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Who puts that Who puts that on I'm not ooh.
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Hey, what's going on everybody for First We Feast I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by The Undertaker Mark Calaway.
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He's a seven-time world heavyweight champion and one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.
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His five-part docu-series The Last Ride is currently airing on WWE Network and on November 22nd he'll be giving his final farewell at Survivor Series.
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The same event where he made his debut more than 30 years ago.
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Taker, welcome to the show.
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Sean, man, how you doing brother? I'm doing great.
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I know that you're a Texas boy.
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How do you like your food? Do you like it spicy?
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Yeah, I like spicy food but I like it to have flavor.
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I'm just going to be straight up like you know, where I come from in my family we have uh crawfish boils and all that which you know, you got sausage you got all these shrimp and all these different things and it's spicy as hell but it tastes good.
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If it's got a flavor and it tastes good that's one thing but uh just drinking liquid kerosene I'm not uh Yeah, we'll see how this goes.
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You're probably going to start me out with a scorcher. No, no, no.
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No, we're not playing that game with you.
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We'll work our way there though. All right.
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I mean I don't know if you can see that.
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Is that Is that sufficient? That looks good to me. All right, man. You ready? I'm ready. Cheers. Cheers.
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That's actually pretty good. I'm actually hungry.
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So, it's really going to suck at the end of this thing, I'm sure.
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So, as someone who didn't break character for three decades, it's been really interesting to watch you pull back the curtain for the first time in your WWE docuseries and now in this recent run of interviews.
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I'm sure you've been asked this before, but has the experience of knocking down that fourth wall over the last year, has it been cathartic or mostly just disorienting?
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You know, it's it's a really great question.
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You know, I've been in the wrestling business for over 30 years.
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It'll be 30 years with WWE on the 22nd.
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But, I'm a notoriously old school guy.
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And, you know, talking about the business so openly, it's still to this day I I've kind of like should I I'm fighting that urge to you know, to clam up and not talk about it and force myself like getting tail stories, you know, and people are dying to hear this stuff.
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So, you know, that aspect it's fun, but just the old school the old school wrestler is is like, man, you should just go back, pull the curtain shut, and and tell everybody you're not home.
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But, so it's it's been a mix of both.
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It was such a serious character, but I do remember your appearances in particular on Regis and Kelly in the '90s.
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And, I'm curious, did you get a kick out of being on those daytime TV shows and just sort of growling and grunting through interviews? Absolutely miserable.
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Like, back then in those early '90s, I had I got no juice then, right?
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I'm just I'm just another one of the guys.
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And, when when the boss says, "Hey, we want you to go on Regis and Kathie Lee."
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You go on Regis and Kathie Lee.
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I remember the first time that we did the show, man, here she comes.
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She starts piping off and I'm just like Mhm. I I I hated it. I I did.
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I knew it was good for business, but for my character and for me personally, I was absolutely miserable.
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That's different from your traditional kind of sauces. That's good.
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Select stand-up comedians, the wrestling origin story is something that we obsess about on this show.
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What do you remember about performing under the name Commando in a league called Central Illinois Wrestling? Wow. Man, a lot.
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You've done some homework, brother. I'll give you this.
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You were the first person that's ever asked me that question.
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Kudos to you cuz I've answered a lot of the same questions over the last year.
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I'll I've answered the same question a lot. So, good for you.
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Um So, starving to death, I was making absolutely no money.
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But, I look back on those experiences and those times really fondly and never forgot them because it was a struggle.
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You know, cuz a lot of times guys get up to the show, they make a little you know, they get a little scratch and you know, they change, completely change.
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My dad gave me some great advice uh a long time ago.
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He goes, "The toes you step on on the way to the top are connected to the asses you're going to have to kiss on the way back down."
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So, you know, I'd like to I try to treat people the same as I treated them then, the way I you know, I try to treat them now, the way I treated them then and and still like remember what it's like to get those those miserable cramps, you know?
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That's got a little kick a little faster.
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I didn't even get all the way into the bite and I could already feel the heat.
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That's That's how it'll go.
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That's how it'll go going forward. Okay. I'm ready. I think.
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So, you're a true historian of professional wrestling and in hearing you speak candidly about those you've shared a locker room with, it's clear that you have a profound appreciation for the business.
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Who was the best technical wrestler you ever saw work? Technical, wow. Um Who?
