Sami Zayn on His First Memory of Meeting The Undertaker, How The Undertaker Complimented His Match & Promos in NXT

– BT Sport recently interviewed WWE Superstar and Intercontinental champion Sami Zayn, who shared a story of The Undertaker attending a TV taping at NXT and giving him feedback on a promo. Below are some highlights and a clip from the interview:

Zayn on The Undertaker getting fired up after a promo he did at NXT with Neville: “The first memory that I have of really interacting with him [The Undertaker] was actually at NXT. This was a television taping right before — this was late 2014, so it’s right before I’m about to wrestle Neville for the NXT Championship. And that story had a pretty good buildup going into that match. And so, I want to say it was maybe the last episode of TV before the acutal match. And had I cut this really impassioned promo, which I still think is one of my better promos as a good guy for sure because the storyline going into it was that we sort of were friends, but he was the champion because he was willing to get his hands dirty and I was too adherent to my morality, and so that’s why I would never succeed in the way he succeeded. And so, we had this heated talking segment, where I slap him in the face. It was really good. It was really, really good. And when I got back there, The Undertaker was fired up. And he was like, ‘That’s how you do it! That’s how you sell tickets! That was a money promo!'”

Zayn on how The Undertaker complimented his and Neville’s match at the tapings: “And then, I think that night, I think we had wrestled — because used to tape a few episodes at a time. I think that same night, we did a match for the championship where he [Neville] won, and then the match at R Evolution was actually the rematch. But that match, he also complimented that match heavily. He’s like, ‘I thought you guys were just going to go out there and do a bunch of spots. You guys told a story. That is how you do it!’ And just that kind of — because The Undertaker is The Undertaker, and the fact that he was even at NXT, it was sort of like, ‘Ooh, The Undertaker’s here.’ And so for The Undertaker to be waiting for us backstage as soon as we soon as we walked back through the curtain, and fired up about how good our work was, I mean, that was pretty amazing. That was really amazing, and that whole time period in NXT was so remarkable because we’re starting to get approval from Legends from Shawn Michaels and Triple H and Bret Hart, and guys we grew up worshipping as far their in-ring stuff, all of the sudden telling you, ‘Your in-ring stuff’s really great.’ So hearing that from The Undertaker that time, I’m kind of just getting goosebumps just thinking about it right now. That was special, really special.”

This is so good 😂@SamiZayn remembers seeing @undertaker 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘿 𝙐𝙋
after he cut a promo back in NXT…

"He was like 'THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT! THAT'S HOW YOU SELL TICKETS! THAT'S A MONEY PROMO!'"

"I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it."#UndertakerWeek | #Undertaker30 pic.twitter.com/ifXOw7Z1js

— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) November 10, 2020

If using the above quotes, please credit BT Sport, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.