The Undertaker spent the best part of three decades at the top of WWE, and during that time he commanded a incredible respect backstage. Many stars of both the past and present have spoken about how ‘Taker was judge, jury and executioner in the locker room.
One man who found this out to his cost was Viscera, who also enjoyed a spell in the mid-1990’s as King Mabel after winning the 1995 King of the Ring. The star had an unfortunate habit of injuring those he was in the ring with, his monster near-500lb frame leaving little room for error.
The Undertaker “Scared Viscera Sh*tless”
During the 1990’s The Undertaker was the figurehead of backstage group of friends known as the Bone Street Krew (BSK). Two other members were Henry O. Godwin and Mideon. Speaking during an interview with Monte and Pharoah, Mideon, real name Dennis Knight recalled a run-in between Viscera and The Deadman.
During the 1996 Royal Rumble Match, Viscera, still known as Mabel at the time, injured Godwin. Naturally this didn’t sit well with Undertaker who took the star to task in the locker room for not only this incident but his history of hurting others in the ring.
“I go to the Royal Rumble and the very first thing I see is Viscera dropped on him [Henry O. Godwinn] and hurt him. I walk in the locker room and Undertaker is just ripping him apart because he broke ‘Taker’s orbital socket, he hurt Kevin Nash’s back, he just hurt him [Henry O. Godwinn]. That’s his thing whenever he wants people to take him seriously, like with Stone Cold and Shawn [Michaels], taping the fists up.”
Mable famously broke The Undertaker’s orbital bone which led him to wrestle in a Phantom of the Opera-style mask as he recovered. The incident referred to involving Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels came at WrestleMania 14. With Shawn Michaels scheduled to lose in the main event to Steve Austin, some were worried that HBK wouldn’t “do business” and would find a way to ruin Austin’s big win.
In a warning to Michaels, Undertaker stood at the curtain watching the match with his fists taped, should he need to take action.
Mabel was released by WWE just days after the incident at the Royal Rumble, with Mideon describing him as “scared sh*tless.” The star returned to the company full-time in 1999 where he became Viscera and formed part of the Ministry of Darkness alongside The Undertaker.
H/t to Sportskeeda