– If you watched ESPN’s “30 For 30” special on Ric Flair last night, you saw several professional wrestling legends being interviewed on the program. One such legend was none other than “The Deadman” The Undertaker. Taker was completely out of character, which is extremely rare, and “30 For 30” director Rory Karpf took to Twitter to reveal what he was like behind-the-scenes:
Undertaker brewed coffee and had snacks for the entire crew. One of the nicest people i've EVER interviewed #NatureBoy
– Former WWE personality Brad Maddox was recently a guest on the final episode of The World According To Wrestling podcast’s series, and revealed what he would do differently if he got a second chance with WWE:
“If I had to do it again I would have gone to Vince from day one and said ‘Hi. I’m Brad Maddox. Do you know who I am? Do you know about my experience? Do you know I have been in your company for three years now and I’m a trained wrestler?’ I would have communicated better and I would’ve taken my own career into my own hands instead of hoping or thinking that the writers were going to do my job for me,” Maddox said.
You may recall earlier this month when several players of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons paid tribute to Ric Flair with custom airbrushed cleats bearing his likeness.
Now, The Undertaker is the latest WWE legend to get the ‘custom cleats’ treatment.
Courtesy of Mache Custom Kicks, Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle ‘Big Country’ Rudolph will be “Dead Man Walking” later today for their game against the Baltimore Ravens.
The game kicks off at 1pm (Eastern) from Minneapolis, site of tonight’s WWE TLC PPV.
WWE Hall of Famer Sting was recently interviewed by Al Arabiya to promote the release of WWE 2K18. In addition to hyping the game, Sting spoke about Seth Rollins being one of WWE’s top in-ring performers, his character’s evolution throughout the years, WWE embracing WCW history with Starrcade and WarGames and more.
Sting spoke about his relationship with Vince McMahon, which goes back a lot farther than many people are aware of. Sting had on and off discussions with Vince about joining WWE dating back to the early 90’s all the way through the Monday Night Wars and after. He had several opportunities to jump ship to WWE during the prime of his career, but revealed why it didn’t happen until 2014.
“In the early years I always felt that [Vince] wanted me to undermine WCW as the number one reason. The number two reason was to have me on his roster. I didn’t want it to be that way. Maybe I was wrong. Then in later years, when I made a phone call and said, hey have you turned the page? The rest is history. He’s just treated me fantastic, every step of the way. Really, everybody has.”
A dream match that fans speculated about for years was Sting vs. The Undertaker. That ship has sailed and fans will have to play WWE 2K18 to see these two in the ring together. Sting was well aware that a match against The Undertaker would be big business and says he actually spoke to the Dead Man several years back about the possibility. For whatever reason, The Undertaker just wasn’t interested.
“We’ve had a brief conversation, and I just told him, I said, man, I just always wanted to have that match. It wasn’t necessarily reciprocated so I’m not sure where he stands or if he had any interest at all, to be quite honest. But I did. I don’t mind saying.”
There’s a lot more to the interview, which you can read in its entirety over at alarabiya.net.
– The Undertaker will be making a rare public appearance on October 28th at the Wizard World Comic Con from Oklahoma City at the Cox Convention Center. For more details, click here.
– WWEShop.com is selling commemorative plaques celebrating The Shield’s reunion on this week’s RAW. Each plaque includes a swatch from the t-shirts worn by Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose.
– An updated seating chart has been released for NXT: War Games, which takes place on Saturday, November 18th from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
– WWE’s issues with The Young Bucks are well-documented, so this next news item is pretty surprising. In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports the day after the Young Bucks received a cease and desist oder from WWE, representatives from 2K Games asked them to do motion capture work for next year’s WWE 2K19 game.
The Young Bucks aren’t very popular with WWE management, but they’re apparently very popular with WWE fans who play the WWE 2K video game series. Apparently so many people use the game’s “Create-A-Wrestler” mode to play as Nick and Matt Jackson, 2K wanted to get the Young Bucks on board to record all of their signature moves for next year’s game.
Former WWE Champion JBL recently spoke with Riju Dasgupta of Sportskeeda while in Mumbai, India to work with a charity that helps underprivileged children, Magic Bus.