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Tell you what, Arn Anderson.
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Arn Anderson is up there.
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He was so solid in every facet. Cut unbelievable promos.
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On just technical ability, I'mma go with Arn Anderson.
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Who would you say was the most impressive physical athlete that you ever saw? Brock Lesnar.
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You don't think a human being can move that fast at that size. He was a freak athlete. He really was.
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As someone who enjoys a good laugh, who was the most savage backstage prankster?
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Well, there's there's a level to to to pranksters.
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There you know, there I mean, you have to put You got to put Curt Henning up there as a all-time classic ribber. Um Who?
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Then you got the kind of ribs that you know, will start fights, which you know, like Mr. Fuji.
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You know, guys would like try and rib you back and it just escalate and escalate until people would like like I've really made a bad mistake because there's a there's a animal's head in my gear bag now.
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I mean, it's I mean, that's I mean, I I I won't get into details, but uh there there's some stories back regular people were to hear them, they would just like they'd be appalled at some of the uh some of the pranks, but Owen Hart, my goodness.
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Oh, man, God rest his soul, but what a ribber Owen Hart was.
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I know that this puts you on the spot and I don't want you to overthink it.
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I don't want you to think it over too much, but if a wrestling novice wanted a foundation of the best that there is in sports entertainment, can you give me four defining wrestling matches that you'd recommend they try to track down and watch on YouTube? Yeah, I think so.
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I would I would go with Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat.
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Any match between Ric Flair and Harley Race.
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A little bit of a egomaniac here, but I would put Undertaker and Shawn Michaels WrestleMania 25.
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Modern-day was the recent match between Edge and Randy Orton.
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Those are four that kind of encapsulates what we do at its at its highest level.
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It kind of sneaks up on you on the back end lets you know why the goat so angry. It kind of tricks you.
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You're like, "Oh man, that's good."
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And then uh Yeah, the goat kind of jumps up and kicks your nasty.
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So, Jim Ross dubbed you the conscience of the WWE and it's clear from listening to interviews with your peers in the business that you're revered not only as a wrestler, but also as a leader in the locker room.
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I don't know if this is true or not, so I guess I'll take it right to the source, but were you ever like a judge in a locker room kangaroo court where if like two wrestlers had beef with each other they would like come to like a more formal ceremonial thing.
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And then if maybe they lost the the the lawsuit against them or they lost the case against them, they'd have to like buy beer for the winner or something like that.
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Well, I take exception with the word kangaroo.
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I don't want this I don't want the smoke.
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I don't want I don't want any smoke. I don't want any smoke.
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You know, this is a virtual kind of deal and you feeling kind of brave, but uh wrestlers court No, no, I I tease.
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Uh yeah, you know, wrestlers court was kind of a way Now, sometimes it was really serious.
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It was a friendly way, a light-hearted way to kind of say, "Look, you need to check yourself because everybody's noticing it."
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You just don't get brought up to wrestler's court because you're going out and working your butt off every night and you know, you go on about your business.
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There's usually a pretty good reason to get brought up to wrestler's court.
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You know, they say you see it all the time, but we call it gimmick infringement.
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Where one guy will do another guy's move and uh you know, that that guys get hot and more so back in the earlier days than they do now.
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But, I mean, it used to be like if you did somebody else's move, yeah, there could be very well could be a scrap if you let it go too long.
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So, you know, you got to keep all that stuff in in check or it'll get out of hand real quick. That's good. Yeah, I like that, man.
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That's my favorite so far. Hey, we'll take it.
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All right, I'm going to take you to a very fun segment on our show called Explain That Gram where you do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context.
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And with you today, we have a theme.
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It's pictures with past Hot Ones guests.
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So, I'll show you the picture, you just tell us the bigger story.
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First things first, what do you remember about meeting fellow beer enthusiast Post Malone in Austin, Texas?
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Yeah, uh so that was the the start of my my IG career. It was right after that.
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I think that was my first post uh with Post.
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And it was crazy, a crazy wrestling fan.
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He was I mean, he started rattling things off.
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I think part of his life he was in New York, right? He grew up there.
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So, he had all that knowledge and then he's a Texas guy and he you know, he had that knowledge.
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So, he was really fun to talk to, but man, it was just fun.
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It was fun watching his face kind of light up getting to talk about wrestling and being a kid again.
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Uh so, real really really cool down-to-earth guy.
