5 greatest backstage stories about The Undertaker
The Undertaker has a legacy in WWE that will never be surpassed. The career Taker has had over the last four decades has been unprecedented. The Deadman became the one soldier that Vince McMahon could count on through thick and thin, throughout the good times and bad alike in WWE.
All the feuds. The rivalries. The championship gold. WrestleMania undefeated streak. Putting all those accolades aside, The Undertaker also has some very intriguing stories from behind the scenes that few wrestling fans know about.
Today, we talk about some of those stories. Let’s look at five of the greatest backstage stories about The Undertaker.
#5. Never trust a snake
#ThursdayThoughts
So were Jake Roberts and The Undertaker the original wedding crashers?! https://t.co/VgjwlTB19j
One of the lesser-known facts about The Undertaker is how much he liked to drink. Many years ago, Taker hung out with Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who at one time was one of the heaviest drinkers and drug users in the company.
During an interview Roberts had on Busted Open Radio, Roberts recalled a story when The Undertaker got alcohol poisoning while they were partying.
Roberts said:
“He comes to me, he says, 'Hey I hear you know where all the good strip joints are at.' And I’m like, 'In the world, yes. I know them all.' And he’s like, 'Well, I’ll travel with you!' (...) And a few weeks later, I believe he was in pretty bad shape—something about alcohol poisoning. Yeah, it was a chemical world, and I was cheating, man. He didn’t know it. I wasn’t gonna tell him! He rolled with me for quite a while.” (H/T: ProWrestling.net)
Based on that story, we can imagine that Taker thought twice about partying with Roberts in the future.
#4. He made Brian Gewirtz write him an essay
One of the ways WWE Superstars would solve problems backstage was having something called “Wrestler’s Court”, where “the boys” became your judge, jury, and executioner if you did something disrespectful or stupid.
On an episode of Talk is Jericho, former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz recalled a story about The Undertaker being the judge in wrestler’s court and the punishment Taker bestowed on him.
Gewirtz told Chris Jericho:
“Obviously Taker’s the man, obviously, so he had me write an essay on why I respect the business, which I legitimately wrote and handed in. He read it, and it was a surreal experience.”
Despite the unorthodox request, no one was going to say “no” to The Undertaker out of respect and admiration for the WWE Hall of Famer.
#3. The Undertaker threatened to beat up Shawn Michaels
The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels set the bar for WrestleMania performances. ⚰️💔 https://t.co/cPWm2FUPzT
One of the most infamous backstage stories involving The Undertaker came in 1998 during WrestleMania XIV. As the story goes, The Undertaker threatened to beat up Shawn Michaels (legitimately) if he didn’t do the job and drop the WWE Championship to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Taker had told everyone backstage that he was fighting Michaels if the match didn’t go as planned. The Heartbreak Kid got the heads up and chose to do business with Austin and avoid a confrontation with Taker.
During an interview with Sports Illustrated, Michaels spoke about the story by stating:
“Back then, Mark [Undertaker] didn’t like me. But at no time has he ever claimed that he said anything to the face of Shawn Michaels, and that’s because he didn’t. Mark went to everybody and told them, ‘If this doesn’t go down the way it should, I’m going to have a big problem and Shawn is going to have a big problem. I’ll go over there and beat the heck out of him.”
Out of respect for The Deadman, Michaels didn’t think twice about wanting to fight The Undertaker.
#2. Drinking with “Naitch”
Several years ago, while promoting his “30 for 30” special for ESPN, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair told a couple of stories involving The Undertaker during an interview with Metro. The first story involved him and Taker going on a drinking binge together.
Flair said:
“1991, flew from New York to Tokyo to wrestle one match. We roared all night long, then got on a plane. Slept three hours and flew to England for another match. Drank all night, then flew back to Chicago. I was sitting in first class, and when I woke up, I was laying in coach with my arms across me like Rest in Peace an hour and a half after the plane landed. I missed my connection, and the cleanup crew woke me up.”
The Deadman had Flair’s number on that story.
Flair told the second story in the same interview about the time he attempted to keep up with Taker as they were both drinking Jack Daniels. Flair failed and blacked out.
“He and I and Harvey Grant and Curt Hennig started out again. That damn Jack Daniels. Next thing, I woke up in the morning with some alien (a woman) next to me. There were two aliens (two women) actually and I couldn’t find my Rolex. I woke her up and said ‘where’s my Rolex.’ She said, ‘You threw it in a plate of spaghetti at Sabatinos and said you had 11 of ‘em, no big deal.”
When it comes to drinking, not many people can keep up with The Phenom.
#1. Taker’s Hatred Of Cucumbers
This is a wild story that is hard to believe but is apparently true. One of Taker’s biggest weaknesses is his hatred for cucumbers. The Deadman hates them with a passion.
The late Paul Bearer told Jim Cornette a story during a joint shoot interview about the time Taker got sick when someone put a cucumber in his iced tea.
Bearer said:
“I saw the Undertaker throw up all over a waffle house because someone put a cucumber in his iced tea.”
Taker’s dislike for cucumbers allegedly stems from his childhood. This is a bizarre story, but one that is absolutely worth sharing.