Wrestlers The Undertaker Had Issues With

week. Locker room loudmouth, JBL, called me out in front of everyone at catering for not reacting when Taker emerged. >> planning on powdering out, but there was a part of me that was just so frustrated. And once again, it was my fault. I will be accountable for it. And just when Taker came out, I was like laying on the ropes, and I didn't react to him like I should have. And looking back at that says like, "What a dumb move that was." And I was just like mad because I didn't get my spot once once again, which which was very dumb. Uh and it was a great lesson for me to learn. Like if you're going to do anything, like go all in on it. And remember like nobody even really noticed it first when I jumped out, but I guess JBL like went back and saw the tape, and he got people fired up the next day at TV, and he said like, "We we got to talk to this guy." >> This infuriated the Phenom, who then decided Hardy had to be taught a lesson, which in turn squashed all the momentum I had coming >> So, basically JBL is a [ __ ] snitch. Cuz no one even noticed it. Unless you're looking for it, JBL's a [ __ ] snitch. >> What's good, y'all? It's your boy Ross back at it again with another video. So, we're going to check out 10 wrestlers The Undertaker put in their place. Now, we all know we've heard the stories. The Undertaker has always been considered the locker room leader for a very long time. So, if The Undertaker said something to you, there was a good chance you probably listened and heeded his warning or took his advice. Well, I'm sure there was some instances where even though The Undertaker was one of the top guys, there was probably some people that butted heads and like, "Uh hey, [ __ ] you, dead man." So, we're going to check out some of them instances where maybe it didn't go too well, and the dead man said like, "Hold on now, player. Don't don't don't have me have a Teddy Long put you in a tag a match with me later on tonight on SmackDown, cuz I'm going to whoop your ass." But we're going to check this out. Should be a good one. Appreciate all love support. Let's get into it, man. >> For 30 years, The Undertaker was the most powerful man in the WWE locker room. He run rested court, had Vince McMahon's ear, and almost everyone who came up through the company eventually had to answer to him one way or another. As such, the phenoms had some disagreements with talent throughout his time in the business. >> I was like, like, "Hey, man, you know, you get a little bit of heat with the boys, you just might want to think about dressing, [music] uh, you know, a little better." He says, "Well, what about Cena?" And I may have replied, "Uh, you're not Cena." >> We'll be running through a variety of examples for this video, but only that which can be backed up by the talent involved. As we hear their stories. >> And just when Taker came out, I was like laying on the ropes, and I didn't react to him like I should have. I remember he was so mad. Then, for the next two or three months, there were points where I was just pretty much doing jobs. I was putting people over the majority of the time, and that was my punishment. >> Do you think he went to Vince and was like, "Hey, let's punish Matt a little bit here"? >> Yeah, yeah. He said, "We've got to teach him a lesson." >> Today, we highlight wrestlers who had real heat with the Undertaker. [laughter] >> He took my French flag, he shoved it in a toilet, and pissed and [ __ ] all over it. And the next person I went to was the Undertaker. He ordered them to do that. In my world, that's called racial discrimination. >> When Big Show signed with WWF in 1999, he was coming in from WCW, where he'd already been positioned as a main event level attraction, despite being so new to the business. The early success ended up going to Big Show's head, and was evident the moment Show walked through the door, to which Taker had to set him straight. >> also in a system where he wasn't learning anything but bad habits. >> Right. >> And he got here, and, um, he brought the a lot of those bad habits with him. Um, not only in the ring, but, uh, you know, his the way that he dealt [music] with people. He he he pushed the limits of my patience, several times. >> The two were eventually paired together on screen, allowing the Undertaker to show the giant the ropes first hand. Their storyline saw Taker showing the seven-footer tough love, which was exactly how their relationship was in real life. [music] >> Taker looked at me, he goes, "Yeah, I got some advice. I think you should take two weeks off and quit the business. >> Damn. >> And I was like But it clicked in my mind stop seeking approval. Stop asking. Work hard. Put your time in. >> At SummerSlam '99, Big Show and Undertaker wrestled Kane and X-Pac. During the bout, Show did something Taker had previously told him not to do. This infuriated the Phenom, who then took it out on his partner. >> something. He stepped on him or something, you