Secrets Behind Buried Alive Matches in WWE
In Buried Alive matches, the rules are straightforward: one wrestler must bury their opponent completely under a pile of dirt.
There have been five Buried Alive matches in WWE history, and The Undertaker has taken part in every single one.
Although he has lost three times, The Undertaker always manages to return, as if being buried never affected him.
October 24th 2010,Bragging Rights. In the 5th & last Buried Alive match in the WWE Kane defeated The Undertaker #WWE pic.twitter.com/zXymYCuN48
— WWE Today In History 🌐 (@WWE__History) October 24, 2015
Fans would see the dirt pour over the grave, and the match would end, but behind the scenes, it was all about smart planning and hidden exits.
The first trick is that the grave is always built on what looks like a hill. This makes it really deep, allowing the wrestlers to move around when the camera isn’t focused on them.
Moreover, the insides might look like dirt, but they are actually made up of fabric, which the wrestler tears to enter a secret compartment.
In the case of the Undertaker, he would slip through the hidden opening right before the final load of dirt fell. His opponent would make sure to do something crazy at this time to distract the viewers.
So while it looked like he was buried alive, in reality, The Undertaker was quietly sneaking away to a secret room.
The most interesting Buried Alive match in WWE history is The Undertaker vs. Mankind, which was also the first Buried Alive match in history.
It was part of the In Your House series, titled In Your House 11: Buried Alive, which took place on October 20, 1996, at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Before this match, The Deadman had lost two consecutive matches to Mankind at King of the Ring and SummerSlam 1996.
This Buried Alive match gave The Undertaker the chance to finally stop Mankind from completing a hat-trick of wins, which he did by delivering a final Chokeslam to Mankind.
While The Undertaker managed to secure a win, several heel wrestlers came to rescue Mankind, and then later they buried The Undertaker in the same grave.
