Batista
WWE.com – 2007
“For me, wrestling ‘Taker was a dream come true. I didn’t think it was going to happen. We were both fan favorites. I don’t mean to sound boastful, but at WrestleMania 23, I still believe we stole the show. I think I really wanted to earn The Deadman’s respect, the fans’ respect and the company’s respect as well.”
SLAM! Wrestling – 2008
Batista addressed the difference in morale in the respective locker rooms:
“The biggest difference I’ve heard, and I’ve just heard this from some of the guys. For some reason, some of the boys are really weird around Hunter (Triple H) for some reason,” he said. “I think a lot of them think of him as ‘office’ and he’s so not. If they spend 10 minutes to get to know him, they’d realize how down to earth he is, and he’s not always judging. I think they’re always worried that he’s passing judgment on people. But with our locker room, of course the locker room general being ‘Taker and ‘Taker to me is just this bad ass biker, as cool as can be. I think he makes everybody a bit more laid back. For some reason I think some of the (RAW) guys are really uptight around Hunter and I can’t figure out why. He’s such a good guy.”
Batista Unleashed (Autobiography)
On his WrestleMania 23 match with Undertaker:
“A lot of times big guy-big guy things sound good on paper–you think it’s going to be the clash of the titans, but I don’t know, they just don’t come off. They just don’t gel. But even though ‘Taker is taller and heavier than I am, he works like a 150 pounder, and I think that was one of the keys to this match. He was just amazing. In fact, I learned a lot from him just by working with him. I kind of felt like a sponge, absorbing his lessons.”
On the ending of the match when Undertaker won the belt:
“I don’t know where Taker is in his career. From what I’ve heard, he may be winding it down, and if so this was his last big title run. To me, that’s got main event written all over it. I thought we should’ve ended that show with Undertaker holding the championship belt in the air.”
Big Daddy V
Pojoslam.blogspot.com – 07, December 2008
PS: Who are some of the guys that you really enjoyed working with throughout your career? Anybody that stands out as maybe an influence or even just someone you enjoyed wrestling with?
BDV: The person I have the most history with would have to be the Undertaker. I was the first one to ever pin him on a pay-per-view back in 1995 at King of the Ring. I’m very proud of that. We have a very deep history. Kane, we have a deep history as well. My toughest opponent would have to be Yokozuna.
PS: One thing I always found interesting about the Undertaker is that he seems to work really, really well with big guys, regardless of the skill level. Do you agree with that as somebody who’s been in the ring with him many times?
BDV: It’s true. He’s a giant, but he works almost like a small guy. He’s good. He’s one of the best there’s ever been. I’ve got a lot of respect for ‘Taker.
Brock Lesnar
KFAN Radio – 2008
Lesnar was asked about the Undertaker:
“Big Mark Calaway, he’s a good guy. I had an opportunity to work with him a bunch and he helped me out quite a bit… Mark, the Undertaker, is a huge fan of mixed martial arts and I appreciated him being at the fight, too. That was cool.”
Carlos Cabrera
No Mercy 2005
“Despite his high category here in the WWE, The Undertaker is a very modest person”
Chris Benoit
WrestleCast Interview
“You get guys like the Undertaker. A couple tours ago, we were overseas, and he was wrestling with broken ribs. Coughing up blood and still going out there and still going out there and doing twenty minutes. I mean, just amazing. The guy loves the business. He doesn’t have to be doing that.”
WrestleCast Interview
On whether ‘Taker would be like Hulk Hogan and come back just for the payout:
“If he did, it wouldn’t be for a big payout it’d be because he loves it. It’d be for the passion.”
Chris Jericho
This Is My Yard DVD
“He’s got that rare attribute for a sports entertainer which is the legendary status. And a lot of guys when they achieve that legendary status, they can float along and rest on their laurels, but Taker doesn’t do that. When he hits the rope, he jumps straight over the top rope, big swan dive over the top rope onto the guys. I mean, he didn’t have to do that, but he did – why? Because he works his ass off every night. And when he grabs that hand, gets ready to climb the top rope and yells out “old school” – that’s what he is – Old School. And that’s not bad, because he has the respect for the business, he understands the business, and he’s passed the torch time to time again but he’s still got many more torches to pass on, and he has no problem doing that if the time is right and if the guys are right.”