know, that was just stupid that a child would do. >> And he told him I think you told him not to do it before. >> I would tell like two or three times and then finally it says like I have to up the stakes here cuz you're not listening to me and you're you're you're harming your own career and I'm trying to help you, but you got to be you got to listen to me. >> And it was so bad I just lost it a little bit. >> He literally's like, "Come here." >> [laughter] >> I can't BELIEVE THE BIG SHOW DID >> DAMN. >> TAGGED HIMSELF. >> Oh my gosh, look at Taker. >> Undertaker on a better cover and Undertaker shoving the Big Show out of the way. >> Hey, bro. He He smacked it. big ass off this damn ring. >> Lessons ultimately shaped Show's career, even if by Taker's admission it took a while for him to get there. >> He's 7 ft 2. He's 500 lbs. He can do anything in the world that he wants athletically. But uh I think sometimes his motivation lacks. And that bothers me for somebody that has those gifts that he has not to put forth the effort to keep yourself in shape. And uh and and and also I mean he had a you know, he had a problem of treating people. >> And you let him know that I was >> him know real quick. >> In 2002 and even as late as 2008, Undertaker was still getting on Show, with the giant admitting it took him up [music] to that point to finally put everything together from a work standpoint. This after Taker helped change Show's initial bad attitude in the late '90s. Like Show, Chris Jericho was another >> time, too. >> [laughter] >> He finally got it together in '08. >> though who had a negative running with The Undertaker. After coming in from WCW, Jericho had entered WWF strong with a lot of buzz in 1999. His first promo with The Rock set the tone for how witty and charismatic Jericho was going to be. His material was more comedic inside and personal compared to the typical wrestling promo. Chris insulted wrestlers with legit criticisms that were turned all the way up for television. This wasn't going to sit right with everyone though, including the mythical phenom. By this point, Taker's undead wrestler gimmick was starting to feel out of place in the more risque attitude era. As such, his woeful promo on the August 16 '99 Raw was perhaps his [music] worst. It was a monotonous diatribe about how Taker left his partner Big Show alone in the desert with a bike that had no gas in [music] it to prove that the giant was actually tough. >> off and left him. >> What? >> I waited on the outskirts of the desert. Two days later, he comes walking out with a snake necktie and lizard boots, carrying his Harley Davidson on his shoulder. >> What? >> This monologue drew crickets from the audience and was quite rightly buried by Jericho, who was due to interrupt after only debuting the previous week. >> YOU TWO MORONS COULDN'T STRING TOGETHER TWO INTELLIGENT WORDS, AND I WAS FORCED TO COME OUT HERE AND SAVE THIS SEGMENT. >> ORIGINALLY, IT was supposed to be a promo on Austin, but I think Steve said screw that, I'm not doing it. And my idea at the time was I'm just going to bury all of the top stars and tell them how boring they are. Undertaker was actually really boring that night, so I kind of hit the nail on the head. He did this big promo with the Big Show. And I got so much heat for that. >> Chris verbally destroyed the phenom so much that it got Jericho [music] heat backstage after. >> THE ONLY THING SCARY ABOUT YOU TWO IS THE AMOUNT OF TV TIME YOU GET, WHICH CAUSES THE PEOPLE TO PICK UP THE REMOTE and change the channel looking for a hero. >> Especially since he was the new guy coming from enemy territory in WCW. >> AND I'M HERE TO SAY THAT RAW IS SNORE IS NOW DEAD AND BURIED. >> [laughter] >> ESPECIALLY SINCE HE WAS THE NEW GUY COMING FROM ENEMY TERRITORY in WCW. >> I'm here TO SAY THAT RAW IS SNORE IS NOW DEAD AND BURIED AND LONG LIVE RAW IS JERICHO. [screaming] >> SHAWN MICHAELS WAS around and Austin too and they said, you know, you know, for future reference you might not want to call, you know, the biggest name in the company boring next time. And I was like, haha, but meanwhile realized that they were giving me a little bit of a of a heads-up like, hey, you piece of [ __ ] watch what you're saying. >> Taker fired back at Y2J with some lines that resembled his future American Bad Ass character more than that of the Deadman. >> But judging from that peach fuzz you're trying to grow on your chin, I can tell I got more shower time than you've got ring time. >> All this interaction did was prove how out of his depth this version of the Undertaker was in the attitude era. Since the promo stars of Jericho, Rock, and Austin were becoming the norm rather than Taker's stick, which was outdated by this point. Perhaps realizing this, the Phenom began dressing more like a biker akin to what he wore in real life before ultimately adopting this gimmick when he returned from injury in 2000. As for Chris, he and Taker's heat didn't spread beyond that