Lord of Darkness, Ministry of Darkness (1996–1999)

The Undertaker returned at the 1995 Survivor Series, wearing a Phantom-like ghostly Grey upper facemask. At the [[Royal Rumble]], the Undertaker was unmasked in a WWF Championship match against [[Bret Hart]]. [[Kevin Nash|Diesel]] interfered in the match to cost the Undertaker the championship, and one month later, while Diesel was facing Hart in a steel cage match, Undertaker came up from under the ring to drag Diesel underneath, allowing Hart the victory. This feud culminated in a match between the duo at [[WrestleMania XII]], in which the Undertaker was victorious. His next feud commenced the very next night, when [[Mick Foley|Mankind]] made his debut, interfering in the Undertaker's match with [[John Layfield|Justin Hawk Bradshaw]]. For the next few months, Mankind ambushed and cost the Undertaker several matches. The Undertaker faced Mankind for the first time in a match at the [[King of the Ring]], which Mankind won. The feud intensified, and they began taking their battles into crowds, backstage areas, and in the boiler rooms of different arenas. As a result, the first ever Boiler Room Brawl match was booked between the two at [[SummerSlam]]. During the match, when Undertaker reached for his urn, [[Percy Pringle|Paul Bearer]] hit him with it, turning on the Undertaker and allowing Mankind to "incapacitate" The Undertaker with the [[Mandible claw]], giving him the win. After Bearer's betrayal, the Undertaker took his rivalry with Mankind to a new level, resulting in a Buried Alive match at In Your House: Buried Alive. Undertaker won the match after a [[Chokeslam]] into the open grave, but after interference from [[Terry Gordy|The Executioner]], as well as the help of several other superstars, The Undertaker was ultimately "Buried Alive". As a result, a match was booked for the upcoming [[Survivor Series]], again pitting The Undertaker against Mankind, with a unique stipulation. Hanging 20 ft above the ring was Paul Bearer, enclosed in a steel cage. If Undertaker won the match, he would be able to get his hands on Bearer. Even though Undertaker won the match, interference from The Executioner enabled Bearer to escape the Undertaker's clutches. The Undertaker then shifted feuds and briefly turned his attention to The Executioner, who had become a thorn in his side since his arrival. At In Your House: It's Time, the Undertaker defeated The Executioner in an Armageddon rules match. By the end of 1996, the Undertaker began a feud with [[Big Van Vader|Vader]], culminating in a loss to Vader at the [[Royal Rumble]] after Bearer interfered on behalf of his new protégé. After this loss, the Undertaker's character began to focus his attention on the [[WWE Championship|WWF Championship]]. At [[WrestleMania 13]], The Undertaker defeated [[Sid Eudy|Sycho Sid]] to win the WWF Championship for the second time in a No Disqualification match. After the event, Paul Bearer attempted to rejoin with the Undertaker, using the threat of revealing 'Taker's "biggest secret". In the storyline, Bearer announced that Undertaker was a murderer, who as a child had burned down the family funeral home business (where Bearer worked), killing his parents and his younger brother. Undertaker claimed there was no way for Bearer to have that information, but Paul announced that he was told this by Undertaker's brother [[Kane]], who was still alive but horribly burned and scarred. Bearer raised Kane after the fire, having him institutionalized. Now, Kane was waiting for revenge after all these years. In defense, Undertaker responded that Kane, a pyromaniac, had been the one to set the fire and could not have possibly survived. His next major storyline began at [[SummerSlam]] in 1997 when referee [[Shawn Michaels]] accidentally hit Undertaker with a steel chair shot meant for [[Bret Hart]], costing the Undertaker his WWF Championship. Although the chair shot was accidental, Michaels taunted the Undertaker in the following weeks. The feud culminated at In Your House: Badd Blood, where the Undertaker challenged Michaels to the first ever Hell in a Cell match. During this match, Undertaker's storyline brother Kane made his debut, ripping off the door to the cell and giving Undertaker a Tombstone Piledriver, Undertaker's trademark finisher, allowing Michaels to pin him. As the angle progressed, Kane, with Paul Bearer, challenged the Undertaker to fights, but the Undertaker consistently refused to fight his brother. The Undertaker's final encounter with Michaels was in the return of the casket match at the [[Royal Rumble]], where Kane cost the Undertaker the win by trapping him in the coffin, padlocking the casket lid, and setting it ablaze. The Undertaker, however, had disappeared when the casket lid was reopened. After a two-month hiatus, Undertaker returned to continue the angle and defeat Kane at [[WrestleMania XIV]]. The two