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Undertaker's Legacy
Interviews
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The Undertaker on XTRA Sports Radio Show
(date possibly summer of 1998)
The Undertaker on XTRA sports radio L.A./San Diego Thurs night; 8:20 - 9:00
p.m. promoting WWF RAW tapings at Anaheim Pond and San Diego Arena.
He first talked about how he got into the wrestling business. He was approached
by other wrestlers at a gym he worked out at and experienced some difficult
periods trying to get noticed by promoters. He played basketball in college.
He was not into football. Said it is difficult to train while on the road. Said
that if he lived a normal lifestyle, he would have more muscle mass and more
muscle definition. He pointed out that in his schedule, quality workouts are
more important than the quantity of workouts.
He said that in Hell in The Cell 2, when Mankind fell onto announcer's table,
it was as if it occurred in slow motion. He referred to the incident as one
of the "strangest" experiences in his life. He compared it to an out
of body experience watching Foley fall 15 to 25 feet down onto table. UT worked
the match with 2 fractures in his ankle. He said Foley is the one of the toughest
guys in the business. Mentioned that Foley makes up for lack of technical skills
with guts and a big heart.
He took calls for approximately half an hour long!:
He was asked if he has any off-camera friendships with Austin or DX. He answered
question slowly and carefully by stating that he and Austin don't share beers
and does not have friendships behind the curtain. He says he is too busy on
concentrating on other things. (I thought he dodged the question so that he
would not expose his off camera relations with others.)
When asked of Flair coming to WWF. He said he does not know anything about
Flair's contract status. He just reiterated fact that WWF is going with a youth
movement with one exception. That being the middle-aged crazy Terry Funk. He
said the Flair question comes up to him very frequently.
When asked if Ultimate Warrior's coming back to WWF. Said Warrior has probably
come back too many times before. He more or less said Hellwig was a head case
and that he thinks Hellwig does not have much to offer to the wrestling industry.
UT believes it takes more than face paint and rope shaking to perform to the
level that crowds expect to see at a house show.
Said Superfly Snuka was way ahead of his time. Snuka did aerial moves when
no one else did them. UT has the utmost respect for Snuka.
Was asked if he was in cahoots with Kane. Said that if he was in cahoots w/Kane,
he sure wasn't about to reveal it on a syndicated radio show.
He said wrestlers have to understand there is a fine line between working hurt
vs. injured. Working injured will take some time away from a worker's career.
He said the younger workers often work injured so they don't get out of favor
with the promoters. Once you become an established star, then you can afford
to take time off to heal injuries.
He said he has couple more years on current contract and felt WCW is not an
option. He said WCW told him that he was not star material and proved them wrong
by successful UT gimmick in WWF. He feels loyalty to McMahon for making him
a star and will end his career with WWF. (I was happy to hear this.) He does
not follow the storylines of WCW too much. He leaves that up to the suits backstage.
He concentrates on his role as the UT and giving the fans a good show. He said
WWF morale is very high with the recent ratings victories. He feels no WWF superstar
can beat him one on one. He said all his recent losses are the result of outside
interference. He looks forward to Summerslam showdown with Austin since he knows
Austin does not have any alliances with other wrestlers and expects no outside
interference in the match.
When asked of his opinion on Rodman/Malone entering the squared circle he said
both are great athletes.
However, to perform at a high level in front of an audience, it takes a lot
of preparation. He more or less said that Rodman/Malone did not have the proper
training to work a match to the level he expects to see.
He disrespected HBK by calling him a "small man" in the sport. He
feels a good "big man" like the UT will always beat a good "small
man".
Every caller was a wrestling fan and complemented UT. They seemed to be WWF
fans rather than WCW fans. UT thanked everyone. In my opinion, many of the wrestling
fans out there are very articulate and are "smart" fans who regularly
track the wrestleboards on the internet.