Current AEW star reveals The Undertaker once advised him to leave wrestling
The Undertaker once advised a current AEW star to leave the business when he first got into wrestling. However, this star stuck it out and became a legend.
Paul Wight made a name for himself in WWE. He turned heads everytime he wrestled because of his massive size and frame. Additionally, Wight was also incredibly athletic in the ring for his size which helped him attract a massive fan following.
Wight must not have had it easy when he first started because he won the World Title by defeating Hulk Hogan at WCW Halloween Havoc 1995. This big win put a lot of pressure on him as fans' expectations of the giant sky rocketed. Following his run in WCW, he joined WWE where got to share a locker room with the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Undertaker. This taught him not to look for a pat on the back.
During an interview with Downunder The Ring, Paul Wight mentioned that he doesn't give any atta-boys to the younger talent when they approach him for advice since he never received any from Taker:
“Sometimes you tell talent things and they’re not looking for information, some talent. They’re looking for atta-boy and a pat on the back,” Paul Wight said. “I don’t do atta-boys, I don’t pat you on the back. Most everybody that knows me, when they come to me about business, I’m just as brutal and hard to them as Undertaker was to me when I started. ‘Cause I didn’t get pats on the back from Undertaker."
He continued to say that when he went to Taker for an atta-boy once, and he was told to quit the business:
“Taker used to tell me all the time, ‘Take three weeks off and quit the business.’ ‘Cause I went out for an atta-boy once. I was like, ‘Hey, man, I just see anything I can improve on?’ That there typical young guy bullshit. He goes, ‘Yeah, I know something you can do. You can take three weeks off and quit the business.’ [H/T Wrestlezone]
Dutch Mantell clarifies backstage rumors about The Undertaker's first wife
During the mid-1990s The Undertaker had a brief feud against his imposter who was portrayed by Brian Lee. During this time, there was a rumor that Lee had an affair with Taker's first wife, Jodi, which led to his release from the WWE.
During a recent episode of Story Time with Dutch Mantell, the former WWE manager denied hearing any such rumor and claimed that Brian Lee respected The Undertaker too much to do such a thing:
"I knew Mark's ['Taker] first wife. Her name was Jodi. I don't think I ever heard, but also I would never say one way or the other, but truthfully, I've never heard that Brian Lee had any kind of doings with Jodi because I think he respected Mark and he also respected making Mark mad. Because Mark Calaway is a romping stomping, I mean, he can go. He can really go plus he's big and I don't think that charged him, got him fired later in 1998. When he was there, what got him fired was he failed the drug test," Mantell said. [0:30 - 1:28]
It's good to see that both Paul Wight and The Undertaker have come a long way in their respective careers and are legends in their own right.