The Undertaker addresses beating up former WWE champion: "He's got to pay the piper"

The Undertaker was all about giving back to the business when he was still an active WWE Superstar. That is exactly what The Phenom did with Maven back in the 2002 Men's Royal Rumble Match when he gave the then-up-and-coming star the ultimate rub by beating him up after he was eliminated in the match.

Maven was a recent guest on the Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway podcast and the two former WWE Superstars discussed the infamous 2002 Men's Royal Rumble Match spot. The Deadman explained that he thought of the idea to not just put over the former Tough Enough winner but to also establish himself as a heel.

"I was American Bada** that time and they were trying to change me heel. They were trying to turn me heel which was like pi**ing up a rope. I was at that point where people weren't going to really buy it.… I said, 'What if I'm cleaning house doing Boom! Boom! Boom!?' And I said, 'The kid comes in and drop kicks me in the back or whatever and he eliminates me.' And everybody's looking at me like, 'Are you serious?' Not even you're crazy because it was a great idea but they're like, 'You're volunteering to get eliminated by somebody that's, it's on the come up.' He's trying to come up and I'm like, 'How awesome will that be?' and then once he eliminates me, now you know as trying to become a heel, he's got that on his resume, and now, I can be that heel because he's just the one person that should never have eliminated me, and now, he's got to pay the piper," The Undertaker said. [11:00 - 12:40]

You can watch the podcast below:

The former WWE Hardcore Champion was thankful to The Phenom for doing that for him back then, acknowledging that it was the highlight of his career. He also thought that he would have not been a household name in wrestling without that spot at the 2002 Men's Royal Rumble Match.

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WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker does not think he can live his gimmick in the modern era

One of the most incredible things that The Undertaker has done in his career was to keep kayfabe alive and protect his character throughout his entire career. He is now been able to open up and tell a lot of stories on his Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway podcast.

When asked if his gimmick would have worked today, The Deadman had his doubts because of all the technology. He said it might work but at the expense of not having a wife or kids.

"I live the gimmick for a long long time and sometimes it was very difficult right. You would almost have to be single. You'd have to be obviously not have kids because everywhere you go now, somebody's got a phone and you're getting recorded everywhere. You would have to make a really concerted effort to do it, but I think it would be like, 'Dude, this guy's, he's not anywhere. He's got no footprint, he's got nothing anywhere,'" The Undertaker said. [32:07 - 32:41 in the video above]

The WWE Hall of Famer also credited Maven for inspiring him to pursue podcasting and having his own YouTube show.