For decades, The Undertaker (real name Mark Calaway) was known for never breaking character whether he was in the ring or out in public. But between his public appearances, his social media accounts, his various recent interviews and the ongoing Undertaker: The Last Ride documentary series, that has all changed in the past few years. Unfortunately Calaway’s decision to open up to the public has not been met favorably by certain wrestling fans, which he addressed in a recent interview with Bill Simmons.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“So people would tell me ‘Dude you need to get yourself out there because this wrestling career is coming to an end, now it’s time to cash in on the brand and the stuff you didn’t do for all these years post WWE‘. One of the first things I did out of character was I posted about the Longhorns winning the Sugar bowl, I’m scrolling through comments and I see ‘My childhood is ruined, The Undertaker is now on social media’. You’ve got to be s—ing me. People were genuinely pissed I broke character after 30 years,” Calaway said (h/t Wrestling Inc. for transcript)
“My fan base has been very loyal especially when you consider how long I’ve been here, like my fan base has stayed with me and obviously they’ve had children now. But they’re very possessive and protective of The Undertaker,” he later added.
The interviews have given Calaway the chance to finally give his side of story regarding certain major moments in WWE history. During a recent ESPN interview, he went into detail about where he was and how he reacted to The Montreal Screwjob from Survivor Series 1997, and even theorized how he could have prevented it.
“You should’ve put me in the match somehow with Bret,” Calaway said. “I’m sure Bret would have dropped it to me. I could have dropped it to Shawn later on. You know, right after that. There was a different way to do it. But, you know, Vince had to make sure and he had to cover his bases, I guess, in his mind. That’s kind of the point, I think, where the whole locker room leader really started to come about. The boys knew how upset I was that one of us got screwed over. But then the office kind of could see the point of, ‘okay. He’s trying to do what’s best for business,’ and it always was that way for me.
“It was like, you know, I’ll defend you if you need to be defended, but it’s all about business at the end of the day. That’s where I fell in that, you know, I was one of the rare people that kind of fell into that groove where I was trusted, you know,” he continued. “Yes, I was one of the boys, but I was trusted by the office, just like I was sitting in on their meetings.”