Dawn Marie
RF Shoot Interview – 2008
“Love Taker. Taker helped me so much. Taker’s a hard one to get close to, but once you are, you’re there forever. And Taker only lets you in if he believes, if he sees that you respect the business, you want nothing but the best for the business and you respect him. There have been many times when I’ve gone to him for advice on things, professional advice and through that we’ve developed a relationship and he saw how hard I tried and how I was respectful. And Taker and I have even gotten to the point where we would drink together and we used to have a lot of fun. I mean not all the time, but when we go over seas and stuff there were many a nights when we’d all go out and knock some back and have a great time and he definitely made it a great time.”
Edge
This Is My Yard DVD
“He says this is his yard and he’s the big dog. Well, it really is. I mean, back here you know that he’s the man, and there’s a reason for it”
Source Unknown – 09, December 2008
On his feud with the Undertaker:
“I think my rivalry with Cena up until this one might have been my most heated rivalry, but the one with Taker I think has surpassed that,” Edge said. “You’re in there with a guy who has literally done it all and to main event Wrestlemania against Undertaker with the championship on the line. It’s something you’d think would never happen, but it did.”
Hardcore Holly
This Is My Yard DVD
“‘Taker’s got a lot of stroke.”
Hugo Savinovich
Source Unknown
On something that caught his attention:
Savinovich: Once I saw a wrestling match in Puerto Rico where the Undertaker was scheduled to fight, and a doctor who is a good friend of mine saw an infection in his (Taker’s) elbow, and he said to him: “I don’t know if that elbow has been checked before, but if I don’t make an incision in it right away you’re going to lose your arm”. So, ten minutes before the Undertaker’s match the doctor opened his elbow and there was a pus explosion. The doctor put a bandage in his elbow and then he (Taker) went to the ring to get in some kind of brutal match while his wound was still bleeding. That’s the sacrifice that these boys make. Many people say “Wow! Most of them earn millions of dollars!” but they don’t know that there is a huge sacrifice behind this business.”
No Mercy 2005
“He knows what is like to have millions of fans, millions of dollars, what is like to be famous; but what really makes him a legend is his kind heart”
Hulk Hogan
“Hollywood Hulk Hogan” Autobiography
Hogan on the Tombstone on the chair at Survivor Series 1991
“Undertaker hit me with a piledriver on the top of the chair and took away my title. He also screwed up my neck something fierce.”–said Hogan about that incident, but then he said this: “Wasn’t his fault; he took care of me and made sure my head didn’t hit the mat. But the jolt of my neck being stretched like that sent me right to the hospital. I was in there for a couple of days. Everybody wanted to fuse the disks of my neck together, but I decided against”
Hogan on apparantly scouting the Undertaker:
“First chance I got (a little after he met young Taker and they were working together in the SC movie), I called Vince McMahon. I said, “Hey, brother, there’s a guy here making this movie with me … he’s a wrestler … he’s a nice guy, and he’s like six foot ten. I think I can draw some money with him.” Vince said, “Well, let me see him”.
John Cena
WrestleCast Interview
“Flying around the world twice and have a match on the jetway, still tear the house down. It’s the ability to have an awesome performance when it’s least expected and that’s what those guys [Flair, HBK, Angle, ect.], time and time again, have had to go through. Undertaker being a perfect example. He’s had so many money matches with so many guys you never thought would thought would be in that position.”
Attack Of The Show – 20, February 2009
When asked who the toughest guy in the WWE is:
“The Undertaker, he’s been doing what he’s been doing for quite some time. And seems to get better every year. I don’t know how that happens. He’s certainly one of the toughest guys I’ve ever come across.”
Jim Ross
This Is My Yard DVD
“The yard is obviously a symbolic of the ring. When you come to the ring, I’m the biggest dog of the yard, and so beware. In a reality-based way, the yard is the hallowed grounds that the WWF superstars perform in. And when you walk in that yard which is dominated by the guy who’s been here the longest uninterrupted, you’re gonna do it with pride, you’re gonna do it with character, or you’re gonna answer to those that are waiting for you at the back – like the Undertaker. It is his yard, and nobody lays down in the yard. The more we can keep him in our locker room, the more he’s gonna accomplish with building the future of this company. The more we can expose him to our television audience, the more our fans are going to grow to respect him and to grow even close to the character.”
WWE.com – 04, April 2009
“I first saw Taker competing in Dallas, helped facilitate his arrival in WCW and then saw him leave Atlanta for the big time of WWE to become “the Phenom” and perhaps the most feared and respected man in WWE history. I used to think that no one would ever approach “Andre status” until the Undertaker kept evolving and standing the test of time and 16 men who all tried to end WWE’s most impressive streak ever. Andre stands alone no longer as “The Boss” now stands shoulder to shoulder with the Demon of Death Valley on a pedestal that, as of today, has room for only these two bigger than life individuals.”
