The Ministry of Darkness was a professional wrestling heel stable in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during the Attitude Era of the late 1990s. Led by The Undertaker, this Ministry was a controversial group with a Satanic theme that performed evil rituals and human sacrifice. However, they were not the first Satanic themed wrestling stable, as Kevin Sullivan's Army of Darkness was the first. In professional wrestling, a stable is a group of wrestlers within a promotion who have a common element -- friendships, either real or storyline, a manager who manages all of them, or a common storyline, which puts them together as a unit (recent examples include Evolution, La Résistance, The Cabinet... For the Combichrist song, see Everybody Hates You Mark Calaway (born March 24, 1965[2][3]) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name The Undertaker. ... Paul Bearer redirects here. ... Dennis Knight (born December 26, 1968 in Biggers, Arkansas) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Phineas I. Godwinn and Mideon. ... Nelson Frazier, Jr. ... Wes Welker (born February 16, 1969) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring names The Vampire Warrior and Gangrel. ... Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973), is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, under the ring name Edge, wrestling on its SmackDown! brand where he is the current World Heavyweight Champion. ... William Jason Jay Reso (born November 30, 1973) better known by his ring name Christian Cage, is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. ... “John Hawk” redirects here. ... Ron Simmons[2] (born May 15, 1958) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. ... is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... For the video game, see Pro Wrestling (video game). ... In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. ... In professional wrestling, a stable is a group of wrestlers within a promotion who have a common element -- friendships, either real or storyline, a manager who manages all of them, or a common storyline, which puts them together as a unit (recent examples include Evolution, La Résistance, The Cabinet... World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... For the Combichrist song, see Everybody Hates You Mark Calaway (born March 24, 1965[2][3]) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name The Undertaker. ... Satanism can refer to a number of belief systems depending on the user and contexts. ... Human sacrifice is the act of killing a human being for the purposes of making an offering to a deity or other, normally supernatural, power. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Formation

In October 1998 at In Your House: Judgment Day pay-per-view, Paul Bearer turned on Kane and rejoined the Undertaker, who would begin prophesizing that the Ministry of Darkness and a "plague of evil" would be unleashed on the WWF towards the end of 1998. Slowly becoming more demonic than ever, Undertaker's evil and satanic plans were delayed when he lost a Buried Alive Match to Stone Cold Steve Austin at In Your House: Rock Bottom and wasn't seen for several weeks afterwards. Meanwhile Justin Hawk Bradshaw and Faarooq formed Hell's Henchmen, a dark and brooding tag team briefly managed by The Jackyl. Shortly after their debut, the Jackyl left WWF and the team changed their name to The Acolytes. Bradshaw and Faarooq ended up as the henchmen of a then-unknown new leader. As one of their first orders of business, they abducted Dennis Knight and took him to "He." Weeks later, "He" turned out to be a new, druid-like Undertaker, who proceeded to initiate Knight as his servant via a ritual, rechristening him as Mideon. Judgment Day is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment. ... Pay-per-view is the name given to a system by which television viewers can call and order events to be seen on TV and pay for the private telecast of that event to their homes later. ... A Buried Alive Match is a type of professional wrestling match occasionally seen in World Wrestling Entertainment. ... In Your House Logo For the song In Your House by The Cure, see Seventeen Seconds In Your House was pay-per-view series created by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). ... “John Hawk” redirects here. ... Ron Simmons[2] (born May 15, 1958) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. ... A professional wrestling tag-team consists of two or occasionally three wrestlers who are working together as a team. ... In professional wrestling, a manager is a character who is paired with a wrestler. ... Don Callis is a Canadian former professional wrestler and manager, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling as color commentator Cyrus the Virus. ... Bradshaw (left) with Faarooq as The Acolytes The Acolytes Protection Agency (A.P.A), also known as Hells Henchmen and The Acolytes, was a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Entertainment, active between October 1998 and March 2004. ... Dennis Knight (born December 26, 1968 in Biggers, Arkansas) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Phineas I. Godwinn and Mideon. ...

At the Royal Rumble 1999, the group of Undertaker, Mideon, and The Acolytes abducted the 500-pound Mabel, who was renamed Viscera the next night on Raw Is War, and turned him to the Undertaker's side. Another faction, The Brood (Edge, Christian & Gangrel), was recruited to The Undertaker's service as well. Then, the Undertaker made it clear that he wanted to own the World Wrestling Federation and oust Vince McMahon. Royal Rumble 1999 was the twelfth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event from the World Wrestling Federation. ... Nelson Frazier, Jr. ... WWE Raw is the Monday night professional wrestling television program for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and is the primary broadcast of the RAW brand. ... The Brood was a stable in the World Wrestling Federation during the Attitude Era of the late 1990s. ... Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973), is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, under the ring name Edge, wrestling on its SmackDown! brand where he is the current World Heavyweight Champion. ... William Jason Jay Reso (born November 30, 1973) better known by his ring name Christian Cage, is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. ... Wes Welker (born February 16, 1969) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring names The Vampire Warrior and Gangrel. ...