Visit MagicBus.org for information about how you can support this great cause.
Here are some highlights of what JBL said about:
Departing SmackDown’s Broadcast team:
“I’m still part of the WWE family which I’m thrilled about. I’ve been there for twenty-one years. I’ll still be going back for WrestleMania and Tribute to the Troops.
I had no chance to come to places like India and visit Magic Bus, and do some things that I really wanted to do, as long as I was doing commentary every week. So, I got a chance to back off and do a few big events every year which I love doing. Love seeing Ron Simmons from the APA. He comes to all the big events too. But I love being able to come out here and visit with the kids and learning what people are doing, which to me is the most important work in the world.”
A story from the infamous “Wrestler’s Court” backstage:
“A funny Wrestler’s Court story? I’m not sure I can tell any of those to the media. There are so many. I had so many with Big Show in Iraq. Big Show was…we had a lot of fun. He didn’t fit in the latrines, he was so big. So, I had to figure out a different way for him to go to the bathroom. At that time, he was 500 something lbs. He’s a true giant. Had a lot of fun with Big Show. One time we were playing golf and he had the old man putter. So he sneaks the putter into the hole and sucks the ball out. I’m like ‘What are you doing?.’
He’s like my hand’s too big to fit in the hole. And it was. His hand was too big to fit in the golf hole.”
If WrestleMania 33 was The Undertaker’s last match and what the atmosphere backstage was like:
“I don’t know if it was his last match. I met with him beforehand. He was the groomsman at my wedding. We are good friends. I wrestled him probably more than anybody else in my career. Probably more than anybody else in his career, as well. So, I know him very well.
Such a great character. I don’t know if it was his last match, and if it was, it was an amazing way to go out.”
Head over to Sportskeeda to read the full interview.
John Cena vs. The Undertaker. It’s the WrestleMania dream match that fans have been talking about for years, but will probably never see.
During his recent appearance on Edge & Christian’s E&C Pod of Awesomeness, the 16-time World Champion gave a pretty logical explanation why a match against Undertaker on the ‘grandest stage of them all’ never game together.
“We have to do the best for WrestleMania, period,” Cena explained. “That event is completely [essential to] the fiscal future of the company and every single year, there were plans to do the right thing for WrestleMania and that match was not in the plans. And that’s the best I can say.
“So many guys complain about not being in the last match, or a main event match, or with a certain partner. Man, if it was only work with people you’re comfortable with, I would’ve had another 10,000 matches with [Edge]. Like that’s the easy part. The difficult part as a professional is to take what they need you to do and make it creative.”
Cena is intrigued by the chance to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania, but only if that’s the best possible match-up for him at the time.
“In a perfect world, would I want to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania? That’s every pro wrestler’s dream! That’s any WWE Superstar’s dream, to work pretty much the maestro of WrestleMania at WrestleMania. That’s it! But if our company’s success depends on me doing something else, then my job is to do that something else. And I think the way all that went, I don’t have any regrets on the way any of that went. I think it was completely put together the right way. Would I have loved to do it? Yes! But I show up to work to do work.”
A similar argument line of reasoning could be applied to several other dream matches that never took place in WWE, such as Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin vs. Hogan or Goldberg.
Considering The Undertaker’s sendoff after losing to Roman Reigns back in April at WrestleMania 33, another match for Taker next year in New Orleans seems like a fleeing possibility. If the Dead Man does decide to take one last ride, we can’t think of a better final opponent for him than John Cena.
You can listen to the full John Cena interview on the E&C Pod of Awesomeness here:
– Emma’s new theme music, “All About Me” by CFO$, is now streaming on Spotify.
– John Cena was Edge & Christian’s guest on the latest episode of the E&C Pod of Awesomeness podcast.
A mere two days prior to No Mercy, John talked with E&C about Roman Reigns, his future in the ring, and what it takes to succeed in the WWE. Also, John reminisced about some of the great matches he had with Edge, spoke on why he hasn’t wrestled the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, and told the story of how he started integrating rap into his promos, which may have kept his wrestling career afloat.
In addition to E&C’s talk with John Cena, they honored Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and talked about Edge’s jetlag, after his flight to Ireland.
