“We Would Fall into the Same Trap”: Wrestling Veteran Highlights What Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker Had in Common
For many years, the Undertaker has been one of the most feared Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstars. As a result, many wrestlers don't want to confront him, with a few exceptions. Nevertheless, they survived to tell a tale of the horrors they suffered from the "dead man". Sara Calaway was bold enough to bond with the iconic wrestler outside the deadly ring.
The Undertaker put on quite a number of classic matches and feuds during his time with WWE. From Shawn Michaels to Kane, ‘The Deadman’ worked with a variety of opponents throughout his career. This ability of The Undertaker made him one of the most respected pro wrestlers of all time.
Taker was often tasked with ‘carrying a match’ by working to the limits of his opponent.
While most of The Undertaker’s matches have drawn high praise from the fans, some of them have been forgettable, mainly due to the opponent he faced. One such name against which the WWE Hall of Famer failed to work his magic was former WWE wrestler Jon Heidenreich.
WWE legend Bruce Prichard talked about how The Undertaker was the go-to guy when it came to working with large-sized wrestlers and what happened with Heidenreich.
Prichard compared The Undertaker with Hulk Hogan in one aspect
Bruce Prichard talked about The Undertaker on his Something to Wrestle podcast.
He spoke about how Taker’s ability to wrestle with the big guys was also a ‘curse’. And this meant they were falling into the same routine they had with another WWE legend, Hulk Hogan.
The veteran further added, ‘The Phenom’ was placed in a program with Heidenreich, because of the former’s ability to tell a good story in the ring with the big guys.
Prichard said, “The Heidenreich stuff yeah we had talked about another a program with Heidenreich. Poor Undertaker. Every time that there was another big guy, it was you know we would fall into the same trap that we used to fall in with Hulk. Hulk liked the big guys and the monsters so he could sell, make the big comeback, and squash the monster”.
Prichard also revealed that despite being put in a program with a veteran like Taker, Vince didn’t have much confidence in Heidenreich. The WWE legend stated, “Vince was like God, he’s just not ready yet. He didn’t have the confidence in Heidenreich at that time.”
Over the years, we have seen The Undertaker wrestle with the likes of Giant Gonzalez, Kane, Mark Henry, and The Great Khali. Some of these matches turned out to be fine, but at times, it was a hard watch.
Although Heidenreich wasn’t as big as those guys, his inexperience in the ring went against him.
Heidenreich’s WWE career
Jon Heidenreich made his WWE debut in 2003 on RAW. After a bizarre run on the flagship show, they moved him to SmackDown to work with Paul Heyman a year later.
His first meaningful feud on the main roster came against The Undertaker. Despite WWE pushing this rivalry strongly and having Paul Heyman at his side, Heidenreich never got going. His feud with ‘The American Badass’ was not well received and failed to garner the interest WWE hoped for
After four months of a feud that failed to get over, Heidenreich formed a tag team with Road Warrior Animal in 2005. The duo won the WWE Tag Team Championships, but that was as good as it got for Heidenreich. In 2006, WWE released him and he never returned to the company again.
