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The Undertaker has accomplished everything there is to accomplish in the wrestling world and he will forever be known as one of the most iconic WWE Superstars of all time.
Throughout his 27-year career, he’s battled with greats like Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and countless others, while nobody will ever come close to surpassing his legendary WrestleMania winning streak of 21 matches.
However, with outstanding matches and victories come less-than-outstanding moments and defeats, and it’s safe to say “The Deadman” has had his fair share of surprising losses during his career.
In this article, discounting Brock Lesnar as we’re looking for less-celebrated Superstars as opposed to particular moments, we run through five shock opponents who picked up a 1-2-3 victory over the WWE icon.
#5 Mabel
Viscera, Big Daddy V, Mabel – however you remember him, it’s incredible to think that the 500-pounder ever defeated The Undertaker, but that’s exactly what happened at King of the Ring 1995.
“The Phenom”, with Paul Bearer at ringside, was in control of the quarter-final match-up until he accidentally knocked the referee over. It’s at that point that Kama, later known as The Godfather, kicked ‘Taker in the back before Mabel planted a leg-drop on him to pick up the win.
The WrestleMania legend went on to defeat Kama in a Casket Match at SummerSlam, while Mabel – the eventual King of the Ring winner – unsuccessfully challenged Diesel for the WWE Championship.
#4 Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
We originally hoped to include five one-on-one matches in this selection of shock opponents who defeated The Undertaker, but Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder’s victory in March 2008 was just too tempting to ignore.
Ahead of Undertaker vs. Edge at WrestleMania XXIV, Hawkins and Ryder (aka The Edgeheads) teamed up with their leader to defeat “The Phenom” in a 3-on-1 handicap match on SmackDown.
Granted, neither one of the current WWE Superstars actually pinned ‘Taker (can you imagine if they had?!), with Edge getting the victory following a spear, but the record books still state that they defeated the WrestleMania icon.
While Ryder is busy putting Mojo Rawley over, former TNA and WWE Tag Team Champion Curt Hawkins is on 1 150+ match losing streak that may never end by the looks of it.
#3 Maven
One of the most shocking moments in Royal Rumble history came in 2002 when Maven, a WWE rookie who had just won Tough Enough, drop-kicked The Undertaker over the top rope to eliminate him from the match.
A couple of weeks later on SmackDown, ‘Taker put his Hardcore Championship on the line against the man 11 years his junior, and the outcome of the No Disqualification match was equally as shocking as their altercation at the Rumble.
“Big Evil” could have defeated Maven, accompanied by Al Snow, multiple times during the match but chose to continue punishing him, only for The Rock to interfere and help the rookie win the Hardcore title.
#2 The Great Khali
Every once in a while, something happens at a WWE event or in a match that leaves fans wondering what on earth they just witnessed. Well, Judgment Day 2006 was one of those events and The Undertaker vs. The Great Khali was one of those matches.
Way before he was dancing around with Hornswoggle or teaming with Santino Marella, Khali was an unstoppable giant who defeated anyone who was put in his path with his trademark Khali Chop and Khali Bomb.
In his first pay-per-view match with WWE, Khali kicked The Undertaker in the head and pinned him for the 1-2-3 by placing his foot on the chest of his iconic opponent.
The fact that “The Punjabi Playboy” defeated “The Phenom” wasn’t too much of a surprise – he was new and needed to make a statement – but the manner of the victory was as shocking as you’ll see in WWE.
#1 Vladimir Kozlov
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXV is widely regarded as one of the greatest matches in WWE history. The build-up to the match, however, was anything but great.
That’s because Vladimir Kozlov, a Russian character who was in the mix to be ‘Taker’s WrestleMania opponent at the time, defeated “The Deadman” clean on an episode of SmackDown just a few weeks before the iconic match with HBK.
"I am shocked,” said Tazz, SmackDown’s colour commentator. “If this is the match we see at WrestleMania, Kozlov could end The Undertaker's undefeated streak."
Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and while Undertaker and Michaels made history at “The Show of Shows”, Kozlov didn’t even have a match at the event and was released by WWE in 2011 after a spell teaming with Santino Marella.