one promo as they eventually became friends thereafter. >> It was pretty funny because I realized afterwards that I thought maybe I better be a little bit more careful with things that I say about some of the guys. >> Jericho got off without punishment, but our next example wasn't so lucky even though the quote-unquote offense was far less noticeable. In November 2005, Matt Hardy had recently jumped to SmackDown fresh off his hot program with Edge on Raw. However, there was no place on the Survivor Series card for Matt that year as Eddie Guerrero's recent passing caused matches to be shuffled around on the SmackDown side. The situation was explained on the Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast. >> So I I go on to SmackDown and I'm I'm still very hot. I'm doing some some really cool stuff. I have a lot of momentum behind me, whatever. And then there was a couple different plans for me at Survivor Series. At one point I was going to be on the the main Survivor Series team as a babyface. >> [music] >> And then, uh, there was a time where it hit also got changed and I was going to wrestle Eddie Guerrero in a one-on-one match, which both of those would have been great matches for me. >> Hardy was later added to the closing angle where Undertaker returned to confront Randy Orton. Orton was celebrating with the SmackDown wrestlers who'd be in Raw in the five-on-five elimination match. Taker was due to come in and clean house, but Matt didn't think it made sense for him to be out there since the Phenom was mostly going to be destroying jobbers all while Orton could get away. Vince McMahon then personally told Hardy to just exit the ring and avoid getting bumped. >> going to Vince at that time because I had a, you know, I had face time with the road agent and I said, "Was my name meant to be on this list? Do you want me to be out there?" He said, "Well, yeah, I think it's fine because I need someone, you know, people give a [ __ ] about out there. It's very good to have some equity out in the ring whenever Taker comes so it doesn't just like a bunch of extras who are just going to get beat up and take joke slams." And I said, "Well, what do you want me to do out there?" He said, "Oh, well, don't don't, you know, he said, "Don't don't take a joke slam. Don't get beat up." He said, "Just just powder out. You know, you guys figure out how you want to do it, but just powder out." He said, "I don't want you to bump." So I said, "Okay, cool." >> The next week locker room loudmouth JBL called Matt out in front of everyone at catering for not reacting when Taker emerged. >> planning on powdering out, but there was a part of me that was just so frustrated. And once again, it is my fault. I will be accountable for it. And just when Taker came out, I was like laying on the ropes and I didn't react to him like I should have. And looking back at it, I said, "Like what a dumb move that was." And I was just like mad because I didn't get my spot once once again, which which was very dumb. Uh, and it was a great lesson for me to learn. Like if you're going to do anything like go all in on it. And I remember like nobody even really noticed it first when I jumped out, but I guess JBL like went back and saw the tape and he got people fired up the next day at TV and he said, "Well, we we got to talk to this guy." >> This infuriated the Phenom who then decided Hardy had to be taught a lesson, which in turn squashed all the momentum Matt had coming >> So basically JBL's a [ __ ] snitch Cuz no one even noticed it. Unless you're looking for it. JBL's a [ __ ] snitch. That sounds about right. That That sounds just about JBL, bro. >> Y'all have the Edge feud. >> Yeah, I remember he was so mad. Almost like I felt like he was he was shaking and I was just like, "Eh." And I said, "I'm sorry." I said I do apologize for it and I wish I hadn't have done it. I did it, so I'll do whatever it will take to make it right. >> And he was >> He's like at the very end, "Okay, that's fine." And then for the next two or three months there were points where I I was just pretty much doing jobs. I was putting people over the majority of the time and that was my punishment. And I'm pretty sure uh that's what pushed Viscera to do the deal. Like people talk about that Royal Rumble clip where he jumped on me and he was like giving me his gimmick where he was something. Well, once again, it was just like I was having to pay my penance. >> That's kind of crazy that that kind of spurred. So, because of him laying on the ropes, not selling the Undertaker coming out there, and JBL's goofy ass coming out there snitching on him to the Undertaker my boy for the next couple months was getting jobbed out and had to get the Viscera move done on him? Hey, JBL, you just going to have to run my fade. Cuz you're a little [ __ ] >> [laughter] >> I did it for like three months and I just rolled with it and then at the very end uh there was a point where I talked with Taker and he said, "Thank