10 Things We Learned From The Undertaker On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show

There's a slightly cringeworthy moment in this week's Stephanie's Places where host Stephanie McMahon dons The Undertaker's old outfit from Survivor Series 1996 and shouts down towards her husband Triple H. Rather conveniently, WWE cameras just happen to be shooting Hunter chatting over that evening's show inside Madison Square Garden with some staff members, and he encourages them to throw heckling fans out.

It's cheesier than a four cheese pizza, but it's somehow still in-keeping with the goofy, childish charm to Stephanie's episodes. She's been able to come across as likeable since the first sit-down with CM Punk, and nothing has changed no matter who she's interviewing. This week, the show centred on 'Taker and just how much MSG means to WWE lore.

They packed a surprising amount of content into the short show, as always. There were tales of grumpy journeymen pretty much stealing 'Taker's money, what he really thought about some of his biggest moments in such an iconic venue, news on a fun rib he and others played on old manager Paul Bearer, and even some true human emotion from somebody who shied away from that for decades.

At one point, Undertaker got choked up when reminiscing about his legendary career.

It's impressive that McMahon modifies her style to match whomever she's speaking to. For example, she was keen to explore Rhea Ripley's self-consciousness when interviewing her, but never overstepped her mark or came across as patronising. Here, Steph was like a little kid chatting to her older brother/uncle.

That's yet another win for Stephanie's Places if you're keeping score at home. Here's everything learned from this one!

Growing up, The Undertaker was a solid basketball player who excelled at Fort Worth's Texas Wesleyan University and thought he had a real shot at the pros. Something else other than ball captured young Mark Calaway's attention though: Professional wrestling. He'd been a massive wrestling fan since he was a kid, but had never really thought about becoming a wrestler himself.

Then, one day, everything changed.

Calaway told Stephanie he was watching on TV when the penny dropped. 'Taker realised there wasn't really anybody his size on the WWF's roster of the 1980s who could move like he did out on the courts. Internally, the tall teen wondered if he could translate his agile movements playing basketball into a wrestling ring. If nothing else, he figured he might as well give it a try.

That decision changed his life, but 'Taker just didn't know it yet. If anything, he likely thought nothing would come of his bid to find out what wrestling was actually like. Besides, there was no WWE Performance Center to get in touch with, or even very many friendly training schools in his local area. That led Calaway to the doorstep of journeyman pro Buzz Sawyer.

It's interesting that 'Taker backed himself to move better as a big man than many of the favourites he was watching on television growing up. They were huge guys, but so was he. What's more, the future 'Deadman' could shift his giant frame well, and had no problems being athletic. Basketball proved that, but the sport was never destined to be his firm future.

Deep down, Mark's heart belonged to the biz.