Jim Cornette on Kevin Nash Saying The Undertaker Was Ready To Jump To WCW
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- From Episode 191 of Jim Cornette's Drive Thru
Artwork by Travis Heckel!
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“Look at the adjective. Jump. Taker ain’t jumping to WCW.”
LMAO...Even as a kid , I was like "Verb, you idiot "
Hah!!!!! Love it 🤣🤣😂 #playisaverb
And Kev says he has a 130/140 IQ haha
@@ghostmail well aside from that comment. He does seem like a very intelligent guy. I have watched many of his shoot interviews.
Hahahahahahah GOOD ONE
Taker made it clear he was not going back to the WCW because they told him that nobody would pay to see him so he stayed loyal to Vince. Vince gave Taker a opportunity and it blew his career up.
He also knew enough about the people in WCW to know that he would have been buried had he went there. He only had to look at how Earthquake or the Bill Boss Man ended up. With Hogan, Nash and Hall at the top, there was no room for anyone else to get over.
eh? The others like Hall and Nash were badly handled by WCW too early on and they returned to WCW
Then again, look how Nash was used in WCW in the early 90's.
Money talks. I'm sure if Taker's contract was up in the late 90's, and WCW offered a nice enough deal, he'd sign on the dotted line too.
@@johnnyskinwalker4095 Hall and Nash were guaranteed a top spot in WCW as part of signing. Nobody who went there before or after them got the deal (in terms of spots on the card) that they got. Anyone else who had gone after them would have had the same thing happen to them that happened to Bret Hart. After Hall and Nash arrived, ANYONE who even looked like they were going to get over was going to get buried. (See Bill Goldberg). The undertaker might have leveraged a WCW offer to get a better contract, but I don't think he would have gone there.
Its especially different for him because he would have had to give up his entire character to go to WCW. That would have been a big risk for him.
@@Jim-Tuner lol are you kidding, if Taker wanted to go there, he would have had a golden pound. Nash and Hall were not even on his level when they jumped. Also there's no way to imagine how you're gonna get booked even if Bret was badly booked.
If Nash told me that water was wet, it's only 50/50 that I'd believe that.
That damn Kevin Nash is one hell of a complex individual!
Hell, that's better odds than Trump would get from his own supporters.
Nash is one of the smartest guy in the business too.. but he says some stupid shit and outright lies, but he says them in cunning ways so he doesn’t get backlash for it.
tim mcmaster, if nash told me water was wet, i would ask if he tore his quad on it
@@timthegem TDS is permanent and here is a perfect example of that.
You know whats crazy to think. Undertakers competed in every major era for wwe/wwf.
-golden era
-new generation era
-attitude era
-ruthless aggression era
-pg era
-reality era
What a loyal legend. No other wrestler has even come close to doing that.
Shawn Michaels also was in just about every era in the WWF/e... Even in the Attitude era he was not competing, but was active as commisioner
@Hidden Sword the attitude era didnt really start until few weeks after the montreal screwjob.
Doesn’t the Attitude Era technically start in mid 96 (King of the Ring and Austin 3:16), you had the snippets of stuff (Pillman and Austin home invasion, forming of DX). But Montreal is when it was in full swing?
@@tommyfraz. I think the "Attitude era" officially began when they debuted the scratch logo and they never looked back... Just like Benoit, they completely erased anything containing the classic neon logo from videos, magazines, merchandise, toys, video games, etc... WrestleMania 14 was the last ever PPV with the classic logo
Uhh, the WWWF/WWF/WWE existed before the Golden Era. Bruno and Bob Backlund would like a word.
If Nash told me the sky was blue, I would ask for a second opinion.
I do believe Taker told Vince about offers from WCW and control but he was never going to jump.
Try asking Scott Hall. Bwhahahahahah!
Nash's deal was genius. He guaranteed himself top 5 money. So the more top guys made, the more he made. So he actually was helping guys get bigger deals.
Was that the “Favoured Nations” clause?
Yeph and hall had it too
@@Danlows1 yea when Bret signed Hall & Nash got another raise
@@snellsman hell by then hall was rarely used full time he just show up from time to time Scott's ne of my all time favs
No the fuck he wasn't. Anyone who came in and made more, WCW had to bump Nash to the same pay scale for less performances.
