Michelle McCool On How Her Relationship with Undertaker Started, Hiding Relationship At the Beginning

On the latest episode of Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia, Michelle McCool spoke about how she was courted by the Undertaker during her in-ring career (the two are now married). McCool said that Undertaker took care of her when she got extremely sick during WWE’s tour of Ireland in 2007, and also discussed the challenges of being married to someone as famous as the Undertaker.

On how their relationship started: “He kind of courted me for awhile, and people started noticing. Sharmell [Booker T’s wife], Torrie [Wilson], Vickie [Guerrero], a few good friends were like, ”Taker never talks to girls, like ever, that is not something he does’ which is true. He’ll tell you, it was always his cardinal rule. But I always got to the buildings early, I was always working with Arn [Anderson] or Fit [Finlay] or whoever would teach me, because I was basically learning on the road. I guess he [Undertaker] took notice, so people started talking. I was like, ‘look, I don’t even like long-haired, tattooed guys, that is not even my thing, no way.’

On getting very sick and having Undertaker take care of her: “So we went on an overseas trip, and it was when I got super sick. I think you [Lilian Garcia] might have been on the RAW tour. 2007. I got super-duper sick. We were in Ireland and I remember Dr. Rios had a a hanger with an IV from the locker room ceiling. It was bad. And I guess Mark [Undertaker] came in and covered me with his coat. At this time I literally still, I was completely out of it. I had a broken sternum at the time from a match a few days prior and I had no idea because I was in so much pain because my organs were just shutting down. My body apparently flushes out sodium. So we were just drinking water non-stop and low and behold my body was flushing it out. I was in so much pain but of course I was trying to hide it because if you’re not working, you’re not making money. Kept working. But that night in Ireland, my eyes told it all. I don’t recall how I got home from that trip. Obviously I didn’t wrestle, I think we had two days left. I couldn’t walk up stairs, I couldn’t do anything, but I was trying to hide it. I remember I called the doc in the middle of the night and was like ‘I’m in so much pain.’ But I guess Mark had covered me with his coat, like didn’t wear his jacket out to the ring that night. Kicked everybody out of the locker room where I was at because I was trying to get rest. So, little did I even know because I was barely conscious that he was taking care of me this whole time. Like I said, I got on the plane, I don’t even remember the flight to the states, so I got to Atlanta, he had a guy who works with Delta pick me up on the terminal, get me on my other flight because they wouldn’t even put me on the flight because how bad I was. I guess my parents picked me up and straight to the hospital. Sixteen days later, woke up in the hospital. It was crazy.”

“So he [Undertaker] was taking care of me during all that. I had no idea. He was calling me in the hospital. He was checking on me. When I finally made it back to TV, we started talking a little bit, and he’ll say he fell in love one day when we were in the arena and I was throwing a football with Chavo [Guerrero] and MVP and look, in the McCool family, you know how to throw a football, you’re gonna throw a spiral. And apparently guys are that simple because he was like, ‘I fell in love.'”

On the keeping her relationship with Undertaker hidden at first: “So we started dating, and I knew what was gonna come with that. And so it was hard. I hid it for a long time, we hid it for a long time in the work place, for several months. He had a bus at this point, which a lot of the guys do now, I would literally wait until everybody left the building so nobody saw me get on the bus. I would do anything I possibly could to make people still see Michelle for Michelle, not for Undertaker’s, at the time, girlfriend. Which I’ve quickly learned that never goes away because now I’m just Undertaker’s wife. So, it is what it is.”

On people in WWE treating her differently after she started dating Undertaker: “I can literally count, on one, maybe one and a half hands, how many people treated me the same from WWE pre-Mark and post-Mark. And news flash, Michelle McCool didn’t change. I’m still me. So, there were a ton of people that now found out I was dating Mark, ‘Oh, I better change my tune and be super nice.’ And ya know, I’m not that type, I’m gonna call you for it, because I haven’t changed. I’m not acting any different. Like don’t treat me any different.”

On how she handles being thought of as ‘The Undertaker’s wife’ rather than as her own person: “I handle it fine, but it’s not the most pleasant thing. Sometimes I’m like, “God, I promise you, I’m way more than that.’ I’m not just his wife. I take pride in being his wife, clearly I love him to death, but I’ve got some talents. I’m not just his shadow. I’m not just his sidekick. I’m not just here. I can contribute to a lot of things. So, it’s hard. I think it says more about the people that see it that way, just because I personally wouldn’t treat somebody like that. But on the bright side, it also shows you who your true friends are.”

If using any of the quotes above, please credit Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcriptions.

Listen to “Michelle McCool – Overcoming Family Pressure and Fighting For Opportunity” on Spreaker.