UFC fighter Michael ‘Venom’ Page made quite the impression at UFC 299 with an epic tribute to WWE’s ‘Phenom’ The Undertaker.
UFC 299 took place on March 9, 2024, at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. To the backdrop of speculation about the much-anticipated UFC 300 show, UFC 299 was headlined by Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera. Though Vera won their first encounter at UFC 252 in August 2020, this week’s event saw O’Malley get the win a unanimous decision victory after five rounds.
Page’s Undertaker Entrance
Michael ‘Venom’ Page, also known as MVP, arrived to his fight with Ken Holland to the iconic theme song of The Undertaker. While he didn’t don the Deadman’s trademark coat and hat, Page wore a black cloak for this portion of his entrance. You can see Page’s entrance down below.
Not only did Page make an Undertaker-themed entrance, but he also matched the Deadman’s dominance in the cage as he’d win the fight via decision in the third round.
Wrestling Themes and UFC
At UFC 276, Israel Adesanya went one further, using an entrance based on The Undertaker. In addition to using the Phenom’s theme song, Adesanya wore an Undertaker-themed hat and solemnly walked to the cage with an urn. At that same event, Jessica Rose-Clark would walk to the cage for her fight to the theme of one of The Undertaker’s greatest rivals: Shawn Michaels.
The rivalry between The Undertaker and Mick Foley was one of the defining feuds of the Attitude Era. In many ways, the extreme matches between these two helped signify the start of a new era for WWE. With each new stipulation, they took the violence to a new level and gave the fans many memorable moments that are still etched in the minds of people more than two decades later.
The Dead Man reflected on his various extreme encounters with The Hardcore Legend on the latest episode of his Six Feet Under podcast. He mentioned the various stipulations they choose for their matches and explained that the violence made sense because of their characters:
“It was just so violent, for the time period and what they had seen up to that point. I mean, the violence that we projected on each other. There wasn’t anything really that matched that.
I think with Mick and I everything that we did because of our characters it all made sense. You would expect us to be in a Boiler Room Brawl because of his character. You would expect a buried alive, you would expect a body bag. It all made sense to where we were at in our story and what we were doing.”
‘Next Level Commitment’: The Undertaker
The Undertaker explained the motivation of Mick Foley’s character that led him to endure extreme pain in order to take down The Last Outlaw. The former World Champion also praised the wrestling veteran mentioning how it was Mick’s commitment to the craft that made it all possible:
“With Mick and Mankind always, my image and my understanding of it is like, ‘I will do this to myself. Just so that I can do this to you.’ That was Mick’s mentality, right? That was the story that he was telling. I’m going to endure this much pain, which is going to be…it’s going to be monumental pain, just to inflict a little bit of pain on you.
When you started thinking about that kind of mindset, how deranged an individual does he have to be to do those kind of things? I would wear him out. And then he would get on the apron and take a stick or a pencil and jabbing into his leg and he’d pull his hair out. That’s just next-level commitment.
But it all made sense into his tormented mindset and that’s what made it so believable. Then you have this indestructible force called the Undertaker. Like this guy is going to kill himself. This guy will torture himself to torture this person.”
You can check out the full episode of Undertaker’s podcast below:
If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription
Sting is retiring on Sunday at AEW Revolution, and this is a time when fans can look back at his legendary career. Sadly, they do not have a match against The Undertaker to remember, because it never happened.
The Undertaker and Sting never had their Icon vs Dead Man match that fans wanted to see. Sting wanted to see that match happen too, and he said that he could have ended his career on that note.
Sting Laments About Lost Undertaker Match
Although The Undertaker and Sting were under the same roof, Vince McMahon never booked the match to happen in WWE. If it did take place, The Icon believes that would have been a fitting end to his career.
Sting spoke with Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports, where he said that he thinks that his career could have ended against The Undertaker instead.
“I think if it was done right, it could have been a night, for sure, everyone would remember and never forget. They would be talking about it to this day. But it just was not going to happen. I thought, ‘Well, maybe if I get my foot in the door, we’ll see what happens.’ So I got my foot in the door. We did a WrestleMania with Triple H and then Vince [Vince McMahon] called and said, ‘Hey, I want you to have a world title match with Seth. Would you be willing to do that?’ ‘Yeah, I’d be willing to do that.’ Still, in hopes that somehow I could get in there with Taker.”
Sting went on to say, “I had so many ideas over the years, A lot of times, smoke and mirrors aren’t good things. But in our situation, I think with his gimmick and the mystiques of his character and mine, we couldn’t have enough smoke and mirrors. I think it definitely would have been a night that people remembered.”
The WWE Hall of Famer said that he would have loved a match with Undertaker, and if that happened then,“I wouldn’t have had to do anything else.”
The Stinger had an amazing career with multiple Hall of Fame entries to his name. Now, he is wrapping things up at AEW Revolution on March 3rd. SEScoops will be here with all of the coverage you need for the next AEW pay-per-view.
AEW Full Gear 2024 Card:
Sting and Darby Allin (c) (with Ric Flair) vs. The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson) in a Tornado tag team match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship; This will be Sting’s retirement match.
Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Roderick Strong (with Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) in a Singles match for the AEW International Championship.