had a rematch, the first ever Inferno match, one month later at In Your House: Unforgiven, where The Undertaker was booked to win by setting Kane's right arm on fire. Undertaker's longtime feud with Mankind was renewed afterwards, when Mankind cost the Undertaker a number one contenders match against Kane. As a result, Undertaker and Mankind faced each other in a Hell in a Cell match at [[King of the Ring]]. During the match, Undertaker threw Mankind off the roof of the sixteen foot cell onto the Spanish announcers' table below, in what was a preplanned move. He later chokeslammed Mankind through the roof of the cell into the ring -- which legitimately knocked Mick Foley (Mankind) unconscious -- and finished the match by chokeslamming Mankind onto a pile of thumbtacks. In July at [[Fully Loaded]], Undertaker and [[Steve Austin]] were booked to defeat Kane and Mankind to win the [[World Tag Team Championship (WWE)|WWF Tag Team Championship]]. Undertaker and Austin's reign as tag champions lasted for only two weeks, as Kane and Mankind regained the titles on an episode of Raw. Undertaker then became the number one contender for the WWF Championship at [[SummerSlam]], now held by Austin. Shortly before SummerSlam, however, Undertaker revealed that he and Kane were working together as brothers. Despite this revelation, Undertaker told Kane that he did not want him to interfere in the match with Austin, and even though Undertaker lost the match, he handed Austin his belt back after the match in a show of respect. In September, the storyline continued, and Undertaker began to show heel characteristics, becoming a tweener, when he and Kane revealed the fact that they were in cahoots to rid Austin of his title for [[Vince McMahon]]. At Breakdown: In Your House, Undertaker and Kane were booked in a triple threat match with Austin for his WWF title; McMahon stated that the brothers were not allowed to pin each other. Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin simultaneously after a double chokeslam, so the title was vacated by McMahon. This led to a match at In Your House: Judgment Day between the two brothers for the title, with Stone Cold as the Special Guest Referee. Near the end of the match, Paul Bearer seemed about to assist Kane by handing him a steel chair to hit Undertaker with, but as Kane had his back turned, both Bearer and Undertaker hit Kane with the chair. Undertaker went for the pin, but Austin refused to count the fall, attacked the Undertaker, and counted out both brothers. Finally, Undertaker turned heel the next night on Raw is War for the first time in over six years, reconciling with Paul Bearer and claiming that he and Bearer would unleash their [[Ministry of Darkness]] on the World Wrestling Federation. As part of this new angle, he admitted that he had indeed set the fire that killed his parents, for which he had previously blamed Kane. After [[Survivor Series]], Undertaker returned his attention back to his previous feud with Austin for having costing him the title at Judgment Day, viciously hitting Austin in the head with a shovel during a title match with [[The Rock]], returning the favor for what happened a month earlier. With this twist in the angle, McMahon scheduled a Buried Alive match between Undertaker and Austin in December 1998 at Rock Bottom: In Your House. In the weeks leading up to Rock Bottom, the Undertaker character became increasingly demonic and satanic, attempting to embalm Austin alive, trying to have Kane committed to a mental asylum, and having his druids chain Austin to his symbol and raising it high into the arena. Undertaker, however, lost the match after Kane interfered. In January 1999, Undertaker returned, remaining a monster heel and forming the [[Ministry of Darkness]], explaining that he was taking orders from a "Higher Power." Eventually, the Ministry merged with [[Shane McMahon]]'s Corporation heel stable to form the [[Corporate Ministry]]. During this time, The Undertaker was booked to defeat Austin for his third WWF Championship at [[Over the Edge]] with help from Shane McMahon, the special referee. Two weeks later, it was revealed on Raw that Vince McMahon had been the Undertaker character's "Higher Power" all along. After Undertaker dropped the WWF title back to Austin one night after [[King of the Ring]], and lost a First Blood match at [[Fully Loaded]], his relationship with the McMahons dissolved and the Corporate Ministry disbanded. Undertaker then began a storyline where he teamed with [[The Big Show]] in a tag team known as The UnHoly Alliance, which held the [[World Tag Team Championship (WWE)|WWF Tag Team Championship]] twice. He was then scheduled to perform at [[Unforgiven]], contending for the WWF Championship, but a groin injury knocked him out of action for the remainder of the year and part of the next. Onscreen, his absence was explained by The Undertaker quitting.