As expected, The Undertaker made an appearance at WWE’s latest pay-per-view event, Super ShowDown.
He did so in the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match that saw Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, AJ Styles, R-Truth, and Rey Mysterio compete. Once The OC took out Mysterio backstage, we saw footage of Taker lay out Karl Anderson and Gallows before heading out to the ring.
He attacked Styles by hitting a chokeslam then pinned him to not only win the match but to kick off his next feud under the WWE banner.
This was expected as not only was Taker reported to be traveling with the crew to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia earlier this week but WWE also tweeted out a photo of him out of character in the country on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Dave Meltzer was able to confirm that The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles is currently scheduled for the WrestleMania card. The news was first reported by WrestleZone.
It’s also been reported by Pwinsider that The Undertaker is currently scheduled to make an appearance at the March 9 episode of RAW. from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
This appearance is slated to further the feud with Styles heading into the biggest event of the year for the company.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 5, 2020 in Tampa, Florida at the Raymond James Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg did a recent interview where reflected about his first encounter with The Undertaker.
He did so on the Total Slam podcast. The match between Goldberg and The Undertaker took place last year at the WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event.
It had received a ton of criticism from fans as the start of the match was good but it quickly went downhill due to unforeseen circumstances.
“My match with Taker was the perfect storm with no good. At the end of the day, I was not in the ring for two years. It was 150 degrees. Undertaker and I never worked together before,” said Goldberg. “My character is based on realism. My character is based on intensity and sometimes I forget I’m a little bit older than I used to be and my body is not [the same].
It was a spot over the years that I knocked myself out at times. Why? Because I refuse to do in there something that doesn’t looks real. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it 100 percent. If I knocked myself out, so be it, I knocked myself out.”
Goldberg Reflects On The Match
Goldberg noted that he had to deal with it and it was only his fault because he went too hard. He said that fans can’t fault him for it because he wanted to give the best show possible and make his family and fans proud.
Goldberg noted that he wanted to complete a dream of his and have a good match with Taker, but it doesn’t always turn out the way you want and unfortunately, it was on TV.
Goldberg continued by noting how everybody saw it but thinks that the match doesn’t defy him as a human being. He admitted that for two weeks he felt bad about it and he thinks they should get a pat on the back for putting ourselves out there at our age and doing the things that we do to entertain the people.
Goldberg returns to the country at this same event when he challenges Bray Wyatt for the Universal Title this Thursday.
Outspoken former WWE and WCW Superstar Kevin Nash made some intriguing comments on this week’s edition of the After The Bell podcast. Nash answered a hypothetical question from host Corey Graves; indicating what ‘could’ have happened if ‘Big Daddy Cool’ hadn’t of gone to WCW back in 1996.
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in WCW
Both Kevin Nash and his ‘Outsiders’ tag team partner Scott Hall completely changed the landscape of professional wrestling when they left the WWF in 1996 to join the rival company: World Championship Wrestling. When it was revealed that Hulk Hogan was also part of their group; the nWo was formed and completely changed WCW’s fortunes at the time. This led to WCW having an impressive 83 week win streak over the then WWF. This with the nWo at the helm.
WrestleMania
“I wouldn’t have dropped the belt” Kevin Nash began. This referring to the WWF Championship that he won in 1994 and eventually dropped in 1995 after indicating that he was leaving the company. “I wouldn’t of dropped the belt to Bret, who would then give it to Shawn [Michaels], unless I was guaranteed to win at WrestleMania. I really wouldn’t have done it. It would have been three big losses in a row. I needed a big win right there.”
The match that Nash is referring to is of course his WrestleMania 12 bout against The Undertaker. This would of course meant the end of Taker’s streak. However, it is worth noting that back in 1996 the ‘streak’ was not being referred to on television. “That could have been a possibility” Nash stated. Nash also claimed that Undertaker would’ve likely been happy to “do business” at the time.
How Things Could’ve Changed
“I’m not saying that would have happened, I’m not saying Vince [McMahon] wouldn’t have put me over, but I definitely wouldn’t have crossed up without something. [But] I was leaving, so man it was just like ‘alright.’ there’s a lot of things that could have changed.”
For fans of Undertaker’s streak it seems advantageous that Nash would leave for the competition at the time. Nash also wanted to make it abundantly clear that he did not want to leave WWF at the time. However the seemingly open chequebook of Turner Broadcasting made it almost impossible for he and Scott Hall/Razor Ramon to stay in the WWF.
