10 Most Shocking Things We Learned From WWE Documentaries In 2020
8. Paul Bearer’s Assassination Inspiration
The Mortician: The Story of Paul Bearer
While it is common knowledge that William Moody, the man behind Paul Bearer, was a licenced funeral director, there was another inspiration behind the ghoulish manager. A seven/eight-year-old Moody was deeply impacted by the assassination of John F Kennedy and the proceeding funeral, which occurred close to his own grandfather’s death.
Moody spoke from beyond the grave via archive footage in which he discussed the “big impact” the Kennedy funeral has on him and how he was in awe of “the pomp and circumstance” of funeral ceremonies.
A young Moody began to play at being a funeral director. He recalled: “So God help anything that died in my neighbourhood. A dog got hit by a car, if I saw a frog laying on the ground, they had funerals. I’d make them a little casket, [and] had a little cemetery out behind my house. If it lived and died, I gave it a funeral”.
As an adult Moody found a way to combine his passion for professional wrestling with his fascination for funerals. As Paul Bearer he guided The Undertaker towards becoming an icon of the industry.