411’s WWE Undertaker: The Last Ride Report – ‘Tales From The Deadman’

-It’s bonus episode time as the WWE is not done with their awesome Last Ride documentary. This time we get stories from Taker himself. These would be the stories and tales that didn’t make the cut in the 5 part documentary. Let’s get to it!

-Air Date: 07.19.20
-Run Time: 24:14

-Taker tells us that everyone has tons of stories about their adventures in this business called pro-wrestling. He has his fair share after 30 years and it adds to the life that people do know about The Undertaker.

-Timothy Oliphant is the narrator for this and they include some sweet cartoon art to go along with the stories being told. This is Tales from The Deadman!

-Our first story is the origin story. Taker says this was the time they were building to Survivor Series 1990 and the WWE had a giant egg that was set to hatch. He knew it to his core and was terrified that he was going to debut as Eggman. He just knew they were going to make him shave his head and eyebrows. He got a call and it was Vince who asked “if this was The Undertaker?” It took Taker a second to process who it was and when he heard Undertaker instead of Eggman, he shouted back yes sir. He was relieved even if he had no clue what The Undertaker was supposed to be.

-Next up a story about Taker at MSG. The first few times he went to The Garden people were established with the character. Everyone had to get to the arena and fight through the people to get there and then back again to his rental car. He and Paul Bearer came up with the idea to park in a Ramada with a parking garage and then take an ambulance to the arena and then back. It worked well for a few years. One night there were thousands of fans waiting for the ambulance at The Ramada. The gig was up and they needed a new way to get in and out of The Garden. There is no place he would rather work, but he hated the process of getting in there.

-Oliphant tells us that once you were in Taker’s inner circle there was a lot of whiskey involved. That leads to Taker saying that rumor has it that he and The Godfather could put away a lot of whiskey. Godfather gets to chime in on this story as well. Taker and Godfather are drinking a good bit and Taker likes the Stetson hat that Godfather is wearing. As the night wore on, Godfather decided to give his hat to Taker. They argue on who gets to keep the hat as Taker tells him to keep it. Taker gives the hat back and locks himself in the bathroom. Godfather starts pounding on the door and breaks the frame. Taker puts his head through the door and then tosses it off the balcony. He thinks he showed Godfather, but as he turns around, Godfather tackles him. They have a fight over who is taking the hat. Taker finally relents and takes the hat and Godfather tells him that’s all he had to say. Godfather says he won because Taker took the hat. Awesome!

-Oliphant mentions the Bone Street Krew and next we get a road story. Bruce Prichard says Mark is one of his best friends. They were in Chattanooga, TN with Brother Love still managing Taker. They were heading to Atlanta and got lost. Taker says they ended up in a seedy neighborhood. They ask a guy on the streets for directions to the Interstate. The guy says he may be able to help for 10-15 dollars. The guy can only see Bruce, and then nearly shits himself when Taker pops up in the car. The guy immediately gives them directions as he yells that Taker looks like he killed someone. Fantastic!

-THE FLIGHT FROM HELL! Now this is the content we need! They were in England and Taker worked a match with HHH and Austin. He ends up getting split open on the ear from Austin’s knee brace. There was a noise ordinance so they had to fly before a certain time. Taker was given the option to fly back with the boys or get his ear fixed and fly back the next day. Obviously he wanted to get home. Taker was in and out of consciousness on the plane and it was a flight where they boys had a good time. Vince was wrestling Mr Perfect and trying to get a take down. Next Taker can feel bumping around his feet and he wakes up to see Kurt Angle on top of Vince. Taker doesn’t know what is happening so he puts a rear naked choke on Kurt. Angle tells him that he is choking him out and the boys have to yell that they were playing. Taker then went back to sleep and when he woke up he could see why it ended up being called The Flight From Hell. Man, I wanted more, but if Taker was sleeping through it I guess others will have to share the details.

-Taker was always the calm in the storm of the WWE, but apparently fire wasn’t always his friend. Taker talks about the BSK boys and playing cards in hotel rooms. Yoko was always in a good mood and wanted to play cards and dominoes. They were in Kuwait where they don’t have adult beverages. They were all getting stir crazy so Taker started lighting matches and would throw them at the people in the room once the flame went out. Well, he threw one at Yoko and it landed in his hair. Sure enough, smoke started and Yoko’s hair caught fire. The BSK boys started beating on Yoko’s head to put the fire out. HA! It didn’t work, but they were able to get some free shots in on him. “He’s a great dude, man, and I miss him.”

-In the WWE there are matters that can only be handled by a judge. That leads to the talk of Wrestler’s Court. Big Show, Kane, and Bruce all discuss Wrestler’s Court and how it was a way to for the boys to entertain themselves. JBL was usually the prosecuting attorney and JR mentions that he was great at it. Taker was the judge and that was never debated. You could pick your lawyer to defend you, but nobody questioned The Judge. He was the great mediator and nobody had more respect than him. Taker says it was a light way to let someone know they are messing up and angering the rest of the boys. Foley says he was brought up once with Al Snow for leaving Bob Holly high and dry so they could go to an amusement park. Classic Mick! If you were accused Taker would render a decision which was usually paying for alcohol, or a hotel, or a rental car. Taker always tried to give some kind of advice and Edge says it was honestly always for a laugh. Taker says more times that not it was harmless fun.

-That leads to the next story where Taker shows up at TV and Xavier Woods presents him with an official gavel. Taker shows us the gavel which has ‘Judge Undertaker’ engraved on it. He has never been able to use it in wrestler’s court but has used it when dealing with his kids. The gift means a lot to him.

-Until the time comes the rest of Taker’s stories will Rest in Peace!

-There are still over 2 minutes left in the episode and the rest of the time is filled with a teaser of the 5 Part Documentary. Again, I recommend that for anyone to watch.

-This was fun and an easy watch. I am sure Taker was careful about what stories to release and the ones were got were entertaining. I loved the format with the cartoons recreating the stories. There are obviously hundreds of stories Taker can share and perhaps a book is something we may get one day. The Wrestler’s Court story was interesting as they all stated it was just for fun, but some rumors out there would have you think otherwise. I assume most cases were trivial matters and I am sure there were others that were taken more seriously. This was a fun addition to the Last Ride documentary. Thanks for reading!