The Undertaker is one of the most respected wrestlers of all-time, and it's no secret that he's a locker room leader. It's been said that the Deadman has frequently resolved issues between talent backstage, while it's hard to find anyone who has a bad thing to say about his conduct behind the scenes.
During a recent interview with Bill Simmons, the future WWE Hall of Famer talked about when exactly he became a locker room leader in WWE.
"I would have to say around '95, '96," The Undertaker revealed. "That time period is when it became a talking point. Believe me, I had plenty of good times but nothing came before business. I don't care how late you stayed out the night before or what you did, at bell time it's go time and you're not going to be hungover or drag ass because you had a pretty good night the night before. That's how it started and then people just trusted me."
"I had this connection with Vince and normally when a talent is tight with somebody in the office then there is a stooge, well I never got that. Everybody knew I was able to go and talk to Vince and talk to our talent and give them my perspective and what I had seen. I think they appreciated the fact I didn't play one side against the other and I was a pretty good spot to start when guys had issues. I handled things in the locker room before they ever had to go to management."
He was also asked whether he ever got into fights backstage, and explained that it's not something which has ever been an issue for him in WWE. "Never had to go that far," the Phenom admitted. "I never presented myself as a bully, I've gotten in people's faces but normally I take somebody away from the group."
"Back in the day, you always knew something bad was going to happen if somebody said 'Hey can I talk to you in the shower?' You always had to look over your shoulder if you were walking into the shower because you didn't know if you were going to get sucker punched or whatever. A lot of times if there was a case where somebody really screwed up, I'd pull them aside and say 'Look, this isn't going to fly'."
It's fascinating getting this sort of insight from The Undertaker, and you can watch the full interview below: