The Undertaker has been an unofficial locker room leader in WWE for many decades. WWE would see Undertaker become one of the most respected and tenured people on the roster around the mid-90s when he embraced the role. It led to him to becoming tight with many of the legendary figures to spend time in the company. The respect for Undertaker inspired many to form bonds with him after seeing how much WWE meant to him.
Undertaker’s role as a locker room leader also led to some drama with his peers at different points. The status of his role in the locker room sometimes would see him create tension with other wrestlers that he felt deserved to be called out. There is a mixed history of wrestlers both getting along with and having issues with Undertaker. We will look at both sides here with five wrestlers that Undertaker had beef with along with five that were always good friends with him.
10 Had beef with: Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker are good friends today that worked together to have some all-time great matches at WrestleMania. The two wrestlers were not always this close given the personal issues between them in the 90s.
WWE wrestlers mostly disliked Michaels for his backstage attitude of refusing to put over others. Undertaker reportedly threatened Michaels ahead of WrestleMania 14 when rumors broke that he might have refused to lose to Steve Austin. Michaels would take the loss and leave WWE for a few years.
9 Always friends: Kane
The close bond between The Undertaker and Kane has tied them together for the past two decades. Glenn Jacobs portrays Kane and had a few failed gimmicks before landing the character. His runs as Fake Diesel and Isaac Yankem DDS each ended in disappointment.
Undertaker however took notice of Jacobs’ hard work and liked working with him on the house shows as another talented big man. Jacobs would get the role of Undertaker’s brother Kane to finally succeed in WWE. They had countless matches together as partners and opponents while remaining close friends outside of the ring.
8 Had beef with: Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho and The Undertaker would become friends and serve as two of the locker room leaders in the later 2000s, but they had some issues early in Jericho’s run. The second autobiography of Jericho featured him discussing his mistakes in the early WWE years.
One of them came when Jericho insulted Undertaker in promos by calling him boring and referencing ratings declining during his segment. Undertaker felt this was out of line, especially for a new wrestler to say to a legend. Jericho was chewed out in a productive way that learned the lesson to not bury your opponents.
7 Always friends: The Godfather
The Godfather had a reputation as one of the toughest wrestlers in WWE throughout the 90s. Character changes from Papa Shango to Kama Mustafa to The Godfather would always showcase him as a tough wrestler that knew how to handle himself in a real fight.
Undertaker became a close friend of Godfather due to their passions in mixed martial arts among other fighting styles. Godfather became part of the infamous backstage group known as the Bone Street Krew to combat the Kliq. Both wrestlers even received tattoos to celebrate the secret faction.
6 Had beef with: Mabel
A short-lived instance of tension between wrestlers featured The Undertaker getting mad at Mabel for injuring him. WWE wanted to push Mabel hard after winning the King of the Ring with the main event potential as a monster heel.
Undertaker had the task of working with the big man prospects WWE wanted to push. Mabel unfortunately injured his face during a match in a painful moment. Undertaker would wrestle with a phantom-like mask for a few months to cause tension between them. They got along later when Mabel joined Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness faction.
5 Always friends: Mick Foley
Mick Foley joining WWE in the 90s gave them another unexpected top star. Jim Ross went out of his way to vouch for Foley and it resulted in a good introduction. Foley portrayed the Mankind character to enter an instant feud with The Undertaker.
Both wrestlers had superb chemistry for many years with classics together. Mankind became one of the better opponents of Undertaker and became a star due to it. Their friendship came out of mutual respect as two wrestlers that left it all in the ring.
4 Had beef with: Diamond Dallas Page
The WWE run of Diamond Dallas Page was a huge disappointment during the Invasion angle partially due to The Undertaker. WWE introduced the formerly popular WCW star as a heel stalking Undertaker’s wife Sara. Aside from the shocking reveal, Page gained nothing from the storyline.
Undertaker was not fond of DDP’s mentality of elaborately planning matches before they happened. Page would get destroyed in almost every match and segment between the two. Even Sara appeared as a character often getting the better of DDP and it doomed his WWE stint.
3 Always friends: JBL
Undertaker became a close friend of JBL when the latter spent a lot of time in the locker room. JBL worked a few different gimmicks trying to find one that worked. Undertaker respected him for his longevity and his desire to become a locker room leader.
JBL took part in a panel looking back at Undertaker’s career for a WWE Network show discussing their friendship. Undertaker enjoyed working with JBL during the latter’s heel run as a WWE Champion. The two Texans remain close after their days as full-time performers ended.
2 Had beef with: CM Punk
CM Punk had problems with a few different wrestlers in WWE throughout his career. The Undertaker was one that flew under the radar since it wasn’t as personal as some of the others. Punk was the target of Undertaker during his run as World Champion.
Undertaker called out Punk not wearing suits to dress the part as a young champion representing the company. Punk turned down Undertaker’s advice and continued wearing his own style of clothing. Undertaker would easily defeat Punk to end his title reign shortly after this story which led to many fans wondering if their personal issues played a role in the booking.
1 Always friends: Bret Hart
Bret Hart and The Undertaker were two of the most consistent main event stars for WWE in the 90s. Both wrestlers became top stars around the same time and had a few memorable matches together. Hart and Undertaker gradually became locker room leaders together during the Monday Night Wars.
The stories in Bret’s autobiography claimed that Undertaker always favored him over Michaels. Undertaker was the one that demanded Vince McMahon come out of his office to face Hart after the Montreal Screwjob. Recent years have seen Undertaker wearing Bret’s Roots of Fight shirts to represent his friend.
NEXT: 5 Wrestlers That Bret Hart Loved (& 5 That He Strongly Disliked)