You can catch After The Bell every Thursday through Endeavour Audio.
The Undertaker is slated to be in action at this year’s WWE WrestleMania 36 event as his opponent has been revealed.
Dave Meltzer was able to confirm that The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles is currently on the schedule for the WrestleMania card. The news was first reported by WrestleZone.
Taker missed WrestleMania 35 last year, which broke his streak of wrestling at the biggest event of the year for the company, which is also where he had the winning streak of never losing at the show until it was snapped by Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 in 2014.
The Undertaker In 2019
In 2019, Taker was in action twice – once by defeating Goldberg at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia in June and then again by teaming with Roman Reigns to defeat Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre at Extreme Rules in July.
Styles had been sidelined with a separated shoulder since last month’s Royal Rumble show but WWE announced earlier this month that Styles was “recovering way ahead of doctor’s projections.”
In fact, the company has already announced that he would compete for the Tuwaiq Trophy gauntlet match at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, February 27.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 5, 2020 in Tampa, Florida at the Raymond James Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.
The WWE stars are out in Houston, Texas where WWE will hold its first pay-per-view event of the new year, Royal Rumble, at Minute Maid Park.
The Undertaker and Michelle McCool are in town as the two stars have been posting photos on their official Instagram accounts as seen here with Taker:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7wX3iygKdR
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if they will be used in the WWE Royal Rumble matches.
Also, WWE Hall of Famers Pat Patterson, Ted DiBiase Sr, Mark Henry and WWE Backstage analyst Christian are also in town for the Rumble, according to PWInsider.
Fans can expect to read about more former WWE stars to be in town for the show as the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event is considered one of the big four events of the year for WWE along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series.
The Men’s Royal Rumble match only has three spots left while the company still needs to announce several spots in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match, which has 21 more spots available.
Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Sarah Logan, Natalya, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, and Carmella have all been announced for the Women’s Royal Rumble Match.
Sting has previously voiced his desire to wrestle The Undertaker but recently admitted that he thinks about the match every year.
The 60-year-old Hall of Famer recently talked to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. This is where he noted that although he has come to terms with his retirement, he could still be brought out of it.
He’s willing to come out of retirement. It just depends on it ending on his terms. Those terms would be a dream pitting Sting against The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
“If there was a ’Taker situation at WrestleMania, I would listen to that phone call,” said Sting. “I could get in condition and I could pull it off.”
Sting & The Undertaker
Sting knows that isn’t likely to happen and in fact, thinks his career is done. That just hasn’t stopped him from thinking about wrestling “The Deadman.”
“I think my career is done. I still think about the ‘Taker situation every year, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
This has been a match that Sting has wanted to take part in for years now. Despite his feelings for it to happen, it never did.
The career of the WWE Hall of Famer came to an end at the 2015 Night of Champions PPV event. This is where he battled Seth Rollins. It marked his last match and end of his career after he suffered a neck injury after taking a powerbomb in the corner.
Matt Riddle went after Goldberg once again on social media.
There is some history between Riddle and Goldberg as Riddle has been outspoken about the WWE Hall of Famer.
WWE released a preview clip for the episode of Broken Skull Sessions with Stone Cold Steve Austin that will air this Sunday and feature Goldberg, who will talk about a wide range of topics.
The clip features a quick round of word association that saw Goldberg stating that owes Taker a receipt. Riddle saw the clip and responded on Twitter:
Riddle and Goldberg’s comments about The Undertaker involves the contest that saw Goldberg share the squared circle with Taker.
The match between Goldberg and The Undertaker at the WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event back in June had received a ton of criticism from fans. The start of the match was good but it quickly went downhill due to unforeseen circumstances.
During the match, Goldberg ended up being busted open and suffering a concussion. Taker dropped Goldberg on his head while attempting a tombstone and Goldberg botched the jackhammer.
Riddle has also voiced his take about Goldberg and how he doesn’t like Goldberg’s style of wrestling.
WWE Legend Kane has a new autobiography titled Mayor Kane: My Life in Wrestling and Politics. In an interview with Sporting News, Kane discussed his new book and explained how he is currently semi-retired from WWE.
Reflecting on his long career with the promotion, Kane referred to his time working with Daniel Bryan as a part of Team Hell No as the most fun he’s had in wrestling.
