The Undertaker has been one of the most intimidating figures in wrestling history, both in the ring and in the locker room. Wrestlers viewed Undertaker as the locker room leader for WWE given his long run in the company. Many wrestlers were terrified about getting on his bad side since that would gain them heat with just about everyone else in the company. Undertaker however would make more friendships than the average fan would have predicted earlier in his career.
We will look at some of the more surprising friendships to come to the legendary wrestler. Undertaker was a friendly enough person to form bonds once he got to know a wrestler and realized they got along. Obvious names like Kane won’t be mentioned since they were expected. These are ten wrestlers that became unlikely friends of The Undertaker in WWE.
10 JBL
The run of JBL in WWE would see him become friends with The Undertaker throughout the years. Both men had the bond of growing up in Texas and were two of the longest tenured people in the WWE locker room. JBL spoke about his friendship with Undertaker during a WWE Network special looking at the latter’s career.
They worked together in a singles feud during JBL’s WWE Championship reign. The wins over Undertaker helped add legitimacy to the title reign that came out of nowhere. JBL may be on the short list of people to potentially induct Undertaker into the Hall of Fame one day.
9 Triple H
Not many fans could have predicted The Undertaker and Triple H would have become friends back in the 90s. Undertaker was not fond of the Kliq backstage group that featured names like Triple H politicking to get ahead of the others in the locker room.
Triple H eventually won the respect of Undertaker as they had quite a few classic matches together. Undertaker was the one that helped Triple H feel comfortable going public with his relationship with Stephanie McMahon back when other members of the locker room felt differently.
8 Michelle McCool
The wife of Undertaker is not someone we expected him to become friends with, let alone end up marrying and starting a family with. Michelle McCool joined the Smackdown roster as one of the fixtures in the women’s division during Undertaker’s time on the blue brand.
The fifteen-year age gap did not keep them apart as the two grow close and entered a relationship together. McCool surprisingly retired before Undertaker as the two settled into a quiet life together. Both wrestlers are still happily married and make the occasional WWE return.
7 The Godfather
The Undertaker started the Bone Street Krew backstage group as a way to combat the Kliq and their power. It was the most unusual group of friends with Undertaker, Yokozuna, The Godfather, Savio Vega and Henry Godwinn all hanging out together on the road.
The Godfather became one of the closer friends of Undertaker during this time. One of the reasons Godfather gets the love of a Hall of Fame induction along with the occasional WWE return is due to developing relationships with important people.Undertaker happened to be one that turned into a close friend. Not many Attitude Era fans expected the pimp and dead man characters to be close.
6 Ric Flair
The respect shared between The Undertaker and Ric Flair have seen them become friends when Flair joined WWE after WCW went out of business. Both men were known for their professionalism in the ring. They worked one noteworthy program together at WrestleMania 17.
Undertaker has remained close with Flair throughout the years and was spotted at Flair’s wedding hanging out with Dennis Rodman of all people. A recent interview from Flair featured him naming Undertaker as one of the top three stars in the history of the business.
5 Brock Lesnar
Fans thought Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker had personal issues when they exchanged words during an interaction at a UFC show. Undertaker however was fond of Lesnar enough to give him the biggest possible win at WrestleMania 30 ending his legendary undefeated streak.
WWE 24 cameras have shown some small instances of the two bonding backstage. Brock is known for keeping to himself and not making friends. Undertaker is one of the few talents to have that relationship with Lesnar as the two clearly get along well outside of the ring these days.
4 Baron Corbin
One of the few younger wrestlers to develop a relationship with The Undertaker has been Baron Corbin. WWE clearly has always viewed Corbin as a big part of their future from the presentation in his NXT days all the way to the current run as the King of the Ring winner.
Corbin has revealed that Undertaker has offered him advice on trying to improve his all-around game as a wrestler. The two worked together in a six-man tag team match at a Madison Square Garden live event, but don’t be surprised if they have a singles match on PPV at some point. Undertaker may even pull a Kurt Angle and put over Corbin in his final match.
3 Shane McMahon
The return of Shane McMahon to WWE in 2016 came after both Vince McMahon and The Undertaker had long discussions with him. WWE’s plan of Shane facing Undertaker in the Hell in a Cell structure at WrestleMania 32 created a great return match for him.
Undertaker and Shane always got along well going back to Shane joining the roster during the Attitude Era. Shane had a reputation for having good relationships with many guys on the roster. Undertaker became a friend that he was honored to work with at arguably the biggest show in WWE history.
2 Bret Hart
Bret Hart was one of the top rivals for The Undertaker in the mid to late 90s, but they always had the upmost respect for each other. The book of Hart featured glowing praise for Undertaker as both a worker and a locker room leader.
Undertaker was reportedly the one that demanded Vince McMahon go speak to Bret face to face after the Montreal Screwjob. The two have remained buddies throughout the years. Undertaker is often spotted wearing the Hart Roots of Fight clothing in real life representing his friend.
1 Shawn Michaels
The most unlikely friendship of Undertaker in the wrestling business has to be Shawn Michaels looking back at their history. Michaels was disliked by Undertaker and just about everyone else on the roster in the 90s when Michaels was known for his selfish prima donna attitude.
Rumors claim that Undertaker even threatened Michaels at WrestleMania 14 if he had any ideas of refusing to lose the WWE Championship to Steve Austin. The two became close when Michaels returned in the 2000s after cleaning up his life. Michaels even picked Undertaker as the main to end his career at WrestleMania 26. The two worked together one more time in Saudi Arabia, but we pretend that never happened.