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The Undertaker is arguably one of the greatest WWE Superstars in the history of the company. It is really tough for any other gimmick in professional wrestling to compete with that of The Undertaker when it comes to longevity, impact and adapting with time.
WWE Survivor Series 2020 is set to feature the Final Farewell of The Phenom, who will be completing a massive thirty years with the company. Having shared the locker room with multiple generations, The Undertaker has managed to gain the respect of his colleagues as many of them have had huge praises for him.
With The Undertaker starting to give more out of character interviews recently, he has opened up and went on to praise some Superstars on the current roster of WWE. Let's take a look at six WWE Superstars The Undertaker has praised in real-life.
#6 Bray Wyatt
Out of the few 'dream matches' that the WWE Universe still wants to see The Undertaker in, the one against 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt is on the top of the list for many. The two have crossed paths earlier when Bray Wyatt was The Eater of the Worlds but it was The Undertaker who came out victorious.
Ever since debuting his new gimmick of The Fiend, Bray Wyatt has been one of the major Superstars for WWE. In a recent interview with The New York Post, The Undertaker himself went on to claim Bray Wyatt's character to be the strongest in WWE right now. The Undertaker also mentioned that he and Bray Wyatt could have done something really special with this new gimmick.
"I hope he stays really invested in it and says no when he has to say no and do what’s right for that character because it’s really the strongest character WWE has right now.”
During a recent appearance on WWE The Bump, The Undertaker went on to discuss the possibility of a match against The Fiend, praising the gimmick and the originality of the idea.
"This iteration now, I mean, the possibilities are limitless. Because he has really taken his character to the next level. It's original and it's so different from what everybody else does. It's so thought-provoking and it draws emotions from people."
"I would love to have been able to work a program with The Fiend. I mean my goodness, there's no telling what kinda matches we'd come up with. You know, just due to the strength of his character and obviously The Undertaker character. It would have been something else. It might have been a buried alive swamp match from Alcatraz. The possibilities would be limitless with those two characters."
There has been a lot of speculations that 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt might end up interrupting The Undertaker's Final Farewell at WWE Survivor Series. If that does happen, we might finally see the demonic entity of The Fiend clash against The Demon of the Death Valley.
#5 AJ Styles
The Undertaker's last match for WWE came at WrestleMania 36 earlier this year. At the pay-per-view, he took on AJ Styles in a cinematic-styled Boneyard match which was highly praised by fans and critiques. In the WWE Network docuseries 'Undertaker: The Last Ride', The Undertaker can be seen praising AJ Styles on multiple occasions.
During an Instagram Live video with Nine Line Apparel, The Undertaker was full of praise for The Phenomenal One, claiming that he could put on a four-star match with a broom handle.
“For me, that put me right back in my wheelhouse. AJ could work with a broom handle and put a four-star match on.”
In a recent interview with SPORF ahead of WWE Survivor Series, The Undertaker revealed his desire of wanting an extended feud with AJ Styles, whom he calls the 'Modern-day Shawn Michaels'.
"Um, you know what, I really, although I'm super proud of the Boneyard Match, I wish I would have liked to have had a quote 'traditional kind of match' with AJ Styles in a wrestling ring. I told him on several occasions, 'Man, I wished you have gotten here 10/15 years earlier', because I just love the way he works. I love what he does in the ring. I've kind of called him the Modern-day Shawn Michaels, and as proud as I am of the Boneyard, I would have loved to have had an extended program with AJ Styles."
AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker remains to be one of the best feuds of this year and the Boneyard match would be a yardstick for all the other cinematic matches that WWE presents in the years to come.
#4 Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns has been absolutely unstoppable ever since his return to WWE as a heel at SummerSlam 2020. While Reigns has always been pushed as the face of the company, he has faced a lot of heat from the fans but his recent character work is being praised by everyone, and that includes The Undertaker.
During a recent interview with SPORF, The Undertaker was full of praise for the feud between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso, appreciating the great storytelling done with the entire Tribal Chief and head of the table angle.
"It's just the mental and heartfelt issues like one of the best things that I've seen done on WWE TV recently is the feud between Jey Uso and Roman Reigns. That, to me, has been great storytelling, and people that understand, people that understand the Samoan heritage and legacy, know how important all that stuff is to them. So, to me, it starts and finishes with its story."
The Undertaker has had a memorable history with Roman Reigns with him being only the second guy after Brock Lesnar to have defeated The Phenom at WrestleMania. The WWE Network docuseries 'Undertaker: The Last Ride' revealed several backstage moments between The Undertaker and Roman Reigns giving the fans an idea of the massive mutual respect that the two have for each other.
#3 and #2 Randy Orton and Edge
One of the best rivalries in WWE this year was that between Randy Orton and Edge, who made his return to the company after nine years at Royal Rumble 2020. After their last-man-standing battle at WrestleMania 36, the two took on each other at WWE Backlash in the 'Greatest Wrestling Match Ever'. During an appearance on WWE After The Bell, The Undertaker had huge praise for both the veterans and their match at Backlash.
"It almost brought a tear to my eye. I haven’t seen that kind of wrestling match in so long. I understand the parameters and everything else, that they had a lot of time, but my God, what a story they told. An unbelievable story. I sent Edge a text today saying, ‘The next time I go to the [Performance Center] to work with guys, I’m going to pull that tape up and show these guys and dissect it — not that it won’t be dissected 100 times by then — just the little nuances of what they did. It restored so much faith in where I think the business should be and could be. That tape should be studied by our main roster guys." (h/t Fightful)
The Undertaker also spoke about how wrestlers these days rely too much on athleticism and not enough on storytelling. The Undertaker has had amazing feuds in the past against both Edge and Randy Orton. Getting such praise from The Undertaker would surely mean a lot to both veterans, who did an amazing job with that match.
#1 Drew McIntyre
2020 has proven to be the break-out year for Drew McIntyre's WWE career. While he was always considered 'The Chosen One', his career has been full of ups and downs. After winning the 2020 Royal Rumble match, Drew McIntyre went on to win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36 by defeating Brock Lesnar. He has since been praised by fans and WWE legends, including The Undertaker, for his phenomenal work during the pandemic-hit era.
The Phenom shared the ring with Drew McIntyre at WWE Extreme Rules 2019 where McIntyre teamed up with Shane McMahon to take on Roman Reigns and The Undertaker. That match garnered a lot of praise from the WWE Universe as the previous few matches of The Undertaker were unable to deliver. During an interview with TVInsider, The Undertaker was full of praise for Drew McIntyre.
"I’m really proud of Drew. He earned it. He came in with a lot of fanfare, and it didn’t quite work out for him. He has been one of the guys from day one who has come to me and picked my mind on different things and asked me my opinion on a lot of things. He is actually someone who has listened and tried to apply some of the stuff that I’ve given him."
"So I’m really happy for Drew. Sometimes it takes a while to figure things out. For a lot of guys, you have to taste a little bit of failure and regroup and find out how important all this is to you. He did that. He left and worked and came back. His confidence is so much better now than it was. He always had the tools. A lot of times it takes a little longer to put the whole package together. I think he is really starting to do that now."
Drew McIntyre has surely had a remarkable year and getting praised by a legend like The Undertaker is going to boost his confidence further.
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