The Undertaker Expresses Concern For The New Generation
The Undertaker enjoys what he sees in today’s era of pro wrestling, but he is concerned about some aspects of it.
During his incredible 30-year WWE Hall of Fame career, The Undertaker was known for being one of the most unique characters in WWE history and also having many amazing matches along the way.
After retiring as a wrestler in 2020, The Undertaker has shared more about his career and his life as Mark Calaway. He has started a successful podcast telling stories about his career while also commenting on the current state of pro wrestling.
While appearing on Booker T’s Hall of Fame podcast, The Undertaker spoke about wrestlers perhaps going too far with high spots during their matches.
“It is completely two different worlds. It’s crazy, because never in a million years could I imagine how athletic these guys are today. I don’t know if it was the video games they played as kids, but they’re doing video game-type stuff in the ring. I think sometimes it’s a curse, because they’re so athletic and they rely so much on that aspect that they forget the most important aspect of what we do, and that is storytelling. I’ve mentioned it to different people high up, it’s like hey, we can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. But I think at some point we’re going to have to figure out a way to get it back in there.”
“Because these guys, and I’m just thinking about their health if nothing else, because I tell people this all the time and people look at me like I’m crazy. But in any given wrestling match, at some point in that match you’re two inches away from something really catastrophic happening. The stuff that these guys are doing to get reactions from the crowds, I mean, it just makes it exponentially more dangerous than what it has to be, because after a while people get desensitized to the crazy moves, the double backflip off the top rope onto the floor. I’ve seen it done a couple of times. Now what do you have for me?”
The Undertaker Is Concerned About Wrestlers Getting Hurt
As the discussion continued, The Undertaker expressed his concern that some of these current wrestlers who put their bodies on the line so much are going to have shortened careers and it will affect the rest of their lives as well.
“So you have to continue to push the envelope to okay, what am I going to have to do to get a reaction? Whereas in our era, and it’s hard to argue with them because business is great, it’s their era, it is what it is. But I mean, just being there through the years and knowing what it does to your body, it’s just like, man, you’re not going to have careers like we had. You’re going to burn out, you’re going to get hurt.”
The Undertaker has also spoken a lot about his own injuries, including how the leg drop on the apron damaged his hip and led to a major surgery because of it.