Despite being two of WWE’s biggest names during the “Attitude Era,” for various reasons, The Undertaker and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin were largely kept apart when it came to serious singles action. However, speaking on his podcast, “Six Feet Under,” the former Undertaker, Mark Calaway, fondly recalled working with Austin in the more relaxed setting of WWE live events.
“I enjoyed working with Steve more in house shows than I did on TVs or pay-per-views,” Calaway said. “The house shows, back in the day — that’s when you really got to go out and be creative, and be spontaneous, and just really do the craft of professional wrestling. … It was so fun with him because, his character, as intense as it was, he could be a funny son of a b***h in the ring.”
Calaway recalled wrestling against Austin at a live event, with “Stone Cold” performing a parody of Undertaker’s Old School move, except he balanced across the bottom rope instead of the top. Such a spot wouldn’t be attempted on TV but was welcomed at live events, where wrestlers were given an extra degree of creative freedom.
Along with that, Calaway also pointed out another benefit to working with Austin.
“One of my favorite things working with Steve — one, you were definitely going to be on top, right? … Your payoffs were going to be good, your fan reactions [were] going to be amazing.”
Austin and The Undertaker worked seven one-on-one matches on pay-per-view, along with another nine on “WWE Raw,” between 1996 and 2002.
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