Mark Calloway spent the next week watching old video tapes of his matches. In his mind he had finally fallen into the category of "athlete who used to be great." He would retire as soon as he could and re-live his glory days the same way his fans did: by watching them on video.
As he put in another Undertaker compilation tape, the doorbell of his Texas home rang. Mark answered it to find his manager, William "Paul Bearer" Moody, looking angry and confused.
"What the hell was that?!" the round manager screamed. "You walked away! How could you just walk away?"
Calloway sighed. He turned his focus away from Moody and put it back on the TV. He knew William deserved an answer. Undertaker fans did too. As he started to give one, he wished that his manager was doing the talking for him. That way Calloway wouldn't have to admit it.
"I walked away, because I was scared. I'm not the same anymore. I'm not The Undertaker. I haven't been a world champion in two years. Every match I feel more and more pain. I might wear the clothes, I might have you with me, and I might still be able to wrestle. But I sure as hell ain't the Dead Man anymore.
I walked away because when Sting looked at me, that man had no fear in his eyes. I never saw that before. Everybody used to fear The Undertaker. Everybody! That edge is gone now. That edge is what made me the winner I am. Or at least the winner I used to be.
Sting was a WCW guy William. I never fought him. I never saw him wrestle. I don't know what he's all about. I need that edge to hold over him in a fight. Now, I don't even have that. So tell me how the hell I'm supposed to beat him."
Moody grabbed the remote and shut the tape off. He began flipping channels in search of UPN. As he flipped, he responded to the comments of his long time associate.
"I won't stand here and listen to this! You're STILL a winner! I came back to wrestling to manage a winner! To manage the Dead Man! You're a human being. But you're still a dangerous human being. And the only reason Sting didn't fear you, is because he's too damn stupid to know he should! He doesn't know what YOU'RE all about! He never faced someone like you. But he will. And when he does, he'll know then to fear The Undertaker! OH YESSS!"
It was a nice attempt at a managerial pep talk, but it just wasn't working.
Moody finally found UPN. He had purposely turned it on, hoping whatever Sting did would inspire some dislike from Calloway. SmackDown was in the middle of its weekly broadcast, and coincidentally enough, Sting was on the screen at the time.
He wasn't at the arena however. Instead, he was walking around an abandoned funeral home. He swung his trademark black bat at a nearby casket, chipping away at it and slowly breaking it down into firewood. It was quite symbolic.
"Am I supposed to be afraid?" Sting asked the camera.
"Am I supposed to be afraid of The Undertaker? Well I'm not! Because me, and all my little Stingers know, that the Undertaker is a fraud! He ran away last week, but he can't hide.
I came to WWE to prove myself. I came here to say that I'm the best, because I can beat the best. And I heard that The Undertaker was supposed to be one of the top dogs around here. Well it looks like now, if he won't come to me, I'm going to have to play dog catcher.
I'll get my hands on you Undertaker. I'm going to draw you out of those shadows you love to hide in, and beat you like a dog!"
With that, Sting continued destroying the funeral home. His bat knocked over an urn. He turned another wooden coffin into lumber. As The Undertaker watched, he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. Not only did Sting not fear him, but Sting's total lack of fear was actually making The Undertaker just a bit afraid.
Then, Sting said something that would only make the bookers set up a Sting/Taker match even faster.
"But since you aren't on this show to challenge me yet, maybe I should go see what RAW has to offer. I'll be back when SmackDown gives me the Dead Man. IT'S SHOWTIME! WOO!!"
The Undertaker shivered. What was he going to do now?
More importantly, what would happen when Sting visited RAW?
As he put in another Undertaker compilation tape, the doorbell of his Texas home rang. Mark answered it to find his manager, William "Paul Bearer" Moody, looking angry and confused.
"What the hell was that?!" the round manager screamed. "You walked away! How could you just walk away?"
Calloway sighed. He turned his focus away from Moody and put it back on the TV. He knew William deserved an answer. Undertaker fans did too. As he started to give one, he wished that his manager was doing the talking for him. That way Calloway wouldn't have to admit it.
"I walked away, because I was scared. I'm not the same anymore. I'm not The Undertaker. I haven't been a world champion in two years. Every match I feel more and more pain. I might wear the clothes, I might have you with me, and I might still be able to wrestle. But I sure as hell ain't the Dead Man anymore.
I walked away because when Sting looked at me, that man had no fear in his eyes. I never saw that before. Everybody used to fear The Undertaker. Everybody! That edge is gone now. That edge is what made me the winner I am. Or at least the winner I used to be.
Sting was a WCW guy William. I never fought him. I never saw him wrestle. I don't know what he's all about. I need that edge to hold over him in a fight. Now, I don't even have that. So tell me how the hell I'm supposed to beat him."
Moody grabbed the remote and shut the tape off. He began flipping channels in search of UPN. As he flipped, he responded to the comments of his long time associate.
"I won't stand here and listen to this! You're STILL a winner! I came back to wrestling to manage a winner! To manage the Dead Man! You're a human being. But you're still a dangerous human being. And the only reason Sting didn't fear you, is because he's too damn stupid to know he should! He doesn't know what YOU'RE all about! He never faced someone like you. But he will. And when he does, he'll know then to fear The Undertaker! OH YESSS!"
It was a nice attempt at a managerial pep talk, but it just wasn't working.
Moody finally found UPN. He had purposely turned it on, hoping whatever Sting did would inspire some dislike from Calloway. SmackDown was in the middle of its weekly broadcast, and coincidentally enough, Sting was on the screen at the time.
He wasn't at the arena however. Instead, he was walking around an abandoned funeral home. He swung his trademark black bat at a nearby casket, chipping away at it and slowly breaking it down into firewood. It was quite symbolic.
"Am I supposed to be afraid?" Sting asked the camera.
"Am I supposed to be afraid of The Undertaker? Well I'm not! Because me, and all my little Stingers know, that the Undertaker is a fraud! He ran away last week, but he can't hide.
I came to WWE to prove myself. I came here to say that I'm the best, because I can beat the best. And I heard that The Undertaker was supposed to be one of the top dogs around here. Well it looks like now, if he won't come to me, I'm going to have to play dog catcher.
I'll get my hands on you Undertaker. I'm going to draw you out of those shadows you love to hide in, and beat you like a dog!"
With that, Sting continued destroying the funeral home. His bat knocked over an urn. He turned another wooden coffin into lumber. As The Undertaker watched, he got a sinking feeling in his stomach. Not only did Sting not fear him, but Sting's total lack of fear was actually making The Undertaker just a bit afraid.
Then, Sting said something that would only make the bookers set up a Sting/Taker match even faster.
"But since you aren't on this show to challenge me yet, maybe I should go see what RAW has to offer. I'll be back when SmackDown gives me the Dead Man. IT'S SHOWTIME! WOO!!"
The Undertaker shivered. What was he going to do now?
More importantly, what would happen when Sting visited RAW?