The Undertaker Isn’t Sold on Wrestling Shows Like “Unreal” —“I Don’t Want to Know How the Magician Does It”

The Undertaker is all for evolution—but when it comes to pulling back the curtain on professional wrestling, he’s drawing a line.

On the latest episode of his Six Feet Under podcast, The Deadman opened up during a conversation with Cody Rhodes about the current state of wrestling’s presentation—especially when it comes to high-profile, behind-the-scenes projects like Unreal.

“Everything is wonderful, right from my aspect and my end of the business, I don’t like it. Everybody’s gonna go, ‘Oh my God, it’s old school. That’s an old school guy trying to protect kayfabe.’ Look, I don’t care if it’s 2025, it’s 1990, or it’s 1984. Everybody understands what wrestling is, everybody knows. Ain’t no big veil been lifted. Except I don’t want to go to see a magician and know how he’s doing everything.”

The WWE Hall of Famer said he understands the fascination with learning how the sausage is made—but warned that it’s come at a cost.

“I understand that there’s a huge part that’s like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, I want to do that.’ But there’s still that aspect—because you tell me and I’ll give you my perspective. Everybody knows what we do, right? But when I’m in the ring, my whole goal… is to get one person to think, ‘Wow, yeah, Undertaker just clocked him.’”

“There’s always the doubt. And again, I know the IWC and the kids out there, they’re going to rip all that apart. And I don’t really care.”

He admitted that even while podcasting, he personally struggles with how open wrestlers have become about the business.

“I think we’ve gotten too comfortable talking about our business… it’s hard to tell stories without lifting it up a little bit. But I think we’ve gone too far. There’s got to be a little bit of mystery.”

Cody Rhodes responded with his own take, explaining that today’s challenge is to create a new level of deception—even when the audience thinks they know everything.

“Here’s the challenge I’ve been presented with... What’s the work under the work? That’s what I try to think, because there’s an opportunity now to tell them, ‘Hey, you guys do know everything… but do you, right?’”

With Unreal and other behind-the-scenes projects continuing to rise in popularity, it’s clear there’s a divide between preserving the magic and embracing transparency. And for The Undertaker, some secrets are still sacred.