Joe Rogan Experience #1598 - The Undertaker

1. 0:02 – 2:58

   Undertaker in Austin: Texas pride, California influx, and lockdown fallout

   1. THTony Hinchcliffe0:02

      (drum roll) Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out.

   2. NANarrator0:04

      The Joe Rogan Experience.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:06

      Train by day, Joe Rogan Podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music plays) WWE royalty, ladies and gentlemen. The Undertaker and the biggest fucking wrestling fan on planet Earth. Like I was saying, uh, before the podcast, if I did not bring Tony Hinchcliffe on this podcast, I would have never heard the end of it.

   4. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway0:27

      (laughs)

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:27

      No one loves you more than that man. Like, being right next to you right now is probably ... He's tingling.

   6. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway0:31

      He's tingling a little bit?

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:32

      Might be lactating.

   8. THTony Hinchcliffe0:33

      This is the highlight of my life.

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:35

      (laughs)

   10. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway0:35

       That, ooh-

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:36

       (laughs)

   12. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway0:36

       I don't, I don't know if I'm happy or sad about that, really.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:41

       (laughs)

   14. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway0:41

       (laughs)

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:41

       But anyway, thanks for coming on here. I really, I really appreciate it.

   16. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway0:43

       No, thanks for having me, man. Yeah, it's an honor, really.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:46

       Oh, my pleasure. Honored to have you. So, what is it like, uh, being in Austin, Texas right now? You, are you enjoying it? And you're from this area, right?

   18. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway0:53

       Yeah, well I'm, I'm from Houston.

   19. JRJoe Rogan0:54

       Right.

   20. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway0:55

       Uh, but I've been here since about '04. Um, you know, it's crazy, man. We got this influx of people from California right now. It's just-

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:01

       I know. We're trying not to fuck it up.

   22. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway1:02

       (laughs)

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:03

       What should we do? Tell us what to do.

   24. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway1:04

       Uh. You know, uh, it's fine. Bring the money, leave the values, and we'll all be good.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:09

       What values do we need to leave behind specifically?

   26. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway1:11

       Well, fuck, everything that fucked up California. You know?

   27. JRJoe Rogan1:13

       'Cause I think that's the government, man. Speaker2: Yeah. They know nothing about-

   28. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway1:15

       No, it really ... Uh, what, the government gets voted in though, right?

   29. JRJoe Rogan1:18

       Yeah, but, uh, I don't think we expected them to do that.

   30. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway1:21

       Exactly.
2. 2:58 – 3:30

   Life after wrestling and the hidden cost of a 30+ year career

   1. JRJoe Rogan2:58

      So, um, wh- what have you been doing, man? What have you been doing with your life post-wrestling?

   2. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:02

      Yeah, so trying to figure out what's next really. Uh, you know, I've done this for 33 years altogether. 30-

   3. JRJoe Rogan3:10

      It's crazy.

   4. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:11

      Yeah. I mean, it, it's just one of those deals, like ...

   5. JRJoe Rogan3:14

      You're walking around like you're okay though.

   6. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:16

      (laughs)

   7. JRJoe Rogan3:16

      Like a lot of the guys that hit 30 years man, you know, like I, I hung out with the Iron Sheik one night.

   8. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:21

      Oh, it's ...

   9. JRJoe Rogan3:21

      That poor guy.

   10. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:22

       Yeah, he's, uh, uh, very entertaining.

   11. JRJoe Rogan3:25

       Hilarious.

   12. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:25

       Uh, uh he's great.

   13. JRJoe Rogan3:26

       Hilarious.

   14. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:26

       Uh, uh, I love Sheiky. Uh, but you're right, you know.

   15. JRJoe Rogan3:29

       He can barely walk.

3. 3:30 – 16:01

   Birmingham hip resurfacing: pain-free overnight and extending a career

   1. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:30

      He can't, you know, his ankle's fused. He can't walk and, um, you know. I've already have got both my hips, uh, you know, Birmingham Resurface job, so I'm, I'm, you know, my hips are metal. Uh ...

   2. JRJoe Rogan3:42

      It's incredible they can do that now.

   3. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:44

      Oh it ... Well, it added ten years to my career, you know.

   4. JRJoe Rogan3:48

      Oh, so you did it and then kept going.

   5. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:50

      So, I did the first one, I did the left one in 2010 while I was-

   6. JRJoe Rogan3:56

      Wow.

   7. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway3:56

      I mean, it looked like, you know, they filmed the whole thing for me and, you know, my hip joint, my, the, the ball socket looked like a landmine had gone off on it.

   8. JRJoe Rogan4:06

      Wow.

   9. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway4:07

      I mean, it was just potholes and I had spurs and cart- and, and arthritis. It was filled it up. Um, (clears throat) and they'd only been doing them for about 10 years at that point, so they didn't have, they didn't have a whole lot of, uh, you know, scientific study on how long these were gonna last.

   10. JRJoe Rogan4:24

       Mm.

   11. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway4:24

       And then no one had put, you know, no one was gonna put it to the test like I did.

   12. JRJoe Rogan4:29

       Right.

   13. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway4:30

       You know, I mean, they-

   14. JRJoe Rogan4:31

       Especially with the amount of weight you're carrying around.

   15. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway4:32

       Yeah.

   16. JRJoe Rogan4:33

       And then picking people up and slamming them and-

   17. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway4:35

       And getting slammed and-

   18. JRJoe Rogan4:36

       Yeah.

   19. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway4:36

       ... and just all that, all that jarring. So, uh, Dr. Su, uh, out of, uh, the hospital for special surgeries, I mean, uh, he was just phenomenal. And he was so gung-ho 'cause like, you know, that was his, that was his baby and, uh, you know, he knew that what I was gonna do and, um, he's like, "No one's put that kind of test on it. We're gonna see." And I was like, "Yeah, we're gonna see." And, uh, it's held up. I've been ... I was in pain easily 12 years, every step of every day, you know. It was just, you know, I had that searing down the leg pain.

   20. JRJoe Rogan5:10

       And you just dealt with it.

   21. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway5:10

       And you just dealt with it. You know, you know? It was just, it's part of the game and, uh, and I, I just, uh, thank- thankfully I've got a high threshold to, you know, for pain and, uh ... But you know (sighs) people that are in, in chronic pain all the time and you live with it, uh, you don't even reali- the drag it is on you. I mean, you get used to it, but you don't know how much until it's gone. And when I woke up from surgery and I'm pain free, it was like, this is a whole new lease on life. Re-motivated me to do, you know, things.

   22. JRJoe Rogan5:44

       Right away you were pain free?

   23. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway5:45

       As soon as I woke up.

   24. JRJoe Rogan5:46

       Wow.

   25. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway5:47

       After-

   26. JRJoe Rogan5:47

       How is that possi- Don't they have to saw the top of your knee, your, your hip off?

   27. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway5:49

       No, so what, this ... No, so here's, here's what they do and I wished I'd have brought it with me and I ... (clears throat) But we're trying to pack our house up and, and move, but ... So they take the head of the femur. All right? The top of the leg bone.... they go in there first and they, and they clean everything off of it. They get all the arthritis, they, they shave all that off, they kinda bore it and clean it as good as they can clean it. (sniffs) Then they drill a hole in it, in the head of your femur, and then they take a titanium cap and they stick over, stick over the head of the femur.

   28. JRJoe Rogan6:23

       Jamie can probably find it if you know the exact m- model.

   29. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway6:26

       It's called... Yeah, there it is, right there.

   30. JRJoe Rogan6:28

       That's it. Jamie's on the motherfucking bone.
4. 16:01 – 17:40

   The brutal schedule: 270 dates a year, nonstop travel, and why pills became common

   1. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:01

      For a while there, that was the, yeah, that was the template. I would, uh, you know, I would... At the end of my career, I had to kind of... almost like a fighter, you know, when a fighter goes into camp. You know, 'cause I would get ready for, like, one event for years. Like, I had an eight-year stretch where I averaged 270 dates a year.

   2. JRJoe Rogan16:18

      (Inhales) Whoa.

   3. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:20

      And that's what a lot of people don't... they don't, they don't get that part of what we do.

   4. JRJoe Rogan16:23

      Right, they don't get the live events-

   5. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:24

      Yeah, hea-

   6. JRJoe Rogan16:24

      ... town to town, flying everywhere. That is bananas.

   7. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:28

      Yeah. Uh, uh, easily, easily eight years, 270 dates, with, at the beginning of my career in the early '90s with WWE on the weekends, we'd do two shows a day.

   8. JRJoe Rogan16:38

      Booom.

   9. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:40

      Yeah. You know?

   10. JRJoe Rogan16:40

       Oh, my God.

   11. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:41

       (laughs) So, you know.

   12. JRJoe Rogan16:43

       Who works harder than pro wrestlers?

   13. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:45

       I know.

   14. JRJoe Rogan16:45

       Like, like literally?

