"CLIMB THE LADDER, KID! MAKE YOURSELF FAMOUS!"

 

I woke up last night and couldn't fall back to sleep immediately, so I ended up watching this match. Taker does a terrific job putting over the young guy while not looking remotely weak. And it seems to me maybe it's a face turn at the end for him? Everyone wins, and JR's commentary was fantastic.

 

My one complaint is the segment where Taker is almost all the way up the ladder. Jeff's still "passed out" on the floor. Taker comes down and starts beating him some more. Kayfabe, shouldn't he have claimed the title? Then if he wanted to keep beating on Jeff, do so?

 

It's not the story they were telling, and the result was better. But it took me out of the match for a moment. I wonder if they had a miscommunication about in-ring placement?

This doesn't quite hold up, but it's still a fun match. Undertaker just isn't all that interesting when working on top as a bully. This would be greatly improved if they had someone like Hall Of Pain era Mark Henry as the match's heel. Jeff Hardy was made a single star by this match, so my criticisms amount to jack. I'd easily say that this was Jim Ross's best ever commentary performance. You could show a blind person this match and they would still get invested. ★★★½