WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker has told the story behind one of his signature moves.
Although The Phenom was known for delivering the Tombstone, Chokeslam and Last Ride in his matches, there is another move very much associated with The Deadman. Known as “Old School” the manoeuvre sees Undertaker put their opponent in a wrist lock, climb to the top rope, walk along the rope and deliver a diving forearm. While the move looked impressive and was unique, it was not something that the Hall of Famer came up with.
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, the former World Champion revealed that he got the idea from a wrestler called The Spoiler while working in World Class Championship Wrestling. When The Spoiler retired, Taker modified the move to make it his own:
“Well, first I stole it. I stole it from the spoiler. I waited. I worked with Spoiler when I was in World Class Championship where I got my start. I worked with The Spoiler originally, and he did it. He did the wrist lock and walk the rope thing. So I had to wait. I had to wait till The Spoiler retired, and then I took it, and then I was like, well, if he did it this way, I’m going to do it this way. So originally, you know, I would drop somebody in the ring, and then I would go up, and then I would tightrope out three or four steps, and then drop the elbow. By the time I got to WWE in 1990, I was already walking with a limp because we would do three or four TV tapings in WCW, and that’s three or four elbows a night.”
The Undertaker Thought Old School Moves Wouldn’t Have Long-Lasting Effects
Wrestlers have often talked about their “bump card”, meaning that they can only take so many landings in the ring before suffering an injury. In the second half of his story, Undertaker recalled being told that he was at risk of hurting himself by doing the Old School in every match. While The Deadman thought this wouldn’t be an issue at first, he soon realised that wasn’t the case:
“So I remember Jody Hamilton. I come back after one of those matches, and he’s like, kid. You’ve taken years off your career with that elbow. No, sir, Mr. Hamilton. I’ll be able to do this forever. By the time I got the call to come up, I was already walking with a limp. So, those old timers know a little bit more than they get credit for sometimes.”
Featured image: WWE
