The Undertaker is one of the most heavily protected characters in the history of professional wrestling. It was very rare to see The Deadman facing the lights at the end of a match, as it wasn't common to see him defeated at any point in his illustrious career.

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Because WWE worked so hard to protect his character, even when he was beaten, it often wasn't done in a clean manner. WWE looked to come up with different creative ideas to keep The Deadman looking as strong as possible by having people defeat him with various underhanded tactics. Unfortunately for some wrestlers, that meant that the only victories they ever had against Undertaker weren't clean.

10 Maven

WWE Maven

Everyone talks about Maven eliminating The Undertaker from the 2002 Royal Rumble match, and to his credit, that was done very cleanly. But when it comes to actual matches between them, Maven does actually have a victory against The Deadman.

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Not just any victory either, but one that saw him take the Hardcore Championship from the American Badass. However, he wasn't able to do it alone, as interference from The Rock was there to help him.

9 Albert

Albert and X-Pac

Albert is someone who was always well-respected as a top mid-card talent, but he never quite reached the main event level of WWE. So the fact he even has a victory over The Undertaker is shocking within itself.

Taking place on an August 30 episode of SmackDown, Albert would beat Undertaker, but only via disqualification. He and X-Pac had attacked 'Taker with a chair during the match behind the referee's back, and he snapped, using the chair to hit Albert, which led to the finish.

8 Hulk Hogan

Undertaker v Hulk Hogan

When it comes to singles action, Hulk Hogan has surprisingly only got one victory against The Undertaker, but that is all down to the help of Ric Flair. The Nature Boy was heavily involved in this storyline between the two legends and was actually part of the finishes for both title matches.

But at This Tuesday In Texas, Ric actually ended up throwing ashes from Undertaker's urn into the face of The Deadman. This allowed Hogan to get a roll-up finish, beating 'Taker, but not cleanly.

7 Jeff Hardy

Undertaker v Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy may have been a top main event babyface star, but he has only managed to defeat The Undertaker once in his career, and he needed help. The two men had an Extreme Rules match on SmackDown in 2008, taking place in England and it's there where Jeff earned his win over The Phenom.

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While Hardy was at the top of his game at the time as a singles star, it was Big Show's interference that really set him up to get this win.

6 Vader

Vader

Vader was an incredibly dominant wrestler in a physical manner and someone who is often greatly underappreciated. But against The Undertaker, he has only managed to defeat him with the help of someone else.

Their match at the 1997 Royal Rumble was certainly a strong one, but it resulted in Paul Bearer turning on The Undertaker and nailing him with the urn to setup Vader's victory.

5 Mabel

Mabel

Mabel shocked the wrestling world in 1995 when he won the King of the Ring tournament, and on his journey to doing that, he had to go through The Undertaker. In a match that The Deadman seemed destined to win, Mabel actually picked up the victory.

However, it wasn't a clean one by any stretch. Mabel was helped by Kama during the match, who interfered in things and set up the chance for Mabel to take advantage.

4 Tito Santana

Tito Santana

Tito Santana is likely someone who fans don't expect to have a victory against The Undertaker, but he certainly does. However, it wasn't a clean victory by any means, with Tito making the most of a referee bump.

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The match took place on a show in Barcelona, and when the referee was down, Tito used Undertaker's urn to attack him, picking up the victory immediately afterwards.

3 Goldust

Goludst v Undertaker
via WWE

In singles action, Goldust does have a major victory over The Undertaker, and he actually has that win in a casket match, something that is considered to be The Undertaker's stipulation. It was a major victory for The Bizarre One and something that helped his career.

However, it didn't come clean. Undertaker was feuding with Mankind at the time, and at one point, he popped out of the casket and slapped on The Mandible Claw, which opened up an opportunity for Goldust.

2 CM Punk

CM Punk vs Undertaker

CM Punk actually has two victories to his name over The Undertaker, but neither of them came cleanly for him. He picked up a win over The Deadman on an episode of SmackDown via count-out, but it was his win at Breaking Point 2009 that really caught the eye.

The two men competed in the main event, and it ended via a Montreal Screwjob style finish. Punk locked in the Anaconda Vice, and the bell ended up ringing without Undertaker ever submitting.

1 Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy

Much like CM Punk, Matt Hardy managed to pick up two victories in singles action against The Undertaker. Neither of those was clean, and both of them were thanks to interferences from Brock Lesnar.

His first win was by DQ after Brock made his presence felt. But his second win was with a pinfall in a Falls Count Anywhere match, but that again was down to Brock Lesnar getting involved and attacking his rival.

NEXT: 10 Best Years Of The Undertaker's WWE Career, Ranked