The Undertaker: I Thought About Leaving WWE For WCW, I Was Frustrated With What We Were Doing

The Undertaker comments on whether he was ever tempted to leave WWE for WCW earlier in his career.

The Undertaker comments on whether he was ever tempted to leave WWE for WCW earlier in his career.

Before he was “The Deadman”, Mark Callaway was a young wrestler who was making a name for himself, and he eventually landed in WCW as “Mean” Mark Callous. He was featured as a member of The Skyscrapers alongside Dan Spivey. When the team broke up, Callous was paired with Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman). When his contract was coming up, after he asked for a raise, company management famously told him that no one would pay to see him wrestle. Callaway ultimately left the company and signed with WWE (or WWF at the time).

During the Monday Night Wars, WCW defeated WWF for 83 consecutive weeks, and Vince McMahon’s company went through a number of challenges, including the steroid trial. Despite these obstacles and other tough periods, The Undertaker was always a constant for the company, as he always stayed loyal to the company. 

Speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, The Undertaker was asked whether he ever have an offer from WCW and if he ever got close to leaving WWF. The legend responded by noting that he gave it some thought because, at the time, WWF was geared towards children while WCW was presenting a cutting-edge product. 

“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,” The Undertaker said.

When asked if this consideration came when he would have been free to discuss his contract, he noted that it was when his deal would have been coming up. The Undertaker elaborated by stating that he was frustrated with the way it felt like the company was stale and behind the times. He stated that WCW’s product was appealing, but he could never get past the company telling him that he’d never draw a dime.

“My deal would have been coming up, but it was more frustration with what we were currently doing, and just feeling like we were stale and behind the times, and we were so kid-driven. Our demographic was nine-to-twelve year olds, and their demographic down in WCW was 18-34, 18-36 demographic, doing so much more cutting edge stuff. That was appealing, but there was never… even though it was completely different people, it was WCW that told me thar 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. ‘You’re a great athlete. No one will ever pay money to see you wrestle.’ Thank goodness [they were wrong]. That was fuel, man. That was fuel for me to give everything I had to what I probably thought was my last real go at something. I’ve had a few doors slammed in my face, but that one really stung because that’s where I wanted to be. I wanted to be in WCW when I went there as Mean Mark, and then to be told, ‘Nah.’ Okay. Next step,'” The Undertaker said.

In the same interview, The Undertaker stated that he won’t bring his hat and coat back anymore. Click here to see what he had to say.

The Undertaker previously noted that he was one of the original Paul Heyman Guys. Check out his comments here.

In a previous interview, The Undertaker recalled why he left WCW. Click here to see what he had to say.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.