Undertaker Recalls Growing Up a Mil Mascaras Fan, How Mascaras Lived His Gimmick

The Undertaker says that he was a big Mil Mascaras fan growing up, and thinks that perhaps an interaction with Mascaras influenced how he lived the Undertaker character. Mascaras is often considered one of the greatest luchadors of all-time and is credited with helping bring lucha libre to the international stage. And while he has his detractors — Mick Foley spoke about his negative experiences with Mascaras in his first book — The Undertaker recalled how the WWE Hall of Famer was someone he loved watching growing up.

Taker spoke about Mascaras on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes. He recalled how the luchador, who famously lived his gimmick, even did so in the shower. You can see the highlights below:

On Who He Was a Big Fan Of Growing Up:

“You wouldn’t believe it from where I ended up to as a fan. So I grew up in Houston. So we had Paul Bosch’s Houston wrestling, right? NWA Houston Wrestling. So I loved Mil Mascaras. And I say that, and people look at me like. ‘That would’ve not have been who I thought.’ I don’t know, man. I don’t know it was the mask and how fluid and how cool he was.”

On Seeing How Much Mascaras Lived the Gimmick:

“I actually ended up getting to work — not against him, but on the same card as him when I was with WCW. Crazy story. I come back — talking about living the gimmick. Like people always like, ‘Man, he lived the gimmick.’ I remember coming back from my match, Mil had already worked. I go in to get in the shower and there he is showering with his mask on. He had his mask on, and it is one of those things. You walk in, I just stopped like, ‘Should I be here right now?’ And I was like, ‘Oh man, okay. He protects it back here too.’

“And not that I was watching him in the shower, but it’s – so he’s over there and I’m in this corner. And just every once in a while, I would just like look back to see if he still had his mask on. And I looked back one time and he pulled it off and hooked it onto the spigot there or the nozzle. And washed his face and his hair real quick, rinsed off and then put the hood right back. I mean, it probably wasn’t 20 seconds. And then I don’t know, maybe that affected me later on like when I started really having a gimmick. I always thought back to Mil, like, ‘Dude, this guy’s even got the hood on in the shower.'”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.