you for apologizing and da da da da, we're good." And then just everything stopped. >> So, do you think he Do you think he went to Vince and was like, "Hey, let's punish Matt a little bit here?" Or someone else picked up on it? >> He said, "We We got to teach We've got to teach him a lesson." >> Hardy at least got a resolution out of his issue with Taker. Unlike Hulk Hogan who had the Phenom thinking a complete lie which Taker never ever forgot. >> about This one traces back to Survivor Series 1991 when Taker beat Hogan to win his first WWF Champion. >> Oh, you got me, brother. Oh, you you got me with the with the Tombstone, bro. I TOLD YOU. >> [laughter] >> [ __ ] GUY, BRO. Had the Undertaker fearing for his career. What? >> ship. Only to then drop the belt back days later at the This Tuesday in Texas event. Taker later opened up about the real story behind the quick turnaround and how Hulk orchestrated an act of political gamesmanship against him. >> So, he's telling me he's got >> say, "I got this neck injury." He says, "I'm really nervous about taking your finish." And I was like I was like, "Hulk, believe me." I said, "I will protect you like I mean, I pride myself >> And when you think about it, the Undertaker didn't he have to get like two hip replacements or knee replacements, something? And it you know, once he finally retired because of all the tombstones he was doing. Think about that. He's dropping damn near all his weight into somebody else's weight onto his knees. He had to get damn replacements. And for the most part, he never injured anybody doing the damn move. But you know, Undertaker, "Oh, no, bro. I'm not Undertaker. Hulk Hogan, no, bro. No, brother. Don't do that to me." >> [laughter] >> of of not hurting people. And and I promise you, I will have you so tight that there's no way possible that you're going to hurt your neck. Every point during the day, I'd pass him in the hall or whatnot, you know, I'd get the you know, like, "Remember about my neck, right?" We go into the finish, Flair comes down, slides the chair down. I pick him up. And when I tell you I had I had the brother secure, he was secure. Boom. I give I give him the Tombstone. As soon as my knees hit, I hear, "Oh, Oh, you got you got me, brother." >> Flair with a chair! A STEEL CHAIR! >> I got to San Antonio. I was like Terry, I I I I watched it back. Um your head your head never hit. >> [laughter] >> He said, "Well, brother, what it was was you had me so tight that when we came down, I had nowhere to move. And then that's what that's what jammed my neck because I couldn't move at all." >> It was at this moment Taker lost all trust he had in Hogan as he realized who he is and what he was about. Hogan kept up the charade that he was badly hurt backstage. He was aided out groaning as the medics looked after him. A worried Phenom watched on fearing his push may have gone up in smoke since he'd only been with the WWF for a year. >> I knew there was going to be another pay-per-view, but I didn't know that I was, you know, I was going to drop the belt back and any what was going on. I mean, that came up out of nowhere. I kind of figured like, "Oh, okay. You know, I get maybe it's cuz he's telling everybody that I hurt him." So, I'm thinking, "Okay, this is this is, [music] you know, they're going to take this off of me cuz I can't trust me or or or whatnot." It really wasn't explained to me what what the the reasoning was behind it. >> He continued working high up on the card but didn't win the world title again for 6 years. Hogan and Undertaker stayed civil for the rest of their overlapping run though Taker was sure to keep the Hulkster at arm's length given what happened in '91. >> So, I didn't have to carry a grudge. I I I >> And here's the thing, he understood it like once you realize how things go he was like, "Hulk Hogan is still Hulk Hogan. No matter if I want to fight this battle. It's a losing effort. I'm relatively new. I just got to play ball, but hey, keep you over there. I ain't about to interact. I ain't about to be buddy-buddy with you. Hey, I see you I see you. That's it. And keep it moving because he knows. He knows like that's a that's a It ain't too many people that can fight an uphill battle against Hulk Hogan back then. It wasn't going to happen, brother. Nope. >> I I him with the respect that I think that for what he did for the business he deserved. So, I treated him that way. I was not overly friendly, but I did you know if he was in the building I always made sure to say hello and engage him in conversation, but you know, I've always like I said from that Tuesday in Texas when I got that answer, I knew all I needed to know about him and uh you know, and and that's the way I always then you know, my radar was always up. >> Hulk and Taker were able to work together again despite their initial problems. The same goes for the Phenom and Shawn Michaels. Long before they put on two of the best matches in WrestleMania history, Taker couldn't