– Former WWE Superstar Michelle McCool shared this photo of her and her husband, The Undertaker.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZUUjF8nQ98/
– WWE has announced that 205 Live star Cedrick Alexander will be making special appearances for EVOLVE’s live events this weekend in Chicago and Detroit.
WWE Superstar Big Cass was recently a guest on The Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast to talk about his singles run in WWE and his push. Cass noted that he tries to model his in-ring style after the likes of The Undertaker and Kevin Nash, and also revealed that he turns to guys like The Big Show and Triple H backstage for advice.
As it pertains to “The Deadman,” Cass noted that when The Undertaker is around backstage he’s able to pick his brain a bit:
“Undertaker is another guy when he’s around, I try to talk to him as much as possible,” Cass said. “Yeah, but a lot of people are kind of intimidated by him. He’s The Undertaker, he’s the godfather of the locker room. I feel like I have a good rapport with him and I try to talk to him as much as possible.”
He continued, “When he’s around I try to pick his brain and just try to listen to what he thinks about what I’m doing and what other people are doing because he’s The Undertaker.”
One of the most controversial storylines during the WWE Invasion angle was the feud between The Undertaker and Diamond Dallas Page based on a story that DDP was the stalker of Taker’s wife Sara.
However, this feud didn’t last long and at the time it was rumored that Page had real life heat with Undertaker. It was also said that The Dead Man was responsible for their feud to be cut short and DDP’s push to be halted.
Although during his recent interview with The Irish Sun, the WWE Hall Of Famer denied these rumors and claimed that he never had any real heat with the Last Outlaw:
“I never had any real heat with ‘Taker, It wasn’t like we didn’t like each other. But our styles didn’t really mix. I knew Mark from WCW before he was ever ‘Taker. And I always liked him.”
Continuing on the topic, Dallas also revealed that The Former World Champion also recently complimented him for his work with DDP Yoga:
“Today Taker and I are tight, He came up to me after he saw The Resurrection of Jake the Snake and said, ‘Dude, what you’re doing for the business and people, in general, is super special.'”
Apart from this, Diamond Dallas Page also commented on his early days in WWE and more.
WWE Superstar Braun Strowman recently did an interview with Myles at the WWE 2K18 launch event in New York this past weekend. Strowman discussed the rumors the rumors of him at one point being considered to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 this past April, and only having shown a glimpse of what he’s capable of thus far in his WWE run. You can check out the highlights here:
Rumors that he was supposed to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania:
“I try not to read into that stuff too much,” Strowman said. “It’s a lot of hype and a lot of smoke being blown around.”
Strowman saying he has only shown a glimpse of what he is capable of thus far:
“WWE finally took the chains off me and let me show the world what I’m capable of doing and I’ve only shown you a glimpse of what ‘The Monster’ can do,” Strowman said. “I am like no other athlete this company has ever seen. I am, without a doubt, the best guy at what I do. There’s not another man on this Earth – my size – that can do what I can do.”
On the latest episode of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler’s Dinner With The King podcast, The King commented on why The Undertaker was in New York City this past weekend for SummerSlam weekend.
A photo surfaced online of The Undertaker on a plane headed to New York, which set off speculation that the Dead Man might be appearing at the show.
Undertaker’s wife Michelle McCool was backstage and posted a photo with with new SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya and WWE producer Finlay.
When asked about The Undertaker at SummerSlam, Lawler initially responded, “Was he there?” He said he didn’t see Undertaker or hear him mentioned.
Lawler then realized that Undertaker might have been there to get his face and body scanned for a future WWE video game. Lawler said he and the rest of the WWE roster were getting scanned. He noted that it wasn’t for WWE 2K18 and was for a different game coming out next year.
You can listen to Jerry Lawler discussing The Undertaker in NYC this past weekend here:
Despite his apparent retirement at WrestleMania earlier this year, you can never really rule out a possible surprise appearance of the Undertaker on a WWE event somewhere down the line because of the mystique surrounding his character.
However, when it comes to him possibly wrestling again, the opinions are divided as many believe that his gesture at Mania indicated his retirement from the in-ring action while others think that WWE will try to call him again as long as they can because of the massive appeal.