Samoa Joe (c) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland (with Prince Nana) in a Three-way match for the AEW World Championship.
“Timeless” Toni Storm (c) (with Mariah May and Luther) vs. Deonna Purrazzo in a Singles match for the AEW Women’s World Championship.
Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Bryan Danielson in a Singles match for the Continental Crown Championship (AEW Continental Championship, ROH World Championship, and the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship); If Danielson loses, he has to shake Kingston’s hand.
Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita in a Singles match.
Christian Cage (c) (with Killswitch, Mother Wayne, and “The Prodigy” Nick Wayne) vs. Daniel Garcia in a Singles match for the AEW TNT Championship.
FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli) in a Tag team match.
Chris Jericho vs. Wardlow vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Lance Archer vs. Hook vs. Brian Cage vs. Dante Martin vs. TBA in an All-Star Scramble match; The winner will receive a future AEW World Championship match.
The infamous spot involving Rikishi at the WWE Armageddon 2000 pay-per-view almost led to the legend becoming a divorced man, he has revealed.
The spot in question took place during the six-man Armageddon Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship held by Kurt Angle at the time. In unquestionably the most memorable spot of the match, The Undertaker threw Rikishi off the top of the cell and onto a truck that Vince McMahon had driven to ringside. Angle would retain his title in the match which also featured The Rock, ‘Stone Cold’ Stever Austin, and Triple H.
Rikishi’s Near Divorce
Even over 23 years later, the fall from the Cell is what many think of when they think of Rikishi. When speaking to the Metro newspaper, the WWE Hall of Famer recalled his family being furious that he allowed himself to take the bump.
“I almost got divorced from my family. It was like, you know, they were p***ed off that I did that move, the sacrifice. But, at the time, they didn’t understand that’s just what we do, as performers, as wrestlers.”
Rikishi’s family were right to be concerned about his safety, as the former Intercontinental Champion explained how badly things could have gone.
“This flatbed [truck] had no railings on the side during the walkthrough. But during the show, when this flatbed came out, there was railings. So now, my whole nervous system just went berserk.
“Because if I didn’t hit that target my whole body go right through that aluminum rail. I mean, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you.”
Mid-match, the Undertaker told Rikishi he didn’t have to go through with the spot, but the superheavyweight was determined to do it for the fans. When the spot happened, Rikishi’s body was left in panic mode.
“I didn’t know if I was still alive. Trying to move my move, I was just still – all I could hear was “Holy s**t”. I said, “Okay. My ears work”. But I was just waiting for my body.”
Rikishi added that he received a standing ovation backstage after the match, which meant a lot to him.
WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker seemingly wanted to carry on with his in-ring career for a few more years. But he couldn’t. Well, what if he got a tour bus sooner?
The Undertaker is an iconic figure in WWE and has carved an unparalleled legacy spanning over three decades. Making his debut in 1990, his ominous presence and legendary streak at WrestleMania captivated the fans worldwide.
Throughout his illustrious career, he held multiple world championships and was embroiled in memorable rivalries. His retirement in 2020 marked the end of an era and received a farewell with a cinematic match against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36. ‘The Phenom’ has certainly left an indelible impact in the pro wrestling world.
Over the last few decades, pro wrestling world has seen major shifts in the culture and The Undertaker has seen it all. He has now spoken candidly about the introduction of tour buses for the WWE Superstars.
The Undertaker feels the tour buses could have helped in extending his WWE run
“There’s a lot of talent buses, you got crew buses. Hell, there’s 30 semis full of their sets,” said Undertaker.
Reflecting about his own time on a tour bus, Taker said that most of that was for after his matches to take better care of himself. ‘The Phenom’ stated that he believes he would have had higher quality matches and lasted longer as a full-time performer if he had taken more care of himself.
“I would have had higher quality matches, I would have I think I mean, even I lasted for as long as I did. I think I might have even lasted longer if I had been able to take that kind of care of myself. The struggle for me those last seven-eight years, it was just health. There was nothing really that happened or could happen that I didn’t feel I had a grasp on how to handle it or how to make it work. That part was second nature at that point, but physically trying to perform and keep myself at a level where I could perform.”
Undertaker went on to poke fun that if he had a few more nights of sleep in the 90s, he might have been performing, perhaps at a high level. He said:
“If I got on the bus sooner, and maybe slept a few more nights in the 90s? Hell, I might be still wrestling right now. Yeah, at a high level,” he joked. “It would have helped, but the 90s, I started in a hole.”
The Undertaker currently performs 1 deadMAN show where he is seen in an intimate setting and shares never-before-heard stories followed by taking questions from the WWE Universe in attendance.
The Undertaker had the same reaction to The Rock’s wrestling debut as everyone else.
The Rock was originally built in WWE as Rocky Maivia. He was pushed by the company from the start due to his lineage and his first match came at Survivor Series 1996 from Madison Square Garden.
The Dead Man recalled his reaction to The Great One’s debut during the latest episode of his Six Feet Under podcast. Taker thought that the Hollywood star was doomed from the start and he was going to get a couple of years in WWE only because of his family’s legacy:
“I’ll never forget, I remember him coming out in the Garden. He had the funny colored thing on and whole deal. I was like “This kid ain’t gonna make it. He ain’t got a chance. He’s dead in the water.’ I thought him being a legacy would give him a couple years that he probably wasn’t going to deserve.”