stand Michaels. This was back during Shawn's substance abuse days. When he ran with The Kliq backstage, they had a reputation for using their influence with Vince to protect each other and hold other people down. Undertaker had his own BSK crew to counteract The Kliq. Meanwhile, Taker wasn't a fan of Michaels' attitude during this stretch. Undertaker has said in multiple interviews that Michaels' arrogance during that period put him on the wrong side of the locker room as well as Taker himself. But HBK being in bed with Vince plus his top guy status exonerated him from the usual punishments the Phenom would later oversee. >> I wouldn't have pissed on Shawn Michaels if he was on fire. >> It's not like there was a bunch of animosity. It's just we were just two very different personalities. I was very outgoing um which is to say I was overly obnoxious. And Mark's always been a very quiet, laid-back kind of guy. A very again, we always say cool, handsome, very clean, Swedish type and I was not. >> That being said, Undertaker was in the gorilla position at WrestleMania 14 before Shawn's match with Stone Cold Steve Austin. If the retiring Heartbreak Kid got political or didn't want to drop the WWF title that night, the Phenom was on call ready to do a shoot run-in. >> But I had take my hands up if Shawn had not done business there would have been an appearance by The Undertaker that night. Somehow or another, that belt was going to get switched. >> [laughter] >> And I was going to do whatever I had to do to make sure that that happened. So, if I meant me going out there and thumping him up and throwing him back in the ring, that was what was going to happen. >> What makes this one interesting [laughter] is how far the relationship has come since then. As Michaels found God, got clean, matured, and the tension faded. From there, the two of them ended up creating some of the most emotional layered stories and matches WWE has ever >> ever produced. >> Where Shawn Michaels and I are today and where we were at back then on a personal level are it's taken a complete 360. >> Undertaker and Shawn were able to reconcile and do great [music] business together. However, by the time Taker and Diamond Dallas Page patched things up, DDP's WWE career was 6 ft under and was booked horrifically as a stalker to Undertaker's wife, Sara. Keep in mind, everyone who watched WCW knew Dallas was married to Kimberly Page. So, the fact he would stalk Sara made absolutely no sense. >> Are you looking at my wife? She's the most beautiful chick ever. And you want me to stalk, of all people, Undertaker's wife? >> DDP never got to one-up Taker during their feud. As the Phenom squashed Dallas every turn to the point where his WWF career never recovered. Behind the scenes, Page had heat for scripting out all his matches. This was the opposite of how Undertaker worked, since he didn't like to plan too much. On the Keeping It 100 podcast, Disco Inferno tells the story of what happened when DDP tried to map out an entire match with Taker. >> He was supposed to be wrestling with Taker, and he had the match like written out on on paper. Hunter told him, "Do not show that to Taker." Showed it to Taker anyway, and the famous story is Taker saw it, crumbled it up, and threw it in the garbage. >> Page's friend, Chris Kanyon, later shed light on how Undertaker viewed Dallas during his short stint with the Federation. >> Page did something to rub, you know, that Taker or Vince McMahon the wrong way. >> I heard that >> Yeah, we've seen this clip, but now it kind of makes sense. If he showed him that damn uh script of how that match should be played out and Triple H don't show him that and he showed him that, that may have rubbed rubbed The Undertaker the wrong way. He's like, "Nah, bro. What are you What are you doing? [ __ ] we doing this [ __ ] off the fly. What the [ __ ] wrong with you?" >> First met with Vince. There was some kind of incident where, you know, Vince got up or, you know, whatever. Somehow, he didn't expect the hug and Paige gave him a hug. >> This may give credence to why the three-time WCW champ's WWF run and feud with Taker was so lackluster, especially since Vince may have not held a strong view of Dallas, either. Canyon revealed as much in an interview provided by Title Match Thing. >> Months, months, and months later when Paige is already gone, somebody [ __ ] screams out, "Taker, what do you think of DDP?" Huh. Now, he's on the spot light. It's [ __ ] fair to put him on the spot. And he looks at me, looks at the fan, he looks back at me, he goes, "There's a certain way we do things here. Some people come in with their own ideas. Those people usually don't last." Huh. And that's all he said, man. He kind of looked at me and just kind of went, "That's the truth." Mhm. So, I mean, I think that kind of sums up Paige's run. >> Some believe DDP hugging Vince McMahon during that first meeting soured McMahon's view of Paige from the get-go. The same might be true for