The Undertaker and Vince McMahon may have the most fruitful relationship in the history of professional wrestling. And in a rare interview, Undertaker shared a look inside their dynamic as well as how it all got started.
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The Undertaker and McMahon have been working together for 28 years and in an interview with Ed Young, The Deadman dished on what the WWE boss is actually like.
“He’s awesome, you may see him on TV and think ‘man, I do not like that guy’, but he’s awesome,” Undertaker said. “He would never ask anybody to do something he wouldn’t do, and he’s really built an empire on hard work, dedication and energy. When you see that man and see what he puts into it [WWE], you feel like ‘well, I at least have to try and match that.’ He’s an awesome leader, and I call him boss, but I think we’re more friends now than we are employee and company owner,” he said.
McMahon and The Undertaker have worked together for the last 28 years, but WWE wasn’t the first place ‘Taker ever wrestled. Before joining McMahon’s ranks, The Undertaker bounced around wrestling territories before landing in WCW as “Mean Mark Callous. However, WCW let The Undertaker go, but not without motivation for him to prove them very wrong.
“I was working for another company, and they actually told me I was going in to renegotiate the contract,” Undertaker said. “They sat me down and went ‘Listen, you’re a good athlete, but no one’s ever gonna pay money to watch you wrestle.’ They said to me, and I was like ‘Really? Okay, that’s all I need to hear. We’ll see you guys down the road.’ That really stuck with me,” said The Undertaker.
Taker went on to explain the genesis of he and McMahon’s relationship, but even that got off to an awkward start.
“I eventually get a meeting with Vince, and I was like I’m gonna walk in here, I’m gonna blow him away, I’ll get hired right on the spot,” Undertaker said. “I go to Connecticut and I meet with Vince, and at the end of the meeting he goes ‘Well, we really don’t have anything right now. Maybe the first of the year or after WrestleMania we’ll have an opening’ and I was like ‘Oh wow, I had already quit the other place’, so I hadn’t figured the other part in,” he said.
The Undertaker would make his debut at the 1990 Survivor Series, and he rest is history.
[H/T Wrestling Inc.]
