Ministry of Darkness/YMMV


 * Alternate Character Interpretation: The theory has been put forth that Undertaker himself was Brainwashed and Crazy during this period, being made to believe he started the fire that killed his parents and that he was an all-powerful messiah, and perhaps Paul Bearer and Vince McMahon were behind the brainwashing.
 * Complete Monster: The Undertaker was probably at his most evil in this era (even more than his Big Evil persona), as he admitted to killing his parents and burning his brother, attempted to kill Austin, and abducted many people to perform satanic rituals on them.
 * His "Higher Power" was hyped up to be even more evil and demonic than The Undertaker.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Undertaker's Ministry theme, The Brood's theme, even the Corporate Ministry theme (a Dark Reprise of McMahon's theme).
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: During the abduction of Stephanie cameraman apparently decided to make his holy mission to invoke this trope and make it looks like Undertaker is reciving a blowjob on the ring.
 * Evil Is Cool: The Undertaker personified this trope during his Ministry era.
 * Funny Moment: During a backstage segment, The Undertaker accidentally referred to his master as the "Hower Power". Made more hilarious by the fact that it's The Undertaker in his darkest persona and that he just continued the promo as if nothing happened.
 * This might be because, as one could see in his early years with Paul Bearer, Undertaker simply does not Corpse. No pun intended.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: Trying to take over the WWF by marrying Stephanie McMahon? Not a bad idea...
 * It Was His Sled: Does anybody reading this NOT know who the Higher Power was?!
 * Jump the Shark: Most agree, including Undertaker himself, that it Jumped the Shark once the Higher Power was revealed.
 * The Undertaker's issue was being demoted to the role of Vince McMahon's Dragon, however it would have happened regardless of who the Higher Power wound up being, as even before The Reveal the story become centered around the Higher Power rather than Undertaker. Not to mention that there are also many fans who felt that Vince was the best choice for the Higher Power and feel that any of the other potential candidates wouldn't have worked out too well and would have been examples of this trope.
 * It was more the fact that Vince being the Higher Power negated the entire Stephanie kidnapping angle, as it was revealed that Vince was just "acting" worried about Stephanie and faking his Villainous Breakdown the entire time (which of course he was in Real Life, but it was harmful to kayfabe).
 * In short, most people feel that the Ministry would have been much better if there was no Higher Power..
 * Memetic Mutation: "IT'S ME AUSTIN!!!! IT'S ME AUSTIN!!! IT WAS ME ALL ALONG AUSTIN!!!"
 * Moral Event Horizon: If The Undertaker didn't cross it when he admitted that he killed his own parents and burned his brother, or even when he tried to embalm Austin alive, he certainly did when he abducted people such as Ryan Shamrock and Stephanie.
 * Shocking Swerve: The Reveal of the Higher Power.
 * Too Good to Last: Seems like any time Vince McMahon is given an idea this awesome it's only a matter of time before he fumbles it and messes it up. See also: the InVasion angle, the ECW comeback and Paul Burchill's pirate gimmick.
 * Injuries might have been the main factor in this storyline ending not too long after the Higher Power was revealed. The Undertaker was working with a groin injury, Vince McMahon would get injured towards the end of the storyline from a motorcycle accident, and judging from how quickly his reign ended afterwards and that only months later he would have to get neck surgery, I imagine that Stone Cold Steve Austin's neck injury played a role as well. So you had The He- errr.. Anti-Hero (Austin), the Big Bad (Vince), and The Dragon (Undertaker), who were the three major players in the storyline, injured which required them to take breaks shortly afterwards, so you can't really continue the storyline without them. It had nothing to do with fans whining about how the Higher Power wasn't someone they had guessed/wanted it to be. And did you just compare Paul Burchill's pirate gimmick to two huge WWE storylines?