While the fans rejected Rock’s original gimmick in WWE, he still managed to turn things around. The generational star slowly won over the fans after turning heel and he later became one of the faces of The Attitude Era.
‘He Is The American Dream’: The Undertaker
Speaking about his success, Undertaker put over the People’s Champion for always staying motivated even during bad times. He mentioned how the Rock managed to think outside the box and find a unique persona for himself, something that is lacking in the current generation of wrestlers:
“He is the American dream. He wanted to play football, that fell through. There are a lot of times when something like that happens, people cave. Then they never rebound. Even when I thought he sucked, he was always motivated. He wasn’t like having a pity party.
He was picking people’s brain. He was around the guys that knew what the hell was going on and picking their brain. Trying to figure out what it was that he was going to bring to the table. I wish more people had that. I’m just talking about the wrestling side of it for now.
Because a lot of times guys are very…right now I feel like there’s a lot of guys that are very cookie cutter. They’re looking at the formula that, what they think is going to lead them to success. And they’re bringing nothing new to the table. They’re staying within the box. That was what was so great about Bray Wyatt. He thought outside of the box. Guys like Rock with his promos. It was just always ‘never be content’ and ‘always try and be better.'”
You can check out the latest episode of Undertaker’s podcast below:
If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription
The Undertaker revealed his thoughts on The Rock’s return to the WWE as WrestleMania 40 draws near, expressing positive sentiments about The Rock’s comeback. On the latest episode of his Six Feet Under podcast, The Phenom addressed his former rival having such a pivotal role in wrestling’s biggest PPV of the year.
Co-host Matthew Lyda mentioned that some WWE superstars aren’t thrilled about The Rock’s comeback. He’s He’s one of the most famous people in the world and commands lots of attention. It will be great for the financial success of the show, but what about the performers who are getting even less of that spotlight?
The Undertaker admits even he would have mixed feelings, if it was him getting pushed one more spot down the card.
“No one will say that, but it’s in the back of their head,” The Undertaker said. “It’d be in the back of my head. There’d be that side of me that said, ‘Yes, this is good for business. This is the biggest star in the world. But I’m the one that goes out and grinds every weekend of every year.”
The Dead Man says this new dynamic with The Rock in the mix adds a level of realism to things on and off television. At the end of the day, it’s going to make WrestleMania XL even bigger.
“That’s what makes everything so cool,” Undertaker continued. “That’s what makes it real. WrestleMania’s gonna be fire. It is gonna be fire.”
The Rock and WrestleMania XL
The Rock set his sights on the road to WrestleMania by making an appearance on Raw: Day 1 on January 1, where he called out Roman Reigns. It seemed like he would be challenging Reigns at WrestleMania XL.
However, during the WrestleMania XL Kickoff media event in Las Vegas on February 8, it was revealed that Reigns would instead face Cody Rhodes, who asserted his right to choose the main event after winning the Royal Rumble.
Pre-Order WWE 2K24 Now (Amazon)
Rhodes then confronted Reigns, suggesting that his family would be disappointed in him. This confrontation led to The Rock slapping Rhodes across the face, with Seth Rollins siding with Rhodes.
In a later Instagram post, The Rock addressed the confrontation, stating, “Your hero f*cked around and he found out quick what happens when you talk about our family with disrespect. Lines crossed and blurred – bring it. We don’t toe the mark for no one.”
WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker recently surfaced in Saudi Arabia as part of the festivities for the match between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr.
Before the game kicked off, the Phenom, decked in full Undertaker attire, appeared in front of the crowd at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After his entrance, which included his WWE theme music, The Undertaker held up the Riyadh Season Cup to the sound of lightning and thunder.
While The Undertaker had his final farewell at Survivor Series 2020, that didn’t mark the end of the Phenom. Undertaker has appeared out of character at several ‘1 deadMAN’ events, in which the legend regales stories from his career and answers questions from the audience. The Undertaker has appeared out of character at multiple WWE events since his retirement, including at WrestleMania 38 and at the Raw is XXX show in January of last year.
Outside of wrestling, The Undertaker appeared (in character) to introduce Pitbull at a concert in Saudi Arabia. The WWE Hall of Famer also appeared in character for Netflix’s interactive special ‘Escape The Undertaker.’ The interactive experience sees the New Day arrive in The Undertaker’s funeral home and need to find a way out before they become trapped forever.
What moment from is career left The Undertaker shaking in his boots…
WWE fans love video games, and every year they are typically given a new addition to their library. 2K is hard at work on their next release, and the teases are a plenty.
WWE 2K24 Is Coming
WWE 2k24 is coming this year, and 2k got started early this year to hype the game. All they needed to do was send out a graphic and a date. Then it was open season for excitement as the franchise’s next offering started trending on social media.
WWE Games’ official Twitter/X account posted to remind fans that January 22nd is a day worth marking on your calendar. They also dropped a very cryptic, yet obvious, tease that The Undertaker will be a part of whatever they’re doing.
We previously covered that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin got some love in the form of a spoiler from 2K. Obviously, the teases will continue as momentum builds toward the new game’s release.