First strike

Vince McMahon turned face during this time, claiming that Mark Calaway (Undertaker) was taking his gimmick too far, and he actually believed that he WAS The Undertaker and that he was the second coming of The Lord of Darkness. This statement could be received as a breaking of the fourth wall of kayfabe, due to the references of Calaway's name, the word "gimmick", and the wording of "believing that he was the Undertaker". McMahon, shook up, put Undertaker in the second-ever Inferno match, a rematch of the first as Undertaker faced off against his brother Kane. Undertaker defeated Kane again, and reduced the WWF owner to tears at the sight of a burning teddy bear. The bear was said to have once belonged to Stephanie McMahon (as a child). Vincent Kennedy McMahon (born August 25, 1945) is an American wrestling promoter, occasional professional wrestler, on-screen personality, former play-by-play announcer, and film producer. ... In professional wrestling, a face or babyface is a character who is portrayed as heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analagous to villains. ... In professional wrestling, a gimmick is a wrestlers personality, behavior, attire and/or other distinguishing traits while performing. ... The fourth wall is the imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theater, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. ... In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced KAY-fayb; IPA: ) refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real, that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or worked. ... A bloodied Kane inside a current style WWE cage. ... Glen Thomas Jacobs (born April 26, 1967) better known by his ring name Kane, is an American professional wrestler. ... For other uses, see Teddy bear (disambiguation). ... Stephanie Marie McMahon-Levesque[1] (born September 24, 1976) better known by her maiden name Stephanie McMahon, is World Wrestling Entertainments Executive Vice President of Talent and Creative Writing. ...

For weeks, Undertaker revealed that his Ministry actually took orders from a "higher power", and kept talking about a woman who apparently owned the key to McMahon's heart and soul. After leaving a burning symbol resembling a crucifix in McMahon's yard, the Corporate leader ordered his enforcer, The Big Bossman, to face Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell Match at WrestleMania XV. Undertaker claimed victory without much difficulty. After the match, The Brood lowered themselves from the ceiling onto the top of the cell and then lowered a noose to the Undertaker. He sent McMahon another message by hanging Big Bossman from the cell. The Crucifix, a cross with corpus, a symbol used in Catholicism in contrast with some other Christian communions, which use only a cross. ... Raymond (Ray) Traylor (May 2, 1962 – September 22, 2004) was an American professional wrestler. ... A bloodied Kane inside a current style WWE cage. ... WrestleMania XV was the fifteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). ... Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ...

After WrestleMania, the mysterious woman was revealed to be McMahon's own daughter, Stephanie McMahon. The Ministry took Stephanie captive that night, and Corporation member Ken Shamrock found Stephanie, crying in the boiler room and with the Undertaker's symbol on her forehead. As revenge on Shamrock for ruining his plans, Undertaker ordered The Ministry to abduct Ken's "sister", Ryan, and "sacrifice" her on one of his symbols. The next week, Shamrock found his sister crying in the boiler room. In addition, Shamrock had attained the information as to Stephanie's whereabouts by forcing it out of Christian. As a result, Undertaker ordered Christian to be punished by fellow Brood members Edge and Gangrel. However, they refused, and turned against Undertaker instead. This defection of the Brood was the only voluntary defection from the Ministry during its entire tenure. Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964 in Macon, Georgia) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. ... A boiler room is a room where a boiler is kept (see: mechanical room). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The Corporate Ministry

At WWF Backlash 1999, Vince McMahon had a crazed Shamrock face Undertaker in the hopes that Shamrock would break Undertaker's ankle with his Ankle lock toehold submission. His plan backfired, and Shamrock was attacked by Bradshaw after the match. Later, The Undertaker commandeered Stephanie McMahon's limo and drove off into the night with a screaming Stephanie in tow as Backlash went off the air. Backlash is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment, which started in 1999 and is held normally in April (with the exception of 2005). ... Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by competitors to immobilize their opponents or lead to a submission. ...

