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The Undertaker is one of the most iconic Superstars in not just WWE, but also in the entire pro-wrestling world. His legendary WrestleMania streak, his incredible supernatural gimmick, and his unmatched dedication for the craft have established him as a legend of the business.
Undertaker has been entertaining us for over three decades and his recent Boneyard Match against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36 reminded us of his glory days. This match was huge for Styles and ‘Taker looked better than he had in the last seven years. It’s no secret that The Deadman never hesitates in putting young talents over with the crowd.
There are several WWE Superstars, both in the past and present, who credit ‘Taker for his impeccable bits of advice that helped them make a name for themselves.
In this article, we will take a look at ten Superstars who were helped by Undertaker, both inside and outside the squared circle. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
#10 Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes is one of the brains behind All Elite Wrestling which is slowly rising through the ranks and is being perceived as the next big competition for WWE. Before the start of AEW, there was a time when Cody was a part of WWE where he stayed until May 2016. It was during this time when he shared a special moment with The Undertaker.
This story dates back to 2008 when Cody participated in his first-ever Royal Rumble. During the match, there was a spot that saw him attacking The Phenom and the latter instantly decided to let the young talent find a moment of glory amidst the commotion inside the ring.
During an interview with Inside The Ropes, Cody revealed that during his Royal Rumble encounter with The Undertaker, he was discreetly asked by ‘Taker to hit him with a dropkick. The moment went on to become one of the highlights of the match and Cody admitted to putting The Deadman on a pedestal following the incident.
While recalling that moment with The Undertaker, Cody was quoted saying:
“I feel the camera on me and I can see myself on the screen. I see Undertaker in the corner. I thought, ‘F*** it. I’m going to do it’. I go over and I hit this man as hard as I’ve hit anyone in the back of the head. I felt him stop. [He does the slow head turn]. I’m the bad guy now. I’m [backing away]. All of a sudden he goozles me.
“I think I’m going up. He says, ‘kick me in the knee.’ I kick him in the knee, he lets his hand go. And he goes, ‘dropkick me.’ I jump up, dropkick him, he takes a bump! You can see, I didn’t know what to do. The goal is to get the guy out of the match, but I’m not going to pick him up. So I just go over to the corner and start fake punching somebody.”
“But man, after that, ‘Taker was God to me. Everything about this guy is about giving back. He absolutely did not need to do that. Plus, I stiffed the hell out of him. I love The Undertaker.”
#9 Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin has been great in portraying the role of a heel. He manages to gain heat from the audience at any cost and is rarely seen breaking the kayfabe. King Corbin’s recent feud with Roman Reigns helped him get under the skin of the fans while simultaneously ensuring that the ‘Big Dog’ gets over with the crowd.
Unlike other heels in the company, Corbin seems to be one of those who receives genuine heat from the fans. It must be difficult for him to be in character all day long but he has had great pieces of advice from The Undertaker himself. In an interview with Chiefs Wire, Corbin talked about his admiration for Undertaker and how he was helped by the legend himself.
“Undertaker is someone I looked up to for his physicality and mentality, so he’s a guy I grab onto every time he’s around, and he seems very willing to help."
"And not a lot of guys want to give out secrets, but he helps in how I think about putting things together, and he’s really played a significant role in helping me find success and fame.”
#8 Bruce Prichard
This is the only story involved in this list that transpired outside of WWE. In 2013, Bruce Prichard was invited as a guest on Steve Austin’s podcast when he shared an interesting story about The Undertaker. The incident took place back when Prichard worked for WWE under the name ‘Brother Love’ and was the manager of The Deadman.
Recalling a rather terrifying incident, Prichard shared that once he was traveling in a rental car alongside The Undertaker. However, they somehow ended up in a dangerous part of the town and had to stop to ask for directions. Unfortunately for them, they were not approached by friendly faces.
Prichard went on to say that he felt they were going to get robbed or something even worse could happen. However, when the man came near their car, he saw The Undertaker staring at him in his classic, intimidating fashion. His glaring look towards the stranger was enough to make him run far away from the car and save both Prichard and himself from any sort of altercation.
#7 Roman Reigns
At WrestleMania 33, Roman Reigns defeated The Undertaker in what appeared to be the final match of The Phenom. He had left his coat and hat inside the ring before disappearing backstage which led several fans to believe that ‘Taker had finally hung his boots. Although he would return to in-ring action following that, his loss against Reigns proved to be a huge milestone for Reigns’ career.
Before his WrestleMania match against Reigns, The Undertaker wanted to face John Cena in his retirement match. He felt that his rivalry with The Champ would make for a great story and it will be the perfect end to his glorifying career. However, Vince McMahon thought that a younger talent like Reigns would be a much better person to do the job.
The Undertaker, who’s loyalty towards WWE has never been doubted, agreed with his boss and felt that beating him would eventually help pass the torch to the next big name in the company. Hence, ‘taker agreed to lose at Wrestlemania for the second time and allowed Reigns to earn one of the biggest moments of his WWE career.
#6 Big Show
Big Show is one of the most famous WWE Superstars to have ever stepped inside the ring. Be it his size or the constant heel turns, there are a lot of things about Big Show that helped him make a name for himself in the business. Now, we even see him being entrusted with the responsibility of guiding young talents at the WWE Performance Centre.
However, there was a time when Big Show himself was a rookie. Luckily for him, soon after he arrived in the WWE, The Undertaker took him under his wing. The latter would be harsh on the future Superstar but he always had his back. The Undertaker ensured that Big Show developed into an all-round performer and was an unconventional mentor.
