“He Was The Epitome Of Success” – The Undertaker Reveals His Wrestling Idol During Early Days

Even after the Final Farewell, it is hard to believe that The Undertaker has retired from in-ring competition. After an illustrious final goodbye, ‘The Deadman‘ finally rests in peace.

During his early days as a newbie, ‘Mean Mark.’ looked up to some iconic wrestlers for inspiration. Before he got his iconic gimmick, The Phenom wanted to be like WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair.

The Nature Boy was one of WWE’s top stars back then. He originally invented the modern-day “heel persona,” so we understand Taker’s decision to choose Flair.

“It’d be pretty tough not to want to be Ric Flair. I mean, he was just like the epitome of success and being World Champion and all the things that come with that. I just always thought Ric Flair, his character, was, you know, it was just so over the top, but not really, because that’s really Ric Flair,” as he told Inside the Ropes.

Undertaker has his reasons for citing Nature Boy as his idol

Undertaker had only two gimmicks throughout his career – The Deadman and the American Badass. Both the gimmicks were utterly different from Ric Flair.

His different gimmick and attitude set him apart and made him immensely popular among fans.

As Undertaker said, “He’s kind of the bar for which guys of my generation measured themselves as far as success. He had obviously a tremendous — and continues to have a tremendous career. So I guess it’d be “The Nature Boy.” That is about as far off from The Undertaker as you can get.”

The Undertaker faced off against Ric Flair at WrestleMania 18 in a No Disqualification match. A few years later, after WrestleMania 24, Ric Flair would retire, and The Undertaker paid tribute to him.

Therefore, during Undertaker’s farewell, Ric Flair returned to WWE as a gesture of support.