And it appears that the Raw General Manager Kurt Angle belongs to the second group as he believes that Taker is not done with wrestling just yet.
During a recent Q&A session on his official Facebook page, a fan asked Kurt Angle about the retirement of the Dead Man and if he wishes that he had a match with him at WrestleMania.
Replying to it, the Raw GM said that in his opinion, the former World Champion is not done just yet and it would be dream come true to face him at the Show Of Shows:
“My opinion? He’s not done yet, but that’s my opinion. And to wrestle Taker at Mania? That’s a dream come true. Everybody wants Taker at Mania.”
It’s worth mentioning here that just recently, an alleged photo of The Undertaker boarding a flight to New York started rumours of him appearing at SummerSlam. While Taker ended up not being a part of the PPV in any capacity, many still believe that he can appear on the following episode of Raw or SmackDown.
British boxer Ohara Davies used The Undertaker’s theme song for his entrance on Saturday night in Glasgow for his WBC silver super lightweight title defense against Josh Taylor.
Davies was upset by Taylor in the seventh round. Davies turned his back while he was under attack, leading the ref to stop the fight and award Taylor the winner. After suffering the first loss of his career, Davies’ record fell to 15-1, with 12 of the victories coming by knockout.
During a recent interview with Sky Sports, Davies explained why he uses the Undertaker’s theme for his entrance. “I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was a kid – I’ve always loved it. Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin were my favourites – Undertaker’s entrance music, with all the bells, was always exciting.”
“I’m in the entertainment business, so I have fun with it,” he said. “Everyone loved it. I got a gown made for me, to make it as realistic as possible.”
Former WWE United States Champion Mr. Kennedy (a.k.a. Mr. Anderson) had a promising career with the company, as he won the Money In The Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 23 and looked to cash the briefcase in the next year at WrestleMania 24. Per Kennedy, he was set to cash-in on The Undertaker and take the World Heavyweight Championship off “The Deadman,” however, an unfortunate injury put a halt to those plans and Kennedy was forced to drop the briefcase to Edge.
“The Rated-R Superstar” would then cash-in and take the World Title, before going on to headline WrestleMania 24 against Taker for the strap:
“We decided that I was going to cash it in next year at WrestleMania,” said Anderson. “I announced that I think the next night on RAW. Or maybe it was SmackDown that, ‘Hey I’m already setting a date, I’m going to cash in at WrestleMania next year.'”
“Taker got injured and he had the world title at the time. They were trying to figure out a way to get it off him,” Anderson recalled. “You know, they called me in the office and said, ‘Hey I know we were going to have you cash it in at WrestleMania next year but we need to get the title off of Taker so we’re going to have you come out next week at SmackDown and you’re going challenge him after he has the cage match with Mark Henry and blah, blah, blah, you’re going to win the title.'”
“Three or four days later I was in a wrestling match with Batista and a bunch of other guys, like an eight-man tag, and Batista — it wasn’t Batista’s fault or anything — he gave me a clothesline and I felt something pop in my tricep,” Anderson recalled. “And I ended up, my arm swelled up so bad I couldn’t even bend my elbow.”
“I ended up going to see a doctor, take an MRI in Erie, Pennsylvania, the next day Stephanie called me and said, ‘Ken you tore your triceps off the bone, you’re going to have to have surgery and you’re going to be out for seven to eight months. But unfortunately we still have to get that title off of Taker so we’re going to fly to Penn State, Edge is going to challenge you for the briefcase and he’s going to go on to do what you were going to do.'”
Roman Reigns joined an extremely exclusive club at WrestleMania 33 last April, as he became the second only man to have ever defeated future WWE Hall Of Famer The Undertaker at “The Show Of Shows.” Brock Lesnar became the first man to break “The Streak” when he defeated Taker at WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans.
After his loss to Reigns, Taker left the ring in a manner that signaled it may have been his last dance inside the squared circle. Plenty of rumors have been circulating as of late in regards to a potential rematch between the pair, and Reigns addressed these in a recent promo he cut at a WWE Live Event. After his match in Singapore, “The Big Dog” got on the mic and said, “if the Deadman wants to fight the big dog he knows exactly where to find him.”
Former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian recently took to their podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, to talk about some of the best and worst gimmicks in WWE history. Some superstars brought up included The Undertaker, Kane, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and more. Here are the highlights:
Edge on Kane’s string of failed personas:
“There’s a guy, okay, Isaac Yankem, then, new Diesel, and just, he’s too good to deny. And then, thankfully, finally, they realized, ‘okay, let’s do something with him.'” Edge said, “how thankful do you think he [has] got to be after trying to make all of those gimmicks work and then [to hear], ‘okay, you’re going to be The Undertaker’s brother, Kane’?”
Christian on Kane being too good to be held back by failed gimmicks:
“He probably did everything he could to make those other [gimmicks] work, right? So it’s one of those ones where you get out what you put in. And he might not necessarily like those ones, but he always did the best with what he had. And plus, he just looked so unique. He had the size. He was good, still is good, that eventually something was going to work out for him.”
Edge on Undertaker becoming the new Andre The Gian with his gimmick:
“On paper, does The Undertaker [gimmick] sound like something that will go on to be undefeated at WrestleMania for like 22 years, and be the tentpole holding up the company at certain times, and kind of the measuring stick within the [pro] wrestling industry, more or less, the new Andre The Giant?” Edge added, “it sounds like the shelf life isn’t going to be that long.”
Christian on nobody else being able to pull off the Undertaker gimmick:
“The thing is too, I honestly believe if it was on anybody but The Undertaker, it wouldn’t’ve worked. It would’ve had that shelf life, but because he personified it and he embraced it and he became The Undertaker. You just had to look at him. He had everything down, the movements, he had the entrance, and when he did his entrance, people still when they hear that gong, they stand up. It has become this revered character. He’s also one of the most revered guys in the locker room. But I don’t think it would have had much lasting power if it had been anybody but him doing it. I don’t think anybody could do the character the way that he has done it.”
Edge on Taker switching over to “The American Badass” gimmick to refresh “The Deadman” persona:
“I mean, probably. I think one of the keys to longevity in [pro] wrestling, especially if you are going to remain the same character is the fact that you have to change it sometimes. Otherwise, it gets stagnant. It can still be a lighter shade or a darker shade, but The Undertaker went through many different phases like that. It was the Ministry [Of Darkness] Undertaker for a little while, which got even darker. And then, I think it just came a point where he had to switch it up.
“I also think that the reason it switched up is that he actually wanted to wrestle more because, as The Undertaker in the first kind of incarnation of it, the character kind of pigeonholed how much he could actually wrestle and he’s a guy who can really work. So while he was working the gimmick initially, you couldn’t go out and have the type of matches he could actually have, so I think ‘The American Bad Ass’ was a way to segue into being able to get in there with Kurt Angle and have amazing matches, technical matches too.” Edge professed, “you had to have that segue to have The Undertaker that we have now.”
Christian on “The Ringmaster” gimmick not fitting Steve Austin’s look:
“I not really sure if it was a gimmick or really just a name, but the name didn’t fit the look. Do you know what I mean? He had the bald head, huge legs, well-built. He was full-steam ahead when he was in the ring. Yeah, [Austin wore green trunks as ‘The Ringmaster’ because he was with ‘The Million Dollar Man’, right? But, like I said, I don’t think the name fit the character [or] what he looked like. Do you know what I mean? And I think, to his credit, that he was not only good enough, but had the guts, I guess, to take the reins and change it into ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and make it the way he wanted it to be and like [Edge] said, become the biggest draw in the history of the company.”
The Undertaker is arguably the most iconic gimmick performer in the history of professional wrestling. It’s hard to imagine Mark Calloway portraying a different character, but it turns out Vince McMahon had another gimmick idea for Taker that could have changed the course of WWE history.
Back in the early 1990’s, WWE Hall of Famer J.J. Dillon of Four Horsemen fame served as one of Vince’s trusted advisors backstage. During a recent appearance on The List & Ya Boy podcast, Dillon revealed that Vince McMahon almost stuck The Undertaker with a ridiculous Viking gimmick.
