The Undertaker Reveals Biggest Lesson From Vince McMahon
The Undertaker has shared some of the lessons that he learned from Vince McMahon after working closely together for 30+ years.
At the WWE Hall of Fame 2022 ceremony, The Undertaker was the headline act that was introduced by Vince McMahon, who was the WWE Chairman & CEO at the time. These days, Vince is in the role of the Executive Chairman of WWE while The Undertaker makes occasional TV appearances while also doing one-man shows during WWE Premium Live Event weekends.
From the time he debuted in November 1990 to his retirement as a wrestler 30 years later, The Undertaker had a close relationship with Vince McMahon. After all, many people consider The Undertaker to be one of Vince’s greatest creations from a creative standpoint while Taker deserves a lot of credit for being a phenomenal performer when the bell rang and also as one of the most unique gimmicks in wrestling history.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet’s Insight on YouTube, The Undertaker talked about some of the lessons he learned from McMahon.
“Um, there’s several. You know, and I mentioned it last year in my speech at the Hall of Fame, perception is reality. And, you know, I think sometimes he may have forgotten that, but I never did. And so that went a long way. Perception is reality and how I dealt with people through my career.”
“I always, I didn’t want anybody to ever think that, you know, that I swerved them or that I had to go behind their back or do anything. What they saw is what they got, and I think that was probably a large factor in people always considering me the locker room leader. Everybody knew my relationship with Vince and Bruce and all of those, Pat Patterson, everybody knew my relationship there.”
As he continued, The Undertaker spoke about how the boys in the locker room knew he would do what was best for business, which is something he learned from Vince.
“But those same guys that I was on the road with, that I was hanging out with and partying with, you know, they knew what happened there was safe, and there was never going to be any crossover. Don’t let what we’re doing at night get in the way of business. I mean, that was a, that was a really strong rule with me. I don’t care what we do, don’t be late, and work hard.”
“That was, that was the only thing that I [told people], don’t get in trouble, don’t make us late, don’t embarrass us, don’t be late to work and work hard. And I think that was why I garnered, I guess the respect because people trust me. And they knew that the two never the two never cross, I was going to do what was best for business, and that’s something that I learned from Vince.”
While continuing to speak about what Vince was really like, The Undertaker made it a point to say that Vince was really just one of the boys that happened to be the boss.
“With Vince, regardless of what anybody thinks, deep in his heart he’s one of the boys, he really is. And he has that mentality. Things had to change, obviously, whatever, things changed, when the business, when the company went public, there were a lot of changes that had to happen, changes for the better.”
“Everything’s, you know, we’ve evolved into a whole I mean, it is a, I think, I think WWE is in a lot of [ways], a lot more now is regarded in the same way as other major sports franchises, you know, NBA or the NFL, we’re on that, if we’re not on that level, we’re really close, and the company is run that way.”
“It is not that circus, you know, carny kind of thing anymore. It is a big, huge business, as everybody knows. And that’s the way it’s treated. The product has evolved, and it’s evolved for the better.”