By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Dot Net reader Felix Yelin attended the Undertaker 1 DeadMan Show on October 7, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Theatre of Living Arts and sent the following report.
-The theater was a small, artsy forum with most people sitting in close quarters in rows of set up chairs in front of the stage. There was also seating on the second floor. The stage had a round table, a chair and two shot glasses with Jack. Cellphones were locked up so people actually conversed.
-Undertaker had his hype man come out first and then came out to his music, wearing a hat and zip up. Unlike past Taker shows, Philly cheered for the hype man later in the evening.
-Taker said his last match in front of fans was in Philly (Extreme Rules 2019) and it was a good one.
-Taker retold the story about getting on social media and how people thought it ruined childhoods. He also discussed getting heat for calling today’s product “soft.”
-Undertaker retold the story of Paul Bearer ribbing him with cucumbers. He then also retold how he got Paul back by driving around in circles when Paul had to go to the bathroom. Paul eventually pissed himself.
-Taker said the only two people who call him after 9 PM are a high Mideon (Dennis Knight), who he calls “Tex” or a drunk Michael Hayes asking him to come back for one more match. Sure enough, later on Tex actually called him during the show. The crowd egged Taker to pick up and he did. He put the mic to the speaker and we popped for Tex (who sounded exactly like Taker’s imitation). Tex said he got a “present” from Godfather and also said he was the only one in the group to vote for both Hillary and Biden. This was loudly booed and Taker joked that Tex got canceled in Philly.
-After being asked about the craziest fan gift he ever received, he told a story about a crazy stalker girl in the mid-90s who gifted him black roses and a perfume bottle filled with blood. She had also inked Taker’s face on her left boob. She kept stalking him, including tackling Paul Bearer after jumping the barricade (Taker said he nearly lost it after he saw that).
-He discussed how his goal to keep kayfabe in public stemmed from seeing the “man in black” Johnny Cash wearing GRAY on a plane (and the disconnect that caused).
-Undertaker retold the hilarious story of partying with Paul Heyman in New York in 1989 the night before his first meeting with Vince and tearing the ass of his pants. He sat at the club the whole time hiding his predicament and none other than designer Ralph Lauren sat next to him and offered him “baby powder” (hint, hint) to “loosen him up.”
-Undertaker said that while he is a WWE guy, he wants AEW to succeed because competition is good and it makes things better. He said AEW needs to get its shit together and find a locker room leader but he hopes they continue to grow.
-Undertaker put over Eddie Guerrero a remarkable talent who understood story telling in the ring.
-Undertaker thanked veterans and first responders and closed out the show with his music and fist in the air. The crowd was very happy and satisfied.
Well I certainly like Mideon a lot more than I used to.