• Look Back In History
• Pmessages
• Quiz
• Stump The Staff
• Top Fifty
• Close

A Moment In Time: The Berzerker Attempts to Murder the Undertaker

Posted: Apr 14th 2026 By: Brian Damage - RingTheDamnBell.com

Not every wrestler is remembered equally with others. Some wrestlers were more popular or more charismatic than others. Some had more memorable gimmicks or better matches. For John Nord, his time in the WWF as the Viking/Berzerker didn’t exactly stand out that much. While his time in the company was brief, Nord did have a moment that stood out and still gets talked about to this day. It was the day he tried to murder the Undertaker.

Yes, you read that correctly…The Berzerker attempted a homicide on the Dead Man on WWF television in 1992. Now for those not completely familiar with the incident, first must realize that during this time in the WWF, it was a much more cartoonish and gimmicky era in the company’s history. For the most part, the violence was watered down and sugarcoated for TV. The incident we are about to discuss was a darker moment for the cartoon world of the WWF at that time.

The Undertaker was becoming a very popular character in the WWF despite being perceived as dark and evil. Fans enjoyed the Undertaker’s shtick and gravitated to the gimmick. So much so, Vince and company decided to turn the Undertaker into a babyface or “good guy.” One of the main problems that the Undertaker was facing as a fan favorite was his match quality. While Mark Calaway could wrestle, his gimmick was slow and methodical. It hampered the overall matches he was involved in.

Vince McMahon approached Calaway and asked who on the roster could wrestle a good match with him and Calaway suggested he work matches with John Nord aka The Berzerker. Calaway and Nord were friends who worked well against each other in New Japan before both men joined the WWF. Nord said he was forever grateful for Calaway to give him the vote of confidence. He said his pay nearly tripled once he was placed in a feud with the Undertaker.

While the matches were hard hitting and entertaining, Nord had an idea to spice the feud up. His gimmick carried around a sword and shield which he hated to lug around while traveling the country. While looking at his sword, Nord approached Calaway and Vince McMahon and suggested actually using the weapons he had on the Undertaker. Both agreed to the idea that The Berzerker character would try to impale the Undertaker with his sword. The sword was not sharp at all, but was still made of metal. Vince asked Nord if he would be able to get the sword to stick into the mat and Nord assured Vince he could.

The actual match took place on an episode of WWF Superstars on April 8, 1992 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The first thing, the Berzerker did was strike the Undertaker with his shield three times knocking the Undertaker down on the mat. He then took his sword and lunged it at the seemingly helpless Undertaker, who got up just in time before the sword impaled his chest. The image of the sword sticking out of the mat was a lasting moment in WWF history.

Years later, John Nord said he was fearful of legitimately stabbing Calaway so he purposefully missed wide of his target. Being live in attendance, it looked obvious he would completely miss. The production team edited the footage to make it look a lot better than it did. Nord regretted not trying to get the sword closer to the Undertaker.

There was also the issue with the Berzerker striking the Undertaker with his shield three times. According to Nord, Calaway was angry at Nord for hitting him way too hard with the shield. Nord apologized and explained he just got caught up in the moment. Overall, while the feud isn’t as memorable as other battles the Undertaker had during his WWF/WWE career, that moment with the sword still stands out.