The 29th anniversary of the first-ever Buried Alive match, which took place at the In Your House event on October 20, 1996, was a topic of discussion on the latest Something to Wrestle podcast. JBL, who was guest-hosting the show, was on the card that night and participated in the aftermath of the main event between The Undertaker and Mankind.
Speaking on the podcast, JBL did not hold back his thoughts on the unique match concept, which involved literally burying an opponent in a grave. “I mean, this was a horrible idea. The whole thing was freaking preposterous,” JBL stated.
Despite his assessment of the idea, JBL noted that it was successful for one reason. “No, it’s the power of The Undertaker 100%,” he said. “It worked because of the undertaker. I mean, the burial guy alive, and you see that hand coming up at the end, that place went crazy.”
JBL recalled the genuine reaction from the live audience, who believed they were witnessing something truly horrific. “I was there, and you think, okay, no one’s going to believe you’re actually burying a guy alive,” JBL said. “The fans were in shock and horror about this. They thought we were burying him alive. I mean, as crazy as that sounds, they thought we were putting a human being in the dirt and burying him alive”. He noted he was worried a fan might try to jump the rail.
The end of the show saw numerous heels, including JBL, Crush, and Dustin Rhodes, tasked with shoveling dirt onto The Undertaker. JBL recalled this part of the match as a complete failure from an execution standpoint. “The worst thing was we tried to bury them with fucking shovels,” he said. “I mean, watch the tape? We didn’t get a foot of dirt in that grave… Crush is so blown up at one point, he’s standing on his shovel and he’s yelling at the crowd… we’re so blown up, we have no chance of filling up this grave. We didn’t even get enough dirt in there to hardly cover up the casket or whatever the hell it was”.
“After this, they used the backhoe to fill the grave up because they realized trying to get a bunch of guys, a bunch of old wrestlers, to fill up a grave in a few minutes to end the pay per view. It ain’t happening. It was a horrible idea. I was so freaking blown up,” JBL added.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Something to Wrestle with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Fans can listen to the full episode on podcast platforms.
