WWF on Telecinco, Barcelona, Spain
This is a fairly famous match for not being a big deal or on a big show or anything. This was never given any sort of U.S. release with English commentary but the match is on YouTube and Dailymotion.
Undertaker at this time is unbeatable, in his true “Deadman” phase, still the original gimmick of the Western mortician who seems impervious to pain. Around a month after this, he will controversially defeat Hulk Hogan for the WWF championship at Survivor Series, though the reign doesn’t last.
Tito Santana is a former Intercontinental and tag team champion and all, but he’s in basically his twilight years here. He’s a “jobber to the stars” at this point, has the credibility of being Tito Santana, but is no longer going to beat anyone being pushed. He’s a useful member of the roster still, sure, as he helps make rising stars look good. This was a valued position back before every TV show was filled with PPV level matches.
Also worth noting that Santana had already been working the “El Matador” gimmick, but he didn’t use it on the European tour of ’91, where he also wrestled Ric Flair at Royal Albert Hall.
Spain loves Tito Santana, and he gets some early shots in here, ducking an Undertaker charge and landing some right hands. Crowd chanting, “Tito, Tito, Tito” as he continues to control the action with basic kick-and-punch stuff. Undertaker not really registering; wobbling a bit, but no pain.
Santana grabs a wristlock and works on that for a while. If you’ve seen Undertaker Coliseum Video matches of the time you’re familiar with the “staying in a simple hold for a while” bit like when he held Ultimate Warrior in a Facelock for like 7 minutes.
Out of that and Tito goes for a sunset flip. He doesn’t get it, but Undertaker misses a right hand and punches the mat, and now back to the wrist. Taker comes out of that with the throat thrusts. I understand fully that he had to change over the years but I do miss when The Best Pure Striker in WWWF History just did these goofy throat thrusts. Santana comes back with a clothesline that sends Taker over the top to the floor, where he lands on his feet and kills some time staring at the urn.
When Tito tries to pull Undertaker back in, he gets his throat snapped over the top rope, and that gives Taker the opening, and he comes back in with the advantage. More throat thrusting, Santana selling them by going down and kicking his legs about so that you know it’s a bad shot. Taker chokes Tito over the second rope, then pulls up on the nose like he liked to do.
Early Undertaker and Paul Bearer were such a crazy good act. To come up with the ideas for those characters and then find the EXACT right people to pull them off THAT well is absurd. Even their past experience didn’t really play into executing those gimmicks much, really.
Taker hits the ropewalk sledge which would later be called Old School. Santana tries a bodyslam but Taker is too dead weight (!!) to go up and he just punches Tito in the face. More slow Undertaker offense, as it almost all was at the time. Choke lift and drop. Bodyslam. Stalking, waiting, running elbow drop misses but Taker sits right back up.
Taker goes for the ropewalk again and gets yanked off hard. Santana throwing running right hands now, trying to build as much power and momentum behind them as he can. Off the ropes, Santana hits the forearm, but Taker doesn’t go down. A second, same result. On a third, Undertaker pulls the ref in the way, and he gets creamed, as Don West would say.
With Santana checking the referee, Undertaker jumps down on him with a kick to the back, then hits a side slam. The match isn’t over but Undertaker is bagging Tito up with the ref out. But Tito fights back and gets out of the bag.
Referee still down as Santana tries to mount a little desperation comeback. He hits a piledriver, then a second, and then a THIRD! Undertaker doesn’t sit up after that one. Bearer tries to revive Undertaker with the urn, and he does slowly get up, but Tito socks Bearer in the mush, takes the urn and cracks Undertaker in the skull.
Santana falls on top, the referee eventually makes it over, and makes the three count. Barcelona loses it!
This match had no impact on WWF booking, it was a gesture to Santana, a great veteran, in a place he was very popular. Taker still went on to be Undertaker, Santana went back to his lower midcard role. But it’s a neat match, an odd thing that happened. It was really Santana’s last win of note, and it’s barely even of note because it happened only for the local audience in Spain (with due respect to the great wrestling fans and people of Spain). The crowd is behind Santana the entire way, even though you get the sense they also don’t really believe he can win. When he does, they get nuts, and you can really feel it, which is always a very good thing. It’s also, because it’s different from standard Taker matches of the time, about as good an early Undertaker match as you’ll find.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 
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