WWE 2K24’s Release Date
The release date for WWE 2K24 is currently unknown, but there’s a possibility that we might learn this important information in the coming days. The latest installment, WWE 2K23, was released on March 14th, 2023.
WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump recently mentioned WWE legends The Kane and The Undertaker during his recent speech.
In WWE, Kane was billed as The Undertaker’s brother and duo went on to have great tag team run as well as memorable storylines as rivals.
After bringing down the curtain on his pro wrestling career, Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) became the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. In the past, the former ‘Big Red Machine’ had backed the former President and showed his support for Trump in his attempt to get elected again.
Donald Trump talks about Kane and The Undertaker
During an event held on Sunday at the Iowa caucuses, the former Kane was one of the people who attended the show and also spoke before Donald Trump’s speech. Jacobs had nothing but praise for Donald Trump like always.
Trump also reciprocated the feelings. He lauded Glenn Jacobs for his physique and his time in WWE. During the speech, he also namedropped The Undertaker.
Trump was slurring and fumbling over his words at times but didn’t shy away from speaking about the iconic duo of Kane and The Undertaker.
“And another man who’s a friend of mine. He’s another one I’m not going to mess around with. He’s Knox County, Tennessee, do you know Glenn Jacobs? Goes by the name, goes by the name of …. Kane. Kane. Where is Kane? Where’s the …. look at the size of this guy. Man o’ man – that’s – he’s all man. He’s all man. He’s good. How many years have you been doing that? You’ve been W, W …. Kane one of the great characters in uhm …. how many …. so how tall are you? You’re six what? 6’8 and weigh what – when you wrestle? Well that’s not bad – I’m not that far away either. That’s not good. You just ruined my day – 300 [pounds]!”
“When I see these guys, some of them like The Undertaker right? And I see him and walks around the ring lifting a 300-pound guy over his shoulders like this. It may be acting… then he throws him into the seats, it’s pretty great.”
Jacobs last competed as Kane in WWE back in 2021 as part of the men’s Royal Rumble match, while The Undertaker’s last match was at WrestleMania 36 in 2020 when he faced AJ Styles in a cinematic match, ‘Boneyard Match.’ against AJ Styles.
The Undertaker may have faced giants, kings, and even himself, but nothing could have prepared him for the enigmatic Dude Love persona.
The oldest of Mick Foley’s iconic characters, the WWE Hall of Famer first crafted Dude Love while still in his youth. The fun-loving character was brought to the WWF years later after Foley had competed around the world as the ultra-violent Cactus Jack and the tortured soul known as Mankind.
The Undertaker Reacts to Dude Love
On a recent episode of his Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker spoke about the Dude Love persona. The Phenom recalled seeing Dude Love for the first time and questioning how he’d ever sold for Mick.
“I remember when he started doing Dude Love. He passed me in the hall and he could tell by the look on my face…I’ve sold more for him than anybody ever. We’ve been through hell and back together. Then here he is…Dude Love and all this tie-dyed stuff.
“He was getting into character and he was walking down the hall. Then he’d seen me and then he’d seen the look on my face. I’ll never forget him just dropping his head and walking by [like] ‘I’m sorry.’ It’s like, ‘I can’t believe I sold for you.'”
Mick Foley & The Undertaker
The Undertaker and Dude Love never faced off, but Mick Foley shared the ring several times with The Undertaker. The pair’s most iconic match came in Pittsburgh at the 1998 King of the Ring event, where the pair battled in, and on top of Hell in a Cell.
WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker has conquered several daunting match stipulations and moments in his wrestling career, but which was the scariest? On episode 12 of the Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker provided an answer, pointing to one of his most memorable appearances inside Hell in a Cell.
The moment in reference happened during The Undertaker’s Hell in a Cell match against Mick Foley (Mankind at the time) at the 1998 WWE King of the Ring pay-per-view.
While many remember this match for Foley’s thunderous plunge through the announce table, The Undertaker considers another part of the match to be even more terrifying.
Mankind / Mick Foley and Hell in a Cell (1998)
“I think probably the scariest moment was when Mick went through the Cell. When I choke slammed him through it. Not when I threw him off, but when I choke-slammed him through the cell. The way that he landed. I was legit like, ‘Come on, please move,’ because I didn’t know that he was going to. That was pretty tense there for a little bit,” Undertaker said.
“And I’m thinking the worst because of just the way that it looked from my perspective. From my perspective, it looks like he landed on his head. And regardless of the reason why or how, in my head, it’s like, ‘You’re the one that just choke slammed him through it.’ So if he doesn’t get up, all those things are already going through your mind like ‘Are you going to be the guy that crippled Mick Foley?’ Yeah, that was pretty gnarly.”
Another ‘Scary’ Moment
Outside of his Hell in a Cell match against Mick Foley, The Undertaker says another scary moment occurred during his 2019 WWE Super ShowDown match against another fellow WWE Hall of Famer — Goldberg. At one point, Goldberg set The Undertaker in position for a suplex. However, when the two crashed onto the mat, The Undertaker then+ experienced what he described as an “incredible lightning bolt of pain” in his back.
The Undertaker is a WWE Hall of Famer who led the locker room for decades. While he led the troops for Vince McMahon backstage, he also saw many instances of tomfoolery along the way.
