During a recent episode of the What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Cody Rhodes posed a classic debate to The Undertaker: which opponent did he prefer facing in the ring — Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart?
Undertaker acknowledged the greatness of both men, noting that each brought something entirely different to the table. “They were both great. They were both so good in the ring. I probably had the very best chemistry with Shawn.”
While Michaels stood out in terms of natural chemistry, Undertaker emphasized the profound impact Bret Hart had on his development as a performer — particularly during the early years of establishing The Undertaker character. “I’ve said this a few times about Bret… talking about living this and believing everything, Bret did. And I respect that. When Bret was the champion, he was the champion. And he conducted himself as a champion, from top to bottom.”
Undertaker explained that working with Hart forced him to evolve beyond relying solely on the character’s mystique. “When I started working with Bret, I was real, real heavy, even in my ring work with the character… There was only so far Bret was going to go with, as he called it, the Frankenstein gimmick.”
At the time, Hart was a more established star, which limited how much flexibility Undertaker had creatively — but ultimately benefited him in the long run. “Being able to work against Bret forced me to learn how to work within the gimmick and have not just a gimmick match, but to have really, really good matches.”
According to Undertaker, Hart pushed him out of his comfort zone and helped shape him into a more complete in-ring performer. “Bret forced me to get out of the comfort zone of the Jason Voorhees, the Michael Myers stuff, and actually put on a wrestling match. So for that, I’ll always be grateful to Bret because he pushed me and made me become better.”
He concluded by praising Shawn Michaels’ once-in-a-generation ability. “Shawn may be the only guy I’ve ever known that could have a five-star match with a broomstick. I mean, he’s just that talented.”
The comments offer a rare and thoughtful breakdown of how two all-time greats influenced The Undertaker in very different — but equally important — ways throughout his legendary career.