The Undertaker has always said he had never even thought about jumping to WCW because the higher ups told him no one would ever pay to watch him wrestle and Vince McMahon gave him the opportunity to work and because of that Taker has been loyal to WWE.
Yeah keep believing that! Money talks and WCW NEVER had a problem paying ppl. That was ECW and TNA thing. It’s easy to shit on WCW now because they have been closed for 21 years now. Steve Austin, Taker, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn 🪐 would of ended up going back to WCW. Even Pillman was planning on going back.
Yeah....we should take Mark's word for things..
@@thesupervisor3270 None of them would have gone back especially Austin. Wwf made Austin a huge star and would have paid him anything to keep him.
@@laysdong The fact you call him Mark as if you know him is pretty pretentious. Regardless, what makes you think he’s not credible?
@@thesupervisor3270 naw, it’s easy to believe Taker wouldn’t have went back. WWE gave him his big break, and WCW were the original ones who didn’t see value in Taker. It’s not about money to everybody.
Kevin Nash says a lot of things.
And tears quads doing so.
right and he can't even keep his time line right. He keeps telling people for 20 years that Goldberg ruined the Finger poke of doom storyline because he smashed his fist into a car window when in fact that happened like 11 months later lmao
@@martifrey3357 lmaooo he has said that lie on multiple multiple shoots.
That heat in the summer of 92' really cooked Nash's brain.
@@Kramerica962 it didn't cook shit if anything that alcohol cooked his brain. They, him Hogan and Bischoff, love doing revisionist history but know they helped fuck up something good in regards to WCW
Her: He must be thinking of other girls
Me: Stephen P New Stephen P New Stephen P New Stephen P New Stephen P New Stephen P New Stephen P New Stephen P New
CALLLLLL STEEEEPHEEEEEN P NEEEEEEEWWWWW
@@davidderifield3820 if you need to sue!
@@TBrizzle01 an oooooouuuutlaaaw muuudshow or twwwwoooo!
He will sue her a$$ when she throws your stuff on the sidewalk for unrealistic cheating beliefs
Bruh 😆
"Nobody will pay to see you wrestle" - Ole Anderson
A WCW trainer Sarge said the same thing about Batista
That why he left WCW. Ole was booking at that time.
Ole was stuck in the wrestling of the 70's and wasn't looking to the future. And looking back, going to Vince in 90 was the best move Mark ever made.
Ole was long gone in the late 90s. So if wcw offered him enough money. I could see him "thinking" about going back.
@@MorganTyler86 I mean they ain’t wrong about Batista
WCW would have killed the Undertaker's career.....
Yes you right there I’m glad Undertaker stayed forever in wwe and Vince kept grow he’s character
Yes, instead Vince and Taker killed the character
Mark had his time with WCW. They didn't know what to do with him
@@num1shinfan Slightly different creative teams though wasn't there
Like, SIDS to a new born... With Russo on booking? Like fragile, Flower being planted At Chernobyl... Taker would of died physically and mentally... WCW would of poisoned him!
He also insists that “Goldberg smashing his arm in the limo window” killed the nWo fingerpoke angle, even tho it was a year and two nWo’s later
Lmaooooooo
I nearly choked on my lunch lmao. You’re so correct.
Your very right and the funny thing is that smarks, who supposedly hate nash, never call him out on his bullshit!
lol yep. He said the whole point was for Goldberg to have a heel factory to run through even though after the Finger Poke of Doom Goldberg started feuding with a washed up Bam Bam Bigelow. lol
@@mattthomas1442 Bigelow wasn't washed up.. He had just came off some of the best matches of his career in ECW as ECW Champion for awhile. He looked great over there. WCW just doesn't know how to do shit with anyone even when its right in front of their face
Its not covered here....but I did want to tell you the Undertaker is not a licensed mortician. He is not available to help you with dead loved ones.
Never knew that, thanks for clarifying that for us
What about an unlicensed mortician?
@@BbNaB No u would have 2 talk 2 HHH about that
Paul Bearer was in real life.
Paul Bearer was a real mortician though.... look it up.
There are pictures of Undertaker from the mid 90s dressed as how he would look as American Badass cause that's how he normally dressed lol. They even showed him on TV dressed that way a few times in '97 and '98. Nash sounds like he's making that up or repeating a lie someone else told him.
