The Undertaker’s WrestleMania legacy was a staple of WWE for decades, but nearly took a a disastrous turn early on thanks to Vince McMahon.
On his Six Feet Under podcast, Mark Calaway recalled McMahon being furious with him over his WrestleMania 8 match with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts over a change to the finish.
“‘What the hell was that?! Nobody can see it!’, he recalled Vince yelling.
He eviscerated me. Oh my gosh, he lit me up.”
The planned finish was for The Undertaker to hit a Tombstone on Roberts in the ring, eaning the Deadman his second WrestleMania win. However, in the heat of the moment, he decided to deliver it on the floor instead.
While Calaway, still a relative newcomer to WWE, took the verbal onslaught, the veteran Roberts knew it was wise to avoid the irate McMahon.
“I didn’t shower. I just grabbed my stuff and got the hell out.”
Undertaker admitted that the moment taught him a hard lesson about following direct instructions in WWE. From that night on, he made sure to double-check finishes with McMahon before heading to the ring.
The Phenom’s WrestleMania streak would continue on until 2014, when Brock Lesnar conquered the Undertaker in New Orleans. Though McMahon was an obvious key part in the Deadman’s future success at the event, this story is a reminder of how one small misstep could have changed everything.