Undertaker reveals that his signing on for Starrcast II took a toll on his relationship with Vince McMahon.
Times are changing and even The Undertaker has adapted to social media. In recent years, Undertaker has begun to show more of Mark Calaway, the man behind the legendary WWE persona.
In 2019, shockwaves were sent throughout the wrestling industry when Undertaker had signed on to do an autograph signing at Starrcast II. Starrcast is a convention put together by Conrad Thompson and although they have stated on many occasions that they are separate entities, the close proximity between Starrcast and AEW pay-per-views leads many fans to believe that they are linked together and as such, when Undertaker signed on for the autograph signing, it drew the ire of Vince McMahon.
In the latest episode of WWE Network’s Undertaker: The Last Ride, Mark Calaway reveals that his signing on for Starrcast caused a rift in the relationship between he and McMahon, with the two even going a period of time without speaking to each other.
“I started working with a social media group that was trying to get my name out there [for] exposure, endorsements, and doing some other things,” Undertaker began. “I'd agreed to do an autograph signing in Las Vegas. It wasn't pitched to me that the other company (AEW) had a show that was running right parallel to this autograph signing. I was oblivious. I wouldn't be keeping up with what was going on or anything like that.”
He continued, “Vince calls me like, 'what are you doing?''I'm doing a signing.' He goes, 'Well, yeah. But, you got all these people thinking you're going to do this.' That's stupid. Anybody that knows anything about me, knows that I'm not going to a different company. I've been here forever. I ain't going anywhere. I'm not going to jump ship to go to [AEW]. Well, why would I? Vince and I had a little bit of a falling out over it, and I understand where he was coming from. He's got a business to run. I understand his position. But I also had a position of my own that needed to be understood. We didn't talk for a little while and then we both let our guard down enough to talk and then we got things worked out. It's all been sunshine and rainbows since.”
Undertaker would pull out of the convention and shortly thereafter sign a long-term contract with WWE which would see him as an employee of the company for over 40 years. Learn more at this link.
The latest episode of Undertaker: The Last Ride is available for on-demand viewing now on the WWE Network.
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