for a two-count. A-Train blocks a corner charge and lands some clubbing blows. Undertaker answers a back body drop attempt with a DDT for two. Undertaker lands his flying clothesline followed by Old School. A-Train blocks a back body drop as well and ducks down to send ‘Taker to the floor. He drives ‘Taker back-first into a ringpost and targets the back and kidneys and then covers in the ring for two.

A-Train lands more punches to the back and then lands a vertical suplex. Another strike exchange ends with Undertaker locking in a sleeper hold which A-Train counters into a back suplex. Undertaker fires back with punches and snake eyes but A-Train ducks the boot and we get a double-down clothesline. A-Train gets up first but Undertaker lands a barrage of punches. ‘Taker hits another strike combo followed by a big boot/leg drop combo for two followed by an apron leg drop.

Undertaker lands two corner clothesline and attempts a Last Ride but A-Train shoves him off, knocking the referee down in the process. A-Train lands the Balbo Bomb/Chokebomb but the ref makes a sluggish 2.7-count. A-Train sends ‘Taker into a corner but ‘Taker bounces out and tries a clothesline but hits the ref and not his opponent. A-Train follows with a bicycle kick and grabs a chair but ‘Taker boots said chair into A-Train’s face for a similar 2.7-count. A-Train escapes a Tombstone attempt but eats a chokeslam for a three-count.

Winner after 9:10: The Undertaker

Post-match Undertaker tries another Last Ride but Sable enters the ring and starts rubbing ‘Taker’s chest. I’m sure SARA must be delighted. ‘Taker plays along for a bit but then he goozles Sable. Not to chokeslam her but to hold her in place long enough for a retuning Stephanie McMahon to come down and attack Sable. Stephanie lands mounted punches on Sable until A-Train pulls Sable to safety and then both heels leave while Stephanie and Undertaker celebrate the latter’s victory, which is one of the weirdest sentences I’ve ever written covering wrestling.

Review

This was a perfect match in that it was perfectly average and met all its middling expectations. There was no sense going into this expecting a mat classic or some kind of all-time brutal war; instead, this was your bog standard superheavyweight hossfest with two mammoths colliding for your amusement. It wasn’t good, or bad, just average. It had brawling, basic moves done well, the odd super power move, and a serviceable finish.

Perhaps the only reason to look down on this match was that A-Train didn’t look all that strong save for his finisher, which was protected thanks to the ref bump. Other than that, this was your average ‘feed a monster to the Undertaker’ match that we’ve all seen time and again since 1990.

Final Rating: **

There are worse matches of his out there so this, by comparison, doesn’t stand out in a negative way. It was passable but not surprising or all that shocking. A-Train looked strong for a few moments but he never came across as strong or credible enough to beat The Undertaker on his own. The ref bumps were annoying then as they are now so that storytelling device will always count as a negative, at least for me. Aside from that, there was nothing outwardly offensive about this, which makes it a passable ‘mid’ match that doesn’t stand out either positively or negatively in any way.

Thanks for reading.