The Undertaker Explains Why Characters Are More Important Than Moves In Pro Wrestling
The Undertaker will be making his first non-WrestleMania wrestling appearance this Sunday at Super Show-Down since the Greatest Royal Rumble this past April, and only his second televised non-WrestleMania match since competing in the 2017 Royal Rumble nearly two years ago. At 53, Undertaker still relies on being one of the most popular characters in WWE history to continue to awe the fans in attendance.
Recently, Undertaker was a part of a series from Pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church called Wrastlin, which documents the strong connections between wrestling and the Bible. Undertaker was a guest, and did a rare, out-of-character interview about the pro wrestling business.
Having nearly 30 years of experience from the WWE regarding his character being able to transcend eras, Undertaker commented on how important this element is in the success of a competitor.
"Wrestling and sports entertainment is not about the moves, it really isn't," said Undertaker (h/t Sky Sports). "It's about being able to evoke emotion in one facet or another. You either have to make people love you or you have to make them hate you, it doesn't really matter either way. If you can't bring that emotion out of your audience then you're not going to have them for long."
Undertaker added on how many matches in this era of wrestling cause fans to focus more on the moves than putting the wrestlers over.
"What happens with these young guys is they're so athletic and so gifted, they'll do some crazy double backflip off the top rope and land on somebody on the floor and then that's what the audience takes away from it, that this guy does crazy stuff," said Undertaker. "But you can only see that so many times before you need something new, and then the person has to up that. They have to keep upping the ante and by doing that you increase your potential for injuries."
Undertaker highlighted characters such as The Rock, Ric Flair, and John Cena being people who had the ability of making people love them or hate them. Although wrestling moves should be used to further tell the story, it ultimately "boils down to the character and being able to bring either love or hate out of your crowd."
Source: Sky Sports
yogi b contributed to this article.