{"id":111959,"date":"2021-01-23T13:10:56","date_gmt":"2021-01-23T19:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=111959"},"modified":"2021-01-23T13:10:56","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T19:10:56","slug":"heydorns-take-its-time-to-see-a-better-undertaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/23\/heydorns-take-its-time-to-see-a-better-undertaker\/","title":{"rendered":"HEYDORN&#8217;S TAKE: It\u2019s time to see a better Undertaker"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3435989049\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Undertaker, Undertaker, Undertaker. Must we do this?<\/p>\n<p>Look, let\u2019s just get it out of the way early. The Undertaker is an all-time great in the history of pro wrestling. The gimmick stands the test of time, spanned many different eras of the business, and drew significant dollars throughout each. The in-ring portion of the career is a success with legendary matches against premiere talent like Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, and others. The longevity of the act was unmatched at 30 years as a main event level piece of business. Facts are facts and Undertaker\u2019s full body of work only leads to one place. He\u2019s an icon.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/07\/HeadshotHeydorn2020_180.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-102397 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/07\/HeadshotHeydorn2020_180.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"210\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In recognizing the need to develop and open up the Undertaker act to insure checks keep clearing, Mark Callaway has smartly lifted the shroud of secrecy around his character that he diligently protected while he was a full-time wrestler. The result? He\u2019s talking more. Thus far, he\u2019s less of an icon in that role.<\/p>\n<p>This week on the Joe Rogan podcast, Undertaker hopped on his trusty motorcycle and ran over the company that he helped build. How? Well, he talked about today\u2019s product being soft, pined for the era of wrestling where men were men, referenced with what felt like an overly dramatic eye roll current stars playing video games in the locker room, and played a general ode to the good \u2018ol days when he was running the show.<\/p>\n<p>The first thing Undertaker should do is look in a mirror. He was on said WWE product that he deemed too tough to watch just two months ago. And guess what? His appearance didn\u2019t take the overproduction out of the show. The WWE ThunderDome entrance and theatrics played out like a movie. If the last outlaw himself can\u2019t shatter the corporate slog of a soft WWE product, who can?<\/p>\n<p>Right now? Nobody. And that\u2019s by design. The WWE brand rules all and the Undertaker should understand that fact better than he led on during the interview with Rogan. Current stars in WWE could be the roughest and manliest group of manly men on earth. They could be men who chew beer bottles and rip shots of Cuervo for breakfast and they still wouldn\u2019t be put into a position to outdraw the brand. Prime Undertaker plopped into the corporate wrestling environment that WWE cultivates would have a ceiling like the current crop of stars seem to have now.<\/p>\n<p>Video games have nothing to do with it. Men being men have nothing to do with it either. It\u2019s a different time and WWE is a different company. The stars look and act different because the company does. Oh and what about the women?<\/p>\n<p>Now, as for \u201cthe good old times,\u201d let\u2019s have 12 Jack on the rocks, and talk memories stuff &#8211; there is a time and place for that. The eras that Undertaker alluded to in his comments are riddled with good and bad. The unscripted, raw nature of a product rooted in stars that could draw money? Good. The wrestling star life in the fast lane with 300 days a year on the road, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and other forms of dangerous debauchery? Bad.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1374111791\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Undertaker needs to balance that equation and advocate for the good of those times. Coach talent and lean on leaders of the WWE where he can in an effort to get back to the raw feel of wrestling that truly is the most effective. At the same time, he can acknowledge where his era had it wrong and put over the stars of today for learning from the tragic mistakes of those during his time to get it right. Those stars aren\u2019t \u201cless than\u201d because they\u2019ve properly adapted to have a safer, longer, and more profitable career.<\/p>\n<p>The Undertaker will be a WWE ambassador for life. \u00a0He can be effective in that role, but if par for the course continues to be this week\u2019s interview with Rogan, he won\u2019t be. The man is a legend of the business and he has a lot to give that business even if he\u2019s not giving it inside the squared circle. He\u2019s got equity, but that equity can dry up fast when you stand up for the wrong things.<\/p>\n<p>So, again, Undertaker, must we do this?<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s not. The wrestling world doesn\u2019t need an exact replica of the crusty old man that he remembered seeing when he first walked into a wrestling locker room like he told Rogan. It\u2019s time to see an Undertaker that\u2019s better than that.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK&#8217;S TAKE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/17\/heydorns-take-impacts-hard-to-kill-ppv-an-unexpected-fun-watch\/\">HEYDORN\u2019S TAKE: Impact\u2019s Hard to Kill PPV an unexpected fun watch<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2701576046\"><div id=\"pwtor-233250803\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Undertaker, Undertaker, Undertaker. Must we do this? Look, let\u2019s just get it out of the way early. The Undertaker is an all-time great in the history of pro wrestling. The gimmick stands the test of <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2021\/01\/23\/heydorns-take-its-time-to-see-a-better-undertaker\/\" title=\"HEYDORN&#8217;S TAKE: It\u2019s time to see a better Undertaker\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,6454,53],"tags":[337,71],"class_list":["post-111959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-heydorns-take","category-opinion_stafftakes","tag-undertaker","tag-wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/UndertakerTB_3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111959"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111961,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111959\/revisions\/111961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}