Despite spending most of his career portraying WWE’s most intimidating character, Mark “The Undertaker” Calaway has long been known backstage as someone who enjoyed a good locker room rib. On a recent episode of Six Feet Under with The Undertaker, Calaway shared a story about an elaborate prank he and Vince McMahon pulled that briefly sent an entire group of WWE talent into panic mode.
Recalling the moment, Calaway explained how a planned storyline involving Michelle McCool was deliberately twisted to mess with newer wrestlers, culminating in a staged blow-up between himself and McMahon. “When these guys figure out they’re gonna have to kiss Michelle, they’re going to be sick to their stomachs,” Calaway recalled telling McMahon, before the two escalated the prank by loudly arguing in front of the locker room, convincing everyone something had gone seriously wrong.
The story matters because it highlights a side of WWE’s backstage culture that fans rarely see, where authority figures and top stars sometimes worked together to test nerves, build camaraderie, or simply have fun at others’ expense. According to Calaway, the fallout was immediate, with talent too intimidated to even make eye contact afterward, including a visibly shaken Bray Wyatt, whom Calaway remembered as being “legit about to vomit” once the tension peaked.
Looking back, Calaway laughed at how effective the prank was, but the story also reinforces how influential his presence, and McMahon’s, was behind the scenes. Even years later, moments like this continue to shape how fans understand WWE’s locker room dynamic during that era, where respect, fear, and humor often existed side by side.