The Undertaker has revealed that he came much closer to signing with WCW than many fans may realize, admitting he seriously considered the offer before deciding to remain loyal to WWE.
Speaking on the latest episode of Six Feet Under, the WWE Hall of Famer reflected on one of the most difficult periods in the company’s history, when WWE was struggling creatively and financially while WCW was rapidly gaining momentum.
“We were going through such an incredibly difficult time. They were down there doing really cutting edge stuff, more mature, I guess, for no better term, mature storylines and stuff that was much more mainstream. And we were, and I know this will sound funny coming from a character, but we had these really just over the top characters that weren’t really resonating well with the audience, and again, business was horrible. The direction at the time was horrible.”
The Undertaker recalled that longtime friend Kevin Nash encouraged him to make the jump while WCW was handing out lucrative contracts.
“I remember talking with Kevin Nash. He’s like, Mark, you need to make that jump now. Like, you know, I think you can, this is the kind of money they’re handing out, and I think you could do well down here.”
Given WWE’s struggles at the time, The Undertaker admitted the offer was extremely tempting.
“I was like, I listened to it. I would be lying if I didn’t think like, wow, that’s, again, we’re working at the time 20, 25 days a month and barely making enough money to survive. It was difficult, and I knew that they were down there giving money away just so that talent wouldn’t be available to WWE, and so I listened, and honestly, I considered it.”
Ultimately, however, loyalty outweighed the financial opportunity.
The Undertaker explained that comments made to him before he joined WWE, along with Vince McMahon’s willingness to give him a chance, played a major role in his decision to stay.
“At the end of the day, and although the same people weren’t in charge at WCW at this point, I’ll never forget being told that you’ll never draw money in this business. That really struck a nerve with me. And the one guy that believed in giving me a chance, because Vince wasn’t completely sold on me either, but the one guy that gave me a chance was Vince and the WWE. That meant more to me than the instant money that I could have made, which could have got me out of debt and all of those things.”
Although business was bleak, The Undertaker said he believed WWE would eventually recover and wanted to be part of that turnaround.
“Vince believed in me, and I felt obligated to stand by him even when business was so bad. But I knew that we could turn it around, and I just said, you know what, it’s a great deal, but I just can’t. I can’t do it. I got to stay here, and I got to be part of something that’s going to be huge. And that’s what I believed, and that’s exactly what ended up happening.”
The decision proved to be a defining one. The Undertaker debuted at Survivor Series 1990 and spent his entire full-time career with WWE, becoming one of the most iconic performers in wrestling history over a three-decade run with the company.
