The Undertaker Recalls 'Absolutely Miserable' Environs For Making These WWE Vignettes
In the early '90s, kayfabe was still going strong, and the idea of The Undertaker endorsing a presidential candidate seemed like something out of "MAD Magazine." Fast forward to today, where The Undertaker has revealed himself to be very much alive and not dead, and has been open to sharing more backstage stories from his career. Recently on his "Six Feet Under" podcast, 'Taker took fans back to his 1992 feud with the late Kamala, and pulled back the curtain on those iconic casket-building promos.
"We shot five, six weeks of vignettes for the Undertaker building Kamala's casket," he said. "It's 28 degrees outside. Now I'm in the blacksmith shop ... as I'm talking, you can see our breath. That's how cold it was. It was absolutely miserable."
'Taker mentioned the lack of amenities WWE provided for location shoots during this time period, noting that he didn't have a heated trailer to retreat to between takes. He also remembered filming a cemetery scene in the dead of winter that was similarly uncomfortable.
"I had to go sit in Bruce Prichard's car and crank up the heat and just wait," 'Taker recalled. "Those conditions in the early years– you're always in character, you're always in gimmick. And believe me, spandex is not the material to be walking around a cemetery in January in the northeast."
The casket match from 1992 Survivor Series was the first of its kind for WWE, with The Undertaker emerging victorious and shocking Kamala into a bizarre babyface turn. WWE execs were apparently pleased with the casket match, because they didn't wait long to pull off another. Undertaker lost WWE's second casket match against Yokozuna at the 1994 Royal Rumble, but Rhode Island wrestling fans were treated to a live miracle when The Undertaker was resurrected.