With WWE's The Last Ride reflecting on the career of The Undertaker, one of the most iconic moments that remains front in center in the minds of the WWE Universe is The Deadman's time spent in the Corporate Ministry. The formation combined two of WWE's top factions, The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness and Vince McMahon's Corporation, with one goal in mind: to destroy Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Before this unification, The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness began stalking Stephanie McMahon, and Vince McMahon became distracted from The Corporation's primary goal: to keep the WWE Title away from Austin. Although this mission seemed to have failed miserably, Mr. McMahon had already hatched a plan to exact revenge on The Rattlesnake.
At WrestleMania XV, Vince's worse nightmare came true after his arch-nemesis, Stone Cold Steve Austin, regained the WWE Title against his corporate champion, The Rock. What was a low moment for Mr. McMahon seemingly became even worse when Austin won the rematch against "The Great One" at Backlash and then lost his own daughter, Stephanie, to the clutches of The Undertaker on the same night.
The following Raw, The Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness attempted to sacrifice Stephanie in some sort of unholy wedding with The Phenom when Steve Austin, of all people, saved "The Billion Dollar Princess." This enraged The Deadman, and The Undertaker personally blamed Austin for ruining his demonic ceremony.
At the same time, Shane McMahon was assuming more control over The Corporation, believing his dad was losing the "grapefruits" needed to lead the faction by focusing more on the protection of Stephanie. With Shane realizing that The Corporation and The Ministry of Darkness now had a common enemy in Steve Austin, he formed an alliance with The Undertaker, creating The Corporate Ministry.
As Austin was scheduled to defend his title against The Undertaker at Over The Edge, Shane inserted himself as a special guest referee to ensure The Undertaker's victory. However, Commissioner Shawn Michaels spiced the pay-per-view up by adding Vince as a second special guest referee, and the result was utter chaos.
The father and son rivals could not get along, and all hell broke loose when Shane shoved Austin into The Undertaker, who then rolled Austin up for Shane to count a quick pinfall. Shane's fast count awarded The Undertaker his third World Title reign, and he then threatened to sacrifice Austin to the "higher power" for which he served.
On June 7, 1999, The Higher Power arrived. Who could it be? Shane? Shawn Michaels? Jake "The Snake" Roberts? The Higher Power then revealed himself as none other than Vince McMahon, much to Jim Ross' displeasure. Vince screamed, "It's me, Austin! It's me, Austin! It was me all along, Austin!" searing the moment into the brains of WWE fans forever.
Vince's feud with The Corporate Ministry, The Undertaker and his own son was all a ruse just to take the WWE Title off of Stone Cold. Unfortunately, no one told Stephanie or Linda McMahon this plan, and neither Vince's daughter nor his wife were pleased with being unwitting pawns in his revenge plot. As payback, Stephanie and Linda gave their shares of the company to Steve Austin and bestowed him CEO of WWE.
As The Rock feuded with The Undertaker for the WWE Title, Vince and Shane challenged Austin for his share of the company in a handicap ladder match at King of the Ring (1999). Despite having the match won, the suspended briefcase needed to secure full control of WWE, and the victory was suddenly raised out of Austin's reach before he could grab it. Austin would get screwed out of the match, and the McMahons would assume full control of WWE.
While The Corporate Ministry celebrated its triumphant success at King of the Ring the following night, Austin informed them that during his final act as CEO, he booked himself in a title rematch against The Undertaker. Austin would defeat The Undertaker for the title during the main event of Raw, but Undertaker would set up a rematch at the next PPV. Unfortunately, it was there that would mark the beginning of the end of The Corporate Ministry.
Austin retained his WWE Title in a rematch against The Undertaker with the stipulation that if Austin won, Vince would be forced to leave WWE. With Vince now gone, The Undertaker formed an "Unholy Alliance" with The Big Show, seemingly abandoning The Corporate Ministry altogether. Meanwhile, Triple H would exit the shadow of The Corporate Ministry entirely and establish himself as a main eventer, while The Acolytes became the mercenaries known as APA.
While it ultimately failed at destroying Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Corporate Ministry succeeded in transcending The Undertaker beyond all eras. From Hogan to Reigns, from The Deadman to The American Bad Ass, Undertaker can hang with Superstars of any era, and, from a fan's standpoint, that's what separates The Phenom from those who have already laid their careers to rest.