What’s the story?
Smackdown LIVE Commissioner Shane McMahon was on the Steve Austin Show for an exclusive with the Texas Rattlesnake where the junior McMahon discussed multiple things. Shane spoke about The Undertaker’s gimmick, its origins and how this character managed to captivate the audience for years on end.
He also shared his thoughts on whether someone else could have worked with the gimmick as well as Mark Calaway had done.
In case you didn’t know...
Shane McMahon and The Undertaker have had their issues in the past. The most prominent one that comes to mind is when the two were pitted against one another for a Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania 32.
Shane walked into the Devil’s Playground against the Undertaker and lived to tell the tale. The duo put each other through hell, and when the dust settled, The Undertaker stood tall over the fallen ‘prodigal son’.
The heart of the matter
Shane revealed that the idea came to Vince McMahon after a lengthy discussion with the late great Percy Pringle. Shane mentioned that Pringle told Vince that he was a mortician and the latter locked in the idea.
Vince and Pat Patterson were looking for new characters at that time, and the former came up with the idea and created The Undertaker, and placed Pringle alongside him as Paul Bearer.
Shane pointed out that no other superstar could fill in The Undertaker’s shoes. Shane claimed that a lot of The Undertaker’s personality had been tailored for Mark Calaway and that is why he was able to portray the character to perfection.
What’s next?
The have been rumours of The Undertaker being inducted into the Hall of Fame next tear. The Deadman’s career is one of the greatest in the history of the business and the WWE will surely immortalize it with a Hall of Fame induction.
More importantly, next year’s Wrestlemania takes place in New Orleans – the same city where Brock Lesnar broke The Undertaker’s streak.
Author's Take
The Undertaker stood the test of time. One of the most respected workers in the business, he went on to become a character of mythic proportions that will live on in the annals of WWE for years to come.
No one knows for sure what Vince had envisioned for The Undertaker as a character, but it is certain that Mark Calaway has done justice to the gimmick and made it an inseparable part of WWE lore.