Kane
This Is My Yard DVD
“He brings out the best in Kane. He brings out the best in everybody.”
Kurt Angle
This Is My Yard DVD
“I think the legacy that the Undertaker will leave will be untouchable”
Tombstone: History of the Undertaker DVD
“My match with Undertaker on Smackdown was one of the greatest matches I’ve ever had. Ummm. you know, people will say the fans consider Undertaker the greatest wrestler in WWE history. He is the most popular wrestler in WWE history. But the one thing that he has, that no other wrestler has, is the respect and admiration of his peers. In other words, they – we, as WWE wrestlers, think he’s the greatest ever. Umm. that’s a bigger compliment than being the ‘greatest ever’ from fans. You have your Hulk Hogans, you have your Stone Cold Steve Austins, you have your Rocks, you have your Eddie Guerreros, Chris Benoits, umm. you know. Kurt Angles, obviously I’m not gonna name myself in the top list. But Undertaker I can consider. and him and Shawn Michaels, I have to go with Shawn – he’s a great one, HHH. But Undertaker is the greatest wrestler I have ever seen. For his size, his speed, his skill, his psychology, everything about him, his look – he has the total package which makes the WWE special because you can take a man like him and make him your top player. And obviously he’s done it for so long and this company has done so well for so long – why? Because the Undertaker’s been on top. He is without a doubt the greatest ever. The reason the match is important to me is because I had to prove to Undertaker that although I’ve only been wrestling for 5 years, that I am a top guy, that I am a tremendous wrestler, that I am as good as people think I am in this company. I wanted to prove to Undertaker because here he’s like the dad and we’re all children. I wanted to prove to my dad, which is why I do things for my real father – I wanna prove to him, God rest his soul – that I can be a champion, that I can be the best at something. And I wanted to prove that night to Undertaker that “hey, I’m the kind of guy you wanna wrestle with every night because you’ll get this kind of match”. So, I felt like a child to his parent saying, you know, “look what I can do, dad, and I hope that you can see this and say, Man, you’re incredible and I love wrestling you’”, because what we got out of it was the most competitive match. And you know, when the fans. although they didn’t get the ending, because Brock came in – Brock got the biggest boos ever. When we stood up, we got a standing ovation without a finish, without an ending. And when you have that kind of match and both people get standing ovation, you did something right – and that doesn’t happen very often. Since I’ve been here, I think the only other times I’ve seen standing ovations for a loser or someone that didn’t win was when I wrestled Shawn Michaels, and I left and he lost at Wrestlemania, and when I beat Chris Benoit, and I left and he lost. They got louder cheers for losing than I did for winning. And that night, we tore the house down. And I wish, I pray to God that someday I can wrestle him again, and that it can be at a Wrestlemania or a Summerslam. because you know, we have a lot of tremendous pay-per-views but those are the big ones. You know, Wrestlemania, Summerslam. you know, I pray to God that I can do one with Undertaker so that I can sit back and say, “I did it, I had the best match ever”. And I honestly believe I already have, with Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit – with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania. But I really believe deep in my heart I can out-do with the Undertaker, and that’s the kind of athlete, that’s the kind of wrestler he is, and that’s the kind of person he is. He is our leader, and I consider Undertaker the best ever.”
Lance Storm
StormWrestling.com – 08, May 2006
Q: Every WWE worker mentions how the locker room leader/most respected worker is the Undertaker, why is that?
A: I think it is a testament to him as a person. He has been such a top guy that he deserves respect, but also he is a down to earth decent guy so he also earns that respect.
Q: Should Undertaker give up his WrestleMania streak to put a young guy over in your mind? –last year to Orton seemed like it could make him IMO—
A: I think at some point he should, yes. It would mean so much.
Q: What is the Undertaker like backstage?
A: Undertaker is the consummate pro, be it backstage, in the ring, or away from the building.
Lita
This Is My Yard DVD
“When you’re talking to him, he makes you feel like your time right then is his – he’s listening to you, and for that time however long it is, he is going to be genuine and listen to what you have to say and be real.”
Matt Hardy
This Is My Yard DVD
“If I get to sum ‘Taker up in one word, it would be respect.”
