Earlier today, I touched on Undertaker’s interview on The Joe Rogan Experience, where the Dead Man criticized the WWE product for being too soft. He said there was “too much beauty and not enough substance” before adding that too many wrestlers pay attention to what the internet says about them, instead of following advice from the previous generation.
It seemed to me like a situation in which Undertaker raised interesting points but ended up giving a little too much blame in the direction of the wrestlers.
What I did not mention in that previous post is that Undertaker also talked about how the locker room culture has changed over the years. While discussing the infamous moment when David Schultz slapped a rude reporter in 1984, Undertaker talked about how he preferred that era when the locker room was full of men:
“… that era of guys too, it was men. You go into a locker room these days, it’s very different. I remember walking into my first real dressing room, and all I saw were some crusty fucking men. Right? Half of them had guns and knives in their suitcases. Shit was handled at the time, you know? Now you walk in, there are guys who play video games and fucking make them look beautiful. ‘
“I think it’s evolution. I do not know what it is, but I just prefer … when men were men. ‘
It is logical that Undertaker prefers the kind of dressing room atmosphere he saw when he was raised in the wrestling industry in the 1980s. This is what he is best known for and most comfortable with.
But it is also worth pointing out that the dressing room culture of that era contributed to a dark time in pro wrestling that shortened too many careers and ruined too many lives.
Xavier Woods posted the following tweet, which the Undertaker does not mention by name, but certainly reads as a reaction to Undertaker’s opinion:
I would not be the person I am without the guidance and lessons of a few key people from the previous generation wrestling. They taught me about the business, about saving my money and that it’s healthier to have video games in the locker room. [redacted]. Thanks guys
– Austin # Creed4G4 – Future King of The Ring (@AustinCreedWins) 21 January 2021
Woods finds a clever way to thank the previous generation for their help, noting that the locker room culture is in a much better place now. That the wrestlers of today have changed the locker room culture to a healthier, safer and more welcoming one is one of the best changes the pro wrestling industry could ever make.