“That’s what I would attribute my longevity to, frankly, is the ability to reinvent myself,” he said. “And I think that’s true for anyone who has a long career. They never stay the same character, quite the same character, the whole way through. Speaking about Daniel Bryan, specifically, that was a blast and some of the most fun I had in my entire career because it was an absolute departure from the character that I played earlier.”
He continued, “If you asked people in 1998 and again in 2004 would Kane be comic relief on the show, they would have looked at you like you were crazy. All of that was amazing. I hope that I was able to show people that I wasn’t just somebody who had a mask and didn’t talk all the time. There was some depth and I could do some different things and was hopefully a more well-rounded performer than people probably initially thought that I would be.”
Kane’s long-time on-screen brother, The Undertaker, provided one of the forewords to his autography. He explained how ‘Taker has always been an advocate for him, noting how their first match took place in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1995. With their characters so interlinked on-screen, Kane spoke openly about how he would never have had the career he has enjoyed without The Undertaker.
WWE Legend The Undertaker has revealed he has no recollection of his match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30. It was this match that broke ‘Taker’s WrestleMania undefeated record, ending his 21 match winning streak.
Speaking with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on his WWE Network show, The Broken Skull Sessions, The Undertaker talked about that night. When asked by Austin if he thinks he should have retired from in-ring competition following the match, ‘Taker replied:
“That is the million-dollar question. It could have been. The thing with this match is, not everybody knows but somewhere within the first five minutes I get concussed,” revealed Taker. “I don’t even remember this night. I’ve watched it back now but my last memory happened about 3:30 in the afternoon when my wife came backstage and we had a conversation.”
“This Shook Me Up”
He reflected on how he had no memory of being checked on after the match. He recalled walking through Gorilla afterwards and then being in the hospital. Even after multiple viewings of their matchup, ‘Taker revealed he still can’t pinpoint where he became concussed.
“I watched [the match] back 10-15 times now and I can’t pick out where it [getting concussed] happened,” Undertaker said. “It was nothing Brock did. I think him not knowing I was concussed…when I watch it I can tell I’m lethargic. I’m not moving and thinking normally. This screwed me up. This screwed up my confidence. You would think after a career of 25 years that you wouldn’t get shook up. Well, that’s a false belief because this shook me up.”
When asked if he has any intentions to return to the ring in the future, The Undertaker stressed how he is going to write his own story. He added that he will be in charge of his own ending in pro wrestling.
The Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee and WWE Superstar Kane recently did an interview with Brian Fritz of Sporting News to promote his new book.
In the interview, he talked about whether he’s retired from WWE and an in-ring performer. His last appearance on WWE programming came back on September 16, 2019 edition of RAW.
“I think, with WWE, I don’t know if you ever really retire from it all the way, especially folks that are lucky enough to get in the position that I’m in,” said Jacobs. “You can always do stuff and they can find creative ways to use you. That’s one of the things I really look forward to. When people ask me if I’m looking forward to getting back in the ring, I’m like, ‘eh, I don’t know what I’d be doing, but I’m sure at some point I’ll do something.'”
It turns out that The Undertaker wrote the forward for his new book with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul writing the other.
This is where Kane talked about the respect that he has for The Undertaker, which he noted that Taker has always been a big advocate of his and then recalled their first match was in Smoky Mountain Wrestling back in 1995. He stated that so much of his career would be intertwined with Taker as storyline brothers and everything they have done together.
“I have an immense amount of personal respect for him. I would have never been able to do, in my career, what I was so fortunate to do if it hadn’t been for The Undertaker.”
Kane’s new book, Mayor Kane: My Life in Wrestling and Politics is now available.
WWE Legend The Undertaker has opened up about his relationship with Vince McMahon. “The Dead Man” spoke about their friendship with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on the first episode of Austin’s new WWE Network show, Broken Skull Sessions.
He explained how their original relationship was strictly professional. His loyalty to Vince McMahon and WWE over time, however, helped it to evolve into a good friendship, one based on trust and creativity.
“[The Undertaker character] was originally his creative vision, but he gave me a lot of creative liberty with it,” ‘Taker said. “He trusted me when I felt like I needed to turn into the American Bad Ass. He obviously must have felt it too. We’ve butted heads and things have been rough, but at the end of the day, our passion is the same. We want to put out the best product possible.”
With the wealth of knowledge and experience under his belt, it’s not surprising that The Undertaker developed into a locker room leader. ‘Taker admitted that role “just kind of happened.” When asked by Austin why he never jumped away from WWE, The Undertaker stressed how he felt loyalty to Vince because of the opportunity he presented to him.