Mideon (Dennis Knight)
Alanwojcik.com
AW: How much of an influence on your career did the Undertaker play when you dropped Phineas Godwin and became Mideon?
DK: He is my best friend. I still go to his house all the time, hell I was dating his sister-in-law at one point. It’s really weird with him. He influences anyone around him no matter where he is be it a gym, a locker room or a wrestling ring. Road Dogg gave him the nickname calling him “Cool Hand Luke” because what you see is what he is. He is the man’s man. There are lots of guys that could have that title like Harley Race and Ron Simmons. My partner Mark Canterbury had met him and became friends before I arrived in the WWF. They had this group called BSK which was the two of them, Yokozuna, Rikishi, Godfather, Savio Vega and they protected each other due to the power the Kliq had in the locker room. They were all of the same type of person. When I arrived in WWF Mark asked them to adopt me into the group. For years Mark and I were Undertaker’s travel buddie! s. When Mark hurt his neck and left wrestling for a while I began to hang with Undertaker. He used to live down here in Tampa we hung out and spent time becoming friends. He was very influential with regards to the Mideon character. We created the Ministry stuff from the sacrifice gimmick onward. He influences my career to this day but he allows me to earn things on my own without me being tagged with the label of “Undertaker’s Boy.” I could call him to get me a job but I respect his friendship over a WWE job any day. I would rather earn it myself then abuse his friendship.
Michael Cole
WWE.com – 20, March 2009
When asked who is favourite superstar is?
It so hard to narrow down SmackDown’s greatest Superstars. Undertaker has been there since the beginning. When you think of SmackDown today, you think of him. He has really made it his show.
Mike Calaway
Grand Forks Herald – 22, June 2001
“He’s not some big superstar to me. The brothers don’t treat him any differently than the rest of us. To me, he’s just my little brother, Mark.”
Mr. Kennedy
Source Unknown
“When you work with guys like the Undertaker, it is almost impossible to have a bad match with him because he is just so good. Me and the Undertaker were working in a match in Philippines. Before the match, I went to him, just out of respect I asked him ‘what you want to do tonight’. He said ‘work on my leg, at some time I will drop you on your head’. That’s the talent I’m working with.”
Paul Hemyan
This Is My Yard DVD
“20 years from now, the wildest thing about him is that as much the fans are gonna remember him, the locker room is gonna remember him even more.”
Randy Orton
The Sun – 29 August 2008
SUN: Was there any veterans out the back – Triple, Undertaker or someone – who took you aside and said ‘look, you just can’t act like this’?
RANDY: Oh yeah. Undertaker and Triple H like you mentioned, especially, Ric Flair as well and even Shawn Michaels. They pretty much told me the same thing: “Randy, you got so much potential, you’re one of the best in this business.” They all love working with me, they knew I was good, and I’ll tell you right now I’m good. I can have a good match with anybody. I can go 45 minutes with anybody. Main event Pay Per Views for the last year and a half, and that’s just the thing – I had all this potential and they were telling me: “The only one who’s going to stop you is you.” That always clicked. That always made sense to me when they’d say that, but then I’d go and out and get into some trouble again and finally it stuck. Finally it was able to stick to me and in my head I realised ‘I can’t be like this anymore.’
SUN: Were you disappointed not to go on last?
RANDY: Yeah, yeah. But Taker-Edge went on last and anything Taker is involved in should be last because as I said before Undertaker is the best. Every Pay Per View I’ve done I’ve main evented in one way or another but if I haven’t gone on last it’s been because it was Undertaker and, gosh, how can you argue with that?
Deep down inside you think ‘I wanna close out the show’ but at the same time, it’s the Undertaker. I hate to be kissing his ass so much but really, if you even knew the guy, he’s such an upstanding guy and he’s a man of his word, he has nothing to gain by misleading anybody and he has the best advice in the locker room. He is a true locker room leader and they’re going to bring him on last because he’s most over guy in the company.
SUN: And I guess Undertaker winning in the last match is better for the fans instead of Randy Orton winning.
RANDY: Exactly, it’s a babyface going over, it leaves the crowd up. Randy Orton wins, it’s kinda a different feeling going off the air so that also adds to a little bit of it. But it’s the Undertaker nonetheless.
SUN: I’d love to meet him, unfortunately Undertaker’s one of the only guys in WWE who won’t do interviews like this obviously because of his character, but I think I prefer his matches now than I did ten years ago. I think, in the ring, just to watch him, he’s just incredible.
