Before The Undertaker was iconically paired with Paul Bearer, he was managed by Bruce Prichard as ‘Brother Love.’ While being a part of his introduction to WWE, Prichard also had a hand in Mark Calaway’s profession going forward, which the veteran looked back on during an episode of his “Six Feet Under with The Undertaker” podcast.
“If it wasn’t for this gentleman, and I exploit the term frivolously, there probably wouldn’t be an Undertaker on this planet of skilled wrestling,” Calaway exclaimed while introducing Prichard because the guest of his podcast. He then looked back at his years in WCW and the way Prichard and Bearer advocated for him during this time. “[Prichard and Bearer] were sort of like life vests for me at a time where, , I used to be like, ‘Man, this shouldn’t be going the best way I expected it to go.'”
Calaway further claimed that Bearer was the one who told him to get to know Prichard before their pairing, because he believed that the 2 of them could work well together.
‘Cain was the primary man to commit murder; Cain killed his brother’
Originally, The Undertaker’s name was set to be ‘Kane, The Undertaker,’ which most hardcore fans know by now. The name was eventually repurposed for Glenn Jacobs, who debuted as ‘Kane,’ the ‘Deadman’s’ kayfabe half-brother.
Throughout the podcast, Bruce Prichard recalled why he wanted the Biblical figure Cain to be related to The Undertaker early on.
“I desired to call you ‘Cain,’ because Cain was the primary man to commit murder; Cain killed his brother,” Prichard said, while Mark Calaway claimed that was the primary time he heard the reasoning behind this, leading the 2 to have a transient tussle as Prichard couldn’t imagine Calaway never knew this fact.
“Cain was the primary man to commit murder. Cain kills his brother Abel. It’s from the Bible,” he added. “In some ways, Cain was essentially the most evil person in Biblical lore – kills his own brother, man – first person to ever commit murder. I just loved that name, cool, strong name. ‘Cain!’ I loved it a lot I named your ‘brother’ and my son, Kane!”
Prichard added that this was originally set, but noted how, inside three weeks, it was dropped from his name. Despite initially being his manager, Prichard admitted that Bearer was much better for The Undertaker in the long run.
“I feel that was a greater fit. I feel Paul was higher for you in the long term, obviously,” he noted, while the 2 jokingly argued that Brother Love wasn’t a terrible matchup.
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