“I never forgot who gave me my first opportunity, and that was Vince. It’s probably not the most sound business decision,” Undertaker said, “but that’s who I am and if that ship went down I was going to go down with him. But I knew eventually it would turn.”
The Undertaker was the first guest on “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s new WWE Network show, The Broken Skull Sessions. During their interview, The Undertaker reflected on drawing influence from horror icons as well as having to live his gimmick at all times.
‘Taker pointed to slasher icons Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, of Halloween and Friday the 13th, respectively, as inspirations. He explained how they never moved fast, but always appeared to be in the right place to make the kill. Their slow pace only added to their vicious nature.
“The character lent itself to being the boogeyman,” he said. “The boogeyman just shows up, so I would lull people into a false sense and all the sudden, ‘Bang!’ Quick, something fast. Boom! And then I’d throttle it back down.”
He then broached how he went the extra mile to inhabit his character at all times. Austin commented on how ‘Taker was known for living his gimmick and not wanting to break character or kayfabe.
“I lived it because I knew I couldn’t be different than what they saw on TV. I never stopped working. I never—you go in my house back then, open up my closet. I dare you to find something that wasn’t black. I lived it. I never tried to put myself in situations,” Undertaker said, “where I had to be anything other than what people saw on TV. They got a slight variation because I was in street clothes, but they never got much more than that. I think it worked.”
The Broken Skull Sessions is available to stream on the WWE Network.
During the premiere episode of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s new WWE Network show, Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions, The Undertaker recalled a story about the infamous Plane Ride From Hell. This journey took place following WWE’s Insurrextion pay-per-view in London back in 2002. Several incidents occurred on the flight, including some that led to Scott Hall and Curt Hennig receiving their future endeavors from the company.
Turns out that The Undertaker had an incident of his own that led to him choking WWE’s resident Olympic Hero at the time, Kurt Angle.
‘Taker shared how they were all on a chartered plane with huge first-class seating, allowing him to get comfortable before their trip devolved into the “flight from hell.” Having fallen asleep, the WWE Legend remembered being woken up because Angle and Vince McMahon were by his feet, wrestling.
“So I come to and I see Kurt on Vince and I went, ‘Oh hell no!’ So I locked [Kurt] and I was in tight. Finally, Kurt was like, ‘Take…Take’ He could barely get it out. ‘You’re choking me.’ Then somebody by that time said they were just playing and I let go, sat back down in my seat and went back out.”
On Tuesday, WWE released the clip where Taker told a story about how he thought he was going to debut as “eggman.” This before WWE had revealed who was inside of the egg and prior to him making his promotional debut.
“So about the time I got my phone call they were doing this promotion where on the show you know back then they would do 3-4 weeks in a row, they had this gigantic egg on the set,” he recalled. “You got it, there it is. I’m at home right and I’m trying to think of everything I can do. I’m trying to grow out my hair out, trying to come up with a different look, whatever it’s going to take right?
The Undertaker continues, “This egg appears on the show and then all of a sudden, my mind just starts going, oh man, they’re going to bring me in, this is how outlandish the gimmicks were then, too. I’m going to be eggman. I had convinced myself to the point where my stomach hurt that I am going to be eggman.”
You can watch the clip here:
Luckily for The Undertaker, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon had not planned for that role to be for him but rather Taker was going to portray the deadman character that he made famous.
The egg turned out to be the Gobbledy Gooker, who was revealed after breaking out of the egg at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event in 1990. It turns out that The Undertaker also made his WWE debut at that same show.
Tommaso Ciampa is primed to take part in this weekend’s WarGames matchup at NXT TakeOver. Since becoming an NXT Superstar, Ciampa has risen through the ranks and become synonymous with the black-and-gold brand. Prior to this Superstardom, however, Ciampa made sporadic appearances for WWE early in his career. One such moment occurred in 2005, where he portrayed a lawyer on-screen during a segment featuring The Undertaker. Speaking with the State of Combat podcast, Ciampa recalled his first-ever on-screen WWE role.
He explained how he used to train at Killer Kowalski’s training school, which acted as a “feeding ground” for WWE. Ciampa noted that anytime the company was in the northeast area, they would contact Kowalski’s school to source extra talent. At the time, a 20-year-old Ciampa happened to be one selected.