That was my first thought when I heard that. He was dressed like that back stage because that's how Mark dresses lol He still dresses like that in interviews or when he did the video call to Kane telling him he was going into the hall of fame even after retiring.
One of the occasions where he did that in ring shoot where he mentioned keeping the wolves from mcmahons door etc, the reason he was dressed normally was apparently because the airport lost his luggage. People lost their minds over it but apparently it was just an accident out with undertakers control.
He was talking about *on TV*
You marks have no sense of context and just wanna hate whoever the internet tells you to huh
@@Ayyem93 who’s hating on who exactly?
Kevin Nash: *says something*
History: That's bullshit.
I’m not sure if what Nash said is 100% accurate but I do remember hearing Taker was made an offer by WCW at one point but he never considered jumping to my knowledge.
Yeah even if he wasn't going to jump to WCW. He was smart enough to meet with them and get a offer to use it to get more money from Vince. Plus Nash would have been telling him to ask for more money then he (Nash) was making because if he did get more money and came to WCW then Nash's pay would have went up to what taker got
@@f.t.p.offroadforgingthepat2775 Yup, it seems like that was Nashes scheme right there. I’m sure he’ll admit to it, though. Also he would have made even more money having Taker in WCW to feud off of.
@@f.t.p.offroadforgingthepat2775 “Favored Nations, Brother!!"
@@rylewx He absolutely talks about it in almost every shoot he’s ever done lol
He definitely considered it in 97 or so because I remember reading about that. Oddly enough I think WCW was only kind of interested bc at that point, he was only over as the Undertaker and it wasn't a given he'd be as popular as something else. And you'd know the WWF would have filed a lawsuit if his new character even kinda resembled the undertaker.
Why would anyone believe a word out of Nash's mouth
Because he has a lengthy track record of being honest and a straight shooter regarding the business.
@@laysdong 😅😅😅
Ryan Hoffer He might be a straight shooter but when it comes to his honesty, take that with a grain of salt.
@@laysdong Nash has lied time and time again hard to believe a lot of what he says
@@laysdong LOL you must be a newbie
Nash LOVES the line of "HE was trying to get people more money"... Nash worked himself right out of a job at Wcw and him and his cronies booking .
Nash was FANTASTIC on the mic and that skill transferred to him being a great salesman at spreading BS. Trying to get people more money? Lol. Sure if they were part of his circle of friends. **** the rest.
The more I listen to him it seems that he wants his legacy to be the pied piper of leading wrestlers to being paid more.
@@tomvu1470
Context. When he wasn't the top guy and bret was, he urged bret to ask for more pay. He was the top card face. If he gets more, it gives more room for the mid carders to ask for more. But if he was fine getting paid less, it takes away leverage for those under him to get more.
At the wcw they set precedence for other wrestlers by getting the top guys paid big pay days. Then the mid carders have more wiggle room to ask for more pay.
@@DreadPages That's fair. Funny thing is, Vince in the end couldn't afford Bret's contract and gave the ok to Bret to to pursue other offers (WCW). Still, didn't Nash & his buddies bury guys that weren't in their 'inner circle' in the WCW? Or is that just an urban myth (I don't know, hence my question).
@@tomvu1470 most of that was Hogan. Hall and Nash were good as long as they got paid.
Kevin Nash tore his quad while watching this video
What a original comment.
No nash jump to wcw was the cause of his quad.
Taker was wearing black and a bandana as far back as when he was wearing the "phantom of the opera" mask. I know because I saw him in the parking lot at the arena of a house show in my area. The funny thing is at first I thought he was Kevin Nash. He was wear a black shirt, jeans, a bandana and sunglasses and his hair was tied back. I only figured out it was the Undertaker because I saw the tattoos on his arms.
Nash had tattoos on his arms at that time, too, though not to the extent of Taker.
You saw his Mickey Mouse tattoos and his 33 pound head? 😃
@@dhornjr1 classic rocky
Taker may be the one guy who never jumped ship, walked out of the company or departed to pursue other ventures during his entire WWF/E run. That man was truly Vince's rock for 30 years
Undertaker was at his prime (in my opinion) in 2007, the BEST undertaker when he won the rumble and wrestled Batista at mania 23 and became World champion.
He looked his best physically also at that time. Taker was shredded.
And he was already over 40 by that point
Yea thats my favorite undertaker. He was the face of smackdown and the taker batista rivalry was one of the best rivalries in the ruthless agression era.