The Undertaker Speaks on Backstage Pranks in WWE
WWE Superstars spend their lives on the road, and sometimes they get bored. This was especially true during The Undertaker’s heyday, because WWE’s schedule was far more grueling. To pass the time, Superstars would often prank each other backstage.
The Undertaker is famously afraid of cucumbers. Owen Hart took advantage of this fact on several occasions, as he pranked the Deadman with the common vegetable. Through it all, things never got too intense as Taker remembers it. He did remember how The Rockers would tamper with other wrestlers’ belongings while they were busy in the ring.
During his Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker was asked what was the most juvenile prank he ever saw backstage in WWE.
“When I first started with WWE, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. They were a couple little turds. That’s what they were. They were just bad. I would go out and have a match. Back then, we’d have somebody there that would bring our ring gear back. Every time I’d come back from a match, there would be my hat sitting on a case somewhere, and it would be poked. The top of it would be poked in. It’d be like sugar poured all over the top of it, flowers put in it. Just silly things that they would do to my hat. I didn’t know who was doing it. One thing with a rib when you’re in the wrestling business is, you don’t sell it. You don’t sell the rib. You don’t let anybody know that the rib’s getting to you. Because if it’s bothering you, it’s only gonna get worse. So I’m just playing it cool and I kind of set it up like a trap one day. I had my hat sitting out on the case. My coat was lying next to it and I’m kind of hiding.”
“This is kinda juvenile in its own right. I’m kind of hiding behind the curtain backstage, watching. I set a trap [and] here comes Shawn Michaels, just be-bopping down the hallway, and he stops. He walked in, he sees my hat and he stops. I remember him looking both ways like ‘Is there anybody around?’ I remember him pushing my hat, the top of my hat, caving my hat in, and I caught him right away. I was like, ‘You son of a bitch.’ And he about pissed himself like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’ That was some of the more juvenile. I’ve been fairly lucky.”
“There’s only been a few guys that would rib me. Paul Bearer would rib me and Brian Adams would rib me. Those are the only two. Yeah, those are the only two guys or whatever. I mean Vince. Yeah, he went out of his way to rib me. He would spend thousands and thousands of dollars just to rib me and get a kick out of it. But as far as the talent, though, the only two guys that would rib me were Paul Bearer and Bryan Adams.”
The Deadman was also asked if he ever saw a prank go too far. That is when the former judge of Wrestlers Court was candid in his response. There were what he called “close calls,” and cucumbers were involved. In the end, those ribs were relatively harmless.
“There were a couple of close calls with cucumbers, that got a little bit too close to consumption, which would have been really bad. But most of them were pretty harmless.”
History of Practical Jokes in Pro Wrestling
Another notable instance of a famous backstage rib went down during a European tour in 1993 when Owen Hart switched his brother Bret Hart’s wrestling gear with a smaller-sized version, so the Hitman had to go out alone. Owen Hart also put sliced cucumbers in The Undertaker’s boots, which caused quite a reaction from the Deadman.
Mr. Fuji, who was a legendary prankster backstage, was known for mischievous ribs. He did things like filling babyface wrestlers’ water bottles with salt. Bobby Heenan was also legendary for his outlandish ribs, one that would entertain Superstars for hours on the road.
The infamous “Plane Ride from Hell” in 2002 saw various disruptive ribs, including Ric Flair’s naked antics, which did not age well at all. A wrestling match also broke out between Brock Lesnar and Mr. Perfect, who also allegedly dosed wrestlers with halcion tablets for giggles at times as well.
This week’s WWE NXT saw the gold brand continue to build towards the upcoming New Year’s Evil show. The show pulled in an impressive 670,000 viewers, which is respectable considering it happened on Boxing Day when viewerships across TV take a dive. On Twitter, Dijak, who competed in the main event against Eddy Thorpe, was pleased to take credit for the impressive number.
DIJAK once again huge unbelievable breathtakingly massive draw CONFIRMED.
Next year, WWE NXT will begin airing on the CW Network and leave its current home on the USA Network. This week, it was announced that the gold brand has been axed from TNT Sports, which is how it is broadcasted in the UK. The show began airing on Sky Sports and later BT Sports (now TNT Sports) in January 2020.
The Undertaker’s Mount Rushmore
The Undertaker is on many people’s Mt. Rushmore of wrestlers, but who is on the Phenom’s rankings of the greatest stars of all time? On his Six Feet Under podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer named Arn Anderson, The Rock, Ric Flair, and Dusty Rhodes as his Mt. Rushmore.
Sgt. Slaughter did a complete 180 when he betrayed the U.S. to side with Iraq during the Gulf War, and reportedly received death threats for his character.
The April 1991 event saw Hulk Hogan dethrone Sgt. Slaughter to regain the WWF Championship, kicking off the Hulkster’s third reign with the gold. The show was originally supposed to take place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before being moved to the adjacent, albeit smaller, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
The Undertaker on WrestleMania 7
Much of the main event was built around Slaughter’s heel turn which had seen the so-called U.S. Marine become an Iraqi sympathizer during the Gulf War. Speaking on his Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker addressed using the real-life conflict overseas for the wrestling storyline.
“Obviously, the more personal you can make a wrestling angle, the better it’s gonna be. And if you throw championships on top of all that, it really makes it even more compelling. But I mean, personal rivalries were always the best. And this is…we’re at war. So that was a bold move.”
The Undertaker also addressed the claim that Slaughter received death threats for his Iraqi supporting character but admitted he didn’t see anything firsthand.
“Not that anything that I witnessed, like as far as physical aggression, but yeah, he was always talking about getting death threats. People threatening him and how could you do that to our country? It’s just like, c’mon man. It was pretty good man you have to say. Honestly, it took for… at that time period for someone of Sgt. Slaughter’s [character] his career and his gimmick and everything else to do that. It was a bold move. It was a real bold move.”
WWE has always claimed that WrestleMania 7 was moved to the smaller venue due to ‘security risks’. Many have cast doubt on that claim though, and believe the show was moved due to poor ticket sales at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
For the use of quotes, please give an H/T to SE Scoops.
WWE knows that they can make a ton of money if they put out the right piece of merchandise. The upside of a custom title belt taking off in the company’s sales ranks is a very lucrative one. So, WWE has posted more than a few variations of WWE Titles in the past. It appears The Undertaker is not a fan of this practice.
The Undertaker Speaks His Mind on Custom WWE Titles
During The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast, The Deadman addressed a question about whether he had contemplated having a personalized championship belt during his reign as a world champion, akin to John Cena’s spinner belt or Daniel Bryan’s eco-friendly belt. This was not something that ever crossed The Phenom’s mind.
The Undertaker said that his perspective aligns with old-school traditions. He holds the belief that championship titles should adhere to a more traditional and conventional design, and not have custom variations that are unique to the person holding the title.
No. I’m a traditionalist. I’m old school. Whatever the world title is, that’s what I wanted to represent. As cool as [the custom belt] is, it’s one of the nicest looking belts I’ve seen, I would have wanted one of the traditional belts, unless it was the spinner belt, which was awful. If I had my choice, the spinner belt or [custom belt], I would have gone with the [custom belt]. I always like the traditional championships. Back then, it was more about being the champion than marketing. I’m not opposed to making money. I just think there are certain traditions and things that should be untouched. The championship should be the championship.
They say that the title makes the man, but The Undertaker is not a fan of the man making his own custom championship title belt.
It should also be noted that WWE has released custom limited edition Undertaker tribute titles in the past. The Deadman didn’t speak about that merchandise, but he’s not a fan of changing the actual WWE Title to fit the talent.
The Undertaker’s Championship History In WWE
The Undertaker won many championships in WWE, with four WWE Championship runs and three World Heavyweight Championship wins. His tag team accolades include six WWF World Tag Team Championship wins, where he partnered with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Big Show, The Rock, and Kane. The Undertaker also claimed the WWF Hardcore Championship, and not one of those title belts was custom to The Deadman.
The Undertaker’s viewpoint reflects a respect for the rich history and traditions embedded within the world of professional wrestling. He is old-school, and still has that mentality. After all, The Phenom kept that Deadman gimmick up 24 hours a day during his heyday, with Paul Bearer around to literally be his mediatory to the real world he tried so hard to keep kayfabe alive for.
The Undertaker says that people backstage were ‘pissed’ when The Streak came to an end at WrestleMania XXX.
The Dead Man’s 21-match undefeated WrestleMania streak is one of the most incredible achievements in all of pro wrestling. So much so that the former World Champion even holds a Guinness World Record for this accomplishment. Not only do the fans consider it to be one of the greatest things ever done in wrestling but even talents behind the scenes saw it as a grand achievement.
The Last Outlaw opened up about the importance of the Streak during the latest episode of his Six Feet Under podcast. He mentioned how people first started taking a note of it after his 10th victory over Ric Flair at WrestleMania 17:
“Shortly after the Flair match, that’s when the streak really came alive. It really became special. There were guys that will tell you, and there’s still guys that would tell you like, ‘I don’t care if I’m the main event or not. I want the streak.’
It was such a huge attraction ‘Who is going to be?’ It gets up there 13-0, 14-0. It’s like, ‘oh, is this the guy that is going to beat the streak?’ I’m not the one to tout my own horn but on many occasions, it was as important as whatever the main event was. Is this guy the guy that’s gonna bust the streak? It was just a really special time.”
‘They Were Pissed’: The Undertaker
Unfortunately like all good things, this record was also broken at WrestleMania XXX when Brock Lesnar finally conquered The Streak. According to The Undertaker, people behind the scenes were as emotional in the moment as the fans in the arena and around the world:
“Among fans, even amongst the talent because most of the guys were, they were pissed. They were like, ‘Man, The Streak shouldn’t have been broke.’
That’s the business.I don’t have any decision in that but a lot of the boys that were part of making that streak something, making it mean what it meant. They were like ‘Damn man, why are you taking away? Why are you taking away such a vital part of WrestleMania?’ It was like ‘This is as important as a title match.’
CM Punk may lay claim to being the ‘Best in the World’ but his fighting skills were outmatched by some WWE Superstars during a 2006 flight.
That year was a formative one for Punk, who made his TV debut as part of the relaunched ECW brand. Punk was a personal project of ECW head Paul Heyman, and would quickly become one of the most featured stars on the show.
