The Undertaker Explains What's Right and Wrong About WWE's Current Stars
The Undertaker has made headlines in the past about how his feelings regarding the current WWE product and the wrestlers that make up the current roster. The subject was once again brought up when "The Deadman" appeared on the True Geordie podcast this week. He talked about the differences the current locker room has from when he was coming up in the business, noting that many of the "bad habits" from the 80s and 90s are now gone, but then pointed out that there's a certain "grit" missing from the product.
"Things have changed. I can't just say that it's changed in wrestling. In all sports, it's a different generation," he said (h/t Fightful). "Call it evolution if you want. One, I don't think the guys are leading the same lifestyles that guys in the past did. One, they can't, because everything they do, there is somebody, somewhere [pulling out a cell phone]. I feel bad for them because they can't go and blow off steam somewhere after they work because they are constantly under some type of surveillance, where I didn't have to worry about that because there wasn't cell phones and all that. When I came up, the locker room was a lot different. It was pretty crusty. You drove everywhere, you didn't fly very often. There were a few guys that have knives in their bags, guns in their bags, it was a different group of men, not saying one is better and one is worse, but they had a different way of settling things. If there was a disagreement, they go in the shower and that's where everything got handled. You discussed it and come to an agreement or you threw down.
"Just like what happened to (Bruiser) Brody in Puerto Rico," he added. "He got stabbed and he died over a disagreement. That was common fair, not to that degree, but there was a lot of that that happened back in the day, late 80s and before. Those guys didn't put up with any kind of crap and weren't afraid to call somebody out. Today's athlete is just that, they are athletes. They've been trained to do this. I'm sure there are some, but I don't think they have the same bad habits that a lot of us had."
He continued — "I feel like there is a level of grit that is missing from today's product. I don't know that it's anybody's fault. We all aged out. That new group has come up. When you watch Brock wrestle, you're interested because you know; he has this background as an amateur wrestler, professional wrestler, mixed martial artist. Brock doesn't do a bunch of crazy moves. He manhandles your ass. You get in there, get thrown around, and get smashed. Roman (Reigns) has a little bit of that to him. When he wants to, Randy (Orton) has a bit of that to him. A lot of the younger talent...it's the evolution that comic book era, the superhero era, that's their motivation and inspiration. They didn't have to come up and bust heads in bars and figure out how they're going to eat. Good or bad, it's what it is."
Undertaker will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022 on April 1 following that week's Friday Night SmackDown. Other inductees this year will include Vader and Queen Sharmell.