   15. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:46

       I would... Honestly, I, you know, I mean, obviously I'm biased, but a lot of people really, they don't, they don't get that.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:51

       Right.

   17. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:51

       'Cause they see Monday nights or they see-

   18. JRJoe Rogan16:53

       Right.

   19. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway16:53

       ... the Friday night show, and they don't know that we're doing live events. You know, and when I came up in, in, in the early '90s, we only did TV... Like every three weeks we would tape three weeks of TV, and the rest of that time we're on the road. We're...

   20. JRJoe Rogan17:09

       (inhales)

   21. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway17:09

       And, and it'd be like they're throwing darts. Like, one day I'd be in New York, the next day I'd be in Denver, then I'd be in Miami, then I'd be in Toronto, then I'd be in LA, and then I'd be in Dallas.

   22. JRJoe Rogan17:20

       You must have been in a constant state of jet lag.

   23. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway17:22

       Oh, well, I say fucked up, really, honestly. I, I mean (laughs) we all... You know, we had a motto, it was, uh, "We'll sleep when we're dead." Right? 'Cause, I mean-

   24. JRJoe Rogan17:31

       Yeah.

   25. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway17:31

       ... it's just... You're young. You know, when you're young-

   26. JRJoe Rogan17:33

       Yeah.

   27. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway17:33

       ... you, you've got that kind of energy and you can do all that and, you know, you're, you're going out and you're enjoying your night life too. But, but-

5. 17:40 – 26:30

   Drug testing, steroids, and the ‘sniff test’ debate (Braun, Vince, and protocols)

   1. JRJoe Rogan17:40

      Well, no wonder why so many guys have a problem with pills too, because you're in a constant state of pain.

   2. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway17:44

      Absolutely. Yeah. Uh, uh, things have progressed in our industry so much. Like, we are on the same standards now of Major League Baseball and, and f- football. I mean, our drug testing programs, uh, wellness programs, concussions. I mean, we are... And probably in some cases even, you know, better.

   3. JRJoe Rogan18:06

      Why would they test you for drugs?

   4. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway18:08

      Why?

   5. JRJoe Rogan18:09

      Yeah.

   6. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway18:10

      Well, so...... one, well, prescription drugs-

   7. JRJoe Rogan18:16

      Right.

   8. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway18:17

      ... you know. Uh-

   9. JRJoe Rogan18:18

      Just to see if you got a problem.

   10. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway18:19

       They started out early on, you know, you know, so we're talking '90s, right? So they didn't want people getting popped with, you know, getting pulled over and-

   11. JRJoe Rogan18:28

       Right.

   12. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway18:28

       ... cops finding weed in the car-

   13. JRJoe Rogan18:30

       Right.

   14. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway18:30

       ... or whatnot. So that would be a fine. You'd get fined a little bit this time. The second time, you'd get fined a little more. The third time, you'd get fined and maybe have to go, you know, rehab. But I think what they kind of figured out was... They still, I think they still do, but they didn't realize when they took that away, what's go- what are you gonna do? You're gonna drink more, and then you're gonna take more pills 'cause you gotta, you gotta cope with, you gotta cope with the pain somehow. And so then you, you got guys o- overdosing, right? So everything's kind of led up to this drug protocol now. We, we have... I mean, we're, we're talking about we didn't have doctors with us at the time. We didn't even have trainers with us back then. Now, we, we travel with trainers, doctors. You know, there's all kind of protocols. You get, you get your head... You know, you get a dinger. Used to it was like, "Okay, well, fine. I'm gonna... You know, I gotta go, I gotta go make a living."

   15. JRJoe Rogan19:26

       Right.

   16. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway19:27

       You know, and the same with injuries.

   17. JRJoe Rogan19:28

       Mm-hmm.

   18. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway19:28

       Like, you don't work, you don't get paid.

   19. JRJoe Rogan19:30

       Right.

   20. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway19:31

       So, you know, uh, in, in that sense, our industry's come a long way. They really take good care of the athletes now.

   21. JRJoe Rogan19:38

       But when you think of drug tests, people think about steroids.

   22. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway19:41

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan19:41

       It's, you know, which is... I, if I was Vince, I would tell people, like, "Look, I wanna make sure you're on steroids." I'd be, like, testing everybody.

   24. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway19:48

       Well-

   25. JRJoe Rogan19:49

       (laughs)

   26. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway19:49

       ... it, we- we've had a few different (laughs) -

   27. JRJoe Rogan19:52

       Like-

   28. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway19:52

       ... we've had a few different-

   29. JRJoe Rogan19:52

       ... why are you not on steroids?

