The Undertaker stunned The Rock with eight-word backstage vow that changed the course of his WWE career

There remains very little weight needing to be added to the argument for The Undertaker being a WWE legend.

‘The Deadman’ is a wrestling institution and arguably WWE’s greatest ever character creation.

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Texan Mark Calaway donned the black hat and jacket and struck fear into the hearts of opponents for three decades, debuting in 1990 and standing tall until his retirement in 2020.

In the interim he established himself as one of the company’s top stars, and in quick order. By the time The Attitude Era arrived in the late nineties, he was already established as a locker room leader.

He remained that way, though, not just by performing in the ring and commanding respect of it, but by helping others along the way, too.

Much of the assistance afforded by one wrestling star to another often flies under the radar, too, not least one fantastic instance of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson being given a huge lift by ‘Taker when he was on the rise.

Rock made a sizable splash in WWE when first arriving in 1996 but, over the course of 1998 and 1999 transitioned from a mid-card sensation into a main event megastar.

‘The Phenom’s’ helping hand came when The Rock needed it most – he was busy contemplating how a match against the icon would play out, having been given the brief that he was to come out as victor.

Pro wrestlers gain in stature by not only winning matches but, equally, in how they win them – something Rock knew all too well.

“There was a very specific incident that demonstrated to me exactly what kind of a man the Undertaker is,” explained the Moana star in his autobiography.

“It was while I was teetering at the upper edge of the second tier, getting ready to leap to the top tier… The Undertaker, of course, was already there, and he was my opponent on this particular edition of Raw.

“The decision had been made that I was going to win the match. So, in essence, my fate was in the hands of the Undertaker. He had the opportunity, all by himself, to propel me to the next level, to reach down and pull me up alongside him. He also had the power to make me look mediocre.

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“The Undertaker would never deliberately go out there and make someone look like complete s***, because he’s a consummate professional, [but] he did have other options. He could easily have said, ‘Well, let’s have The Rock beat me via disqualification.’

“He could have said: ‘Have The Rock hit me with a chair, knock me out cold.’ That way everyone would have said: ‘The Rock had to use a chair to beat the Undertaker.’ It was entirely up to him. All that had been determined was the outcome: The Rock would win; the Undertaker would lose. How we would arrive at that point was up to the Undertaker.”

The Miami native would end up getting the surprise of his life, however, when he found out his opponent’s finish for the match.

Rock added: “His decision was to put me over clean, one-two-three, in the middle of the ring.

“Not only that, but he decided it would be best if the Undertaker was beaten by The Rock’s signature move, The Rock Bottom. That would ensure maximum exposure for The Rock and maximum entertainment for the crowd. It made me realize what a true professional this guy is.”

The pair met backstage shortly before Raw went on the air and the future multi-time world champion was again bowled over by The Undertaker’s professionalism and approach, not least eight words that stayed with him.

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He went on: “I will never forget meeting the Undertaker before the match and saying, ‘Man, I just heard it’s going to be a clean finish…. [are] you sure you want to do that?’

“He looked at me and said, without hesitation: ‘Absolutely. It’s your turn and it’s your time.’

“Having grown up in the business, and having seen business conducted that way, and not conducted that way, I couldn’t help but be moved by such an impressive gesture.”

The Rock said he offered to return the favour to Undertaker someday and, decades later, you could argue he did just that.

In 2024, long after becoming a WWE great and a Hollywood megastar, Rock was planted in the middle of the ring with an epic chokeslam in the lead up to Cody Rhodes’ dramatic win over Roman Reigns.

Retired by then, Taker hardly needed the helping hand, but it undoubtedly made for an iconic WrestleMania moment.