“It Was Wild”
“Luckily for me, I have always felt comfortable around the microphone, so in that part I wasn’t nervous, particularly because I had a script that I was reading off of because I was acting like a lawyer that day so I didn’t even have to memorize the lines,” said Ciampa. “But the day itself was crazy, because once I got picked, it was probably 4 pm at the time. It was an important angle for WWE because maybe a week or two prior, Mohammad Hassan and Davari had done something to upset the executives or whatever it was at the time, or maybe it was UPN, or whatever it was. It was around the time of the terrorists so it just didn’t sit well with people.”
He continued, “This lawyer thing had to be an apology that came off sincere, and also in the wrestling world, it had to make sense and also for The Undertaker to come out. I rehearsed that script in front of everybody. I did a solo in front of Vince McMahon in his office. I did an in-ring with The Undertaker, Vince McMahon and Triple H. Looking back now, it’s like I see how big of a deal it was and how crazy it was to have that one-on-one time with everybody as a 20-year-old kid on the independents. It was wild. Everyone treated me incredibly well. I remember that they didn’t like the suit that I had on so they went and bought me a suit and let me keep it.”
Ciampa shared that being in the ring with The Undertaker is one of the notable highlights of his career. He added that his time spent backstage with Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and Vince McMahon as well as how he was treated had a more significant impact than anything else that took place that day.
WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has a new monthly interview show headed to the WWE Network later this month.
“Steve Austin: The Broken Skull Sessions” premieres on the WWE Network immediately following Survivor Series on November 24th.
Austin’s first guest will be none other than The Undertaker.
Austin was interviewed by Variety and said that his interview with The Undertaker will be special because the Dead Man is almost always ‘in character’ and makes few appearances on talk shows.
“I think he was enthusiastic because he has been quiet for so long so now he has the chance to share some stories like everyone else has,” he said. “He’s had one of the most high-profile careers and, back in his heyday, had some of the most outlandish stories from the road. We had a great time shooting the breeze.”
In a press release sent in to SEScoops.com, Jayar Donlan, WWE Executive Vice President, Advanced Media, was quoted, “We are thrilled to be launching this series which further bolsters our lineup of premium, original content on WWE Network. ‘The Broken Skull Sessions’ will give fans unprecedented access to Stone Cold and an authentic look at the lives and careers of the most iconic names in WWE history.”
Austin previously hosted a podcast show that aired on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network, where WWE would air the show live from backstage at RAW TV events.
The first show featured appearances by the likes of Vince McMahon, Triple H, Dean Ambrose, Paige, AJ Styles, Mick Foley, The Big Show, and Brock Lesnar. The “Stone Cold Podcast” aired from 2014 – 2016.
Austin noted that “The Broken Skull Sessions” will offer something different compared to his previous show.
In an interview with Metro.co.uk, former WWE Universal Champion Goldberg opened up about his matchup against The Undertaker from WWE Super ShowDown. The two competed back in June in a match that received heavy criticism from fans and professionals alike.
Speaking candidly, Goldberg confessed that the match took a toll on him, but made sure to contextualize the situation:
“People were very critical of me, and I’ll be honest, I never really respond to it – I do care what people think,” Goldberg said. “But when I know the whole deal and everything, it’s like, come on guys. Give me a break – I knocked myself out, dude. Now let me see you walk down the street – let alone pick up a 320lbs dude – when you’re knocked out.”
He then explained how his subsequent match with Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam helped to “reaffirm” his confidence.
“I think for me, what the Ziggler match did, was reaffirm my own self-confidence, not for anyone else. But I just needed to go out there and go through the motions, and know, man, just ’cause you stumble once, [it] doesn’t define you.”
He continued,” Unfortunately, I was defining myself by whether it be a move or a night or a match. The fact of the matter is, I’m extremely hyper-critical of myself and that’s what’s made me the person that I am. It’s a blessing and it’s a curse. I’m never happy, but I’m always striving to be better than anybody else… [The Ziggler match] helped me out a lot, it really did.”
Goldberg and NXT Superstar Matt Riddle have continued their back-and-forth war of words. Despite their interactions, however, Goldberg still claims not to know who Riddle is.
WWE loaded up the premiere episode of SmackDown on FOX with several legends advertised for the show including The Undertaker.
However, Taker, just like many other legends didn’t appear on the broadcast in the ring or even a backstage segment.
