WWE Officials furious over a photo of The Undertaker marrying McCool

[Validus]

Examiner.com is reporting that WWE officials were said to be furious when a photo of The Undertaker's recent marriage to Michelle McCool leaked online. The report notes that WWE officials are not upset that the two got married, but that the leaked photo breaks kayfabe and ruins the current "vegetative state" story line that WWE is running with The Undertaker.

As we reported before, The Undertaker takes his WWE role very seriously, and as such he did not attend the UFC 116 event in order to protect the story line.

I think this is ridiculous. Everyone except little kids knew that The Undertaker was not really in a "vegetated state".


But then again, WWE could be upset because the little kids might see the photo.


Thoughts?

 

[Serious Jones]

Hey, those officials gave the okay for Stephanie McMahon's drive-thru wedding.

The only people that are going to see the picture is the IWC, and no one in the IWC actually thinks that he's in a vegetative state. We've pretty much collectively been hating McCool because of their relationship for ages. If this were the 1980s, their fury would be justified, but now just about everyone knows about kayfabe.

Plus, what are they gonna do? Taker's a legend, and McCool is at the top of her division, and it's doubtful that they're responsible for the leak. Who's going to feel the officials' wrath? Nobody, most likely.

 

[gd]

Pretty ridiculous, considering the only people that know about the marraige/photo know pro wrestling is all a ruse anyway and Undertaker isn't really made of vegetables, so what's there to be upset about?

Is an 10 year old kid going to stumble upon this picture while searching for nude images of women? Not very likely he'll click on a picture with a woman with clothes on, nor will be recognize Mr. Callaway without all his makeup on. So it doesn't matter in the slightest.

 

[goodlay]

I feel the same way. This is fucking stupid. The only people that saw that photo are hardcore wrestling fans and people that know that wrestling is a work. If you don't know wrestling is a work, I really doubt you were on an internet wrestling website.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

This seems a little bit silly on WWE's part. We all know Calaway takes his gimmick very seriously, but it's not like to many people are going to be shocked if they see a photo of McCool and Taker together. The IWC has known about this relationship for quite some time, and we all know pro wrestling is scripted, so it's not like this photo is going to make us raise questions about what really goes on behind the curtain. And I find it very hard to believe younger fans would go on the internet, and stumble across this pic. So, yeah, I don't know why WWE is so pissed.

 

[JJYanks121]

Does anyone ever realize that reacting to the problem worsens the problem? We have seen this picture on Wrestlezone. Those who come to wrestlezone get backstage rumors and news all the time and are pretty aware of who these performers really are. We are not under some notion that people backstage don't date and that Undertaker is some sort of real dead man. If we were to know about the wedding, big deal. What makes it worse is when people blow it out of proportion and it starts spreading like weeds in an unkempt lawn.

WWE would do well to let this issue die fast. Very few people know, and the ones that do don't care. Personally, I feel like Taker marrying McCool is fine. It's not like that anorexic thing will cost him any more in food bills each week. If that makes him happy, so be it. Obviously, officials wanted no word of this to get out until after Taker comes back at the very least, but now that it's out, they should leave it alone and not make it worse than it already is. Undertaker, who is said to be very protective of his character, would do well to let the issue die quickly as well.

 

[The Vintage One]

This is an absolute joke and a disgrace on the part of the WWE officials. Anybody who is over the age of 13 knows that the Undertaker is not really in a vegetative state. And besides their target market is anybody under the age of 13 doesn't even know Undertaker's real name (Mark Calloway) anyway, let alone him marrying Michelle McCool. This is a travesty on the part of the WWE officials, as this really has no purpose at all.

 

[Miss Flawless]

I agree with most of you. I feel that the WWE officials are over reacting.

Little kids don't know The Undertaker. They think he really is a "deadman". They think his real name is The Undertaker and they don't know that he got married to Michelle McCool.

Everyone else knows that "The Undertaker" isn't really his name. It's Mark Calloway. He's not in a vegetated state and we know he has been in a relationship with McCool for many years.

IMO, I think the WWE officials should calm down. Like the report said: The Undertaker takes his job really seriously.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Hey, those officials gave the okay for Stephanie McMahon's drive-thru wedding.

This was a storyline...

As for the leak, Taker does take his work seriously, and I respect him for that and many other things...

Also I don't actually think it will hurt anything, obviously as a storyline, you wouldn't want anything harming it, even if it can't do much harm, but the thing is, we have to be in the WWE mind and they have got us thinkin he is in such a state, not getting married, that is why i believe it has upset them!!

 

[mrbrownstone]

I think that thay are over reacting. Apart from the people on this site who know that the undertaker isnt really in a "vegatative state" then how many others are going too see that? None. I mean how many little kids are going to go on google and search "Undertaker Wedding" most of them would think that no one would want to marry such a freak even if they did find it i doubt they would recognize him without his ring attire etc.

 

[.]

i thought outside of the ring wrestlers were already to break kayfabe? Does this mean outisde of the ring Luke Gallows and Serena aren't allowed to drink, smoke or do drugs? This makes no sense to me. I get Undertaker being serious about his work and wanting to stay in kayfabe but i don't think the office should be furious about something as frivilous as this.

Most people over the age of 12 know wrestling is fake and scripted. This shouldn't have such a big deal made.