Talking about his relationship with The Undertaker in WWE, Big Show was quoted saying:
“Undertaker is one of the greatest and smartest guys in the history of the business. He understands his character so well and he's an expert in psychology. I was lucky enough to come in at a time and have him as my mentor when there wasn't a lot of mentors around. It was extremely competitive and no one gave a crap if you succeeded or not. As long as you could put asses in seats, that's all anyone cared about.”
"I had a lot of potential but I was green as grass. Hogan always took care of me in WCW. Flair told me what to do and so did Randy[Savage] and Arn[Anderson]. I just got in the ring and did what I was told. When I got to the WWE I had to do my own thing because no one was thinking for me. During that time period, 'Taker took me under his wing and man, it was old school. He would chew my ass out every night for something. I remember every night driving in my car thinking, 'Well I'm a fat piece of trash'."
However, Big Show would soon understand that The Undertaker is trying to push him to his limits. They both went on to engage in great matches and Big Show will always credit ‘Taker for shaping his career with his guidance during Show’s initial days with WWE.
#5 Finn Balor
Finn Balor is one of the most talented Superstars in WWE today. Last year, he moved back to NXT where he turned heel and shocked the entire WWE Universe. In his time with the company, Balor has convinced everyone of his potential and is one of the most prominent names in the list of modern-day Superstars.
In an interview with Scott Fishman, Balor was asked if he would ever face The Undertaker. The Irish Superstar went on to say that facing The Undertaker would account for his dream match and recalled the time when he received bits of advice from The Deadman himself.
Balor said that when he first came to WWE, ‘Taker talked to him about maintaining characters and every other detail that he should pay attention to. He is the one who advised Balor on his entrance and also shared his wisdom about the different aspects of the business.
Balor confirmed that he still used The Undertaker’s advice and said:
“That would be a dream match for me to see Finn Bálor versus The Undertaker. It really doesn't need to be explained more than that. I've been very fortunate to talk to Undertaker when I first came in here. We talked about entrances. He gave me a lot of advice that helps me to this day. So I'm very grateful for that. Maybe I'd play a couple of mind games with the Deadman. It would be a little bit of fun."
#4 Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt is one of a kind and his uniqueness has helped him carve a niche for himself in the pro-wrestling business. Over the last few years, Bray has gifted us some of the best gimmicks in modern-day pro-wrestling.
His latest alter-ego, The Fiend’, is one of the hottest characters in WWE right now and has had the audience hooked onto him since his introduction.
One of the reasons why Bray is incredible at portraying such supernatural characters is because of The Undertaker. During Bray’s initial days with WWE, it was The Deadman who spoke with him about the elements required for creating an immortal gimmick.
Undertaker talked about the inevitable changes in the business and how one can adjust to the different challenges as time goes by.
Talking about the brilliant bit of advice from The Undertaker, Bray said:
“I think the thing about keeping your character fresh is when you change as an individual you have to flow with it. There are times where fans don’t understand that change is inevitable or that changes are done too fast. They say, ‘We like the way you used to be.’ Or they say, ‘We liked what you did then.’ You can’t stay the same. As you mature as an adult, you find out you have to keep changing in this business. It’s something The Undertaker laid on me.”
#3 Triple H
It is no secret that The Undertaker is close to Vince McMahon and his entire family. So much so, that he has always been a protective figure for Stephanie McMahon. This story dates back to the time when Triple H had just started dating Stephanie. Unfortunately for ‘The Game’, the locker room had started to look at him in a slightly different manner when he was first involved with Stephanie.
Tired of the constant glares and whispers amidst his peers, Triple H turned towards The Undertaker for dating advice as the latter was dubbed as the locker room leader backstage. ‘The Game’ shed some light on the incident in the book WWE: The Attitude Era.
Triple H wanted to know The Undertaker’s thoughts on The Game’s rumored relationship with Stephanie that had been fetching him a lot of heat backstage. The Deadman, without wasting a second, suggested that both of them should not pay any heed towards the opinions of others and should follow their heart instead.
As a result, Triple H gained confidence in the relationship with Stephanie. Years passed by and now Triple H and Stephanie are happily married.
#2 The Rock
In his book titled “The Rock Says …”, there’s a story that shows how much The Undertaker cares about putting over the younger talents. Due to his legendary career, The Undertaker had earned the right to have some sort of creative control over the storylines that involved him. Although he never blatantly rejected the ideas of the creatives, he would often pitch changes that would best suit his style.
One of those changes would often include how he would put over the other talent. If Undertaker felt that his opponent is not yet ready for the spotlight, he would often suggest the creatives to book an outside interference that would help his rival in winning the match. But that was not the case when he was scheduled to face The Rock.
The Deadman believed that The Rock had huge potential and wanted him to go over with the crowd. Hence, he allowed Rock to beat him clean – something that took the latter by shock. In his book, Rock wrote that he went to meet ‘Taker to confirm he would really pick a lean win over a Superstar like The Phenom himself. And Undertaker replied by saying, “Yes. Now is your time.”
#1 Kane
As the ‘Brothers of Destruction’, both The Undertaker and Kane have been involved in one of the most iconic WWE storylines of all time. From fighting each other to fighting against each other, their in-ring chemistry has helped them set benchmarks in storytelling. When they were both working together, Undertaker took responsibility for Kane and helped him create more depth in his character.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Kane talked about the advice that ‘Taker would often share with him. He said that The Deadman dedicated himself to the business and would do anything for the crowd. It’s his hard work that inspired Kane to do better which is also why he considers his kayfabe brother as his role model. He was quoted saying:
“Within the world of WWE, Kane and the Undertaker are the Brothers of Destruction, and ’Taker was even willing to share some advice along the campaign trail.
“His advice was to work hard and stay true to what I believe. He was always a great role model of mine. Night in and night out, he gave everything he could for the audience. That’s what I have always done in wrestling.”