Undertaker is like a comic book legend - everybody has their favorite versions of him. Some of those include smaller runs like the Ministry Taker and the ABA Taker. Never has a wrestler made that many changes to his overall character and have pretty much every version work. But of course with that comes people trying to take credit here and there for certain things. Aren’t we still figuring out who first put the hockey mask on Jason on the set of Friday the 13th Part 3? Lol
Well said I like all versions of taker as I remember his debut I was 3 years old and I remember watching it with my cousin and when they called him the deadman I thought he was actually dead funny thing is when I played in your house in the arcades and he threw tombstones at people made me laugh
So basically Mark Calloway is the opposite of Ed Leslie.
My favourite version is the retired version
Funny you should mention, Taker being a comic book hero. He once had a mini series!
I loved big evil, but I was also 4 at the time lol
Heel Bikertaker was an Amazing if brief run.
Loved me some Big Evil/Booger Red
Yes. I liked that version alot better than the Ministry of Darkness Taker. But my favorite is the no selling 1990-94 Version.
I liked big evil over aba taker and the original and ministry in my opinion are the best
I think it's possible Taker had a conversation with Nash, and gave him the impression, that he was interested. Taker was probably just exploring his options, and planting some seeds. Much like Orton did, during his contract negotiations, awhile back. The boys work everyone, including the other boys!
Naw Taker wouldn't even give the impression, Taker left WCW with the assistance of Paul Heyman because he was sick of how the company was being run. Case in point Kevin Nash always told people he was in charge when he only had leverage, which turned the backstage into a toxic atmosphere.
@b s "As much as I was unhappy with our overall creative, and we were struggling, and it was like, it got worse and worse and worse, and yeah a lot of guys were calling me. I was talking when Kevin Nash was there, you know, like, 'Man, I'm pretty sure, you know, get you some pretty big cheese if you wanna come down and do this thing."
You are right, he did receive the call, he decided to stay.
@@Peachy_Tiger Years later and now we know wwf was just as bad as wcw in some respects. Sad stuff.
This seems most likely to me, that Nash got worked by Taker, at least regarding his willingness to jump ship. But he was willing to entertain WCW offers since they could be used as leverage in contract negotiations with Vince.
That's like contract negotiations 101: always seem willing to walk away and get as many offers as you can so that if there's somewhere you prefer they can offer to match you.
No...the most possible thing is that Nash is totally making it up like he does with a lot of things. Had he said 1997..maybe evne 1998, then MAYBE. But NO ONE would have considered jumping to WCW in the end of 1999. Not unless they were in their 40s and were retiring within a couple years. By September 1999, the war was over. WCW lost. And everybody knew it.
I did hear from an interview with Taker that he was offered a deal from WCW in like 97 or something. Whether Nash got him a deal or not wasn't mentioned, but there was enough money offered that Taker considered jumping back, but considered he couldn't take the Taker gimmick with him, and he would quickly get lost in the shuffle like Bret did, so he resigned with WWF. He made the right decision both then and in retrospect
I thought the bad ass character was really over actually. Despite the old school character also being really over. In my opinion I don't think he lost any muster or star power
american bad ass was cool when he debuted in 2000 but imo by 2002 it was meh. The Deadman vs nature boy ric flair at wrestlemania 18 would have been a much more wow match than ceo ric flair vs american bad ass. I wanted the nature boy ric flair with a new 4 horseman vs the deadman at mania 18. Too bad we got what we got instead.
@@cobrakaiisback4709 I think more than anything questionable booking turning Taker heel was what killed his momentum more than anything. Even when he came back originally he still had elements of the biker character mixed in with old school and the fans lapped it up
@@alexanderanderson6605 I loved heel Big Evil just wreckin dudes
when he lost the Limp Bizkit music, and turning face summer 2002 killed his character. just plodded along after that. new Deadman became a thing because they started to aggressively push the WM streak thing. it was a new way to market the character then.
He was over. He didn’t lose any muster or star power.
If Nash told me the grass is green, I’d ask for a second opinion.
Be honest....Taker would never have gone to WCW in the 90s. He had too much pull in the WWE, even at that time.
Kliq had huge pull but still went. Not saying he would have but paychecks mean more than 'pull".
@Bryan Robinson And Bret tried to go in 1992 too.