“Vince’s first reaction was ‘maybe he could be a Viking with the helmet and the horns.’ He just saw this guy and Vince had a really creative mind. [Vince] had a department would take somebody and turn this person over to this department and say to look at them, their body, their features, play with him and feed me some ideas.”
Dillon continued, “In all the years that went by, I think the Undertaker is the greatest wrestling character/persona that has ever lived in the WWE/F. Hands down”
It was not too long after the debut of The Undertaker that WWE signed wrestler John Nord and saddled him with a viking gimmick, The Berserker.
WWE’s Stephanie McMahon recently did an interview with Mirror to talk about The Undertaker’s retirement following his loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33, as well as what it’s like working for her father, Vince McMahon. Check it out:
The backstage atmosphere at WrestleMania after The Undertaker retired:
“There will never be another Undertaker… and everyone feels the same whether it’s backstage or out in the arena. I think that everyone that is part of the WWE Universe is a fan of The Undertaker. There will never be anyone [else] like him.”
How long she has known Taker:
“Yeah. Ha ha. He would say ‘maybe not that little’. He’d say ‘I’m not that old’. I’ve known him for a very long time. He’s almost like a brother to me.”
Working for her father, Vince McMahon:
“Working for my dad is incredibly challenging, in a variety of ways. It can be challenging from a family standpoint, right, because I think sometimes working with family you take certain things for granted, and that can be challenging, as I keep saying! But from an opportunistic standpoint, I would never have had the opportunities that I have been given and afforded if it weren’t for my father. I think you have to work that much harder when you are part of the family to prove yourself and to keep growing, but again those are the best life lessons that you can possibly have. The best part of working together, at least in my family, is this incredible shared passion. We all love what we do. To be able to bring different aspects of that passion literally to the table is a unique proposition and one I would never give up.”
WWE SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to talk about his return to the company. You can check out highlights from their conversation here:
Nobody but Mark Calaway could’ve been able to portray ‘The Undertaker’ character:
“It’s iconic. No, I don’t [think anyone else could have pulled off The Undertaker gimmick]. It also gets into Mark’s temperament as a human being. That’s who he is. He is Cool Hand Luke. He is the king of the locker room. He is that. Everything is measured and reserved. That’s how he works. His punches are thrown for a reason, not just to throw punches in bunches, but thrown for specific reasons and things like that. Moves are not wasted, so that is who he is as an individual.”
Getting heat from The Undertaker’s mom:
“I got heat for that from his mom! Oh my God! I got heat from that. It happened. I did. I tatered the hell out of him. But that was the week before, the go-home WrestleMania in Brooklyn [New York] and something went awry. We were throwing hands and we were outside. I went to hit him with the monitor or something and it was stuck, so, all of a sudden, he sits up and I’m like, ‘well, he’s a big dude.’ I was like, ‘what am I going to do?’ So I panicked a little bit. I didn’t quite get my range, so I wasn’t completely looking at him and I went ‘whack!’ And I stuck it out there and I felt it. It went, ‘thunk!’ I went, ‘oh my God!’ I saw his eyes roll back into his head for a minute. He looked at me, and as soon as I saw that trickle of blood come down, I went, ‘I’m dead.’ So what do I do? I quickly get on him and whack, whack, whack. ‘I may as well get them in now and give him a couple of extra!'”
“Oh, he crushed me. He crushed me. In the beginning of that match with Taker, we’re doing stuff and we’re throwing hands. When we’re throwing, we already had the deal that we’re going to go. We’re starting to throw and we’re tagging. And then, one thing, he hit me and I just went into my own little world for a second, protect mechanism a little bit and then I leg-kick him. It went, ‘whack,’ and, and all of a sudden, he looked at me and he goes, ‘ouch’ and I saw it and he was hot. At some point he had grounded me and I was gassed, so I’m like, ‘let me catch my breath for a minute,’ so I’m laying in the fetal position totally relaxing because I know he’s about to go do something else. I got maybe 20 seconds to catch my breath. I’m taking big breaths in. My eyes are closed and my face’s flat on the canvas and he bear paw’s me, ‘whack!’, wide open jaw. All of a sudden, I’ve got those gold glitters when you get hit hard.”
