The Undertaker News Roundup: Reaction to massive Goldberg botch, backstage heat on Brock Lesnar, true feelings on current WWE stars
Welcome to our weekly WWE Superstar Roundup, with this week's focus being The Undertaker. Here's a look at some of the biggest news stories regarding The Deadman in the past week.
The 2022 WWE Hall of Fame headliner gave a couple of interviews this week, in which he opened up on several topics. These include his feelings on Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, the latter of whom nearly ended his career during their match in Saudi Arabia.
The Undertaker spoke about Scott Hall, who sadly passed away recently. He also detailed his close relationship with another WWE Hall of Famer and revisited his previous comments on modern wrestlers.
There's a lot to get into, so without further ado, here are five big things we learned about The Undertaker this week.
#5. The Undertaker on Brock Lesnar's backstage heat in 2004
January 19th 2003,Royal Rumble.Brock Lesnar eliminated The Undertaker to win the 2003 Royal Rumble #RoyalRumble #WWE http://t.co/vCJCO5CdLH
Brock Lesnar rose to unbelievable heights during his first run in WWE from 2002 to 2004. The Undertaker was one of his biggest rivals and put him over multiple times. The Deadman confirmed that many people were unhappy when Lesnar decided to quit WWE to pursue a career in the NFL.
Here's what The Phenom said on the True Geordie Podcast:
“In a business sense, that’s tough to put those resources behind somebody and then [see] them leave. It’s all come back around and it’s worked out great for Brock and it’s worked out great for Vince [McMahon]... There was obviously a lot of heat on Brock leaving after all those guys doing the favor [superstars agreeing to lose to him].”
While Brock Lesnar had a lot of heat on him at the time, 'Taker himself did not have a problem with him leaving the way he did. The Beast Incarnate eventually returned to WWE in 2012 and ended The Deadman's WrestleMania streak two years later.
#4. The Phenom's close relationship with Yokozuna
Yokozuna was one of The Undertaker's closest friends in wrestling. The two were part of The Deadman's backstage posse, the Bone Street Krew. 'Taker reflected on his relationship with the WWE Hall of Famer, stating that 'Yoko' was very dear to him.
Here's what he said on the Out of Character podcast with Ryan Satin:
"Yeah, Yoko and I were very close and there's not a day I don't think about him," said The Undertaker. "You know, that's not always the case, there's a lot of guys that you don't like, that you don't play cards with. Yokozuna and I were really close and we spent a lot of time downtime playing dominoes and playing cards."
The two WWE legends had a lengthy feud back in 1994, with 'Taker eventually coming out on top in a Casket Match at Survivor Series that year.
#3. Criticism of younger WWE stars and their "lack of grit"
“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 and that new group has come up.”
- The Undertaker on WWE
(via True Geordie Podcast) https://t.co/HL0eRba5OK
Last year, The Undertaker caused controversy when he labeled modern-day WWE Superstars as "soft" compared to wrestlers from past generations. He spoke on a similar topic on the True Geordie Podcast, claiming there is a level of grit missing from the product.
The Phenom praised Brock Lesnar's "grit" and mentioned that Roman Reigns and Randy Orton also possess that quality. Here is what he said:
“I feel like there is a level of grit that is missing from today’s product, and I don’t know that it’s anybody’s fault," said The Undertaker. "We all aged out, so that new group has come up… Brock manhandles your a**. You get in there and you get thrown around and you get smashed. Roman has a little bit of that [grit] to him and, when he wants to, Randy has that to him.”
All three men have had WrestleMania matches against The Deadman, with Lesnar and Reigns being the only two to defeat him at the event.
#2. How Scott Hall helped him
The recent passing of Scott Hall was tragic for so many in the wrestling world, especially those who shared a locker room with him. Like many, The Undertaker was affected by the loss. Speaking on the Out of Character podcast, he opened up on how the WWE Hall of Famer helped him when they met in Japan.
Here is what he said:
“I went to Japan with Scott in 1988 or 89, is where I met Scott,'' said The Undertaker. ''He kind of took me along and showed me the ropes, and it’s sad. Another one of our guys we’ve lost way too early. He was just a tremendous in-ring performer, he was really a top-flight guy. I hate it for him, I hate it for his family. It’s just another sad day in our industry.” (H/T: Wrestling Inc.)
The Undertaker himself will enter the WWE Hall of Fame next weekend as the headline act of the Class of 2022.
#1. The Undertaker on Goldberg nearly ending his career
The Undertaker's match against Goldberg at Super ShowDown 2019 will go down in infamy, with both men nearly suffering career-ending injuries. The Deadman recently spoke about the match and the botched Jackhammer that could have caused him serious injury.
'Taker admitted on the True Geordie Podcast that he and Goldberg should have changed plans during the bout after the former Universal Champion suffered a concussion early on. However, The Phenom does not hold a grudge against the WCW icon.
Here is what he said:
“It’s one of those things that happened. He’s done that move a million times. I don’t know if he was concussed at that point yet. Part of that is because I’m not working a full schedule at that point. I’m not kicking on all my cylinders where I can recognize that, ‘Okay, maybe we shouldn’t do this.’”
The two legends returned to WWE multiple times after that match, with The Undertaker retiring in 2020 and Goldberg potentially hanging up his boots following his match against Roman Reigns last month.
Look back at some of the top rumors from a few months ago and see how they played out in our weekly WWE Rumor Review HERE.