Could have seen it in 1996/1997 when WWF were the number 2 promotion, pay wasn't great & WCW was a walking ATM for big names. Sure as hell wasn't happening in 1999.
I could’ve believed he might’ve jumped when he took that break till he came back as the American bad ass but probably looked at how they handled Bret Hart he was saying screw that and Undertaker reinvented himself and he said himself he wanted to give that ministry of darkness taker a break which I loved it but he won me over as this bad ass biker I could be wrong did he wanted to go by his real name as the biker character
@@Hi-kq1vi I could see it happening in 1999 as I've heard that Taker hated the minestry gimmick. But sure as hell wouldn't ever happen by 2000.
Nash has that vibe where he’s just looking for the next mark 24/7
And he gets em hook line and sinker with you "internet fans"
I always thought undertaker wouldn’t jump ship back to WCW because they treated him badly when he was there originally.
And his friends not treat and use right like Bret Hart!
It's fairly common to entertain offers from competing companies without letting on that you have no real intention of accepting.
Ole Anderson even went as far to say "no one is gonna pay money to come see you wrestle". But, i would say that Taker got the last word on that because Mark went on to a hall of fame worthy career.
Money talks though. Nash got treated worse and he still went back.
@@apr8189 oddly Ole was right nobody wanted to see Mean Mark wrestle. The undertaker gimmick was a one in a million shot . Nobody would have thought it would last.
Ministry Undertaker should have lasted a lot longer if it wasn't for his groin injury
I don't see how.... He did so much that the next step in the ministry would be straight up killing people
ministry of darkness undertaker was the best version of undertaker I agree.
@@cobrakaiisback4709 it's my favourite version too. His theme song in the summer of 98 was the best he had- absolutely badass
@@realninjaent544 on live tv lol ah the late 90s
I liked the 2 99 ministry themes and the corporate ministry theme ministry started really in late 98 he was mentioning it before he disappeared till early 99 when he turned Dennis knight into mideon
Omg imagine how badly they'd misuse him in Dubya See Dubya. 🤦
I remember when Mark wrestled in WCW in 89-90. And hearing about what Ole Anderson said that nobody would pay money to see him wrestle ever should tell you everything about the booking in WCW back then. I'm glad to see Taker have the hall of fame career he went to have with WWF/WWE
He'd likely be given a peeping tom gimmick and forced to don the name "Underwear Taker"
Undertaker became the American Bad Ass in May 2000, by which point the Monday Night War was all but over.
I Remember, I think it was TAKER who said something like, the Best thing about putting THE DEADMAN Aside, and being American Badass was the BIG COMEBACK of THE DEADMAN!!!!! So once He Comes Back, it's a BIG POP for the Fans!!!... Not His Exact Words, but something like that.
I heard Undertaker say he did contemplate going back because he wasn’t happy with the WWF’s raunchy style. But he said the more he thought of it the more he realised he just couldn’t do it. “How could i go” he said
I loved the American Badass gimmick.
His big evil was awesome too.
The ministry was before he became the american bad ass. I think what jim was referring to after the american bad ass but before the deadman return was the big evil era
I love Corny and The Great Brian Last...best podcast out there
It's in my top 3 with Hardcore History and Last Podcast on the Left
So funny this just came up, apparently this actually was true. He said Nash said he could get him a big money offer and while the money was tempting, he never forgave WCW for saying he couldn't draw money and still had that chip on his shoulder
"So there is this guy named Nolan Ryan and he has a Fast ball" - Kevin Nash
what a fricken jerk, huh?
*sips wine from glass*
Nash: I tried getting my quads more money.
🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂
“Well, he’s, he’s got, he’s got two pitches!”
As if Vince would do a 'favour' to his opposition, and suffer huge loses as a result of doing so.
Right. That makes absolutely no sense.
He was saying he was allegedly doing *taker* a favor.
You know, how he did Bret a favor by letting him negotiate that multimillion dollar deal while still under contract?
*Fuckin marks*
God the Steven P New plugs are hilarious.
The Steven P New song is my ringtone
I came back here just for that!🤣🤣🤣
No Kevin Nash was trying to get himself paid. His contract stated nobody coming in could make more than him but everybody he brought in he made more money.
Undertaker got to really show off his mic skills when he became the American Badass and then Big Evil!