   30. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway19:54

       Yeah.
6. 26:30 – 34:10

   From college basketball to wrestling: paying $2,000 to train with Buzz Sawyer (and getting scammed)

   1. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway26:30

      It's been a long time. And I... A- and, you know, it was tough for me. Like, I didn't have... I didn't have a l- I'm not a legacy. I didn't have anybody in the business. I didn't know anybody in the business. And, uh, like... So, you know, usually, you need somebody to open that door for you, right?

   2. JRJoe Rogan26:46

      So when... In '86, were you thinking like, "I've gotta figure out a way how to do this"? And you just started... Did you... How did you... Did you start taking, like, classes? Like, how did you...

   3. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway26:55

      S- so I was, I was in college. I was a basketball player, right? And my coach tells m- tells me, "Hey, Mark, there's, there's some European scouts that are, that are interested in you. You know, maybe after, you know, next year, you know, they may wanna give you a tryout. European pro basketball, right? But they all say they wanna get you... You know, they'd like for you to be a little bigger 'cause of the style they played back then." Okay, so I start lifting weights, try and... You know, I'm 6'8", 230, 240, which is... In, in the '80s is huge for a basketball player, but still. So I start training-

   4. JRJoe Rogan27:32

      Was it like in European League, were they just more physical or-

   5. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway27:33

      Yeah, yeah. They... You know, it was like, uh, Rick Mahorn and, and Bill Laimbeer, you know, on the gas.

   6. JRJoe Rogan27:41

      Mm-hmm.

   7. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway27:41

      They were just monsters. And, uh, so I start training and I'm trying to, you know, put on size and strength, and I met this guy in the gym who was like... Every day I'd come in, he goes... Hey, he goes, "Man, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go and... I'm gonna... I'm gonna get into this wrestling. I want you to do wrestling with me." And I was a big wrestling fan as a kid. But as I got into, you know, basketball and football and everything else, I kinda, you know, I kinda drifted away. (sighs) You know, I was just like, "Uh, f- man, I think I'm gonna go try to play some pro ball in Europe." And he goes, "Man, you should really try and do this with me, you know." So I kinda started getting in touch with the product again, you know. I kinda started watching again and, and I've g- I got no clue. Uh, I'm thinking, "Hmm, you know." You know, I'm kinda get... Fall back into it again, right? Like, "Oh, that's kinda cool. It's different." And I think one of the things that's helped me through my career is, is being a, a realist in what my talents are and what my talents aren't. And, you know, I was like... You know, I kinda started having these conversations with myself, like, "Even if you do make a team, you know, I mean, how long do you really have?" Right? And, and being 21 and sitting on the end of the bench in Lithuania just really didn't... wasn't that appealing-

   8. JRJoe Rogan28:57

      Yeah.

   9. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway28:57

      ... uh, of a... You know, I'm th- you know, I'm trying to weigh it up against what I'm seeing on TV, right? I'm like, you know... I'm like, because you got the Von Erichs and you got Hogan. I'm like, "Well, shit, these guys are huge household names, you know." So I'm thinking, "Well, maybe I oughta give it a try." So we find this guy by the name of Buzz Sawyer to, to train us, right? And I gotta come up with two grand and I got... I ain't got a pot or a window to throw it out of, right? So I, uh, I get my brother, my oldest brother, to cosign a loan, hock everything I own, and, uh, come up with two grand to pay Buzz Sawyer to train, train me to wrestle. Show up to his house, uh, first morning of training, right? And Buzz was a... He was a m- He was a good amateur, really good amateur. And, uh, show up at his house, knocking on the door, knocking on... There's about 10 of us standing out (laughs) in the fucking front yard, knocking on the door. Finally, fucking door swings open. "What the fuck you want?" Right? He's sitting there butt ass naked.

   10. JRJoe Rogan29:59

       (laughs)

   11. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway29:59

       Woke him up out of a d- he's just standing there naked. And everybody's like, "Uh, we're here to train?" And he goes, "Oh, fuck, is that today?"

   12. JRJoe Rogan30:10

       (laughs)

   13. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway30:11

       Yeah, you know. And, uh, so he, he gets a- another guy that was staying there with him, his name was Perry Jackson, who I'm friends with to this day, uh...He says, "Go out there and warm him up," right? So, he goes out there and we run and do all just, I mean, everything they can do to blow us up and run us off, right? Totally gassed out about two hours, just nothing but cardio shit, right? Finally, Buzz comes out. "All right. Everybody line up." You know, "All right. Everybody get down, amateur position." Right? So, you know, everybody gets down. Fucking he just stretches the shit out of everybody, right? Like, cross-faced, just fucking, you know, chicken wing and just, just hooking everybody and rolling them around in the f- in his front yard, right? (laughs) It's just...