one of The Undertaker and René Duprée's early interactions. One of their first conversations went completely sideways as the young René attempted to tell the Phenom how much he was a fan of Taker growing up. >> I was in St. Louis. I was I was wrestling I ended up wrestling the Dudleyz. I come back and I'm I sit down in the dressing room and uh I'm just like, I'm like, having that moment like, man, gosh, you're getting old, man. I want to say it was René Duprée. And it just [music] happens, this guy comes into the room and uh he goes, "You know when I was a kid, I had your poster on my wall." I flipped. >> I'm like, "Damn." >> Get out of here. I'm like, "That's not what I want to hear." >> I needed to hear that. >> I needed to hear that right now. >> Dupree likely just caught Undertaker at a bad time here. Although this wasn't necessarily an isolated incident between the two. That's because later in the year during a European tour, Renee was punished after skipping out on a night of drinking with the roster. This led to his shoe shoes and eventually French flag. >> Yep, and that's it's that's the hazing stuff. It was like especially if you knew it was customary if the boys is going out, you got to be there. You got to be there. I know some of you may be like, man, why why would I do that? It's to build camaraderie for them. And you know, probably do a little bit of hazing, too. But if you're not there, you skip out, oh, they're going to haze you. They definitely going to haze you. I What? I've been in that type of culture. You wouldn't think that would happen in band. It does, bro. It definitely does. Sometimes you have to do [ __ ] you don't want to do. I'm not trying to hang out with some of you guys, but guess what? I got to play ball, build up some camaraderie, and go from there. If I don't, I'm cooked. >> [laughter] >> Being desecrated by the boys. >> Everybody were in Italy. Everybody went out to the bar. Okay? You know where I went? To the gym. Worked out, went to my room, and called my mother. Why did I call my mommy? Because she was going through a chemotherapy for breast [music] cancer. They shoved my $500 shoes and nearly a $1,000 suit and ruined it in the shower. Because I didn't go out drinking at a bar the night before cuz nobody [music] invited me. What really bothered me >> Damn, no one invited him. >> The next night, they took my French flag, my heritage, they shoved it in the toilet and pissed and [ __ ] all over it. >> Damn. >> In my world, that's called racial discrimination. >> The suspected culprits were JBL and Billy Gunn. They and other wrestlers didn't like Renee's attitude, hence the frequent hazing. Dupree went to road agent Arn Anderson to figure [music] out what to do about the incident. Owen told him not to sell it or react in any way. Renee then went to the locker room leader, Taker. Dupree would soon come to realize exactly what had gone on. >> The next person I went to was the Undertaker. And I said, "What do you do when someone does this?" You go, "Well, you find out who does it." He ordered them to do that. >> Well, >> because I didn't go out drinking with him and the guys. Oh, mind you, I'm I'm only 20 years old, so legally in the United States, I'm not old enough to drink. >> Yeah. >> And I don't like touching alcohol cuz there's alcoholics in my family, and later on, my addictions actually caught up with me. >> Dupree's expensive new suit that had been destroyed was purchased out of necessity. >> And here's the thing. He's He wasn't even doing nothing bad, working out, called his mom that was dealing with, you know, cancer and chemotherapy. He didn't want to drink. He was 20 years old. I can understand you not even really trying to, you know, And he didn't get invited, so it's just like, "You know what, man? I'm going to just chill. I'm going to chill here, you know what I'm saying?" Doing all that extra [ __ ] Trust me, I understand it. I've been there. I Oh my god, bro. The hazing can be so so stupid sometimes. So stupid. And I'm not saying that the Undertaker was right in this situation cuz I don't think he was. I think as a locker room leader, sometimes you got to show some grace to people who are new to, you know. I'm not going to snap on somebody who say, "I I just I used to look up to you." You know, hey, maybe not the time, but I appreciate that. We can chop about it later. You know what I'm saying? There's There's certain things you have to handle. And Undertaker's human. Mark Calaway, he's human. So, I don't think he handled some of this situation cuz that that sucks. That sucks to have to go through that. >> That's because in the summer of 2004, WWE introduced a dress code whereby talent had to go through airports and arrive at arenas wearing shirts and slacks. This was done to enhance the image of WWE and their quote-unquote superstars to the outside world. >> It was funny in the beginning cuz guys had not used to be or not used to dressing that way and they would have sent their wives