I thought the Ministry of Darkness era was leagues better than Biker. It was a great twist to bring the character to a more "grounded reality" by having him be someone that bought into his character so hard that he actually began thinking he was basically a God among men and created a cult in his wake. I still think those few months when he'd abduct people and hold ceremonies or burn his totally-not-a-Cross on front lawns of people he'd feud with was great shit.
Sameeeee but he started looking demon-possessed outside of the character as well.
I liked biker undertaker honestly
I wouldn't believe Kevin Nash if he told me my entire name on my birth certificate!
You can just hear Last gearing into the ad as soon as he starts talking... ✌️
"New Coke" was the best marketing scheme/scam in the history of advertising! Total genius.
I'm sure in alone in this but American badass Taker is my favorite point in his career
same here. Never cared for the cartoonish deadman.
I liked it 2
his heel run after Survivor Series 2001 was too short, I think it only lasted about 6-7 months. he was awesome then. Badass gave him the ability to talk like a human being and he had the trash talk heel thing down very well.
I don't doubt for a moment that Nash asked 'Taker about switching. My problem is with the timing. American Badass was 1999/2000 when WCW was flushing itself down the toilet. At that point there was no chance he would move, or that Nash would still be trying.
Yeah, sure UT was jumping in late 1999-when it was obvious WCW was in the toilet & WWF had been kicking its ass for 18 plus months. Not only was he a headliner on a huge salary, but he was no doubt getting insane residuals from merch, home video releases etc, something WCW was hopeless at marketing. Sure he was going there to job to Hogan, Nash etc as Mean Mark.
1999 WCW, the only people wanting to jump to WCW in 1999 were ECW wrestlers who needed money to buy food.
My favorite Undertaker was the Big Red Evil gemick . That program with Austin was almost to good . From Austin ducking Taker , too Taker kicking down his dressing room door taking his title and dipping his Red Man . Real classic wrestling you just needed in your life .
I actually really liked the American Badass gimmick for Taker! He started cutting great promos during that time. Before that the only promo you got from Taker was "Rest in peace "
Kevin Nash blew a quad when he made this accusation
I think it would have been interesting if Undertaker became the American Badass in WCW, and came back to the WWF as the Deadman.
Yes, Undertaker was going to jump ship from a company that was about to go public and couldn't make merch fast enough to fill demand to one whose buy rates and ratings were in a free fall.
*who was also known to pay much more money than the other company
@@Ayyem93 If you're referring to WCW, by 1999/2000 they weren't really paying more than the WWF. There's a reason no top guy jumped from WWF to WCW after 1999.
@@MichaelSmith-fq6hz maybe not to any old guy, but they were bound to multiple multimillion dollar contracts at that time and I'm SURE that if they had Undertaker trying to jump *those wallets would've opened right up*
Kevin Nash makes up more headlines than he blows his quads.
I love how Jim will say "bla bla bla" in mid sentence and I continue to follow along like nothing happened
I love when Jim says, "and et cetera".
I personally loved the American badass and big evil. It fit the time period perfect
Jim Cornette should be in the WWE HOF Class of 2022 PERIOD.
Lotta people love the Biker Taker. I especially liked the Big Evil phase, especially when he was a bully heal.
Every time Kevin Nash runs his mouth about things he doesn’t know about he tears a quad.
😴
So..
Not very often
*Makes sense actually*
Undertaker was injured in late 99 early 00 and didn't come back till May of 00 where he debuted the American Badass character. So let's see in early 00 Taker had the choice of being a top guy and continuing to feud with The Rock, Austin etc. infront of sold out shows every single night and PPVs drawing monster buyrates or go to WCW which couldn't draw 2000 people to a show and were on their last legs. Why on Earth would he even consider that? The answer is, he wouldn't! Perhaps he thought about it a couple years prior when WCW was kicking ass and Nash has his timeline screwed up but I doubt it.
If Nash is genuinely under the impression Undertaker was "close" to coming to WCW in '99/2000, safe bet is Taker was merely negotiating money to get a better deal with Vince. Nothing I've heard about Taker being unhappy with WWF creative makes any sense during that timeline. He had two world title runs between 1997 and '99 and was involved in some degree with ten PPV main events with Austin and also the highest cable rating for a match in wrestling history on Raw the night he dropped the title back to Steve (June 28 '99). How the hell would anyone not named Bret Hart be unhappy with creative?