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Here you are face-off with Stone Cold Steve Austin.
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What do you think is your best match against Stone Cold?
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Probably the most memorable would be SummerSlam Highway to Hell.
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That was so cool to build up to that.
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It was in Madison Square Garden.
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You know, they had this big Highway to Hell build up and we were on all the buses, we're on billboards, we're everywhere.
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The match was okay, but the build-up and the hype around it was was awesome.
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I I damn near knocked Steve out that night.
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Inadvertently of all things, you know, my head hit him right in the chin and his eyes rolled like a slot machine.
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And it took a few minutes to get, you know, to get Steve back with us. But it was fun.
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Anytime you got a chance to work with Stone Cold, man, it was it was a good night.
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Here you are College Game Day supporting your Longhorns.
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Earlier this season we had Matthew McConaughey on the show.
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Have you ever had an on-campus running with McConaughey or anything like that? Oh, yeah.
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Saw him that night at the game against LSU.
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I think both of us were talking way too much smack.
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We just we were just really confident that Texas was going to beat LSU.
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Obviously, I'm glad since we lost that they went on to win the national title.
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But later that year McConaughey brought his kids down to the show in Austin and we actually sat backstage and talked for a while.
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Really laid-back Texas dude, you know, just as chill as can be.
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Say, man, you got to join?
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Be a lot cooler if you did.
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This one's going to be legit, I'm sure.
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That's how you eat a chicken wing, you don't tear it off with your hands.
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Not going to mention any names. Stone Cold.
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But uh anyway, that's how you eat a the wing.
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So, even against the rich history of entry music in wrestling, you arguably lay claim to the most recognizable walkout songs of all time.
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Your original funeral theme in the '90s was based on a piano piece by Chopin, but with sinister organs and chimes.
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What was the evolution of that first version, and was it made by WWE producer Jim Johnston? It was.
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Yeah, he he was man, he he had a long, long run with us.
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And um he's just a so creative.
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And and what was so good about him is is, you know, after he would put something together, you know, he would want your input on to on it.
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There was a time where there was actually a a really nasty guitar riff.
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As that character morphed and evolves, the gong at the beginning is so iconic.
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You know, I mean, everything has to start with that.
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And then you can tweak and add things to it as you go along, but uh yeah, Jim was Jim was really good.
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And and I enjoyed working with him uh and involved in evolving the entrance through the years.
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Yeah, and and even stylistically as things changed, you had walkout songs to Kid Rock, you had walkout songs to Limp Bizkit, Metallica, Johnny Cash.
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Looking back, which of your walkout songs outside of that original got the biggest pop from fans?
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You know, when I came out in Seattle for that WrestleMania, the Limp Bizkit they played me in live.
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I mean, that was that was that was pretty charged up.
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But I'd have to I'd have to go with Kid Rock's uh American Bad Ass.
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That was It was just so much energy with that song and, you know, with me calling myself the American Bad Ass, I mean, it just fit perfectly.
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The whole the lyrics, everything was just spot on. It's got bourbon in it? Yeah.
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That's all you had to say?
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Might have tricked me there.
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I went a little extra with it cuz she said it was bourbon. Oh, yeah.
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I'm going to probably regret that. Trapped you. Wow. You get it by the way. Yep.
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And the heat ain't far behind it. Still going in though. You must like it. I'm hungry, man.
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I'm hungry and I like bourbon.
15:45
So, you famously protected the Undertaker character to the point of turning down interviews and movie roles that could spoil the mystique.
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But, now that you've broken down the fourth wall, we want to fact-check some notable Undertaker folk tales.
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Fact or fiction, you wrestled in the 2010 Elimination Chamber with second-degree burns on your chest from an accident involving pyrotechnics? Absolutely.
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A couple of weeks prior, um, during one of my entrances, uh, you know, that bourbon's sticking around for a while.
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Um, my pyro bursts, they were getting them really close to me.
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I went to the pyro guy and I said, "Look, the pyro bursts when I'm at the edge of the stage, they needed me moved back a little bit."
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The pyro guy kind of blew me off about it and so, when the pyro comes up, I mean, it's on me, right?
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So, it forces me to turn to my right and as soon as I turn to my right, the right pyro bursts come up.
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So, I'm totally, just like my lips right now, engulfed in flame.
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I could see fire on my hat, you know, famously, the announcers were trying to He's, you know, he's so fired up to get in there.