Instead, WWE had some of them were interviewed or filmed while on the blue carpet that served as the pre-show before the episode went live.
Taker posted a photo on his official Instagram account to hype the show and responded to a fan who was asking why he didn’t make his advertised appearance.
This is where he responded with “I was told I wasn’t needed.” You can see the post here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3NNq4EgijC
The former WWE Champion was last seen on WWE television last month on the SmackDown show in New York City, NY at Madison Square Garden.
WWE is advertising Taker for the Crown Jewel pay-per-view on Thursday, October 31st from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. As of this writing, he doesn’t have a match booked for the show.
WWE MENA (Middle East and North Africa) announced on Friday that the company will present Crown Jewel 2019 on Thursday, October 31st. Yes, Halloween.
The show will air on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network, from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Tickets go on sale this Monday, September 30 at 6pm local time via TicketMX.com.
This event marks the fourth show that WWE has aired from Saudi Arabia. The original target date was November 1st.
A promo was released for the show that features WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. You can check it out here:
Brock Lesnar, WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, WWE United States Champion AJ Styles, Roman Reigns, Big E, Xavier Woods, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Mansoor Al-Shehail are all advertised.
PWInsider reports that WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair will also be going on the trip as well. It was hyped that the event will take part during “Riyadh Season” that runs from October 15 through December 15.
The country is slated to hold 11 festivals during these two months as a way to boost domestic and international tourism in the country.
WWE started their deal with Saudi Arabia last year as the company signed a 10-year partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority.
The Undertaker’s matchup against Goldberg took place back in June at WWE’s Super Showdown. That hasn’t stopped others in the industry from sharing their thoughts on the clash.
In an interview with Sportskeeda, former WWE Superstar Stevie Richards spoke about a range of topics including his favorite runs, on whether the Right to Censor would still work, and the infamous match between ‘Taker and Goldberg.
According to him, many people assume his favorite run would be as a part of the Right to Censor or the bWo. For him though, it’s his portrayal of Stevie Night Heat as “that’s really where I was really truly allowed to do what I could do without being hindered, handcuffed.
When it comes to the Right to Censor, Richards believes the concept for the stable could still work in WWE today.
“They could always bring something like that back, you could rename it to match the labels of the people who try to control and censor people,” he said. “The right would say the left is doing it, the left would say the right is doing it. Whatever your local government is, whatever two sides of what I call the same party anyway.”
“It’s A Double-Edge Sword”
When asked about the Goldberg vs Undertaker match, Richards offered how it’s “popular” to bury their bout before claiming that the match was “designed to fail” because of it was planned to go too long.
“Both guys were in incredible physical condition. Were they in wrestling shape, though? No, it’s not possible because it’s a double-edged sword. […] It’s something you have to temper, so just to let people know, when you want to get on guys for being in their 50s and they get put out there for a 15-minute match, and they’ve never worked together – that’s tough.”
Madison Square Garden recently hosted both Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live this past week. WWE brought in WWE Legends ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and The Undertaker to appear on each show, with both returning to a heroes welcome.
Austin appeared during the opening and closing segments of RAW. ‘The Dead Man’ appeared during the opening segment of SmackDown Live, choke slamming Sami Zayn after cutting a promo about how he considers SmackDown his “home.”
To mark the occasion, Madison Square Garden gifted some special commemorative items to Steve Austin and ‘Taker. Both Superstars received custom jerseys with their name printed along the back. Austin’s was accompanied by a ‘3:16′ while Undertaker’s had ’33.’
In addition to the jerseys, The Undertaker had a photo of him hung up on The Garden’s wall. In the picture, he is delivering a leg drop his brother Kane during WrestleMania XX. This photo was placed under a photo of Elvis Presley.
‘The Rattlesnake’ received a custom frame with iconic Austin moments that took place in MSG flanking a ‘Welcome Home Stone Cold’ message along the middle.
Both men would share their gifts online via their social media accounts, with Austin writing:
“Thank you from the great people here @TheGarden!!! Special times in a special building. It’s good to be back home. @WWE #Raw”
The Undertaker, breaking character somewhat, admitted that MSG will always be his favorite venue.
“Thank you to @TheGarden The most iconic venue in the world! The two photos were hanging on the wall backstage. MSG will always be my favorite…#msg #WWE #theking”
Triple H has addressed The Undertaker’s recent appearance at College GameDay. The EVP of Talent, Live Events and Creative explained how The Undertaker transcends WWE, allowing crossover appeal between wrestling fans and mainstream pop culture.