   14. JRJoe Rogan30:58

       (laughs)

   15. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway30:59

       And that, yeah, that was it, right? Then he goes in the house. He's like, "Y'all come back, you know, a couple other days." So this goes on for weeks.

   16. JRJoe Rogan31:06

       Mm-hmm.

   17. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway31:06

       And, like, every time I show up, there's, like, one less guy that shows up. They just, like, fucking ... Until I was the last one there.

   18. JRJoe Rogan31:13

       Mm-hmm.

   19. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway31:14

       So I'm the last one there, I knock on the door, knock on the door, fuck. He never answers, right? So I start peering in the windows, fucking all the furniture's gone, everything's go- he's gone. He'd gone to a different territory to work. He just left, right? Never, never learned any pro wrestling.

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:34

       (laughs)

   21. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway31:35

       Ne- (laughs)

   22. JRJoe Rogan31:35

       He was just teaching you wrestling right now.

   23. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway31:36

       He was just teaching me, yeah, eh, uh, obviously he, we-

   24. JRJoe Rogan31:39

       Yeah.

   25. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway31:39

       ... signed up for pro, you know-

   26. JRJoe Rogan31:40

       Right.

   27. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway31:40

       ... to, to teach us how to pro-wrestle, but he just came out there, and his whole goal, and this is the way it was back then, is they always tried to take your money, and then they try to run you off, you know?

   28. JRJoe Rogan31:49

       Uh-huh.

   29. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway31:50

       Most of the guys at th- in that era were all shooters, you know, they were all, you know, they were all good amateurs.

   30. JRJoe Rogan31:56

       Right.
7. 34:10 – 37:08

   Sleeping in his car and the eight-month lobby grind: earning a break with World Class

   1. JRJoe Rogan34:10

      So you're fucked. How do you go from there?

   2. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway34:14

      So, uh, you know, I, I, I lived in my car for a little bit. Uh, you know, bounced in bars, collected a little money here and there. I just did whatever I could just to, you know, keep eating and, and keep training and, and, and did what I c- did what I could. And I knew ... So the Von Erichs ran Dallas, that was their, that was their, their hub, World c- World Class Championship Wrestling. And I knew that they were in the office on Wednesday. Like they would come in there and book the cards and the guys would come in, get their paychecks and shit on Wednesday. So every Wednesday for about eight months, I would go down there and I'd sit in the lobby and fucking guys would come right, walk right by me, not even, not even acknowledge my presence.

   3. JRJoe Rogan34:59

      Every Wednesday?

   4. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway35:00

      Every Wednesday for eight months I went and just sat there. And eight months-

   5. JRJoe Rogan35:05

      Did you ask to speak to anybody or-

   6. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway35:07

      Well, I, yeah, so there was, there was a referee back there, his name was Branko Lubich, who's the only one that would speak to me, right? And it would be kinda like, "Uh, you're here again, huh, kid?" I was like, "Uh, yes, sir, Mr. Lubich, I was, you know, hoping may I get a chance to talk to somebody today." "All right. Well, just good luck," you know. And then, and then I would sit there and, you know, I'd walk by and try like, you know, and as I, somebody would come through, you know, I'd kind of start to stand, fuck, they never stop, just fucking, just blew me, blew right by me. One day, at, like I was ab- I was right at the end of my rope, I was like, "Fuck, this is not, I'm not getting anywhere here." And, uh, uh, Fritz Von Erich, you know, the, the, the patriarch of the family, right? The guy that owned the company came in. And he, and he walked in and he stopped and he looked at me like ... And I started to, you know, yet once again I started to get up, you know, and introduce myself and he turned around and he went into Branko's office and he had a deep, gravelly voice and I could hear him and he's like, he's like, "Who's that kid out there?" And, uh, he said, "Oh, he's been coming here for months. He's just trying to get booked." And I heard, heard Fritz go, "Book him. Book him Friday night. I want to see what he can do. He looks just like David," one of his sons that he had lost.... I looked, I looked a lot like D- David, and that's how, that's how I got my first break.

   7. JRJoe Rogan36:29

      Wow.

   8. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway36:29

      'Cause I was in the right, you know, I was in the right place at the right time.

   9. JRJoe Rogan36:33

      So had you ever practiced beforehand?

   10. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway36:35

       No, I was practicing.