RANDY: He’s smooth, he’s smooth from the way he punches to his facials which I think is one of the biggest things in wrestling that people don’t do is facial expressions, that really captivates the fans and lets them know how you’re thinking. Without those, you don’t got nothing.
Tugboat
RF Shoot Interview – 2008
Were you originally supposed to wrestle Undertaker at Wrestlemania VII?
“I don’t know. I couldn’t answer that. I had Taker’s first match though, even to this day, Paul Bearer, I remember we did this autograph thing like two, three years something like that, he goes [in Paul Bearer voice] ‘You remember?…He had his first match with you.’…Paul Bearer, he’s an awesome guy, man.”
What do you remember working with Taker?
“Taker’s awesome, man. He’s a great worker. Very nimble. He always took good care of me. Matter of fact, at WrestleMania, my kids went, I had to work, so my kids went and they did the after party and everything and they sat with ‘Taker and stuff, all the boys. My kid was calling me two in the morning, ‘Dad, I got 50 guys they want to say hi, disappointed you weren’t here’ he’s reading these names off and sh!t like that, you know. He’s just a great guy, man. Good attitude, good person, just a tremendous guy.”
Vince Russo
“Forgiven” Autobiography, Page 277
“But perhaps the most inspirational story, the story that exemplified courage to a level I had never before seen, came from the veteran of the bunch – the man they call the Undertaker.
You could never fully appreciate Mark Calaway until you’d seen him collapse on the floor of the locker room immediatley following a match. Everything hurt on Mark – his back, his hips – the punishment he’d put his body through over the years was beginning to catch up with him. But when that red light came on, you’d never know it. He gave everything he had for the company, regardless of the pain – you just can’t say enough about that.
Mark was the quiet leader in the locker room. Even though he was soft-spoken and didn’t say much, when he did speak, it was deafening. The only way he knew how to lead was by example. If the squared circle was a baseball diamond, Mark would have visited the disabled list more times than Rosie O’Donnell frequents Krispy Kreme. And every match – regardless of the pain – Mark sucked it up and performed as if it were his last.
Courage: that’s what Mark Calaway represented to me. He was on the all-Madden team – in the trenches, digging in, doing what he had to do to win. On some of those occasions I just didn’t know, but on others I should have known better. Mark would never say a word; he would just go out there and do it. Sometimes I really have a difficult time looking myself in the mirror when it comes to ‘Taker. I needed him and I put him out there, even when I sensed that he may not have been 100 percent. That was wrong – it was selfish. But again, these were the things you did when you were possesed by the wrestling business.”
The Ultimate Warrior
RF Shoot Interview – 2008
What was your first reaction [to the Undertaker character] because other than the Warrior, it was the first supernatural character they had?
“I liked it, man. Yeah, I liked it. I liked Mark, he was a good guy. They brought him in and kept him off the TV, thinking about what character to give him and then we did the angle. And then the first town we worked was Albany, NY, I think. And the people really got behind the Undertaker gimmick.”
Are you surprised he still has the longevity, that he’s still going today?
“I never thought about it, you know, whether he would or wouldn’t. I think it says a lot about him though.”
Where did the idea of you locked in the coffin come from?
“They came up with it, but it wasn’t my idea, but I wasn’t against it. I mean, you know A lot of people were gasped, ‘you’re gonna get in a coffin and close it, it’s almost blasphemous or something,’ actually I joked, I said it was the most rest i’d had in a long time.”
That led to you doing a series of body bag matches with Undertaker, was there anything in particular that stands out about working with him as a performer or in the matches?
“Yeah, it was creatively stimulating because he was new and you know, the thing was, was to work the match, but get him over. To build him up as a talent. And I wasn’t, as i’ve never been, i’ve never been envious or jealous. I was in a position to really, to probably work the match in a way or give advice about how we set up the match where it wouldn’t be beneficial to his character continuing to grow and build. I was energized by saying ‘well we’ve got this thing that people like so we got to work a match where Ultimate Warrior keeps his ‘over’ prominence, you know, keep his babyface prominence, but at the same time I think we should engage a newer character. It’s not a devilish, evil thing, they like the character because it’s different.’ So yeah, it was neat to work a match and try new stuff out. That’s really neat to do.”
X-Pac
This Is My Yard DVD
“Taker has been the one that has been here through everything. He knows exactly how to carry himself. He’s got wisdom to give to people that wanna receive it.”
Leave Your Feedback Below!
Submit your review | |