Throughout his legendary career, The Undertaker was known to be a backstage leader and a loyal company man. The Phenom was one of the biggest names on-screen, and he was equally respected behind the scenes by his fellow wrestlers and WWE management.
It is very rare that The Undertaker tried to cause trouble backstage because he was unhappy with a creative decision. The Deadman was respectfully vocal whenever he did not agree with something and wanted it changed. But there is one incident in which The Undertaker put his foot down and refused to do a particular match.
Speaking on Something To Wrestle With, WWE executive Bruce Prichard revealed that The Undertaker did not want to have a Buried Alive match with Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1999.
”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 enamoured 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.”
Prichard named this pitched Buried Alive match as one of the very few times The Undertaker refused to go along with the creative team’s plan.
The Undertaker vs. Steve Austin in a Buried Alive match
At Rock Bottom: In Your House, The Undertaker faced Steve Austin in a Buried Alive match, and Austin emerged victorious. On the podcast, Prichard said he thought this star-studded bout was horrible.
The match had taken place at a time when both men involved were not 100%. While the Undertaker was suffering from a broken ankle at the time, Steve Austin had barely eaten anything for the past week due to an intestinal virus. Despite these setbacks, the match took place, but it was considered a total disaster.
The match was riddled with botches and failed spots, and this clash between two legends remains a memorable bout for arguably the wrong reasons.
(Please give H/T credit and link the article if you use the quotes)