   11. JRJoe Rogan36:36

       Practicing?

   12. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway36:36

       I mean, yeah. I mean, I was, but I'd never had a, I'd never had like a real match.

   13. JRJoe Rogan36:40

       Right.

   14. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway36:41

       I mean, I'm just, uh, you know, every little outlaw, independent kind of deal that I could get, I was doing. But I hadn't worked with top guys or, you know.

   15. JRJoe Rogan36:50

       When you say like outlaw, independent, like you, so you were doing some matches?

   16. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway36:54

       I was doing some matches, but not, not professional. Like not televised, not-

   17. JRJoe Rogan37:00

       Right.

   18. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway37:00

       ... for a, for a real company.

   19. JRJoe Rogan37:02

       Right. Oh, I see.

   20. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway37:03

       Right? Just like some jackass like, "Okay, I'm a wrestling promoter. I'm gonna go to the Knights of Columbus Hall-

   21. JRJoe Rogan37:08

       Mm-hmm.

8. 37:08 – 43:24

   First ‘real’ match: Bruiser Brody teaches a painful lesson in ring realism

   1. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway37:08

      ... and see if I can put 20 people in here." Eh, you know, that's the kind of shit you would do. And then you have to go for no money, and then, you know, you'd set up the ring, whatever you had to do. But the t- the wrestling, the time in the ring was what was so valuable at that point, is getting, getting those reps and getting that stuff. So, and then, so they book me. And, uh, um, b- I don't know if you've heard of Bruiser Brody?

   2. JRJoe Rogan37:34

      Yes.

   3. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway37:34

      Yes. Tough guy, uh, in anybody's standards, back then especially. He's my first match, right? So, (laughs) now I- I- I'm a pretty respectful guy, and, and, and, and, and I'm sure in any industry, you know, uh, even when you're, you know, a new comic, you, you pay respect to the older guy. I mean, it's just the way it should be. And it, and the way it really was back then, especially, you know, in, in our business, you know, you just, you didn't say much, and you spoke when spoken to, kind of deal. And, uh, so I, I'm Bruiser Brody ... Bruiser Brody's my first professional match, right? So ...

   4. JRJoe Rogan38:11

      Wow.

   5. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway38:12

      I don't know, I'm 20, 21 maybe. And, uh, I'm just, you know, I'm in the ring and I'm looking at him. I'm like, "Fuck, I'm bigger than he is."

   6. JRJoe Rogan38:22

      (laughs)

   7. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway38:23

      This is the shit (laughs) that's going on in my head, right?

   8. JRJoe Rogan38:25

      (laughs)

   9. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway38:25

      Right? And I ... Now I'm so nervous, like you couldn't have drove a nail up my ass with a sledgehammer I'm so nervous-

   10. JRJoe Rogan38:30

       (laughs)

   11. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway38:30

       ... to start with. But I'm looking and like that, that, that stupid voice in the back of my head's like, "You're fucking bigger than he is." You know, 'cause Bruiser Brody was bigger than life, man. He had all that hair and he was just fucking, he was just a ma- ... He was an animal, right? So fuck, and when the bell rings and I f- voom, I tie up with him, collar and elbow, and you know, I jam him up into a corner, and you know, he's, "Hey kid, lighten up a little bit, kid. You know, relax." And I'm just like, "You, y- ... " I mean, my body's like angle iron, right? I'm so just woah. Anyway, so I go to shove him, and my hand's, you know, we're, we're kind of hand fighting a little bit and my hand slips off and I kind of, you know, I kind of palm him in the, in the, in the face. The temperature in the room changed a little bit at that moment. (laughs)

   12. JRJoe Rogan39:19

       (laughs)

   13. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway39:19

       We t- (laughs) So we tie up again, and I'm, I'm about to shoot him across the ring. And I kind of shoot him across the ring and I'm yelling like, "I'm gonna hit him with a clothesline." So as I tell him, "Clothesline!" Right? And he comes off the ropes like fucking like a bullet, like a six foot five, 300 pound bullet, and he kicks me square in my fucking jaw.