Making his WrestleMania 32 entrance with his sons:
“I asked them maybe five minutes before they came out. I said, ‘do you guys want to come out with me?’ And they were like, ‘really?’ and I was like, ‘oh yeah.’ So when they came out, they just took to it like water out there. Like, I couldn’t believe it. Like, my two older boys, specifically. I was like, ‘look at these little guys!'”
Jumping off Hell In A Cell at WrestleMania and warning his wife:
“Well, I made the mistake once of doing something and not smartening her up and I was in the doghouse forever. So now I smarten her up on the potential of things like that happening. She knew, she knew. She was just like, ‘be careful.'”
Taking big bumps:
“Straight up, I’m thinking, ‘I’m going to nail this thing.’ That’s it. So I get up there. Here we go and jump off.” McMahon continued, “oh my God, stiff. I cracked two ribs on my right side. Yeah, at least two because it was sore for about [eight or nine weeks] ribs suck to heal.”
SmackDown Live Superstar AJ Styles was recently interviewed by Record Sport Online and spoke about The Undertaker, who seemingly retired at WrestleMania 33. The Dead Man never formally announced that he will never wrestle again, but his send-off at WrestleMania and WWE’s handling of the situation indicate we have seen the last of him inside the ring.
Styles revealed that he and The Undertaker have a strong friendship that developed because they have a mutual (unnamed) close friend. Styles called Undertaker’s apparent retirement heartbreaking and gave him credit for shaping WWE into what it is today.
“I could tell you, I was emotional because he’s my friend,” Styles said. “He and I have got a relationship..both of us have the same friend who we’re very close to, so then he and I developed this relationship without even knowing each other that well. But, it was heartbreaking, because this is the guy that’s been here for so long, and has shaped the WWE into what it is now.”
Styles acknowledged that The Undertaker’s future is not certain, but Taker’s legacy has been cemented and his contributions to WWE are undeniable. “Is he gone? I don’t know, but you would assume,” he continued. “I think there were some tears from fans that they may have seen the last of The Undertaker, and at the end of the day, if he’s done, I respect the heck out of him for doing it his way and doing what he wanted to do in his last match.”
Styles added that The Undertaker “is and was” everything to WWE and he’s thankful he got a chance to talk to him. He called The Undertaker a great guy who will be missed, if he is in fact done.
WWE legend The Undertaker and his wife Michelle McCool were in New York City this week and were spotted entering the David H Koch Pavilion Hospital for Special Surgery.
U.S. News ranks David H Koch as the top hospital in the country for orthopaedics and second for rhuematology. It’s well known that The Undertaker has been putting off hip replacement surgery for some time. He underwent hip surgery back in the fall of 2016, but it’s been widely reported that he needs a full hip replacement.
The Undertaker last competed at WrestleMania 33 in what many believe was his final match. While it wasn’t his finest in-ring performance, Undertaker put in a hard fought battle against Roman Reigns before suffering his second WrestleMania loss.
Discussion: Do you think we’ll ever see The Undertaker wrestle again?
Matt and Jeff Hardy picked up a victory during a WWE live event last night in Cincinnati. During the celebration, Jeff Hardy slipped and fell face-first to the mat.
Bret Hart was recently interviewed by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard. Hart discussed The Undertaker’s match at Wrestlemania 33 and stated that he enjoyed it. The Undertaker lost to Roman Reigns and then left his gloves, coat and hat in the ring.
“I liked his final moment,” said Hart. “I enjoyed his last match, and I thought he gave his all. He’ll forever be one of the wrestling giants, and he is one of the guys I respected the most.”
You can check out he entire interview by clicking here.
WWE has released a new video entitled “The Undertaker’s 20 greatest moments”. The Undertaker had a remarkable 27 year career in WWE. The Undertaker provided countless moments that the WWE Universe will never forget. Below is The Undertaker’s greatest moments in order as WWE listed:
20. The Undertaker’s debut at Survivor Series 1990.
19. The Undertaker eliminates Shawn Michaels to win the 2007 Royal Rumble.
18. The Undertaker defeats Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka at Wrestlemania VII and the streak is born.
