“Be Serious”: How The Undertaker Guided A Former WWE Champion Nail His Gimmick Perfectly

The Undertaker was a locker room leader during his active years in WWE. He also kept a close eye on a lot of WWE wrestlers to see what they were up to and would offer his advice on how to improve.

A former WWE champion once recalled how The Phenom’s words helped him during his run as champion.

Gregory Shane Helms, better known as ‘The Hurricane’, was a popular wrestler in WWE during the 2000s. His superhero gimmick was over with the crowd and the kids loved it.

But WWE did get away with the mask and the outlandish outfit and turned Helms heel.

Helms said how he wasn’t sure of the character change, but an interaction with ‘The Deadman’ changed everything.

What advice did The Undertaker give to Helms?

After turning heel Helms found it difficult to get heat since the change wasn’t much hyped.

He recalled how The Undertaker then helped him get his new act over with the crowd.

Helms said, “I remember one night I was back there and I can’t remember what happened, but something was supposed to make me angry. So I came out just holding the belt, and I wasn’t wearing it. And he goes if you’re gonna make that belt mean something he said, you have to wear it with pride. Make it your gimmick. Make it part of you.”  [0:22-1:37]

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He explained The Undertaker asked him to be serious about his new character.

He said, “he asked me to be serious. You know you got all these other guys, you were the character forever. Now you need to be the ass kicker, so you kick everybody’s ass out there and just really help me because it was hard for me to get heat.”

The advice proved to be great for Helms, who would become a successful cruiserweight champion. He defended his title regularly and had some memorable matches.

Shane Helms also became the longest reigning cruiserweight champion in WWE history. His heel character earned him praise from fans and he did his job to perfection.

This shows that not only did The Undertaker do great things for the business, but he also tried to ensure that everyone else within the company was on the same level.

And when one of the all-time greats offers you advice, you simply do what Helms did. Take it and run with it.

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