Shawn Michaels reveals what the WWE locker room questioned about The Undertaker
The Undertaker will go down in history as one of the greatest gimmicks in WWE history. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon created The Undertaker gimmick, which is a character that was never seen before in pro wrestling.
The Undertaker has had a tremendous career and he has seen all the ups and downs that WWE went through, which makes his longevity in the business even more commendable.
But, his colleagues in the WWE locker room questioned how long The Undertaker could continue his gimmick back in the day. WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels, who has had fantastic matches with The Phenom, opened up about how he and the others in the WWE locker room felt that the gimmick had "limited character".
Shawn Michaels on what the WWE locker room felt about The Undertaker gimmick
Ahead of Survivor Series, Shawn Michaels - one of The Undertaker's greatest rivals, spoke about The Phenom and what the WWE locker room thought about the gimmick when it first debuted. The Heartbreak Kid, in his interview with CBS Sports, revealed that the locker room felt that The Undertaker gimmick would be "short-lived".
"As I’ve told over the years, the biggest takeaway I can recall is everyone thinking it was very cool and a great idea, but we all questioned what kind of longevity a character like that can have. He’s dead. He doesn’t sell. It sounded from the locker room standpoint like maybe a limited character. It seemed like he would be very cool, but it would be short-lived. Which, of course, 30 years later, that’s pretty dang amusing if you ask me. But it speaks to Mark’s ability. And then seeing it, it was a hard character not to think, ‘What a cool idea.’"
The Undertaker surpassed the expectations of his peers and went on to have a marvelous career in WWE, which included incredible matches with Shawn Michaels. The Phenom revealed in a recent interview that Michaels is one of his three favorite opponents in WWE.
The Undertaker will feature at this weekend's Survivor Series pay-per-view, as WWE gives him a farewell from the company.