Triple H on why The Undertaker on ESPN meant so much.
On Sept. 7, The Undertaker appeared on ESPN as part of their College Gameday show in Texas. Undertaker dropped The Deadman gimmick, showing up more like the American Badass, wearing jeans and a Texas shirt. It was a rare appearance for Undertaker on a non-WWE show, but a big part of WWE's aggressive marketing and integration into pop culture.
“There are certain people that transcend their industry and become cultural icons, and The Undertaker transcends the WWE,” Triple H told Sports Illustrated. “This was Vince’s vision at WrestleMania I: the integration of pop culture. So this was an opportunity for us to reach out to new fans, to reach out to lax fans, to reach out to everybody and create that buzz about what we do.”
Triple H continued, discussing how WWE has crossed over to other sports and entertainment forms in the past.
“The ‘Attitude Era’ changed the way people spoke and trash-talked one another,” he said. “We’d see NFL players do the DX crotch chop when they’d score a touchdown, or raise their eyebrow and laying the smack down, Austin’s ‘Oh hell yeah!’, so much of that crossed over, like Cena’s ‘You Can’t See Me,’ too. That extends well beyond our business, and for our talent, that’s when you truly know you’re getting to the place you want to be in this industry.
“WWE has crossover appeal. Whether you’re a fan or not, people all over the globe know who The Undertaker is. So whether it’s Undertaker on College GameDay or Becky Lynch on SportsCenter, talent appearing on Fallon or throwing first pitches at baseball games, our talent are integrated into every walk of life. That’s an opportunity to platform WWE to people and being relevant on a day-to-day basis in pop culture.”
WWE was all over the football scene this past weekend. Along with Undertaker's appearance on College Gameday, Fox heavily promoted SmackDown's move to the network during NFL games on Sunday. SmackDown officially moves to Fox on Oct. 4.