“There are certain people that transcend their industry and become cultural icons, and The Undertaker transcends the WWE,” Triple H said to SI.com. “This was Vince’s vision at WrestleMania I: the integration of pop culture. So this was an opportunity for us to reach out to new fans, to reach out to lax fans, to reach out to everybody and create that buzz about what we do.”
He then explained WWE’s crossover appeal, highlighting how Superstars such as The Undertaker and Becky Lynch appear on different shows outside of the wrestling world.
“WWE has crossover appeal. Whether you’re a fan or not, people all over the globe know who The Undertaker is. So whether it’s Undertaker on College GameDay or Becky Lynch on SportsCenter, talent appearing on Fallon or throwing first pitches at baseball games, our talent are integrated into every walk of life,” Triple H said. “That’s an opportunity to platform WWE to people and being relevant on a day-to-day basis in pop culture.”
Attitude Era Influence
Looking to the past, Triple H recalled how the Attitude Era “changed the way people spoke and trash-talked one another” with NFL players would do the DX crotch chop after a touchdown or use Austin’s “Oh, hell yeah!” catchphrase.
“That extends well beyond our business, and for our talent,” he said, “that’s when you truly know you’re getting to the place you want to be in this industry.”
WWE Clash of Champions takes place this Sunday from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ric Flair has revealed who he believes to be the top three performers of all time. He shared his views during a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, where he was discussing this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW which saw “Stone Cold” Steve Austin returning to Madison Square Garden.
“The only problem with bringing Steve out there, who will always, in my estimation, be the biggest star in the history of the business,” Flair said. “The three biggest […] in my estimation are Hulk, Steve, and ‘Taker. They’re just three names that are gonna be synonymous, they’ve drawn huge amounts of money. But when you send Steve out there, just like they did at the RAW reunion, man, it’s just…what are you going to do? He’s unbelievable.”
He added that, if Austin hadn’t gotten injured, forcing him to retire “ten years too early,” “Stone Cold” would probably still be performing today.
Flair has previously stated that if he and Austin were able to feud with each other during their prime, he has no doubt they would have set box office records everywhere.
Austin was involved in a contract signing segment on Monday between WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins and his opponent at Clash of Champions, Braun Strowman.
The Undertaker made his return to WWE television on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live.
He did so by appearing on the SmackDown show in New York City, NY at Madison Square Garden. This marked the first time that he had appeared on an episode of SmackDown Live from MSG.
Taker cut a promo in the ring about all of the stars that were created at MSG and his memories at the arena. This is where Sami Zayn interrupted. Zayn did a promo that led to him asking Taker to leave the ring and pass the torch as the future is good in his hands.
Zayn was in shock that Taker was doing what he asked that ultimately led to Taker hitting a chokeslam and leaving him laying.
The last time that Taker appeared on SmackDown Live came back on the June 4, 2019 episode where he had a staredown with Goldberg. This was done to promote their match at the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event.
Taker will appear again on SmackDown for the premiere episode on the FOX network that will be a 20th Anniversary special. The October 4th show takes place from the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California.
WWE is slated to make their return to Saudi Arabia on October 31st so it’s possible that Taker makes his return to action at that show.
One WWE star is more than willing to do a favor for The Undertaker by taking him out for good and that’s Sami Zayn.
It appears that Zayn is setting himself up for an attack by the former WWE Champion. This came after The Undertaker made an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday morning.
He was there to preview the big-time game between the #9 Texas Longhorns and #6 LSU Tigers. Zayn responded to a clip sent out by the show regarding Taker’s entrance where he wrote that he should do the Dead Man the “favor of a lifetime” and kill off his legendary character once and for all.
I should really do The Undertaker the favor of a lifetime and take him out for good. -SZ https://t.co/ZVU8jvzDaC
It is interesting timing by Zayn as “The Deadman” is scheduled to appear on SmackDown Live in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. As of this writing, WWE has yet to announce what Taker will be doing on this show.
However, if WWE wanted to get Taker physical then the company could play on this. Time will tell what happens when he returns to the brand that he helped build for so many years.
As noted, the reason that WWE is having The Undertaker appear on this show was in hopes of boosting ticket sales that have been struggling despite the fact that it’s the first time that WWE has held TV events at MSG in the first time in ten years alongside Monday Night RAW the night before.
