During a recent edition of his “Six Feet Under” podcast, The Undertaker recalled his 2002 Hell in a Cell match with Brock Lesnar at the WWE No Mercy pay-per-view event and his belief that the match was being underestimated.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his 2002 Hell in a Cell match with Brock Lesnar: “Working with Brock inside a cell is interesting too. I mean, because he’s so athletic. Especially, that’s his first time in. And he was young and explosive. Didn’t — you know, he didn’t have, even then, he had good instincts, but he wasn’t nearly as polished as he was when he came back. I mean, his wrestling IQ and acuity was so much better when he came back. But what he didn’t have then, he made up for athleticism, raw strength and energy, and just viciousness. He had those intangibles that it’s hard to teach people. Aggressiveness, viciousness, to be a closer, to be a killer. He had all that just instinct. I mean, it’s ingrained. It’s a natural thing, it was ingrained in him. And to work against that character, that’s the American Badass version. But still, you had to have that. Especially in Hell in a Cell, which I had already by this time had several Hell in a Cell matches. So he had to bring it. And he did, 100%.”
On the match being underestimated: “It was — I think it’s underestimated, as far as when you start talking about Hell in the Cell matches. It really — it epitomizes what Hell in the Cell was created for. Two men enter, one man leaves kind of deal. And that’s exactly what happened. Heyman was out there with him. Heyman even got color in that match. Everybody got color in that match.”
On whether he liked wrestling Lesnar as The Deadman or American Badass: “Either one, really. It didn’t matter. Because I think it mattered to him. He was always aggressive. And that was the key for people to be successful working against me. They had to be aggressive. And a lot of times, people would be intimidated by the character and everything, and my history and everything else, that they would wait for me to tell them to, ‘Okay, come on, let’s go. Let’s go. Bring it. Bring it, bring it.’ I never had to tell Brock that. He was pedal to the metal.”