Him wearing street clothes on camera in '99 wasn't the first time we'd seen that, and WCW was getting smashed in the ratings by then. No way UT gives up the Undertaker gimmick to become Mark Calaway in a dying company. The only way I could conceivably see that is Taker has talked about how he considered retirement after that '99 injury. If WCW was offering substantially more than Vince, he could've gone there for a big contract on his way out of the business, and could've skated by without doing too much physically till he cashed out. I just don't see it though.
Big evil around 02 was greatness
I heard Undertaker state in an interview just recently that he did consider going to WCW but he decided not to
I think Taker was smart enough to realize that he had an opportunity in WWE now that there was a "big man" vacuum and capitalized on it. He became a really big fish in a big pond instead of another fish in a medium-sized pond.
It would’ve had to have been an *INSANE* amount of money to get him to even consider leaving WWF. It’s plausible, because Nash could’ve well talked Bischoff into making the offer (and Nash & Hall had favored nations, they’d get a big raise, too
Nash's move list:
Elbow
Big Boot
Hair Flip
By the time the Undertaker started doing the American Badass in May of 2000, WCW had less than a yr left of being in business
Pretty sure WCW went out of business a while before 2020 bud 😂👍
@@userjim83 I meant 2000. Forgive my typo.
@@johnwade7963 I know man, funny tho 😂👍
By the time Taker went with the badass routine WCW was on life support. Why would he switch when WWF was kicking WCWs ass in 2000.
Undertaker fit wwf like a glove. I wasn't a wwf fan but I believe taker in WCW would have been like sting and stieners in wwf they wouldn't know what to do with him.
Especially since the "Undertaker" character wouldn't have went with him.
They didn't know what to do with him when he was actually in WCW.
@@ferox965 Honestly Mean Mark Callis wasn't going to be a top draw as that gimmick he was used perfectly as teddy long and Paul E Dangerously henchman.
WCW blew a lot of money on Bret and did nothing with him. They would’ve fumbled Undertaker, too. I don’t know why Vince paid Shawn so much not to go to WCW, they would’ve fucked up with Shawn as well.
@@JM1993951 That and Shawn couldn't wrestle at the time.
Guys; when you realize if Taker had gone to WCW as some Hell's Angels type shit, he would have just jobbed to Goldberg at some point in 98-99.
I loved the ABA, Big Evil, etc Undertaker. Was kinda sad to see him go back at WrestleMania 20, but mostly because of his moveset at the time with submissions and Last Ride.
I remember WWE did a sort of angle where they made it look like Undertaker was getting mad and ready to jump. I think it was a point he was taking off a bit of time and they just wanted people talking. I wish I could remember exactly when it was, but I think it was before the Ministry and ABA stuff.
I want to say it happened during his feud with Mankind and months before his summerslam 98 match with Austin. Undertaker didn’t turn heel and form the ministry of darkness till October 1998. Then the ministry kicked off fully Royal Rumble 1999.
Vince McMahon is a genius for seeing what he could make of the Undertaker. Before he went into that role he was trying to be the loud type of character but that didnt really suit him with Mean Mark and all that stuff. Vince knew that Marks suttle aggression and that calm like demeanor would fit with him and he would make it his own which he did. Vince for many years knew how to push stars but now he cant seem to find any that break the mould.
“I was so frustrated with our creative direction,” Undertaker said. “We had a bunch of really goofy characters and then WCW was down there doing real angles, and it was common knowledge that they basically opened up the checkbook. I had to hear guys talk about the money that they’re making and know you’d be able to write a pretty big check and stay at home most of the time. So, those thoughts were there, but when it really got down to it, I just can’t. Obviously I’m not the best business man, but something inside of me said ‘You can’t leave here.'”
Undertaker continued, “After him giving me an opportunity, and what the other guys had said to me, and Undertaker happened and was off and running, I can’t leave. My loyalty to him for giving me that opportunity was more than the short-term cash I could’ve [gotten] by going back down to WCW.”
I loved the American Badass gimmick it fit taker for the Atitude Era with driving down the bike during his entrance. Fresh coat of paint and I believed taker enjoyed it. Plus that fkn rollin theme song is lit. I love his WM 17 entrance.
