10 Things We Learned From The Undertaker On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show
6. Michael Myers Inspired The Sit Up Spot
If you're an Undertaker super-fan, then you probably knew this already, but here goes: Calaway knew he had to try to set himself apart when he came into the colourful WWF in late-1990. One way to do that was by studying horror movies, which he’d been a fan of anyway. ‘Taker studied them even more closely after debuting, and that’s how he came up with the famous sitting up spot.
Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise was known for that, so ‘Taker nabbed it for wrestling. Truthfully, it's hard to imagine his character without that mannerism - it's something The Undertaker carried with him whether he was a western mortician, undead zombie, wannabe devil in human form, badass biker or supernatural icon. Fans always popped hard for the humble sit up.
Other spin-off gimmicks like Kane even borrowed it to help sell the idea he'd been cut from the same cloth as his kayfabe brother. It worked for him too, and the sit up became synonymous with both throughout their respective careers. Undertaker, in particular, certainly couldn't work matches during his earlier years without it.
He no-sold finishers by sitting up to deafening 'oohs' and 'aahs', or kept the sit up in reserve for a key part of the match during double downs. It just worked, and he has Michael Myers from Halloween to thank for it. Stephanie hadn't put two and two together on that until her pal pointed it out on ESPN.
Like many great wrestling characters, 'Taker was simply borrowing from pop culture and entertainment. Nothing wrong with that. He wasn't a bad rip off. He made the sit up spot his own.