The Undertaker and Steve Austin were two of the biggest stars of WWE’s Attitude Era. The two legends wrestled each other several times, but Taker recently revealed that he actually preferred facing Austin at WWE house shows rather than on TV or PPV.
Speaking on his Six Feet Under podcast, Taker explained why he enjoyed those live-event matches so much. House shows gave wrestlers more freedom to try different things without the pressure of TV production, time limits and strict plans.
The Undertaker compares wrestling Steve Austin at house shows and WWE pay-per-views
According to The Undertaker, house shows allowed wrestlers to be more creative and spontaneous. The matches did not always have to move a storyline forward or create a big TV moment. Instead, the wrestlers could focus on entertaining the crowd and enjoying the match.
That freedom was even more fun when Austin was his opponent.
“I enjoyed working with Steve more in house shows than I did on TVs or pay-per-views. 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*tch in the ring,” Taker said (H/T: Wrestling Inc.).
He even remembered one of his favorite moments involving Austin.
During one house-show match, Austin decided to make fun of The Undertaker’s famous “Old School” move. Instead of climbing to the top rope and walking along it before hitting the move, Austin balanced himself on the bottom rope.
It was the kind of funny and unexpected moment that made house shows special. A spot like that might not have worked during a carefully planned weekly TV episode or a major PPV.
The Undertaker also pointed out the monetary benefit of 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,” Taker said.
That combination made Steve Austin an ideal opponent for The Undertaker.
Read More: The Undertaker Calls Out Today’s Wrestlers: ‘You Make Your Job Harder’
[ad_1