17. The Undertaker descends from the rafters to face Mankind at Survivor Series 1996.
16. The Undertaker drags Kane to hell on 2010 episode of Smackdown.
15. The Undertaker kidnaps Teddy Long on a 2009 episode of Smackdown.
14. The Undertaker defeats Triple H in a Hell in a Cell Match at Wrestlemania XXVIII.
13. The Undertaker defeats his doppelgänger at SummerSlam 1994.
12. The Undertaker uses lightning bolts to destroy ring while Kurt Angle is in it at Royal Rumble 2006.
11. Kane and The Undertaker unite to take out Curt Hawkins and Hunico on the 1000th episode of Raw.
10. The Undertaker rises from his casket after being defeated by Yokozuna at Royal Rumble 1994.
9. The Undertaker confronts Brock Lesnar during a contract signing on a 2014 episode of Raw.
8. The Undertaker Chokeslams Edge through the ring at SummerSlam 2008.
7. The Undertaker’s hand emerges from his grave after Buried Alive Match at WWF In Your House 1996.
6. The Undertaker ties Stone Cold Steve Austin to Undertaker symbol during 1998 episode of Raw.
5. The Undertaker defeats Hulk Hogan to win WWF Championship at Survivor Series 1991.
4. The Undertaker burns Stephanie McMahon’s teddy bear on a 1999 episode of Raw.
3. The Undertaker launches Mankind off the Hell in a Cell at King of the Ring 1998.
2. The Undertaker retires Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 26.
1. The Undertaker returns to face Kane at Wrestlemania XX.
Discussion: What is your favorite moment of The Undertaker’s career? Let us know in the comments below.
– The Undertaker has resurfaced after what appears to be his final WWE match this past Sunday at WrestleMania 33. The Dead Man recorded a video endorsing country music legend George Strait, who is headed to Las Vegas for a series of concerts. Undertaker calls Strait “The King” and says he’s been a fan of his for decades.
– NXT star Aleister Black posted the following message on Instagram thanking fans who have supported him on his journey, which culminated this past week with his NXT debut at Takeover: Orlando.
The latest episode of Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1-2-360 podcast features a look back at WrestleMania 33 weekend with guest host, comedian Ron Funches. There was also a brief Q&A session with the Kliq. Here are some highlights:
Sean on Undertaker’s Last Match:
“It never even occurred to me as we were talking (Backstage at the Hall of Fame) and I still don’t think it. I still think he’s coming back. I’m sticking by that… He’s going to go in, he’s going to have that surgery (Hip replacement) and he’s going to feel good and he’s going to go, one, two, *kick-out* not today!”
The Big Show Upset about the Braun Stroman Spot during Battle Royal:
“Before thing was even over Big Show had a bunch of guys that were in the Battle Royal back in the back and he was going off… I think it was over the stuff with him and Stroman. Because they had a moment there and I think the moment got taken from them too quick.”
Ron Funches on a Queen of the Ring Tournament:
“I want a full-fledged Queen of the Ring with Charlotte, Sasha, all those people where it’s like the same thing as the king of the ring but it’s with a lady. Seems like a no-brainer to me… You have the network they’re always doing these one-offs. I would love to do a one-off all women’s pay per view Queen of the Ring.” X-Pac asks, “With no men in the show insight anywhere?” Ron replies, “I mean referees. And just doing their regular thing… But every match in this tournament would be an all women’s show… If you are doing a UK tournament and you’re doing all these other things (Cruiser Weight Classic/ Upcoming Women’s Tournament) makes sense to me.”
One Night Only with The Kliq, Q&A: Who Would You Want to Wrestle on WWE’s Current Roster?
X-Pac: “I’m a big fan of Shinsuke Nakamura. Maybe back in my prime. I wouldn’t want to get anywhere near a ring he was in now…” and “…the guy my mouth would be watering over would be Braun Stroman.”
Kevin Nash: “I’d like to do the David and Goliath with Finn Balor.”
Scott Hall: “In my prime, I’d like to square up with Kevin Owens.”
Shawn Michaels: “Everybody’s heard mine, there’s a list of guys, AJ (Styles), Seth (Rollins), Kevin (Owens). To me, it’s all these new faces that is the whole joy of the stuff… I could do new and innovative stuff with each and every one of them.”
