John ‘Bradshaw’ Layfield has shed light on the WWE’s first attempt at their now-famous match format, the Buried Alive match, labeling it a complete disaster.
In 1996, the WWE launched its first ever Buried Alive match, with the inaugural battle featuring Mankind emerging victorious over The Undertaker at the In Your House 11 event.
The climax of the match displayed several villain characters, including Bradshaw himself, assisting Mankind in burying The Undertaker, thereby concluding the first-ever Buried Alive match.
Recollecting this experience while on the “Something to Wrestle” podcast, JBL spoke about his involvement in the debut Buried Alive match. He shared,
“The whole thing was a disaster. The team had no clue about the time it would take to fill a grave. In my opinion, this was one of the most ill-planned things the WWE did. That being said, the ending was exceptional. I think they had a plan in which ‘Taker would enter the grave, only to be moved eventually, making it clear he wasn’t actually buried alive.
“Their idea was that it would work well to have some villains show up on the scene and give a boost to their image, but also ensure ‘Taker was buried well before going off air, followed by his infamous hand-up gesture through the grave.
“Do you realize how much time it takes to fill a grave? We would have needed around 7 or 8 hours. Of course, no one thought of this. At last, Foley started raking in the dirt with his bare hands; we hadn’t even laid a foot of dirt over the grave. It wasn’t even close… It was simply terrible.”
Apart from Bradshaw, several other characters including Goldust, Crush, Terry Gordy, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Paul Bearer participated in ensuring The Undertaker was buried.
In future fixtures, it was wisely decided by the WWE to use machinery to help transport dirt over the grave, thus saving the wrestlers from such a difficult task.
Likewise, eight years on, JBL himself wrestled in a new match format, the debut Last Ride match, where The Undertaker was once again defeated due to interference.