– Taker noted that he was 6-foot-8 in his prime.
– Ole Anderson told Taker in WCW that no one would ever pay money to see him wrestle.
– Paul Heyman tried to open doors for Taker in WWF as WCW had nothing for Taker. Heyman was Taker’s manager in WCW at that point.
– Taker tore his pants before having a meeting with Vince McMahon.
– Vince asked Taker if he had any special talent. Taker was trying to be funny and said he’s a pretty good singer and can sing in the shower. Taker immediately regretted his response as he thought Vince will now give him some outlandish gimmick. Taker thought he screwed up and is now going to be “shower boy” or something:
“We have a meeting and I feel like the meeting is going along pretty well. I’m bring pretty charming and you know I get the question, ‘You got any hidden talents?’ I’m trying to be funny, ‘Well, you know I’m a pretty good singer, I sing in the shower pretty good’.
As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn’t have, right. I was like, ‘Oh crap.’ This is a time when they got some outlandish gimmicks going on. I’m just thinking, ‘Oh crap I wish I hadn’t had said that’.
You know Vince how he is, [*in Vince’s voice*] ‘Oh really? You sing in the shower, huh?’
On the inside I’m just cringing. I’m no-selling on the outside, but on the inside I’m thinking, ‘Oh you screwed up, man you’re gonna be shower boy,’ or something like that.”
– Vince told Taker that they don’t have anything for him right now and Taker had already given his notice to WCW.
– Taker thought he was going to be The Eggman in the WWF. He thought he would have to shave his head for this gimmick:
“So, about the time I got my phone call, they were doing this promotion where on the show, you know back then they would do 3-4 weeks [of TV tapings] in a row, they had this gigantic egg on the set.
So I’m at home and I’m trying to think everything I can do. I’m trying to grow my hair out, I’m trying to come up with a different look, whatever it’s going to take, right?
So, this egg appears on the show. And all of a sudden my mind just starts going… Oh man, they’re going to bring me in… now this is how outlandish the gimmicks were then too, I’m gonna be The Egg Man.
I have convinced myself, to the point where my stomach hurts, that I’m gonna be The Egg Man.”
– It took a while for Taker to figure out “The Undertaker” gimmick. Taker talked about working a style similar to his “Mean Mark” character in his early days in the WWF.
He had to slow down his wrestling style to fit in “The Undertaker” gimmick.
He knew the in-ring work had to fit the character. He realized he needed to “pull back” to “move forward”. He said less is more.
He said he had to put his ego aside during his matches when he saw other wrestlers have great matches.
He knew he could do all that stuff athletically despite being 8 inches taller and 100 lbs heavier than other guys, but he knew he needed to be different from others.
– Taker lived his gimmick and always wore black clothes even when at home.
*Go to the NEXT page to continue reading this article
