The Undertaker was a guest on Booker T’s Hall of Fame podcast, where he talked about wrestlers who rely on high-risk moves too much, and how their longevity will be affected.
Here’s what The Deadman said:
“It is completely two different worlds. It’s crazy because never in a million years can 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 it’s almost, 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, and, you know, 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. I’m just thinking about their health if nothing else.
I tell people this all the time, and people look at me like I’m crazy, but in any given wrestling match, any 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 times. Now what do you have for me? So you have to continue to push the envelope to, okay, what am I going to have to do to get a reaction?
It’s hard to argue with them because, look, 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.
We love the business. We want to see the business continue to grow, but we also have years and years and years of experience, and I know the injury bug pretty damn well, and that’s just one aspect of it.
I don’t care how long the business goes on, the essence is always going to be good storytelling. This is one of the things I say quite a bit. Wrestling isn’t about wrestling moves. It’s not. It’s about storytelling.
We use wrestling moves to help tell that story, but it’s not about all that. That’s just a tool to get to the essence of A versus B and whatever that story is that wraps them up.”
Apparently, AEW personality RJ City isn’t a fan of what The Undertaker has to say about current wrestling.
Here’s what RJ said during an interview on Eyes Up Here with Francine:
“I’ve haven’t seen anyone so wrapped up in a whole thing that is unique to themselves (like Toni Storm) since, I don’t know, The Undertaker? And she’s not doing half-a$$ horrible podcast now.
She’s not wearing weird problematic shirts and being like, ‘wrestling is not telling stories’. Thanks, Mark. I really appreciate it.
His show is weird. The guy is weird. He’s a weird man. ‘Back in my day it was a lot better’. I’m sorry, were you always dead? Did you start off dead? Would you like to explain that?”
WATCH: Michelle McCool (Undertaker’s Wife) Exposed Due To Major Wardrobe Malfunction:
