During a recent appearance on the “SHAK Wrestling” podcast, WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2022 inductee The Undertaker commented on his infamous interview with Big Van Vader on a talk show in Kuwait back in 1997.
For those unaware, the interviewer was questioning Vader on the legitimacy of pro wrestling, which led to Vader flipping over a table.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On what happened in Kuwait: “If it had happened over here, I think I would have been a little more aggressive. But I am trying to think, I think we might have been Kuwait. We were over there in the Middle East. I am just sitting there thinking, I’ve got my shades on. And I’m sitting there with the belt, and Vader, I could see it. I could see it coming long before it ever happened, I am thinking to myself, ‘Don’t do it, Leon, don’t do it, he’s doing it, this is not going to be good.’”
On how you shouldn’t put your hands on someone else in a foreign country: “You don’t know when you’re in a foreign country what the ramification of putting your hands on somebody else is, right? You just don’t know, so you don’t put yourself in that situation. I appreciate Leon, the fact that he was protecting his business. But there is a time when you have to be a little bit more vague. And you can say things a little differently. But when you start putting your hands on people, it hadn’t turned out well for many people that decided to slap a reporter or grab somebody because they mark on your business.”
On Gerry Brisco getting him out of there: “I remember them whisking me out. When everything broke down, I remember Jerry Brisco grabbing me and like, ‘let’s get in a car, we’re getting out of here.’ I look back and I see Leon like, ‘Take, what do I do?’ I was like, ‘I’ll see you at the hotel, brother.’ Because I am getting pulled, I am physically getting pulled to get into the car before everyone gets arrested. We just didn’t know. I knew that was going to be a bad decision right away and it was. He didn’t leave with us, he had to stay there for a week or so after we all left.”
