
WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker discussed how the sport of wrestling has evolved since his time in the business during an interview on Booker T’s podcast.
โIt is completely two different worlds. Never in a million years could I imagine how athletic these guys are today. I donโt know if it was the video games they played as kids, but theyโre doing video game type stuff in the ring. I think, sometimes itโs a curse because theyโre so athletic and they rely so much on that aspect that they forget the most important aspect of what we do โ and that is storytelling. Iโve mentioned it to different people higher up and theyโre like, โWell, you canโt put the toothpaste back in the tube.โ I think at some point, weโre gonna have to figure out a way to get it back in there. Iโm just thinking about their health if nothing else. I tell people this all the time and people look at me like Iโm crazy, but any given wrestling match, at some point in that match, youโre two inches away from something catastrophic happening. The stuff that these guys are doing to get reactions from the crowds, it just makes it exponentially more dangerous than it has to be because after a while, people get desensitized to the crazy moves, the double back flip off the top rope onto the floor. Iโve seen it done a couple of times, now what do you have for me? So you have to continue to push the envelope where, โOkay, what am I going to do to get a reaction?โ Itโs hard to argue with them because look, the business is great. Itโs their era, it is what it is. Being there through the years and knowing what it does to your body, itโs like, man, youโre not going to have careers like we did. Youโre gonna burn out, youโre gonna get hurt.โ
โWe love the business and want to continue to see the business grow, but we also have years and years and years of experience. I know the injury bug pretty damn well and thatโs just one aspect of it. I donโt care how long the business goes on, itโs always going to be, the essence of it is going to be good storytelling. Wrestling isnโt about wrestling moves, itโs not. Itโs about storytelling. We use wrestling moves to help tell the story, but itโs not about all of that. Thatโs just a tool to get the essence of A versus B and whatever story that wraps them up.โ
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(quotes courtesy of Skylar Russell)