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He's kind of running to the ring.
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No, I was on fire and I was trying to put myself out.
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You know, I was in the ring with with the Chris Jericho and, um, you know, he's got me in the He's got me in the Walls of Jericho where his my chest is completely flat against the mat, right?
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And he's He's just working me over, right?
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And he's pulling me and tugging me and this is my flip my burnt chest is just rubbing up against that canvas mat.
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And later that night, you know, I think I kind of went into a little bit of shock and you know, I don't recommend it. I I I really don't.
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Anybody's ever thinking about doing that for an entrance, don't do it. It's not good.
17:32
Is it true that Jim Ross once pitched a pay-per-view between you and Mankind?
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It was called a boiler room brawl and it was going to be live from Alcatraz.
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Do you have any knowledge of that?
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Yeah, we we Mankind and I had so many themed matches, boiler room brawl, hell in a cell, uh buried alive.
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We had you know, we were two characters that those matches really lent themselves to.
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Yeah, Jim Ross was always like, "Fact, you see you guys, you know, if you ever get to Alcatraz and the only way to win the match is to escape Alcatraz and you know, we just never could make it happen."
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Uh but I was always on board for that.
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I just thought that would have been the coolest thing ever to do.
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And then finally, fact or fiction, your mom scolded Shane McMahon when he punched you in the face and drew blood.
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My mom scolded a lot of people.
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I had to It got to the point I had to quit I had to quit bringing her to the to the shows when I'd go to Houston.
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I remember It is true, by the way. Yes.
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And she will cuss Triple H to this day.
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6'10, 320 lbs, I'm still the baby, right?
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I'm still her baby and she thinks she has to help me.
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It was WrestleMania in Dallas.
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That's where I wrestled Shane at in hell in a cell.
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So, she was exposed to everybody that she had seen on TV and I think she cut promos on just about everybody she didn't like. Very hot. Very hot. Oh, okay.
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You're not even You're not even going to try and lie about it.
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You're just telling me straight up. That is stupid. Very stupid. Why?
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I think for this show only.
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It tastes like a yak's ass on fire.
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Why would I It is this It is not even It's not even hit its peak yet. Still growing. Still growing.
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It's still It's small burning and it's it's just Yeah, it's uh Now there go the hiccups.
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Yep, I know those all too well. What?
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Who puts that Who puts that on the Ooh.
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I Out of out of Kansas City, if you're if you're if you're curious. That is brutal. Wow.
20:12
So, you've amassed a formidable collection of motorcycles over the years.
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If your garage caught on fire and you could only save the bike that means the most to you, which one would you save? Ooh.
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Um it would probably have been my uh my West Coast Chopper Jesse built for me.
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It was just amazing build, amazing bike.
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And uh that one or the or the very first bike that I bought once I got out of debt from getting into this business.
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That was kind of the first thing that I that I ever bought myself was a brand new Harley.
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In the famous book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the author writes, "It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top."
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Does riding have a spiritual transcendent dimension for you? Absolutely. Absolutely it does.
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It It's just especially like when you're on like if you're on like PCH or or someplace where you can just let you can just go and you're not having to worry so much about, you know, all the traffic and all the cars and you just get on the road and I'm not like a zen guy, but it it's I guess that's what I can equate it to.
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Everything kind of goes away and you're just right there in the moment.
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I'm loving what I'm doing right now and I wish it could last forever.
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My goal is actually not to drink the milk. Well, you know what?
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We're on that fast track because we only have two more to go and so far you haven't touched it.
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Are you ready to move on to the next sauce?
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It's the Chocolate Express from PuckerButt. PuckerButt.
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Well, I can tell you one thing, my butt is puckered.
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But if you want to be the boss, you got to use the sauce, right? That's what they say.
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Yeah, that's going to be stupid hot. Mhm.
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Well, while it builds I'll wind you up.
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It's going to take a minute, but I can feel it.
22:14
You know, Mike Tyson once said, "I was the youngest heavyweight champion of all time, but the most fun I ever had in the ring was with WWE."
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As a boxing die-hard yourself, what do you see as Tyson's lasting impact on professional wrestling as a whole?
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He gave I mean, he gave us an era of legitimacy.
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Uh because he was he was the most covered athlete in the world.
22:39
We had been getting our butts handed to us from WCW and you know, they were killing us everywhere.