 

[J-Dogg]

Wonderul on WWE's behalf, is any kid 12 or under going to see these pictures...NO, anyone 13 and older have always known that wrestling is scripted, and they are likely to see pictures like this one on the internet, but they aren't going to get upset over it. Pro wrestlers have been breaking kayfabe for years, if WWE is so concerned how thse things look to kids....maybe they should stop targeting young kids as their audience.

 

[The Brain]

So I guess Taker's supposed to be under house arrest until this storyline plays out? He shouldn't go out to eat or to a movie or even out to his mailbox in case someone sees him. I was ten years old when Earthquake attacked Hulk Hogan on the Brother Love show and despite the possible retirement angle, and no internet, there was never a doubt in my mind about Hogan wrestling Earthquake at SummerSlam. I'm willing to bet that even most of the kids know Taker is not really in a vegatative state.

 

[Unsold Bacon]

This isn't even their fault so it's ridiculous. Hell' it would be ridiculous either way. So Taker can't have a life because of his gimmick and how would the only people that don't now wrestling is scripted(All the kiddies) going to stumble upon this. They wouldn't recognize them anyway they would think it's just to random strangers getting married. What do they think they type in on Google Images to get the wedding picture?

 

[LigerBomb]

I really wish we could put a moratorium on the concept of kayfabe sometimes. Let's just finally behave like we should and treat the talent like real people who play characters much in the same way actors do with their roles. Let 'Taker be Mark Calloway outside the ring if he so chooses. Let people revel in the spectacle of a wedding between two superstars and realize it has no baring what so ever on their respective in-ring "personas". If it's all phony, like WWE officials admit and like we all know it to be, then lets just finally end this stupid antiquated notion of kayfabe and let the talent live their lives outside the ring however they damn well choose without the needed "heat" and impotent fury.

 

[NoDamnMercy]

The thing that gets me is the fact that they are actually suprised a photo got released! I mean, people have gotten photos of celebrities in their underwear, naked, and during sex. Photos of presidents giving the finger, picking their noses, and smoking cig. And their actually suprised they got a photo of a wedding? REALLY?

 

[The Calgary Kid]

So they're worried about this affecting the credibility of his character and storyline, when this is the same company who turned the same wrestler from an evil, possibly dead man who abducted and crucified people whilst speaking in tongues into a biker who listened to Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit in a matter of months? Really? Give me a break.

 

[crimson_mask]

Calling bullshit on this. Since when were the WWE THAT concerned about storyline consistency?

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Calling bullshit on this. Since when were the WWE THAT concerned about storyline consistency?

Given the situations of the storyline and Undertaker being the person in question, I'd have to say that this could be deemed as a credible story. However, like most have said, this shouldn't be that concerning to the officials at all. The people that would have seen these photo's would have already known of their relationship and Undertaker being in a "vegetative state" is another term for "resting period." Even if others who are oblivious to these facts, they wouldn't probably looked it up on search engines for pictures of the Undertaker and thought this marriage was a while ago.

I mean, they're going to have Undertaker come back anyway so what's the big deal? IF Taker was in that sort of state and AFTER the promo Kane cut to address the situation, it's not logical to have Taker return.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Bit of overreacting if you ask me. Yeah Taker takes his gimmick seriously, as anyone who plays a supernatural character should, but its the guys wedding. Of course people will take photographs, and everyone does or should know that Taker isnt really a zombie or whatever

And kids wont even know his real name or whatever, and if you are old enough to watch wrestling, you should be old enough to know the wrestlers are just playing roles in the show

 

[Soapguy]

I honestly can see where the WWE is coming from considering the fact that the perceived realism is what keeps people of a certain age interested in wrestling. After all, how many of us here started out as wrestling fans only to see the number of our friends who enjoyed it as well dwindle because they grew out of it (or they came to the realization that it was entirely scripted), but. . . .

as everyone has already pointed out the damage done by this photo is far less than WWE is assuming. Us smarks are really the only ones who really care about the wrestlers personal lives anyways. I can understand taking storylines seriously for the sake of young fans, but I don't think the internet is the medium they need to be protecting. Of course, I could be underestimating the technical acumen of the younger fans, but I doubt it.

If you're curious enough to search for personal information about wrestlers then you're probably intelligent enough to figure out that men don't have super powers or that a "sport" in which Christy Hemme get's any significant offense on Awesome Kong is a bit of a work. They're no where near as good as fooling us as they think they are.

 

[The Crock]

This makes sense to me. The Undertaker is the "Dead Man" and he is currently a vegetable, this wouldn't make sense then... if his marriage to Michelle McCool became common knowledge it would destroy the storyline. The Undertaker is so committed to the storyline that he didn't go to UFC 116, even though he was planning on it. This might affect the storyline in a very negative way.

 

[Hawkeye]

Just ridiculous.I would be upset too.Despite the jokes we make about booking,they as well as the wrestlers work hard to keep up appearances in public and otherwise. So to have these people constantly leaking information and spoilers to their storylines must be a real blow to their work. It's like showing an artist's grand piece before HIS unveiling. Like leaking artist's records over the internet. It's the exact same thing,and they need street teams to keep this type of stuff from happening or something,because it's getting worse by the day.Even with our main page,they ruin the hard work of those bookers when they release spoilers like the most recent one(you all know what I'm talking about).

So given the fact that Mark goes to great lengths to keep up his Deadman persona even outside the ropes,so he also has the right to be furious about those photos leakign.Added to the fact that it's his wedding.I'm sure he doesn't want photos of his personal events all over the internet,if he did he would have had someone put them up.