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“He Accepted Vince’s Explanation”: 20 Years After ‘Crucifying’ Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker’s Genuine ‘Concerns’ About Controversial Segment Came to Light

Published Jun 3, 2023 | 2:15 PM EDT

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The Undertaker is one of the most well-known and respected WWE legends ever. Why was that? Simple fact because The Deadman was just a mesmerizing in-ring performer. His phenomenal character stood the test of time and underwent various incarnations through its span of thirty years. Out of all of them, his Lord of Darkness was his most evil form that did everything dark.

Moreover, who could forget Taker crucifying his opponents to show his ruthless side? But nearly 20 years later, some light was been shed on Taker’s mindset regarding that, taking the example of his famous crucifixion of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

What did The Undertaker think about the whole Crucifixion angle?

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The Undertaker was known to evolve his character at every major stage of his WWE career. During the mid-1990s, Taker embraced even more demonic roots, becoming the evil gothic “Lord of Darkness” and aligning himself with Paul Bearer.

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Furthermore, The Phenom was involved in a heated feud with the poster boy of the Attitude Era, Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1998. The rivalry saw a particular segment when The Undertaker had Austin trapped on his symbol and hoisted up in the arena. This crucifixion attempt became a memorable segment in WWE history.

However, some two decades later, WWE legend Bruce Prichard has spilled some beans regarding that. During an edition of Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard, he revealed The Undertaker had his own concerns regarding the segment. He expressed his concerns about doing the segment to WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon.

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Pichard said: “I think he brought up the concerns. Yeah, you know, everybody brought up the concerns everybody brought up to you know, they’re gonna say we’re doing a this is crucifix and that we crucified him. Everybody’s gonna say that. And Vince had his argument. It’s not this, this is a symbol, and this is how we’re going to present it, and we’re not going to present it in that way.”
He continued, Okay, I’ll do it. But Undertaker, you know, was a company guy, and he got it. He accepted Vince’s explanation and went through it and did it to did it all the way man. So did Austin. 
Despite his concerns and listening to McMahon’s approach with the segment, Taker and Austin went ahead with the plan.

The Undertaker led a demonic faction at the time

During this time that The Undertaker was crucifying WWE superstars, he had formed a highly demonic and destructive army of wrestlers. The faction came to be known as the “Ministry of Darkness.” He had recruited stars like JBL, Farooq, Mideon, Viscera, and The Brood. Moreover, much like the crucifying angles, The Deadman was a part of some of the darkest moments in the history of WWE.
Those included abducting Vince McMahon‘s daughter, Stephanie, attempting to marry her in a dark wedding, attempting to murder Steve Austin, and choking up Big Boss Men by hanging atop Hell in a Cell.
Seeing the fact that The Undertaker was concerned about doing the crucifying angles, and he did all the above segments is bizarre. However, Taker’s concerns are highly indicative of the fact that he was a company man from the very start.
Do you agree with The Undertaker’s concern regarding the RAW segment back then?

Written by:

Nikunj Walia

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Edited by:

Sherjeel Malik