In the mid-1990s, professional wrestling underwent a seismic shift as WWE’s days of dominating the sport came to an end. This was because of Ted Turner, who decided to spend millions of dollars signing away WWE talent to come join WCW, while working only a fraction of the dates. With the acquisition of names like Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall, Turner hoped to put Vince McMahon out of business, and if it wasn’t for the creation of the Attitude Era, he would have succeeded. Throughout the bad times in WWE, a few names, like Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker, stayed loyal to McMahon, but the latter nearly left to join World Championship Wrestling in 1996.
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WWE Was Struggling To Keep Up With WCW In 1996
WWE Was Full Of Cartoonish Gimmicks And Storylines
- WCW became the hottest wrestling promotion when Hulk Hogan turned heel and formed the nWo.
- WWE created fake Diesel and Razor Ramon characters.
- The Rock made his WWE debut as a dull, smiling babyface.
WWE was the king of pro wrestling from the early 80s and into the 90s because it was like a comic book come to life, with larger-than-life colorful good guys taking on evil bad guys. However, that eventually got old, as seen by fans getting sick of the face of wrestling, Hulk Hogan. Fans wanted something more. Instead of being cartoony, they sought a more realistic product. WCW gave them that with the biggest heel turn of all time, when Hogan turned heel at the 1996 Bash at the Beach, forming the nWo with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.
Suddenly, wrestling was cool again, and hotter than ever, at least in WCW. WWE was slower to react. They had an impressive main event roster with the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and the Undertaker, but their midcard was filled with the most hilariously bad gimmicks, and even the introduction of a fake Diesel and Razor Ramon. The Rock may have made his debut in 1996, but with his big smile and dull character, he was far from the megastar he would become. In such a lackluster promotion, the greatest gimmick ever created, The Undertaker, felt out of place.
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The Undertaker’s Frustrations Caused Him To Consider Leaving WWE
Kevin Nash Talked To Taker About Joining WCW
- Mankind was one of the few new gimmicks to succeed in mid-90s WWE.
- WWE wasn’t sure the Undertaker would show up for his Boiler Room Brawl match at SummerSlam.
- The Undertaker didn’t forget that WCW had previously fired him.
WWE did create a few great gimmicks in the mid-90s, such as when they brought in Mick Foley and turned him into the terrifying masked Mankind. He became one of the Undertaker’s greatest rivals, but their feud was nearly short-lived. In an interview with Inside the Ropes, Foley spoke about how Taker nearly left WWE. In 1996, Mankind and Undertaker had a Boiler Room Brawl match at SummerSlam, but Foley was worried that the match wouldn’t even happen because Taker had yet to sign a new contract. Foley said:
“He was this close to going to WCW in 1996. We can only guess as to what character they would have turned him into there, right? The place where good gimmicks go to die.”
The Undertaker has backed up what Foley said, admitting in his own words that he contemplated leaving WWE for WCW. In a 2023 interview with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, Taker said that he thought about it:
“Yeah, kind of through Kevin Nash. We were in this period of time where we had, and this kind of funny for me to say, but we had all these ridiculous characters. WCW was doing all this cutting-edge stuff, but I think, to answer in the short, no. But did I think about it? Yeah. Did I have an opportunity to? Yeah.” (h/t Fightful)
The Undertaker told Helwani that he was frustrated with WWE’s stale creative direction of catering to kids. But he had reasons to say no. Not only was he loyal to his close friend, Vince McMahon, but Mark Calway hadn’t forgotten how he was treated when he was in WCW. Before his Undertaker days, Calaway spent some time in WCW as Mean Mark Callous, and even had a very young Paul Heyman as his manager. Still, the company didn’t believe in him and fired Calaway after not even a year. He told Ariel Helwani:
“That was appealing, but there was never… even though it was completely different people, it was WCW that told me that I’d never draw a dime in this business. As much as I used that for fuel, as open-minded as I think I am and as I’ve matured, you would think like, ‘Okay, don’t be stupid. Take the money.’ But that always hung out there.”
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The Undertaker Would Have Likely Failed In WCW
Mark Calaway Would Have Had To Give Up His Character Name
- The Undertaker would have failed if put in the nWo.
- He could have teamed up with Sting to fight the nWo together.
- The Undertaker probably would have ended up like Bret Hart in WCW.
It is fun to imagine what the Undertaker in WCW would have been like, especially in the summer of 1996, right when Hogan had turned heel and the nWo was taking over. How would Eric Bishoff have booked him? Hopefully it wouldn’t be as another of the growing members of the nWo, because Taker has always been a leader and never a follower. But imagine Undertaker being like Sting and taking the fight to the New World Order, or even working with Sting. We never did get that Undertaker vs. Sting WrestleMania dream match, but we almost had them in the same company at their peak, where they could have been friends or enemies.
Although it’s interesting to think about, it would have failed. Mark Calaway didn’t own the Undertaker gimmick or name. He would have had to give that up in WCW, becoming someone else. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall could give up their Diesel and Razor Ramon names and be fine, but as talented as Mark Calaway proved himself to be, he has never succeeded as anything other than the Undertaker. He sadly probably would have ended up just like Bret Hart, who left WWE for WCW in 1997. WCW never knew how to use him and wasted his talent. Can you imagine the Undertaker with a different name working episodes of Thunder as the United States Champion? Or worse, having to do storylines with Vince Russo in 1999 and 2000?
Thankfully, Mark Calaway believed in himself enough to stay where he was and be patient. The gamble worked. Today, the Undertaker is remembered as one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