or girlfriends out to shop for them and they come back with shirts that would fit Andre. >> Keep in mind the rest is still at the fly economy during this time besides a few exceptions. Undertaker and John Cena were exempt from the dress policy given their characters on the show being a dead man and a rapper. Years later someone like CM Punk should have probably been given the same leeway given his anti-establishment straight edge persona which also happened to be who he was in real life. After becoming world champ on Smackdown in 2009, Taker pulled him aside saying that Punk needed to dress like a champion. The second that he said push back which led to a brutally honest response from the Phenom. >> Well, I want to say we were somewhere in Europe and we're getting off the buses >> [music] >> and I just stopped him because he he was dressing like Punk did back then or whatever [music] it was and I was like like hey man >> And that kind of beat him up. >> with the boys you just might want to think about dressing you know a little better. He says well what about Cena? And I may have replied you're not Cena. He thought he should have been the main event I think it it when we worked 29 against somebody else not against me. And then when he worked with me I'm not sure if he thought that he should have went over but somehow or another it all got blown out of proportion that Undertaker hates CM Punk and I was like I don't I try not to give people the power of hate. >> The fact Punk lost the world title to Taker a week later at Hell in a Cell had fans questioning if Punk had been punished especially since he'd been relegated to working the pay-per-view dark match by the end of the year. Undertaker contends there is no truth to these rumors and that their opposing viewpoints regarding the dress code was settled in one conversation. Punk's disagreement with Undertaker was about presentation. Mabel's however was more about brutalization. That's because the 500 pounder kept legitimately hurting >> Yeah bro. >> The 6 foot 6 monster heel wasn't fully in control of his own size and timing in the ring mainly because he was young and experienced and most importantly out of shape. Mabel fractured Undertaker's orbital bone during a house show in October 1995. >> And I accidentally hit the Undertaker in the eye with my fist with a flying clothesline. Definitely, I got a lot of heat for that. It was a total accident. You know, like I said, I had a lot of growing up to do back then and you know, I still needed to learn how to protect guys uh >> The boys just go What's that? That look like Jeff. That look like a young Jeff. Hold on. >> then >> They GOING THROUGH IT. >> [laughter] >> AND YOU KNOW, I STILL NEEDED TO LEARN how to protect guys better, too. You know. >> This forced Taker to wear a Phantom of the Opera style mask to protect his face from further damage while still wrestling. >> And he was just grossly out of shape. His cardio was horrible. >> Yeah. >> And so, you know And that that's usually a lot of the time that's how injuries occur when somebody's doesn't have the their cardio and can't keep up within in a match. And this is exactly what happened. You know, we're in the match and I'm flying around and and he was supposed to be someplace >> And he didn't get there in time. >> So, he tried to compensate >> Yeah. >> And instead of hitting me you know, with with this part of his arm he lunged and I run I'm coming off of the ropes full steam and basically run right straight into a big punch. My my optic nerve is setting right on top of a jagged piece of bone. >> Oh my >> If I'd have gotten hit in the right side of my head again, there's a good chance I'd lost my eye. >> The final straw for Mabel's first run in WWF was when he hurt Taker's friend, Henry Godwin, at the 1996 Royal Rumble. The former King of the Ring drilled Godwin with a big splash that Henry didn't know was coming. >> [cheering] >> FOLLOWING A CONFRONTATION with Undertaker backstage, Mabel was promptly fired. >> And uh he comes in and sees me laying there and I'm like, "What the hell?" And uh I'm in pretty bad >> [laughter] >> pain. And they're telling him, and he starts taking his gear off, and here comes the white tape right in wrapping the hands. I said, "Oh my god." Everybody's like clearing back. Here comes Mabel, and people standing. >> [laughter] >> This was They He's a sweet person. He's a good person. He really was. But, he just He did some stupid things that, uh, kind of I I wouldn't even say that he was taking liberties. Like, he I don't think I don't know that it was malicious. But, it was dumb, and it doesn't matter when when you you're in the ring. Like, there's just certain things you're you're supposed to know. >> Mabel later returned to the Federation as Viscera, and was added to Taker's Ministry of Darkness faction. Fellow Ministry member Mideon revealed why Vis was put in the group while chatting to Monty and the Pharaoh. >> We're going to bring Viscera in, and I'm