CM Punk’s On-Board Flights
On a recent edition of his Six Feet Under podcast, The Undertaker spoke about Punk and the relationship they have had in the ring. The Phenom recalled a time when Punk was traveling with the roster for the 2006 edition of Tribute to the Troops in Baghdad, Iraq.
“Somehow or another, the discussion comes up. I don’t know if Vince instigated this one or not… CM Punk, he fashioned himself as a jiu-jitsu practitioner. Someone broached the question, ‘You did jiu-jitsu. How long do you think you could last with one of these two wrestlers?’ It was Bobby Lashley, who wrestled for the Army, and Shelton Benjamin, who wrestled at Minnesota.”
The Undertaker added that Punk was confident, telling the roster “I’ll tap them out.” Despite this bravado, Punk was quickly humbled by Lashley and Benjamin.
“I want to say the first match lasted about 47 seconds. The other one was sub-40, where they had taken them down and pinned him. He didn’t back down, but my goodness, it was like blood in the water and two great white sharks circling.”
Years later, Punk would compete in the UFC and have similarly rotten luck. Punk lost two fights for the promotion, though one of his losses was overturned after his opponent tested positive for performance-enhancing substances.
CM Punk may have accidentally revealed the ring attire he’ll wear for his WWE run going forward. Click here to find out more.
Drew McIntyre hasn’t competed for ICW in years but recently gave a message to the promotion. In a video to the Scottish-based promotion, McIntyre reflected on his favorite ICW moments, as the company will no longer be hosting its Fight Club events.
On last week’s SmackDown, Randy Orton made it clear he’s coming for the Bloodline but was in no hurry to get in the ring. During his entrance, WWE cut to a commercial and in off-air footage, fans can see Orton taking his time at ringside while Roman Reigns stands in the ring.
That ad break was so awkwardly placed on Smackdown.
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle may be a huge name in wrestling, but the Olympian recently went viral as part of a meme. The meme itself shows a frazzled-looking Kurt, which Angle reacted to on his podcast.
“I know that that video you know, it’s kind of a weird-looking face, but for some strange reason everybody caught on and wanted to throw out some memes and I was the butt of the joke, I guess.”
Kurt later joked that he could just get paid to make that facial expression all day. Merchandise of the meme is already available.
The Undertaker Adds Shows
As reported earlier this month, The Undertaker will be heading to Australia next February to host his 1deadMan show. WWE has now confirmed that the Deadman will be hitting three more towns. The Phenom will be appearing in Peth, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. WWE will be in Australia in February for the WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth event.
WWE has announced The Undertaker is bringing his ‘1 deadMAN SHOW’ to Royal Rumble weekend.
The show will take place on Sunday, January 28 from Bilheimer Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, Florida, the day after the Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
About The Show
The Undertaker’s 1 deadMAN Show
UNDERTAKER 1 deadMAN SHOW features the WWE Hall of Famer in an intimate setting, sharing never-before-heard stories and answering questions from the audience.
The show has sold out venues in Nashville, Philadelphia, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Antonio and London since debuting.
Tickets
If you’re in town for the Royal Rumble, this could be a great way to cap off your weekend. Tickets will be available to purchase next Friday, December 15 at RutheckerdHall.com.
An exclusive pre-sale will begin at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, December 14. A limited number of VIP tickets, which includes premier seating and a meet-and-greet with The Undertaker, will also be available.
The Undertaker is one of the most iconic figures in WWE history. He recently shared his thoughts on who he thinks should defeat Roman Reigns and capture his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt.
During a recent conversation with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport, the Dead Man said he believes the right person for this job is none other than Cody Rhodes.
The American Nightmare returned from his injury at the Royal Rumble in January, and came out as the winner of the 30-man battle royale. He challenged Reigns for his title on the January 30 episode of Raw, for a match at WrestleMania 39.
Is Cody Rhodes the man to dethrone Roman Reigns?
The Undertaker recommending Cody Rhodes just goes to show how important it is to find the right competitor to defeat Reigns. Reigns has been a force to be reckoned with in the WWE for quite some time now. He has become the top dog in the company and bringing him down is something that needs a lot of planning and proper execution. It will also take someone who has the skills and charisma to pull it off and look believable. The wrestler should also have the staying power to take Reigns’ spot.
It seems like Cody Rhodes fits the bill perfectly when it comes to all these things, according to The Undertaker. Rhodes has momentum in the company currently, has the fan support and is good in the ring as well as the mic. He could make for a believable Universal Champion. He has also proved his mettle during his tenure in AEW.
Apart from Cody Rhodes, The Undertaker also mentioned Sami Zayn as a potential “dark horse” candidate to defeat Reigns. Zayn has been with the WWE for many years, and has had many highs and lows in his career. Being a reliable performer in the ring who WWE could trust, it would make sense why the Deadman himself would think Zayn is another good pick to take down Reigns.
The decision to end The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WWE WrestleMania is still questioned among fans as Vince McMahon is the one to have made the call for it to end in 2014 at WrestleMania 30 at the hands of Brock Lesnar.
For years, the undefeated streak wasn’t mentioned at all and in the later stages of Taker’s career, WWE started to use it to further sell WrestleMania.
While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, The Undertaker was asked who were the others that were considered to break his undefeated streak. He named Edge and Vladmir Kozlov.