   14. JRJoe Rogan39:44

       (laughs)

   15. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway39:44

       (laughs) My eyes are f- ... My eyes roll back in my head, and next thing I know, he's grabbing me. He's like, "Let's go for a walk," right? So he throws me out of the ring, and, uh, throws me down on this table in, in the, it was a place called the Sportatorium in Dallas. They've torn it down now, but they had the folding chairs that had, they were metal but then they had the wood slats. Fuck. He takes this chair as hard as he c- you know, and not the, we're not talking about the metal folding chairs, which hurt enough in their own right when you get hit enough times with them. He swings as hard as he can. This chair just fucking explodes. Wood slats fly all over the place. And I'm thinking I've, I'd, I'd never been hit so hard man. I'd been hit, you know, but I'd never been hit that hard by anything at that point. He throws me back in the ring, ties me all up in the ropes, right? I'm greener than shit, don't know what the hell I'm doing. And he just starts (laughs) hitting the other ropes and coming and just kicking me as hard as he can in the head. Wham.

   16. JRJoe Rogan40:48

       Oh my God.

   17. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway40:50

       Eh, I, and I deserved it. I, you know? I mean, he was giving me a lesson that I needed to learn. Anyway, eh, couple minutes later, boom, he pins me. And, you know, that was it. We go back to, you know, we go back to the dressing room and I'm like, "Holy shit, I just got the shit kicked out of me." And, uh, I went over to him. I was like, uh, "Mr. Brody, thank you." You know? He said, "All right, kid. Just, you know, relax next time, will you?" And I was like, "Yes, sir. I, I, I just appreciate, you know, being in the ring with you." And, you know, I went back off in my corner to f- kind of gather where I was and, you know, and I could overheard him telling, you know, the promoter, he's like, "Fuck, you oughta, you oughta book this kid some more." They were trying to find someplace else to send me. He said, "That kid, that kid's gonna be something." And, uh, but, you know, they, at the time, they, I, I was too green. I didn't know what the fuck I was doing so I had to go somewhere else, but that was my first, my first, uh, introduction into-

   18. JRJoe Rogan41:49

       (laughs)

   19. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway41:49

       ... into wrestling. And I, I got thumped pretty good.

   20. JRJoe Rogan41:51

       Isn't it crazy when you think back at the days in the gym when you were getting ready to go play basketball, if you didn't meet that guy-

   21. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway41:58

       Yeah.

   22. JRJoe Rogan41:58

       ... who knows where you would have gone?

   23. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway42:01

       Um, yeah. I, I, I would have probably tried to make a team somewhere, but I don't, you know, I don't think that would have lasted 'cause I wasn't real, you know, I mean, my ... I was limited. I mean, I wasn't (laughs) you know-

   24. JRJoe Rogan42:12

       'Cause you-

   25. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway42:12

       ... my game was limited enough. I, I would have probably ended up in the military, I'm pretty sure.

   26. JRJoe Rogan42:17

       Isn't it crazy how life just-

   27. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway42:19

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan42:19

       I mean, do you ever think about that?

   29. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway42:21

       I think about it all the time.

   30. JRJoe Rogan42:21

       Like, that one dude was like your doorway-
9. 43:24 – 45:30

   WWE’s Performance Center: today’s pathway vs the old territory-era gauntlet

   1. JRJoe Rogan43:24

      Is there more of a pathway, like an obvious pathway, for a guy to get into pro wrestling today?

   2. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway43:30

      So, yeah. Uh, so, we have, uh, in Orlando we have, it's called the Performance Center, and they have, um, you know, there's still wrestling schools, legitimate wrestling schools around the country, and then every once, I don't know how many times a year, then they'll have a call there at the PC like, okay, you go in and they test you and see if you're, one, physically fit enough to do it, and then two, you know, do you have some personality? Do you have something that you can bring to the table that might be a draw? And then, if- if- if they- if they book you, I mean this is the crazy part right here, if they feel like you might have, uh, you know, a- a chance or something to offer, you- you get a contract right there. And you get a contract to train.

   3. JRJoe Rogan44:22

      Really?

   4. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway44:22

      All- all you have to do is train. It's the gr- I can't, you know... That's how far we've come.

   5. JRJoe Rogan44:28

      That's amazing.

   6. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway44:29

      From my story.

   7. JRJoe Rogan44:30

      Eight months in the lobby.

   8. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway44:31

      Eight months in the lobby, getting, you know, people walking by to, alright, this is your contract, all you have to ... Yeah, this is our- our place in Orlando right here, so.

   9. JRJoe Rogan44:41

      Well, you know, it makes sense for them because, I mean, you need talent.

   10. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway44:46

       Absolutely.

   11. JRJoe Rogan44:46

       You constantly need new talent and why not just train them and groom them?

   12. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway44:51

       Exactly. You train them and groom them-

   13. JRJoe Rogan44:52

       Yeah.

   14. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway44:52

       ... in the way that you want.

   15. JRJoe Rogan44:54

       Yeah.