The next night, Undertaker held a "Black Wedding" for himself and Stephanie because if he married the WWF owner's daughter, he would control the entire Federation. Undertaker never got his wish, as the ceremony was disrupted by Stone Cold Steve Austin, the WWF Champion, after attempts by Ken Shamrock and Big Show failed. The Undertaker proceeded to join forces with Vince McMahon's son, Shane McMahon. And in turn, he gained control of The Corporation, and merged his Ministry with it to form the even more powerful Corporate Ministry. The members of both factions seemingly forgot their past conflicts and worked together as a massive stable. Steven James Williams (born Steven Anderson on December 18, 1964)[2] better known by his ring name Stone Cold Steve Austin, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. ... Paul Randall Wight, Jr. ... Shane Brandon McMahon[3][2] (born January 15, 1970)[1] is an American executive and part-time professional wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). ... The Corporation was a heel stable in the late 90s in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). ... The Corporate Ministry was a faction in World Wrestling Entertainment (then WWF) in 1999. ...

Return

In the final three SmackDown! shows prior to the Undertaker and Bradshaw (now under the rich Texan gimmick of John "Bradshaw" Layfield) face-off at No Mercy 2004 for the WWE Championship in a last ride match, a series of Ministry-reminiscent events occurred between the Undertaker and his former servant: For the video game series based on the show, see WWE SmackDown! (video game series). ... This article is about the professional wrestling pay-per-view event. ... The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. ...

• On the September 16, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, JBL called out the Undertaker. When Undertaker came out and had JBL cornered, Gangrel and Viscera appeared and took out Undertaker from behind, commencing an assault by the foursome of Gangrel, Viscera, JBL, and Orlando Jordan (it should be noted that while all four individuals were at one point under the wing of the Undertaker, Orlando Jordan was the only wrestler never to had been a member of the Ministry).
• The September 23 edition saw Gangrel and Viscera, introduced as the Ministry, face Undertaker in a handicap match. Undertaker defeated them single handedly without much trouble at all.
• The third and final episode of this series, on the September 30 edition, saw JBL face Hardcore Holly in a match. Taker had a vignette with the hearse telling Bradshaw to prepare to take his last ride and rest in peace at No Mercy. In an interview after that and prior to the match, JBL had asked where was Orlando Jordan, who for once was not with him. Following a preemptive assault by Holly, JBL came out for the match. During the match, he assaulted Holly with a weapon, getting disqualified, after which yet another Undertaker vignette interrupted him. In this one, Taker revealed Orlando hung high in the stands, crucified on his symbol. JBL beat the Undertaker at No Mercy with interference, however, to retain the WWE Title.

During this series, the SmackDown! announcers mentioned Gangrel and Viscera's former Ministry status, but never once during the entire Taker/JBL feud was it brought up that Bradshaw used to be a part of the Ministry. Instead, the excuse given for Gangrel and Viscera's insert was that "JBL paid them off." However at the Great American Bash 2006 as JBL was calling the match between Undertaker and Big Show, JBL mentioned that he had fought the Undertaker for the world title and had been on his side in the Ministry of Darkness. is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Orlando Mason Jordan (born July 10, 1980) is a professional wrestler who is currently working on the independent circuit. ... is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The word vignette has several meanings, depending on the context. ... Funeral carriage, Museum of Funeral Customs For the extreme metal band, see Hearse (band) A hearse is a funeral vehicle, a conveyance for the coffin from e. ... The Great American Bash is an annual summer professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). ...

There are plans to reform a ministry of darkness on the Raw brand. They would be led by Dr. Cinc who would return from his back injury as ane evil, darker character. There are also plans to have the ministry have every championship on the warzone brand. The new ministry of darkness is said to be: The Undertaker, Kane, Kevin Thorn, The Boogeyman, Dr. Cinc and returning to the company Molly Holly as Lady Ophelia.

Championships and accomplishments

The championship and accomplishments of both the Ministry and Corporate Ministry

• WWF Championship (1 time) - Undertaker
• WWF World Tag Team Championship (4 times) - Acolytes (2), Undertaker and Big Show (2)
• WWF European Championship (1 time) - Mideon

The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in World Wrestling Entertainment. ... Randy Orton is currently in his second reign as WWE Champion. ... This article is about the tag team championship that is currently defended on the RAW brand of WWE. For SmackDown!s tag team championship, see WWE Tag Team Championship. ... The World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title. ... The WWE European Championship belt The WWE European Championship is an inactive title competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. ... The WWE European Championship is a former professional wrestling title competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. ...

External links

• The Undertaker's WWE Profile
• John "Bradshaw" Layfield's WWE Profile
• Edge's WWE Profile
• Christian (Cage)'s TNA Profile
• Viscera (Big Daddy V)'s WWE Profile