The Names
“By the time we got to WrestleMania, we pretty much knew what was going to go down, but there were a few people I guess that he wanted to break the streak. (Vladimir) Kozlov, he wanted him. It was early on, and I think he wanted Edge to go over and Edge refused. He said, ‘No. I can’t do it.’ That’s how much he respected the streak and me and what that streak meant to the business. I didn’t know that at that time. I didn’t know that until years after. That says a lot about the human being he is.”
Regarding whether he felt Brock should have said no to ending the streak, Taker said he didn’t think Lesnar needed it as he was already a major attraction and a made guy so in his eyes, it didn’t enhance Lesnar anymore. He thinks it would’ve been a great thing for Roman Reigns while he was on the rise.
“I think it could have helped somebody else. When I got there that day, I was still going over. It’s in the early afternoon. I remember sitting in the dressing room and came in, and as soon as he came in, I knew what it was. He changed the finish. I gave him my spiel and what I thought. It wasn’t no for the sake of not wanting to do the job. It was ‘no’ in the sense that I didn’t feel like Brock needed it. Vince’s counter was, ‘If not Brock, then who beats you?’ Vince can sell ice to an Eskimo. I brought up as many points as I thought, like, looking long term down the road. Vince, his deal too is, who down the road? At that point, I’m year to year. I don’t know when I’m going to pull the trigger and say enough’s enough, so I think he wanted to make sure he got that. I don’t think he ever envisioned that character riding off into the sunset with a perfect record.”
Taker continued by noting that he didn’t know when he was going to retire, but selfishly he would’ve stayed undefeated. However, that’s not how the business goes. He knows there was a lot of talent that let him beat them and it was the right thing to do to pay it back.
Taker said that the business itself is bigger than the one character and Lesnar was worthy of it. He added that “He was a huge draw at this point, but I don’t think that it helped him the way it would have helped, say Roman at the time.”
Don’t expect to see The Undertaker portray his deadman gimmick again because he is done wearing the trench coat and hat.
This explains why he didn’t portray the gimmick in January when he appeared on WWE Raw XXX where he did a segment with LA Knight and Bray Wyatt. Fans were shocked to hear Kid Rock’s American Bad Ass song play and see Taker drive out on a motorcycle reminiscent of his character that he portrayed in the early 2000s.
The Undertaker’s Take
While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, The Undertaker noted that those involved with the segment expected him to come out with his iconic character, but those days are gone.
“They had a different vision. They didn’t even know that I wasn’t going to have the hat and coat. They totally thought I was coming [out as] old Undertaker. I was like, no. That’s part of me and the storytelling, right? When I lifted the curtain, and when I lifted it back and pulled it back, that’s gone. It’s gone now.”
Helwani followed up with asking whether he was done with that and he said, “I won’t bring the hat and coat back out, no.”
He added that because he is now in a public speaker role, he doesn’t think the character can be portrayed in that way anymore.
The Undertaker is someone who took the business and his character seriously. He took further than most will do, especially these days.
Keeping kayfabe has been an art that has been lost in the world of the pro wrestling business for the last few decades. It wasn’t until he was retired from the wrestling business that Taker started to do more out of character interviews and branch out on his own.
The Undertaker’s Advice
While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, The Undertaker urged today’s WWE talent to protect their characters better.
“I do think a lot of our talent, not just our talent, in general they don’t understand any concept of protecting a character or even developing a character enough to protect it. They go and do something on TV and then you go to their social media and it’s completely different. I’m a dinosaur, I am, my mentality is still 20 years ago, but I guess there is a reason why I lasted as long as I did. I was like, ‘gosh live it a little bit. You don’t have to go to the extremes that I did, but man protect it.’ Kinda be like in real life just a little bit. If you’re going to post something, have it match kinda what you’re trying because that’s what you’re trying to convince people. You’re this or you’re that.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit BT Sports with an h/t to SEScoops for the transcription.
WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker may have plenty of accolades to his name, but the Phenom recently lost his top spot in the annals of WWE’s gaming history.
At Survivor Series 2020, the Undertaker gave his ‘Final Farewell’ and retired from the ring after an iconic three-decade career in WWE.
The Texan was rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame last year, and has made appearances out of his gothic persona for WWE since his retirement.
Gaming History
As one of the most iconic WWE Superstars of all time, it is hardly surprising that The Undertaker has been part of several WWE video games.
The Demon of Death Valley holds the record for appearing in the most officially licensed WWE games, with his first being WWF Super WrestleMania (NES & MegaDrive/Genesis) in 1992.
Since then, The Undertaker has appeared in a total 64 video games (if you include WWE 2K23) and has featured on the cover for 18 games.
Acknowledge Him
For WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw 2011, WWE ranked The Undertaker with a staggering 98 rating, the highest rating of any WWE Superstar in gaming history.
After over a decade though, that rating has now been superseded, as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has been awarded a 99 rating for WWE 2K23.
Reigns, one of two men to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, has appeared in 10 WWE games, as well as NCAA Football 2005.
The standard edition of WWE 2K23 is set for release on March 17 and will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows.
Players who pre-order the Deluxe and Icon Editions of the game will have access from March 14 to get in on the action early.