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We finally we built our roster and it was it was absolutely the turning point uh of where we never looked back again. I mean, it really was.
22:53
I mean, we were on the fast track and it was it was probably one of the greatest eras ever in wrestling, in my opinion. But like dab.
23:05
Oh, this is going to be horrible, I think. Oh. Yeah. Mhm.
23:23
Strength to strength to strength here with the blast three.
23:25
But, it's okay because Taker, here we are at the final bell of our 10-round Hell in a Cell match with the Wings of Death.
23:32
And this weekend, you'll be giving your final farewell at Survivor Series, capping off a legendary career that spans more than three decades.
23:41
And one of the reasons I think that you've been such an iron horse in this industry is the razor-sharp understanding you have of your fans.
23:49
I've heard you say that there are guys who can do phenomenal things athletically, but never have a successful career because they can't identify with their audience.
23:57
If Sunday's bout is indeed your last, how do you want those Undertaker fans to remember you as a wrestler?
24:06
I think the biggest thing that I want people to understand is is how much they uh how much they were so instrumental in getting me through so much and how much it how important it was to me to get out there and perform.
24:23
I'll look back and and say that I never phoned anything in.
24:29
I gave everybody everything that I had and always thought about the people that were coming to see me and they were paying their their hard-earned dollars sometimes in really really rough times to come see me perform and and see us perform.
24:41
So, I just want people to understand how important it was for me to be The Undertaker and give people that little bit of time to escape the real world and and be able to do it for so many years and that goes back to the fans for keeping me relevant and and keeping me near and dear to their hearts.
25:00
I just It was never lost on me, and means the world to me.
25:06
What a ride it has been, and speaking of wild rides, look at you taking on the Hot Ones Gauntlet.
25:12
Had a goal of no milk, and I see that those glasses are still full to the brim.
25:17
Now, there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you, Undertaker.
25:24
This camera, that camera, probably just the one that you're looking at.
25:26
Let the people know what you have going on in your life.
25:30
Well, we're we're moving into Survivor Series, which will mark my 30th year with the WWE. The final farewell.
25:37
It's going to be a phenomenal pay-per-view.
25:38
If you haven't checked out The Last Ride, it's me bearing my soul, and uh and and just giving you everything I think that people have wanted to see for so long.
25:51
So, that that's the goal, man.
25:51
We're trying to get to try to get to that 30-year anniversary, and uh see WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
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AS PAINFUL AS IT WAS, I REALLY ENJOYED THIS, MAN. It was a good time. Thank you.
26:06
This is getting re-gifted.
26:10
The Da Bomb is getting re-gifted to somebody. Oh my gosh.
26:21
Hey, what's going on, Hot Ones fans?
26:22
This is Sean Evans checking in to say thank you so much for watching today's episode, and I have an exciting announcement.
26:27
A very exciting announcement.
26:29
Feast your eyes on the Hot Ones Reebok collab.
26:32
I am so excited for this collaboration.
26:36
You have the Club C, you have the Classic Leather, and of course, the Shaqnosis.
26:43
Now, you can do the Shaq face in style, the way it was intended.
26:46
Let me walk you through my favorite features on each one.
26:50
First off with the Club C, I love that it's the color of milk.
26:53
On the back, you have this cool Hot Ones logo with the Scoville scale, and I love how the Reebok logo it's kind of like the lower third that we put with guests.
27:04
That is our mild, our milk.
27:04
And then up next, we have the Classic Leather. It's our medium.
27:09
It has the Scoville scale along the side.
27:12
I like the Scoville scale on the tongue.
27:13
It comes in at 198,300 Scoville units.
27:18
1983, the year the Classic Leather was dropped, and that's what I love about these shoes.
27:25
Everything has such purpose, right down to the five wings on the bottom of the sole.
27:29
Wear them both, and you have a full Hot Ones gauntlet.
27:31
And finally, the Shaqnosis. Classic Shaqnosis shoe. Hot Ones on the back.
27:39
Cranked all the way up to 11, just like the Shaq episode.
27:41
And then you have the Scoville scale colorway. Different colored laces.
27:46
The Hot Ones Reebok collab. We are so, so proud. Reebok. com. Reebok. com. Reebok.
27:57
com to get your hands on the Hot Ones Reebok collab.
27:59
Even the box has milk and wings all over it. Hot Ones Reebok.
28:05
Put them on your feet, baby.