Last week's Dark Side of the Ring moved the spotlight back to a time when WWE Superstars didn't exactly behave in the best way behind the scenes. While we frequently hear veteran wrestlers chastise today's talent for playing video games instead of partying, it's clear there has been a lot of toxic behaviour backstage that simply wouldn't fly today (no pun intended).
During an interview with That 90's Wrestling Podcast, former WWE Superstar René Duprée opened up on the bullying culture that was predominant behind the scenes when he was in the company.
Surprisingly, it sounds like The Undertaker played a significant role in what Duprée went through.
"They took my $500 shoes and $1000 suit and ruined it in the shower because I didn’t go out drinking at a bar the night before because nobody invited me. That’s just materialistic sh*t you can replace that, that doesn’t bother me," he recalled. "What really bothered me is when in Italy the next night they took my French flag – my heritage – they shoved it in a toilet and pissed and sh*t all over it. I don’t know what bullsh*t world you live in but in my world that’s called racial discrimination. That was really hurtful."
As for whether there were any consequences for that, Duprée added: "What I did do was I went to Arn Anderson who was the agent and I asked him – Arn’s advice to me was ‘Don’t sell it.’ I was like ok. The next person I went to was The Undertaker and I said ‘What do you do when someone does this to you?’ And he goes ‘Well you find out who does it.’ He ordered them to do that because I didn’t go out drinking with him and the guys at a bar."
That term "don't sell it" was thrown around a lot during Dark Side of the Ring, and seem to be the way incidents like this were dealt with. Simply put, it wasn't acceptable then and certainly isn't now; whether more incidents like this come to life remain to be seen, though we could see a lot of fan-favourite wrestlers portrayed in a very negative light if they do.
The Undertaker has yet to respond to these comments (and is unlikely to do so).