Jeff Jarrett Says He Still Calls Undertaker By His Ring Name

In an interview with Bally Sports (via Wrestling Inc), Jeff Jarrett spoke about his respect for The Undertaker and why he doesn’t call him by his real name backstage. Here are highlights:

On calling Undertaker by his ring name: “I still like to call him ‘Undertaker’. I don’t want to call him Mark, because Mark has done some behind the scenes and we’ve gotten to know from time to time through some documentaries of just Mark Calaway the human being. But I think one of the cool things – and I’ve told this to my wife and I told this to a couple of people: When you see Mark nowadays, you can call him Mark and you see the Undertaker talk as the human being, as the husband, as the father, as the businessman… when you talk about a locker room leader or someone who sets the culture,” Jarrett said, praising the ‘Dead Man’. “I think people – and it’s just now coming around the appreciation – You know that guy, that Undertaker guy? That really is Mark Calaway, or that Mark Calaway? He really is the Undertaker.”

On why he has so much respect for the Undertaker: “And look. The persona; maybe Vince McMahon and Mark Calaway is the greatest, timeless persona ever in this industry because of that mystique. But I think, getting to know the human being now, you go, ‘Wow!’ They were really the same person,” Jarrett explained. “And I say that with a ton of respect. But when talking about a true run – the late 80’s until just last year… who has a 30-YEAR run? It’s almost unfathomable.”