The Undertaker Thinks Ministry of Darkness Could Have Lasted Longer Than It Did

On the latest episode of Six Feet Under, The Undertaker talked about the Ministry of Darkness gimmick he portrayed in the Attitude Era, whether the gimmick was cut too short and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On whether the Ministry of Darkness gimmick could’ve gone on for another year: “It definitely had the legs to go on if it hadn’t gotten watered down the way it did, I think it was probably a two, maybe three year run out of that. I think there was so much that we still had left that we could have done to push the envelope, and people to work with. But you know, it had its place, and it had its place in my run. And I’m pretty proud of it because it came at a time when I really felt like I needed an evolution. And man, I think it resonated.”

On the look of the gimmick: “Oh yeah, definitely. I always wanted to keep a few elements of the original, just to hold my roots, but be able to expand. And when I started, I always called them the hellraiser jackets. The long coats with the sleeves and the straps and everything, there was a very distinct look. It still screamed Undertaker, but it was a different Undertaker. It was, yeah, it was this — there was a lot of emphasis put on the imagery of what we were trying to do, what I was trying to do. I was again in that air, trying to set myself apart from anything else going on out there.”

On having Stephanie McMahon be involved in the storyline: “I want to say, just the story evolved with Vince. And then obviously, you know, I ended up kidnapping Stephanie and intend on marrying her and all of that. And so remember, I don’t know, the lighting the teddy bear on fire, letting Vince know. He’s got everybody all that security in the building watching his daughter, and I still am able to get to her, and you know, the infamous ‘Where to Stephanie?’ line. It’s just so much fun. But you know, Stephanie, it was a different Stephanie then too, right? That was kind of the beginning of her, because she had that innocent, almost little girl-type presence about her at that point. The boss’s sweet little daughter. And this, you know, the Boogeyman, Satan has got his eyes on the boss’s daughter. So I think that kind of resonated with people and made people uncomfortable. And even though it was Vince, it was still like, sweet little Stephanie and Satan’s after her. [laughs]”

On fan reactions to the gimmick: “A lot of it, early in it creeped people out. They were like, ‘Man, he’s taking this too far,’ kind of thing. It didn’t really become super cool until later on. ‘Oh, man, I love the Ministry of Darkness.’ It was this and that. But while it was going on, people were like, ‘I don’t know about that, man. That’s a little much right there.’”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Six Feet Under an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.