This WWE Hall Of Famer Was Vince McMahon’s ‘Failsafe Guy’ When He Needs Things

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There are many legendary figures within the history of professional wrestling, but none perhaps bigger or more influential in WWE than The Undertaker. “The Phenom,” with the WrestleMania record of 25-2, remained fiercely loyal to the WWF-turned-WWE throughout the “Monday Night Wars” and the rest of his 30 years in the company. Undertaker, whose real name is Mark Calaway, was also very loyal to former WWE CEO and chairman Vince McMahon. Fellow Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield commented on Undertaker’s relationship with McMahon on the “Something to Wrestle” podcast and said that ‘Taker was “100%” the godfather of WWE.

“Vince called him when he needed things. He was the ultimate ‘break glass’ guy,” JBL explained. “Nobody wants to carry the title when business is down. When business is up, everybody wants the title. But you get blamed for stuff when business is down. He called Undertaker under all circumstances. Triple H was much in the same role. Undertaker was there a little it longer, but Undertaker was the guy he called him when you needed something, you need a fail safe. When you didn’t know if guys were going to show up, Undertaker was at a lot of pay-per-views that he did not headline in case something happened. He always the fail safe guy.”

JBL joked that when it comes to loving his kids, McMahon would put Undertaker right up there with his son, Shane. The former WWE Hardcore Champion said that ‘Taker wasn’t just one of McMahon’s favorite guys, but “one of wrestling’s favorite guys.” He called him a locker room leader not just because of his position in the company, but because of who he is.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Something to Wrestle” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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