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.Every WWE fan is familiar with the Undertaker. Since his debut in 1990, the Phenom has made an indelible mark on the wrestling industry. However, in his first few years with the company, he was not known worldwide in the same way that he is known now.
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Years, before he fought with the Indian giant, Great Khali, the Undertaker, had already found another link with India.
He inexplicably owes a portion of his initial fame in India, to another wrestler altogether, Brian Lee. Unlike the Undertaker, Lee is not as well known.
The story of how this took place in an interesting as well as hilarious one, and it is all about what happened, when the Undertaker came to Bollywood.
To understand this, however, it is required to know more about the backstory behind this peculiar incident.
Lee's first run with WWE (then known as WWF) came in 1991, but he was soon let go after an unsuccessful stint with the company. He would join WWE again, this time in 1994. But unlike last time, this time he appeared as a tried and tested character.
You can see Lee as the impostor Undertaker here:
Undertaker had lost a Casket Match to Yokozuna and had disappeared from WWE television. But, the Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase, claimed that he had found the Dead Man and had convinced him to return to WWE after offering him a vast amount of wealth.
Instead of the Undertaker, it was Lee that came out, dressed as an Impostor Undertaker. Many fans did not realise this, and for weeks on end thought they were seeing the actual Dead Man.
With only weeks to go before SummerSlam 2018, the SummerSlam 1994 featured the Undertaker in a memorable match. The original Undertaker's actual manager, Paul Bearer, called Lee out for being an impostor and said that he would bring forward the real Phenom at SummerSlam to face the fake one.
The Undertaker indeed returned at SummerSlam and defeated Lee. After SummerSlam, Lee was released by the company.
You can see the two Undertakers face each other at SummerSlam here:
Where did he then go? Well, he continued wrestling in America, but he also received an excellent opportunity to appear on the Silver Screen. Although the opportunity was not from Hollywood, it was Bollywood beckoning him to Mumbai, India.
Once there, Lee featured in an Indian Bollywood movie, featuring Akshay Kumar, named 'Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi'. He did not feature in it as himself. For Lee, his days of imitating the Undertaker were far from over.
He appeared in the movie dressed as the Undertaker and fought with the hero, Akshay Kumar in a famous scene. While those fans familiar with WWE immediately realised what was going on, others could not believe their eyes. And so, unwittingly, through no action of his own, the Undertaker became immensely popular in India.
You can see a video of the scene here:
Other than fighting Akshay Kumar, in the film, he was a fearsome henchman who had defeated over 39 opponents in the ring. Not only had he defeated them, but truly living up to the name, 'The Undertaker', he had also managed to kill all of them. He faced off with Akshay Kumar twice, but it is in the second encounter, that Akshay managed to defeat and kill Undertaker. Thankfully for the WWE fans, he was known to rise from the dead, and the real Undertaker continued wrestling in the company without knowing what a sensation he had unknowingly caused, without even doing anything.
The fans who watched the movie in 1996, then tuned into WWE to see the fearsome villain fight in the wrestling promotion. The incident is one that has been largely forgotten but was one of the major factors for the unnatural popularity of the Undertaker in India.
So, while the Undertaker remains a true legend in the WWE ring, Indian fans have the satisfaction of knowing that their action hero, Akshay Kumar has been able to defeat the Phenom (at least in Bollywood).
Do you know of any other funny stories concerning WWE wrestlers? Leave your stories in the comments below.
