2. Paul Bearer Had A Very Special Nickname For Him
In 2005, William Moody (better known as legendary manager Paul Bearer) conducted a series of shoot interviews with Ring of Honor. In one, where he was joined by Jim Cornette, an interesting question was raised: what did Bearer call The Undertaker? After all, most wrestlers are called by their gimmick names backstage, but Bearer and Undertaker were particularly close, and the two men had known each other dating back to their days in World Class Championship Wrestling. So what was it -- 'Taker or Mark? Wendy. Back when The Undertaker was new to WWE, he didn't dye his hair black -- it was a natural red. Apparently one day, Bearer and The Undertaker got out of their car and walked through a windy parking lot. A gust from behind made 'Taker's ginger mullet blow around his neck so that it looked like a pair of pigtails. Bearer remarked that The Undertaker looked like the Wendy Thomas, immortalized in the logo of her father's fast-food restaurant chain, and it stuck. Granted, I'm sure that not many people had the privilege of referring to 'Taker by that particular handle, but it was a sign of the bond the two men, forever associated with one another, shared. And proof that not all of his names were bad-ass.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013