One of the most memorable and replayed moments from the Attitude Era on WWE Raw was the sight of The Undertaker chokeslamming the much smaller Spike Dudley from the inside of the ring through a table on the floor below. In a new interview, Spike Dudley has revealed the full story behind the iconic spot, including the fact that he had to convince a very reluctant Undertaker to do it, and that “The Phenom” apologized for it nearly 20 years later.
“Chokeslam Me Out of the Ring”
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on the Insight podcast, Spike explained that the spot was entirely his idea. He was new to WWE at the time and wanted to do something memorable in his Hardcore Championship match with the legendary Undertaker. He pitched the idea of being chokeslammed over the top rope, an idea Undertaker immediately rejected.
“I’m new in the WWE. He’s the hardcore champion, and they book Spike versus Undertaker… He’s like, ‘Hey, okay, you know, beat me up. I’ll give you this little spot here, and then I’ll give you the last ride and chokeslam.’ And I looked at him, I was like, is that it?… I was like, ‘Dude, I’m Spike. Like, I’m 140 pounds. We can do something with me that you can’t do with everybody else because of my size.’ And he said, ‘Well, what do you have in mind?’… I was like, ‘Well, dude, your chokeslam? Chokeslam me out of the ring?’ He went, No. I was like. I was like, ‘I’m serious, I can take it.’… He went, ‘You’re an idiot. No, I’m not doing that.’ I said, ‘Taker, trust me, I can, I can do this.’ is like, ‘well, let, let’s get the crash pad out and try it.’”
An Apology 20 Years Later
With some encouragement from Bubba Ray Dudley, Undertaker eventually agreed to do the spot, and it became a part of wrestling history. Spike then told a heartwarming story of running into The Undertaker at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia, where the legend apologized for the bump, not remembering that it was Spike’s idea all along.
“Taker was there. I ran into Taker, and the first thing, as soon as he sees me, he’s like, Spike, hey. I was watching a video, and I saw me chokeslam you out of the ring. I just got to say, I’m sorry. And I was like, what do you mean? He’s like, I couldn’t believe I did. I said, you don’t remember how that went down. Do you?… He remembered the spot. He didn’t remember that I had to convince him to do it. He thought in his head he was looking back as like, ‘Hey, I’m the Undertaker and I’m going to do whatever I want, so I’m going to take liberties on little Spike.’ So he was apologizing for me, going, ‘I can’t believe, like, I made you do that.’ Yeah, and I’m sitting there going, ‘No, you didn’t. I made you do that.’… He was like, ‘Oh, thank God. I feel so much better now that I wasn’t that much of a dick.’”
The full interview is available on the Insight with Chris Van Vliet YouTube channel.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