Aba taker is my least favorite still liked it though the original and ministry are my favorite as I do ministry undertakers beard style all the time
American Badass look was Mark Calloway s regular civilian dress style OUT of the ring in real life .. I saw this when I met him spring 1998 , n several other WWF wrestlers MSG backstage under the stage Locker rooms were adjacent / shared baby faces n heels .. IDK what others say but Cornette s right American Badass was Mr . Calloway REAL !!!!!
Nash telling stories, fiction should be on his shoot interview captions
There's an alternate universe somewhere that has Undertaker actually suing Nash for tricking him into going back to WCW.
The American Badass persona was after the Attitude Era, plus I think it freshened him up and gave him an extra few years on his career.
American Badass was during the Attitude Era, he debuted at Judgment Day 2000.
Kevin Nash was full of shit on this one. Undertaker himself has said many times that he had zero intentions of jumping ship because Ole Anderson told him that no one would pay to see him wrestle.
I liked the American badass gimmick.
That was my favorite version
Undertaker said Nash did come up to him but Undertaker had no interest in leaving. He said he knew where he stood with WWF. And even though he didn't always agree with the direction the company was going he was not going to WCW because they told him no one would pay to see him Wrestle. Eric Bischoff even said Undertaker was one he didn't even try to get to WCW because he knew he was loyal to WWF. And even though there were different people in the office then when he was in WCW. He said he would of stayed with Vince even if the ship went down.
Yes I'm sure 2000 WCW was a great draw for Taker haha.
I had Kevin nash sign a bottle of Somas once.
You are a fucking legend good sir
Hope Jim's feeling okay he has a nasty cough there 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
The Undertaker has always been my favorite the biker Undertaker and ministry of darkness i was never a fan of. To me Black and gray and Black and Purple Undertaker is what i think of and loved he was a force of nature him and Paul Bearer was a Amazing Duo
I love how Jim always manages to reference Vince Russo “Shit stain” lol
Who?
I don't believe for one second that Taker would have returned to WCW in 2000, especially knowing what bad shape it was in at that point.
Didn't he turn into the biker gimmick after Mick Foley won the ratings War for WWF? Why would Undertaker leave for the losing side? I don't trust Nash or the clique with wrestling history at all.
Yeah it was even later after that. After Mick and the Rock had their feud and that stopped WCW from winning again, they went through the Ministry of Darkness, and it was another couple of years before he did the American Badass gimmick. At that point WWF, soon to be WWE, had been ahead in the ratings for a couple of years straight. You are right, there is no way he would have left for a sinking ship.
@@Speculativedude I just found Nash comment to be so disrespectful, like he's taking credit for the biker gimmick. Nash is so delusional, he exposed the business, and he really tries hard to tell people he was just as important to wrestling as the Rock😐
It was the tail end of the Wars in 2000. WCW was bought out 2 years later. By that time when he made the change, the War was pretty much over
@@lilkenny83 that's what I thought, I remember Thq switched the license on n64 video games from wcw to wwf. Even they knew who was winning.
Misistry Undertaker is the best iteration hands down.
It’s easy to call B.S. now but in 1998/1999 I could see it being a possibility. Plus during the attitude era Undertaker was more of a 2nd rate wrestler, taking a backseat to Austin , Rock , & HHH . Hell even Cactus Jack, Angle and Jericho seemed to be getting more to do then Undertaker at the time .
But 98/99 was peak Ministry Taker. then he got hurt and was out for like 8 months until he came back in 2000.
If Taker would've gone to WCW it might've been "the straw that broke the camel's back". Rock, Austin, HHH weren't huge yet. WCW had Hogan, Savage, Flair, Nash, Hall, Giant, Sting, Steiners, Harlem Heat...
WWF had.... Doink the Clown ?
Undertaker coming out to Limp Bizkit was the lowest point in his career.
I'd like to think him coming out in snake skin pants at Survivor Series 2000 was the lowest
😕
I doubt Taker never thought about it. It's natural, at the end of the day, WWE is his job, he has a family and things were starting to look rough for WWE.
I have seen so many top employees threaten to quit or talk about quitting, but they didn't. Taker could've said something, he could've thought about it, but he obviously decided to stay. And that's what counts.
You know, you can think about cheating on your wife with the young intern, you can talk about thinking about cheating too with some friends, but if you never do it, it doesn't matter. We are all human beings, we are not perfect, our actions count, not our thoughts.