The Undertaker Didn’t Want to Do the Buried Alive Match With Stone Cold on WWE SmackDown

After thirty years in WWE, The Undertaker is undoubtedly a living legend. Even before he gained the stature of a legend and future Hall of Famer, his importance never subsided.

Thanks to his integrity and intelligence, Undertaker was often considered a ‘locker room leader.’ His tales of the ‘wrestler’s court’ are now a thing for the pro wrestling history books.

Hence, fans could not really associate him with being fickle or moody in or outside the ring. However, the Executive Director of RAW and SmackDown, and The Phenom‘s first-ever manager Bruce Prichard has some interesting stories.

Speaking on Something To Wrestle With, Prichard revealed the one time The Undertaker refused to have a match. It was in 1999 when Taker had the ‘Minister of Darkness’ gimmick, and the match was against Stone Cold Steve Austin.

‘Taker always had a voice,” said Prichard. “A lot of the times I would be the one charged with convincing The Undertaker to do something he wasn’t completely enamored with and try to come up with a compromise.”

“I remember a big one, it was 99, was the buried alive match on SmackDown,” Prichard continued. “Like the second or third week that Taker was just adamant that he did not want to do it.”

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Did the match between The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin take place?

Back in 1999, The Undertaker and Steve Austin were feuding for a long time over the WWF title. But soon it took a darker turn when The Undertaker broke into Steve Austin’s hospital ward to embalm him alive.

Although The Deadman initially refused the match, Bruce Prichard convinced his friend. The Buried Alive match took place at Rock Bottom: In Your House.

The match was also for the right to compete in the 1999 Royal Rumble match. Both men had several health issues, and could not do justice to their abilities.

Both men buried each other at one point, but both came out. Finally, Undertaker’s brother Kane interrupted the match. He hit the piledriver on Taker and buried him alive.

Austin was declared the winner, and he poured beer all over the grave. He would then have feuds with Mankind and The Rock before winning the World Title at WrestleMania XV.

The Undertaker also kept up the gimmick before becoming the American Bad Ass in 2000. Let us know your thoughts on The Undertaker’s initial adamance in the comments below.

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