like, "What? Why?" He goes, "Uh, then we don't have to work with him." I was like, "SMART [ __ ] GENIUS." >> [laughter] >> THAT'S CRAZY. >> Regarding the Rene Dupree hazing ritual earlier. However, for our final example, the Phenom was more directly involved in the bullying. In the Ruthless Aggression Era, the Undertaker, JBL, and Chris Benoit were among the locker room leaders on SmackDown. But, as we've seen, they didn't always use their power for good, such as the case of the short-lived tag team in 2005 and 6, made up of Chad Wicks and Tank Toland, aka The Dicks. The duo got put through the absolute ringer backstage, from being forced to drink heavy amounts to having their ring gear cut up and torn into pieces in the locker room. Chad had even been summoned to wrestler's court. He was accused of being gay for taking Chippendales dance lessons, which was what their gimmick centered around. The reason Taker is heavily involved here is because he could have put a stop to this bullying at any point, but chose not to. The Phenom instead allowed it to happen, and actively took part in it. Tank explained what happened in an interview with the Hannibal TV. >> And, uh, and he's like, "I'm not gay. I'm not gay. I swear. I swear I'm not gay." And, and then he started crying. And once he started crying, uh, they're like, you know, throwing the napkins up in the air. There's no crying in wrestling. What do you What the hell? >> infamous story involving Wicks and Toland came when the vets, including Taker, made them fight one another, in which multiple cash bets were placed on who'd win. Previously, the team had gotten into a few disagreements, and once the boys got wind of this, they forced Chad and Tank into fighting. >> And I'm like, Chad, chill out. I was like, I was like, you don't have to do this. You could just calm down, relax, you know, don't let them get to you. He's like, "No, Tank, I got to stand up for myself." And blah blah blah. He's like, "You're not going to tell me what to do anymore." >> Chad had heat with the other wrestlers. So, this was seen as a punishment that his partner got dragged into. Tank was a cooler head, but the other talent had already been in Chad's ear after feeding him copious amounts of alcohol. The brawl featured two blind-sided cheap shots from Chad, but in the end, he got knocked out cold by Tank. >> thing you know, he's got me in a front foot foot face lock. As he has a me in a front face lock, I'm like, I'm like, "Damn it, Chad." I said, "Damn it, Chad. Now I got to freaking hit you." So, I bobbed him at three times. I hit him. First shot was First shot was right in the lip, put his teeth through his lip. Second shot, I broke his nose. Third shot, I hit him right in the uh in in the eye. >> Tank was given a hero's applause by the boys after winning the scrap. Chad later got revenge by locking numerous wrestlers in a bathroom after they'd followed him in when he was getting cleaned up. This included Chris Benoit, Randy Orton, Orlando Jordan, and even Taker. Wicks and Toland were ultimately released for the fight they were goaded into having. >> Chad not taking it poorly and his complaining and reactions to it made Tank Toland, aka James Dick, feel like he was putting their jobs in jeopardy. It led to a fight between them, during which Toland punched Wicks. While there was a small chance Toland might have been spared, even if Wicks were released, the fight put WWE management in a tough spot because they couldn't justify firing the guy who got punched and not the wrestler who did the punching. >> Once again, The Undertaker could have at least spoken up to Toland since Wicks was seen as the problem. However, the Phenom [music] did no such thing. Now, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to check >> bro. That's kind of [ __ ] up. That's definitely [ __ ] up, bro. They were put into a a situation, a lose-lose. Like, why? That was [ __ ] up, bro. I ain't going to lie to you, man. I mean I ain't going to lie to you. I like I like The Undertaker. But, you know, he was wrong for that. Especially if you have the opportunity to stop this, you should stop it, bro. Like, damn, man. I hate to hear stories like that. This is I'm hoping this is not what goes on now. I'm thinking the the locker room dynamic is probably much different, probably even better than it's ever been. And I'm hoping that it that is the way. Cuz, to be honest with you, I can only imagine we haven't even heard probably all the stories, but I can only imagine the toxicity in the locker room back then and how really truly bad it was. So, I'm I'm hoping that things are much different. I'm willing to bet things are much different. They They don't really kind of play into that type of stuff uh as often. But, hey, comment down below. Let me know some other wrestling-related videos you guys want me to check out. I definitely will. Appreciate all the love and support. Road to 200K. Appreciate y'all kicking it with me. See y'all next one. Peace.