   16. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway44:54

       I mean, we send- we send guys to the combine now, the NFL combine.

   17. JRJoe Rogan44:58

       Really?

   18. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway44:59

       This guy like- and, you know, they sit there and talk, alright, who's gonna make it? Who's not gonna make it? And, uh, a- and we get, yeah, we get- we send ... We go all over the world now. They- they went- they s- recruit in China, the Middle East.

   19. JRJoe Rogan45:14

       Wow.

   20. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway45:14

       Everywhere we- you know, everywhere we have TV programming, which makes sense as- as well, they- they're looking for that hometown star like when we go to like if we go to Saudi or- or somewhere in Dubai or someplace. If you've got somebody local, that's just great business.

10. 45:30 – 1:19:08

    Becoming The Undertaker: WCW rejection, Vince’s meeting, and escaping ‘Eggman’

    1. JRJoe Rogan45:30

       How did you become The Undertaker?

    2. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway45:33

       (laughs)

    3. NANarrator45:35

       (laughs)

    4. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway45:36

       So (laughs) so that- that's- that's Vince's brainchild. So I went to another company, WCW, where I was, uh, mean Mark Callous. And, uh, right there, check that young-

    5. JRJoe Rogan45:47

       (laughs)

    6. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway45:47

       ... stud out right there. That's terrifying, isn't it? (laughs)

    7. NANarrator45:53

       (laughs)

    8. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway45:53

       That guy is, uh-

    9. JRJoe Rogan45:53

       You look like an enormous hobbit.

    10. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway45:54

        Yeah. Uh, just, uh-

    11. NANarrator45:57

        (laughs)

    12. JRJoe Rogan45:57

        (laughs)

    13. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway45:57

        That's, uh ... Yeah, we can take that down any time. Uh-

    14. NANarrator46:03

        (laughs)

    15. JRJoe Rogan46:03

        (claps)

    16. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway46:03

        (laughs) So- so I go there and, uh-

    17. JRJoe Rogan46:10

        (laughs)

    18. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway46:11

        ... I- I was about, I was there about eight or nine months, and, uh, my contract was coming up. And I go- I go in to renegotiate my contract and they were like, "Look, you're a great athlete, kid. But no one's ever gonna pay money to watch you wrestle." Like, I- I'm just looking for a little bit of bump, right? A little bump in my paycheck. I'm not looking for the mega-deal, I'm just looking for a little bit of bump.

    19. JRJoe Rogan46:36

        Wow.

    20. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway46:36

        "Nope. We're gonna give you the same deal for a year." I mean, it- it you just, you know ... "You do great things in the ring, but no one's ever gonna pay money to see you wrestle."

    21. JRJoe Rogan46:46

        Did they give you advice on how to get someone to pay?

    22. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway46:48

        No. No.

    23. JRJoe Rogan46:48

        Wow.

    24. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway46:49

        Tha- yeah, that was it.

    25. JRJoe Rogan46:50

        They didn't tell you anything wrong.

    26. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway46:50

        That was it. So I'm like, okay, I've- my ceiling, I know where my ceiling is here, right? So, uh, just through a- you know, a few different people, I get connected with some people in the- in the W, which was WWF at the time, it's WWE now. And, um, I had a match coming up and my hip was already bad at that point, even back then.

    27. JRJoe Rogan47:12

        Really?

    28. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway47:12

        Yeah. Uh- uh, it- it got much worse, but I was already limping. And, uh, and I just heard it when we'd got Vince, you know, they had said, "Alright, you know, they've got a pay-per-view. Just watch him work," you know. So Vince watches me work and I'm calm like, I- I'm- I'm, you know, talking to my buddy Bruce, I'm like, "Bruce, my hip is jacked." He goes, "Just go out there. Vince is gonna be watching, right?" So I'm working with a guy by the- named Lex Luger. Went out there and did what I could. I sucked. I mean, I wa- you know, I was- I was physically, you know, I was physically not able really to- to go the way I could go, and Vince wasn't impressed. You know? He's like, "Okay, he's, you know, he's run of the mill." Fortunately, guys like, uh, you know, Paul Heyman and- and, uh, and Bruce Prichard, you know, they believed in me and they kinda kept pushing to- for me to get this meeting with Vince and finally I did. I got ... And he calls me. I got to go to his house, right? So I go to his house.

    29. JRJoe Rogan48:11

        What was Vince's house like?

    30. MCMark "The Undertaker" Calaway48:13

        Fuck. Are you kidding me? (laughs)

Episode duration: 2:43:06